Rajput Policy of Aurangzeb

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Of all the Hindu communities within his empire, Aurangzeb feared the Rajputs the most. For over two decades, he had not dared to openly disclose his real designs against the Hindus, wary of the powerful Rajput chiefs who stood in his way. He regarded their political and military strength as the single greatest obstacle to executing his broader policy of religious persecution — for it was simply not possible to establish the supremacy of Islam in India without first subjugating the Rajputs.

At this time, three Rajput rulers held particular importance: Raja Jaswant Singh of Marwar, Rana Raj Singh of Mewar, and Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur. Doubting their loyalty, Aurangzeb sought to extinguish their independent existence altogether and annex their territories to the empire — a decisive reversal of the guiding principle first enunciated by Akbar and faithfully pursued by both Jahangir and Shah Jahan. This dramatic departure, and its consequences, form one of the most instructive case studies in Mughal decline for UPSC History Optional aspirants.

Main Objectives of Aurangzeb’s Rajput Policy

Aurangzeb harboured deep suspicion regarding Rajput loyalty, since most Rajput generals had sided with Dara Shikoh during the Mughal war of succession. As a committed Sunni Muslim, he found it difficult to place his trust in the predominantly Hindu Rajputs, believing that the chief resistance to his vision of an Islamic India would inevitably come from their quarter.
The Rajputs were, in his eyes, the foremost among the Hindus — possessed of considerable political and military power, and thus fully capable of offering stiff resistance to his plans for imposing Islamic rule. They had also shown open sympathy for the Satnami rebels, and some Rajput generals had openly opposed him outright.
- Jaswant Singh had been an important mansabdar at the Mughal court since the reign of Shah Jahan, and had sided with Dara Shikoh during the war of succession. He fought against Aurangzeb at the Battle of Dharmat (1658 CE), briefly joined his side afterwards, but deserted him again when Aurangzeb marched against Shah Shuja. He was eventually persuaded by Raja Jai Singh to accept Aurangzeb’s suzerainty — though Jai Singh, despite his own outward adherence to the Mughal court, gradually grew suspicious of Aurangzeb as well.
Thus, by the time these developments settled, the two important Rajput rulers, Jaswant Singh and Jai Singh, had both entered Aurangzeb’s service, while Mewar remained at peace with the Mughal Empire under the treaty concluded during Jahangir’s reign.
Aurangzeb, however, was neither sincere towards these Rajput rulers nor genuinely trusting of their loyalty. He deputed Jai Singh to campaign in the Deccan, where he died in 1666 CE, while Jaswant Singh was sent to defend the North-West Frontier against the Afghans — proving his considerable ability as a commander there, though he never returned alive to court.
Aurangzeb fully anticipated stiff resistance from the Rajputs in his broader project of bringing the semi-independent Rajput states under direct Mughal control. Guided by strict Islamic principles of kingship, he sought to strip away the Rajput kings’ territories and subjugate them outright.

Attack on Marwar

With Jai Singh already dead, Aurangzeb waited to implement his plans until the death of Jaswant Singh, who died at Jamrud (Afghanistan) in December 1678 CE. Jaswant Singh’s eldest son, Prithvi Singh, had already died as the result of a deceitful act by Aurangzeb, while his other two sons had perished fighting the Afghans — leaving no heir to succeed him as ruler of Marwar.

Aurangzeb swiftly despatched an army to occupy Marwar, which met with easy success, since the bulk of the Rajput army remained stationed in Afghanistan.
Aurangzeb himself travelled to Ajmer, where he destroyed the Hindu temples there. He further humiliated the Rathors by selling Jaswant Singh’s throne to the chief of Nagar for 36 lakh rupees — a clear signal that the Emperor now felt strong enough to suppress the Rajputs in particular, and the Hindus more broadly.

The Birth of Ajit Singh

The matter, however, was far from settled. While returning from Afghanistan, the two widowed queens of Jaswant Singh gave birth to two sons at Lahore in February 1679 CE. One died within a few months; the other, named Ajit Singh, survived to enjoy a long and eventful career.

The Rajput commander Durga Das Rathor brought the queens and the infant to Delhi, pleading with Aurangzeb to recognise Ajit Singh as the rightful heir to his father’s legacy. Aurangzeb agreed — but only on the condition that Ajit Singh be converted to Islam. This condition marked the beginning of open war between the Rathors and the Mughals.
Aurangzeb formally annexed the state of Jodhpur, and Jaswant Singh’s family was brought to Delhi. Durga Das, however, rescued Ajit Singh and his mother through a clever stratagem, substituting a maidservant and her own child in place of the queen and the young prince. By the time the Mughals discovered the deception, Durga Das was already beyond their reach.
On Aurangzeb’s orders, the Mughal army pursued the fugitives for twenty kos, but could not overtake them and returned unsuccessful — small Rathor detachments left behind by Durga Das at strategic points blocked their path, allowing Durga Das, Ajit Singh, and the queen mother to reach Marwar safely. Ajit Singh was thereafter accepted as king by the people of Marwar, and the war of independence began under the leadership of Durga Das.

The Legend of Durga Das

Aurangzeb, undeterred, procured two children of low-born menials, declared them to be the sons of Maharaja Jaswant Singh, converted them to Islam with great fanfare, and proclaimed that Durga Das’s protégé was a bogus prince. This ploy, however, achieved nothing — the Rathors continued their resistance undiminished, and Durga Das became their celebrated hero.

The Rajputs still cherish his valour and courage, with a saying that endures to this day: “O mother, produce a son like Durga Das.” Colonel Tod called him the “Ulysses” among the Rathors. According to Jadu Nath Sarkar, Durga Das fought against terrible odds, amid distrust and wavering among his own countrymen, yet kept the cause of his chieftain triumphant — Mughal gold could not seduce him, nor could Mughal arms daunt his constant heart. He displayed a rare combination of the dash and valour of a Rajput soldier with the tact, diplomacy, and organisational skill of a Mughal minister of state. It was Durga Das who ultimately placed Ajit Singh, the infant son of Maharaja Jaswant Singh, upon the throne.

Renewed Mughal Offensive

Aurangzeb flew into a rage upon hearing of these developments and immediately declared war on Marwar. He personally travelled to Ajmer and deputed a strong Mughal army, under the joint command of Prince Akbar and Tahavvar Khan, to lead the campaign against the Rajputs. The Mughals plundered Marwar, destroyed every temple they encountered, raised mosques in their place, and had occupied the entire region by the middle of 1681 CE. The Rathors, undeterred, retreated into the hills and deserts, from where they continued to confront and harass the Mughal forces.

Mewar Joins the Struggle

Aurangzeb demanded jizya from Raj Singh, ruler of Mewar, seeking to break the power of the Sisodias.

Since Ajit Singh’s mother was herself a princess of Mewar, Aurangzeb feared that Raj Singh would come to Marwar’s aid. Raj Singh, for his part, calculated that Aurangzeb ultimately intended to destroy him as well, and that saving Mewar would prove far more difficult once Marwar had already been subdued. He therefore chose to join Marwar’s cause against the Mughals — fortifying the fort of Chitor and deputing a force to protect the strategic pass of Devbari.
Anticipating the Maharana’s plans, Aurangzeb struck first, leaving Ajmer in November 1679 CE and advancing on Udaipur. The Maharana abandoned Udaipur, allowing the Mughals to occupy it with ease; Chitor too fell soon after. It is believed that around 173 temples in Udaipur and 63 temples in Chitor were destroyed in the course of this campaign.
Raj Singh suffered a defeat in a pitched battle in February 1680 CE, evacuating both Chitor and Udaipur and retreating into the inaccessible hills with his soldiers and much of his subject population.
Aurangzeb returned to Ajmer in January 1680 CE. Rana Raj Singh died suddenly in November 1680 CE, but the Rajputs continued their harassment of the Mughals undeterred.
Aurangzeb then deputed his three sons — Akbar, Muazzam, and Azam — to attack Mewar simultaneously from three directions. The assault ultimately failed, as the princes could not coordinate their efforts effectively, while the Sisodias and Rathors worked closely together in their common resistance.

Prince Akbar’s Revolt

Muhammad Akbar, son of Aurangzeb, was a man of notably liberal views, and grew deeply dissatisfied with what he saw as an unjust and cruel war against the Rajputs — one that threatened the very foundations of the Mughal Empire.

Maharana Raj Singh and Durga Das approached Akbar with a striking proposal: if he declared himself emperor, the combined forces of Mewar and Marwar would rally to his support. Although Raj Singh died on 1 November 1680 CE before this plan could mature, his son and successor, Jai Singh, renewed the same assurance of support following his own coronation.
Tempted by this offer, Prince Akbar declared himself Emperor of the Mughals on 1 January 1681 CE, proclaiming that Aurangzeb had forfeited his claim to the throne through his defiance of Islamic law.
Akbar advanced towards Ajmer at the head of 70,000 Rajput soldiers. Aurangzeb, in response, summoned Prince Muazzam to his aid and marched to Rohara, just eight miles ahead of Ajmer, to confront his rebellious son. He also succeeded in secretly winning over several of Akbar’s own Mughal officers.
- Aurangzeb sent word to Tahavvar Khan, Akbar’s principal adviser, warning that if he did not return to the imperial side, all his family members currently held by Aurangzeb would be put to death. Demoralised, Tahavvar Khan secretly abandoned Akbar’s camp and made his way to the royal camp — where he was promptly executed regardless.

Aurangzeb’s Decisive Deception

Aurangzeb devised a further, more elaborate stratagem. Through a single stroke of cunning diplomacy, he sowed deep suspicion among the Rajputs against his own rebellious son.

He wrote a letter of commendation to Akbar, praising him for having successfully deceived and entrapped the Rajputs, and had this letter deliberately dropped near the Rajput camp. As intended, it was picked up by Rajput soldiers and handed over to Durga Das.
Although Durga Das himself was not convinced by the letter’s authenticity, most of the other Rajput chiefs believed it, and secretly abandoned Akbar’s camp that very night. When Akbar awoke the following morning, he found only Durga Das and a handful of other chiefs remaining, with barely two or three thousand soldiers by his side — leaving him thoroughly discouraged.
Aurangzeb’s troops soon overran Akbar’s camp, and the prince was forced to flee once more to the Rajputs, accompanied by no more than 350 men. Thus, through this single act of cunning, Aurangzeb succeeded in comprehensively outmanoeuvring the Rajputs, and Prince Akbar’s revolt collapsed entirely without a single major battle being fought. Once Aurangzeb’s deception was exposed, both Akbar and the Rajput leaders were left deeply regretful — though there was, by then, little use in crying over spilt milk.

Akbar’s Exile

Durga Das promptly took Akbar under his protection and succeeded in escorting him to Maharashtra, where he was placed under the protection of Shambhaji, son of Shivaji. Aurangzeb pursued Akbar and himself reached Maharashtra in 1682 CE. Feeling his life increasingly insecure, Akbar attempted to flee to Persia by sea, but was forced along the way to seek shelter with the Imam of Muscat, who agreed to hand him over to Aurangzeb in exchange for two lakh rupees. However, owing to pressure from the ruler of Persia, Akbar was ultimately released and reached Persia safely, where he died near the closing years of his father’s reign.

Treaty Between Mewar and the Mughals

Although Prince Akbar’s revolt ultimately failed, it inadvertently helped save Mewar. Aurangzeb, more fearful of Akbar than of any other adversary at that moment, found it essential to pursue his fugitive son — making peace with Mewar a practical necessity. Maharana Jai Singh, for his part, was equally eager to conclude peace with Aurangzeb.

A treaty between the two sides was accordingly signed on 24 June 1681 CE, on the following terms:

The Mughals agreed to withdraw their forces entirely from Mewar.
Maharana Jai Singh accepted a mansab of 5,000, while his son, Bhim Singh, was granted the title of Raja and taken into Mughal service.
The Maharana surrendered the parganas of Mandal, Pur, and Bednur to the Mughals in lieu of the jizya imposed on his kingdom.

War Against Marwar

The Rathors of Marwar sustained their struggle against Aurangzeb even after peace was concluded with Mewar. While Durga Das remained in the Deccan alongside Prince Akbar from 1681 to 1687 CE, the Rathors fought on against the Mughals without a dedicated leader, waging largely guerrilla warfare that greatly harassed Mughal outposts, which remained encamped throughout Marwar.

In 1687 CE, Durga Das returned to Marwar from the Maratha camp in the Deccan and reinvigorated the freedom struggle. By this time, Ajit Singh had grown into young manhood, and the two led the Rathors together — recapturing several Mughal military posts and raiding Mughal territory as far as the vicinity of Delhi itself. Raja Durjan Sal Hara of Bundi served as one of their key allies in this ongoing struggle.
In 1694 CE, Durga Das handed over Prince Akbar’s daughter, Safiyat-un-Nisa, to Aurangzeb, followed in 1698 CE by Akbar’s son, Buland Akhtar. Durga Das had not merely sheltered these children but had given them a genuinely good education, including instruction in Islamic principles — creating, in turn, an atmosphere of goodwill between the Rathors and the Mughals that eventually paved the way for peace.
- Ajit Singh was offered the jagirs of Jalor, Sanchod, and Siwana, while Durga Das was granted the faujdari of Patan in Gujarat along with a mansab of 3,000. Both were thus formally taken into Mughal service — though this was, by any measure, a far from respectable settlement for the proud Rathors. They nonetheless accepted the compromise, using the ensuing years to further strengthen their position.
In 1701 CE, Ajit Singh and Durga Das rose in revolt once again, but agreed to renewed peace terms in 1704–05 CE. By 1707 CE, Ajit Singh had become the de facto ruler of the greater part of his state.

The Final Liberation of Marwar

Aurangzeb died in the South on 20 February 1707 CE. Ajit Singh learned of his death on 4 March, and just three days later led the final assault on the Mughal garrison, successfully capturing the capital city of Jodhpur.

According to Jadu Nath Sarkar, when Ajit Singh entered Jodhpur, the Mughals fled in panic, abandoning their property; many were killed or imprisoned, while others fled disguised as Hindus in a desperate attempt to escape Rajput vengeance. The fort of Jodhpur was ritually purified with the waters of the holy Ganga and with Tulsi leaves. Ajit Singh gradually reclaimed all the territories of Marwar, bringing the long struggle initiated by Durga Das to its final, successful conclusion. In 1709 CE, Bahadur Shah I, Aurangzeb’s son and successor, formally recognised Ajit Singh as the Rana of Marwar.

Results of the Rajput Policy

Aurangzeb’s Rajput policy alienated the loyalty and sympathy of the once-devoted Rathor and Sisodia clans from the Mughal throne — with lasting and severe consequences for the empire as a whole.

According to Jadu Nath Sarkar, the results of Aurangzeb’s Rajput policy were disastrous for the Mughal Empire. Thousands of lives were sacrificed and enormous sums of money squandered, without any lasting success or genuine benefit to the Emperor. The prolonged, continuous conflict with the Rajputs proved highly damaging to Mughal prestige, and it was, in retrospect, a clear act of political unwisdom on Aurangzeb’s part to provoke such determined hostility.
Aurangzeb’s rash policy deprived him of the devoted, loyal service of gallant Rajput chiefs and soldiers — support he badly needed to counter the Marathas in the South and the restless Afghan tribes on the North-West Frontier.
While the Emperor remained preoccupied in a largely futile war against the Rajputs in the North, the rulers of the South grew steadily more powerful, and the Marathas took full advantage of this diversion. Aurangzeb’s narrow vision and religious fanaticism thus led him to systematically dismantle the very pillars on which the Mughal Empire had rested for more than a century.

Summary

The Rajputs were the most dreaded adversaries of Aurangzeb, since the supremacy of Islam in India could not be established without first subjugating them.
Aurangzeb adopted a stern, uncompromising policy towards the Rajputs, reversing the accommodative approach followed by Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan.
Raja Jaswant Singh of Marwar, Rana Raj Singh of Mewar, and Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur were the three most important Rajput rulers of the period, and all three states remained at peace with the Mughals when Aurangzeb ascended the throne.
Aurangzeb’s suspicion of Rajput loyalty stemmed largely from their earlier support for Dara Shikoh during the war of succession.
Jai Singh was deputed to the Deccan, where he died in 1666 CE; Jaswant Singh was sent to defend the North-West Frontier and died in Afghanistan in 1678 CE, after which Aurangzeb occupied Marwar.
Jaswant Singh’s posthumous son, Ajit Singh, was born at Lahore; when Aurangzeb refused Durga Das’s plea to recognise him as ruler without conversion to Islam, the war of liberation of Marwar began.
Rana Raj Singh of Mewar joined the struggle alongside Marwar, judging resistance to be in Mewar’s own interest.
In 1681 CE, Prince Akbar revolted against his father with Rajput support, but the revolt collapsed through Aurangzeb’s deception, forcing Akbar to flee to the Deccan under Durga Das’s protection; peace was subsequently restored with Mewar.
The Rathors of Marwar, however, continued their resistance. Aurangzeb, in pursuit of his fugitive son, departed for the Deccan and never returned — while Marwar fought on, accepting peace twice in the interim, until finally securing its independence following Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 CE.
Aurangzeb ultimately proved unsuccessful in permanently subduing either Mewar or Marwar; the sole lasting result of his policy was the loss of Rajput support — support that had remained loyal to the Mughal throne since the reign of Akbar.
This loss of Rajput cooperation could no longer be utilised in consolidating the empire; instead, it multiplied its problems and contributed to further revolts elsewhere. The Rajput policy of Aurangzeb, in the final analysis, proved a decisive failure — one that significantly weakened the Mughal Empire in its closing decades.