ArcherMill7063 at 17:58, 17 February 2026

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{{Short description|Maharaja of Marwar from 1679 to 1724}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Ajit Singh Rathore
| title = Chatrapati [[Maharaja]] of [[Jodhpur State|Marwar]]
| more =
| image = Maharaja Ajit Singh of Marwar.jpg
| succession = Ruler of [[Marwar]]
| reign = 19 February 1679 – 24 June 1724
| reign-type =
| coronation =
| cor-type =
| predecessor = [[Jaswant Singh of Marwar|Maharaja Jaswant Singh]]
| successor = [[Abhai Singh of Marwar|Maharaja Abhai Singh]]
| birth_date = {{Circa| 19 February 1679}}
| birth_place = [[Lahore]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1724|6|24|1679|df=y}}
| death_place = Meherangarh, [[Jodhpur]]
| burial_date =
| burial_place =
| consort = yes
| spouse =
| spouse-type =
| issue = [[Abhai Singh of Marwar|Abhai Singh]] [[Bakht Singh (Maharaja)|Bakht Singh]] [[Indira Kanwar]]
| full name =
| house =
| father = [[Jaswant Singh of Marwar|Maharaja Jaswant Singh Rathore]]
| mother = Rani Jadav Jaskumvar
| occupation =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| succession1 = [[Subahdar]] of [[Gujarat Subah|Gujarat]]
| reign-type1 = Term
| reign1 = 1715–1717
| cor-type1 = [[Mughal Emperor|Emperor]]
| coronation1 = [[Farrukhsiyar]]
| predecessor1 = [[Daud Khan Panni]]
| successor1 = [[Khan Dowran VII]]
| reign-type2 = Term
| reign2 = 1719–1721
| cor-type2 = Emperor
| coronation2 = [[Rafi ud-Darajat]] [[Shah Jahan II]] [[Muhammad Shah]]
| predecessor2 = Khan Dowran VII
| successor2 = Haider Quli Khan
| regent2 = Anup Singh
| dynasty = [[Rathore dynasty|House of Rathore]]
}}

'''Ajit Singh Rathore''' (19 February 1679 – 24 June 1724) was the ruler of the [[Kingdom of Marwar]], in present-day [[Rajasthan]], and the son of [[Jaswant Singh of Marwar|Jaswant Singh Rathore]]. He also served as the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Subahdar]] of [[Gujarat Subah|Gujarat]] for two terms from 1715–1717 and 1719–1721.{{Sfn|Commissariat|1957|p=399}}

== Early life ==
Jaswant Singh of Marwar died at [[Jamrud]] in December 1678. His two wives were pregnant but, there being no living male heir, the lands in [[Marwar]] were converted by the emperor [[Aurangzeb]] into territories of the [[Mughal Empire]] so that they could be managed as [[jagir]]s. He appointed Indra Singh Rathore, a nephew of Jaswant Singh, as ruler there.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhargava |first=Visheshwar Sarup |title=Marwar and the Mughal Emperors |publisher=[[Munshiram Manoharlal]] |year=1966 |isbn=9788121504003 |location=India |pages=121–122}}</ref>{{efn|Some sources say that Indra Singh Rathore was a great-nephew of Jaswant Singh.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}}} Historian [[John F. Richards]] stresses that this was intended as a bureaucratic exercise rather than an annexation.<ref name="richards">{{cite book |title=The Mughal Empire |first=John F. |last=Richards |authorlink=John F. Richards |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-52156-603-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&pg=PA180 |pages=180–181}}</ref>

There was opposition to Aurangzeb's actions because both pregnant women gave birth to sons during the time that he was enacting his decision. In June 1679, [[Durgadas Rathore]], a senior officer of the former ruler{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}, led a delegation to [[Shahjahanabad]] where they pleaded with Aurangzeb to recognise the older of these two sons, Ajit Singh, as successor to Jaswant Singh and ruler of Marwar. Aurangzeb refused, offering instead to raise Ajit and to give him the title of ''[[raja]]'', with an appropriate noble rank, when he attained adulthood. However, the offer was conditional on Ajit being brought up as a Muslim, which was anathema to the petitioners.<ref name="richards" /><ref name="sen2">{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |pages=189}}</ref>

[[File:The Six Sons of Maharaja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur on a Visit.jpg|thumb|The Six Sons of Maharaja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur on a Visit]]
[[File:Posthumous Portrait of Maharaja Ajit Singh of Marwar, 1762.jpg|thumbnail|''Posthumous Portrait of Maharaja Ajit Singh of Marwar'', 1762. [[Brooklyn Museum]].]]

The dispute escalated when Ajit Singh's younger brother died. Aurangzeb sent a force to capture the two queens and Ajit from the Rathore mansion in Shahjahanabad but his attempt was rebuffed by Durgadas Rathore, who initially used gunfire in retaliation and eventually escaped from the city to [[Jodhpur]] along with Ajit and the two queens, who were disguised as men. Some of those accompanying the escapees detached themselves from the party and were killed as they fought to slow down the pursuing [[Mughals]].<ref name="richards" />

It is believed that the Dhaa Maa (wet nurse) of infant prince Ajit Singh of Marwar, [[Gora Dhay|Goora Dhaa]] put her beloved son on the royal bed instead of Ajit Singh and put the sleeping prince Ajit into a basket and smuggled him with others out of Delhi.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bose |first=Melia Belli |title=Royal Umbrellas of Stone: Memory, Politics, and Public Identity in Rajput Funerary Art |pages=175}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gahlot |first=Jagdish Singh |title=Rajasthan: A Socio-economic Study |pages=4}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=March 2022}} Others opine a slave girl with her infant posed as Rani and remained behind to be captured.<ref name="richards" /> Aurangzeb deigned to accept this deceit and sent the child to be raised as a Muslim in his [[harem]]. Jadunath Sarkar mentioned that Aurangzeb brought up a milkman's son in his harem as Ajit Singh.<ref name="Sarkar">{{cite web | title=History of Aurangzeb vol.3 : Sarkar, Jadunath | website=Internet Archive | date=2022-01-14 | url=https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.4937 | access-date=2022-03-12}}, p334</ref> The child was renamed Mohammadi Raj and the act of changing religion meant that, by custom, the imposter lost all hereditary entitlement to the lands of Marwar that he would otherwise have had if he had indeed been Ajit Singh.<ref name="richards" /><ref name="chandra">{{cite book |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals |volume=2 |first=Satish |last=Chandra |authorlink=Satish Chandra (historian) |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |year=2005 |isbn=978-8-12411-066-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC&pg=PA309 |pages=309–310}}</ref>

== Exile ==
Continuing to play along with the deceit, Aurangzeb refused to negotiate with representatives of Ajit Singh, claiming that child to be the imposter.<ref name="chandra"/> He sent his son, [[Sultan Muhammad Akbar|Muhammad Akbar]], to occupy Marwar. Ajit Singh's mother convinced the Rana of [[Mewar]], [[Raj Singh I]], who is commonly thought to be her relative, to join in fighting against the Mughals.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Mertiyo Rathores of Merta, Rajasthan|volume=II|pages=63}}</ref> Richards says that Raj Singh's fear that Mewar would also be invaded was a major motivation for becoming involved; another historian, [[Satish Chandra (historian)|Satish Chandra]], thinks that there were several possible alternatives, including Singh seeing an opportunity to assert Mewar's position among the Rajput principalities of the region. The combined Rathore-Sisodia forces were no match for the [[Mughal army]], Mewar was itself attacked and the Rajputs had to retire to the hills, from where they engaged in sporadic [[guerrilla warfare]].<ref name="richards" /><ref name="chandra" />{{efn|The relationship of Raj Singh I to Ajit Singh's mother is disputed. Historian [[Satish Chandra (historian)|Satish Chandra]] says that, although the claim is often made, they were unrelated.<ref name="chandra" />}}

For 20 years after this event, Marwar remained under the direct rule of a Mughal governor. During this period, [[Durgadas Rathore]] and [[Akheraj Rajpurohit|Akheraj Singh Rajpurohit]]<ref>Dr Prahalad Singh [[Rajpurohit]],"Veer Kesari Singh Rajpurohit ka Jasprakash"</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sevaṛa |first1=Prahalādasiṃha |title=Rājapurohita jāti kā itihāsa |date=2021 |isbn=978-93-90179-06-0 |edition=Dvitīya saṃsodhita saṃskaraṇa |location=Jodhapura}}</ref> (Rajguru of Ajit Singh) carried out a relentless struggle against the occupying forces. Trade routes that passed through the region were plundered by the guerrillas, who also looted various treasuries in present-day Rajasthan and Gujarat. These disorders adversely impacted the finances of the empire.

Aurangzeb died in 1707; he was to prove the last of the great Mughals. Durgadas Rathore and [[Akheraj Rajpurohit|Akheraj Singh Rajpurohit]]<ref>Dr Prahalad Singh [[Rajpurohit]],"Veer Kesari Singh Rajpurohit ka Jasprakash"</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sevaṛa |first1=Prahalādasiṃha |title=Rājapurohita jāti kā itihāsa |date=2021 |isbn=978-93-90179-06-0 |edition=Dvitīya saṃsodhita saṃskaraṇa |location=Jodhapura}}</ref> took advantage of the disturbances following this death to seize Jodhpur and eventually evict the occupying mughal force.<ref>N.S. Bhati, Studies in Marwar History, page 6</ref>

== Takes charge of Marwar ==
{{Main|Rajput Rebellion 1708-1710}}
After consolidating his rule over Marwar, Ajit Singh grew increasingly bold as the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah had marched south. He formed an alliance with [[Sawai Jai Singh|Sawai Raja Jai Singh II]] of Amer and set upon capturing his ancestral lands which had been occupied by the Mughals. The Rajput kings started raiding Mughal camps and outposts, several towns and forts were captured, the biggest blow for the Mughals was however the capture of [[Sambhar Lake Town|Sambhar]] which was an important Salt manufacturing site.<ref>Thelen, Elizabeth M. (2018). Intersected Communities: Urban Histories of Rajasthan, c. 1500 – 1800 (PDF) (Thesis). University of California, Berkeley. Pg.37</ref>

In 1709 Ajit Singh made plans to conquer Ajmer and destroy the Muslim shrines and Mosques, however Jai Singh II was afraid that the destruction of Muslim shrines would lead to the wrath of the Mughal emperor after he had returned from the Deccan. Ajit Singh however ignored Jai Singh's advise and led his army towards Ajmer, ending the Rathore-Kachwaha alliance. Ajit Singh laid siege to Ajmer on 19 February, the Mughal garrison led by Shujaat Khan negotiated with Ajit Singh by offering him 45,000 rupees, 2 horses, an elephant and the holy town of Pushkar in exchange for sparing the shrine and the mosques. Ajit Singh agreed to the terms and returned to his capital.<ref>Thelen, Elizabeth M. (2018). Intersected Communities: Urban Histories of Rajasthan, c. 1500 – 1800 (PDF) (Thesis). University of California, Berkeley. Pg.37-38</ref>

In June 1710 [[Bahadur Shah I]] marched to Ajmer with a large army and called Ajit Singh to Ajmer, he was joined by Jai Singh II. The rebellious Ajit Singh was finally pardoned and was formally accepted as the Raja of Jodhpur by the Mughal emperor.<ref>The Cambridge History of India, Volume 3 p. 322</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719 |first=Munis D. |last=Faruqui |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-107-02217-1 |page=316}}</ref>

In 1712 Ajit Singh was given more power with his appointment as Mughal governor of [[Gujarat]].<ref>Richards, ''The Mughal Empire'', p. 262</ref>

==Role in deposition of Farrukhsiyar==
In 1713, the new Mughal emperor [[Farrukhsiyar]] appointed Ajit Singh governor of [[Thatta]]. Ajit Singh refused to go to the impoverished province and Farrukhsiyar sent [[Husain Ali Braha]] to bring Ajit Singh into line, but also sent a private letter to Ajit Singh promising him blessings if he defeated Husain. Instead Ajit Singh chose to negotiate with Husain, accepting the governorship of Thatta with a promise for a return to Gujarat in the near future.<ref>Richards, ''The Mughals'', p. 166</ref> One of the other conditions of the peace agreement was the marriage of one of the daughters of the Jodhpur Raja with the Mughal emperor.

This gave him the time to prepare for war against the Mughals and on 1719 he invaded Delhi and captured it, and later executed Faruksiyar with the [[Sayyid brothers]], bringing the Mughal Empire closer to its end. He also took back his daughter which was married to Farrukhsiyar who performed shuddhi ceremony and reverted to Hinduism<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rajputs, their women, & Muslim rulers – Rajesh Kochhar |url=https://rajeshkochhar.com/rajputs-their-women-muslim-rulers/ |access-date=2026-02-17 |website=rajeshkochhar.com}}</ref>. [[Rafi ud-Darajat]] was set on the throne as the new Mughal emperor.

== Final days ==
[[File:Maharaja Ajit Singh and his son Bakht Singh.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Maharaja Ajit Singh presenting a garland to his son Bakht Singh. c.1751-1752.]]
Ajit Singh kept on aggressing Mughal territories after Farrukhsiyar was executed. The new Mughal Emperor Rafi-ud-Darajat sent two major expeditions, one under [[Hussain Ali Khan Barha|Sayyid Hussain Ali Khan]] and the other under Nawab Iradatmand Khan, against Ajit Singh. In 1721-22 Ajit Singh led an army and captured many parganas, he captured Mughal territory as far as Narnol and Mewat, which was 16 miles from the Mughal capital. In January 1723 he attacked the Mughal Governor of Ajmer and killed him, 25 Mughal officers were beheaded after the battle and their camp and baggage was looted.

Regarding his final days a lot of stories are there regarding Ajit Singh's death Persian sources indicate that it was his son Bakht Singh who assassinated Ajit Singh. Jadunath Sarkar believes that the Jodhpur court blamed the Jaipur raja because of their rivalry.<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0oPIo9TXKcC |title=A History of Jaipur: C. 1503–1938 |first=Jadunath |last=Sarkar |year=1994 |pages=195–196|publisher=Orient Blackswan |isbn=9788125003335 }}</ref>

The practice of [[sati (practice)|sati]] was common among Rajput nobility in the region: 63 women accompanied Maharaja Ajit Singh onto the funeral pyre.<ref>{{cite book |title=Sovereignty and Social Reform in India: British Colonialism and the Campaign Against Sati, 1830-1860 |first=Andrea |last=Major |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |pages=33, 127 |isbn=978-1-13690-115-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cnleBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA33}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Durgadas Rathore]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
'''Notes'''
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
* {{cite book |last=Commissariat |first=M.S. |url=https://archive.org/details/bk885 |title=A History of Gujarat |publisher=Orient Longmans |year=1957 |volume=II The Mughal Period: From 1573 to 1758}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book |title=Studies in Indian History: Rajasthan Through The Ages: The Heritage of Rajputs |editor1-first=R. K. |editor1-last=Gupta |editor2-first=S. R. |editor2-last=Bakshi |publisher=Sarup & Sons |year=2008 |volume=1 |isbn=978-8-17625-841-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gHNoU2zcDnIC}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Maharaja]] of the [[Marwar]]
| years = 19 February 1679 – 24 June 1724
| before = [[Raja Rai Singh]]
| after = [[Raja Indra Singh]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Jodhpur}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marwar, Ajit Singh Of}}
[[Category:1670s births]]
[[Category:1724 deaths]]
[[Category:Monarchs of Marwar]]
[[Category:People from Lahore]]
[[Category:Subahdars of Gujarat]]
[[Category:17th-century Mughal Empire people]]
[[Category:18th-century Mughal Empire people]]

Ajit Singh of Marwar - Revision history

ArcherMill7063 at 17:58, 17 February 2026