Har Kishan died in 1664, and after some quarrels about succession to the Guruship, Teg Bahadur, second son of Har Govind, the sixth Guru, was recognised as the spiritual head of the community by most of the S. He settled at Anandpur, six miles from Kiratpur. He lived for a few months at Patna in Bihar, where his son, Guru Govind, was bom (A.D. 1666). He joined Raja Ram Singh, son of Mirza Raja Jia Singh, in the Assam war (A.D. 1668), but soon returned to his original abode at Anandpur and was drawn into hostilities with the imperial government. He protested against certain measures of the Emperor and encouraged the Brahmanas of Kashmir to resist these. This was too much for Aurangzeb to tolerate. He caused the Sikh divine to be arrested and brought over to Delhi, where he was offered the choice between death and conversion. Teg Bahadur preferred his faith to his life and was executed after five days (A.D. 1675). Thus he gave his,head but not his faith (sir did sar na did). The martyrdom of the Guru inspired the Sikhs with feelings of revenge against the Mughul Empire and made an open war inevitable. The son and successor of Teg Bahadur, Guru Govind, was one of the most remarkable person- alities in Indian history. He set himself to the task of organising his followers with the thoroughness “of a Grecian law-giver”. He instituted the custom of baptism (Pahul) by water stirred with a dagger. Those who accepted the new form of baptism were known as the Khalsa (pure) and were given the appellation of Singhs (lions). They had to wear the five Ks- kes (long, hair), kangha (comb), kripan (sword), kachcha (short drawers), and kara (steel bracelet). They were not to show their backs to the foe in battle. They were ever to help the poor and the unfortunate. Guru Govind compiled a supplementary Granth, known as the Daswen Padshah ka Granth (‘the Book of the Tenth Sovereign’). He fought against some neighbouring hill-princes and Mughul officers with remarkable courage and tenacity. It is said that he assisted Bahadur in his contest for the throne, and subsequently proceeded with him to the Deccan. An Afghan fanatic stabbed him to death, towards the end of 1708, at Nandur on the banks of the Godavari.
The Rajput War
The comparatively minor anti-imperial risings were suppressed by Aurangzeb. But more formidable revolts, also originating as a sort of reaction against the Emperor’s policy, produced disastrous consequences for his Empire. Failing to the value of the alliance of the Rajputs, who had previously contributed so much to the growth of the Empire, he introduced a change in the policy of the State towards them. Raja Jay Singh of Amber, whom he considered to be a powerful leader of Rajput opposition against his own policy, lost his life in the Deccan in 1667. The conquest of Marwar next engaged his attention from more than one consideration. It occupied a position of strategic importance as controlling certain military and commercial routes from the Mughul capital to the rich cities and ports in Western India. Further, its position as a powerful military State in Northern India at that time was a standing annoyance to Aurangzeb. He suspected that its chief, Jaswant Singh, formerly a partisan of Dara Sbukoh, might stand forth as the leader of opposition to his policy.
The Emperor soon had a favourable opportunity to give effect to his designs against Mirwar. While commanding the Mughul frontier posts in the Khyber Pass and the Peshawar district, Raja Jaswant Singh died at Jamrud on the 10th December, 1678. On hearing this news Aurangzeb forthwith took steps to annex Marwar. He appointed there his own officers as faujdar, qiladar, kotwlt and amin, and brought it under direct Mughul rule. The Rathors, thrown into confession and dismay by the death of their chief, failed to present any united national resistance. In the month of May, Indra Singh Rathor, the chieftain of Nagor and grandnephew of Jaswant, was recognised as the Rana of Jodhpur on payment of a “succession fee” of thirty-six lacs of rupees. But he was nothing more than a nominal ruler, surrounded by Mughul officers.
Thus the Emperor’s policy seemed to have been crowned with success. But Marwar was not really subdued. Every Rajput house in that kingdom became determined to undo the imperial coup de main, and “a new factor now entered the scene to disturb and eventually to defeat the imperial policy”. y in the month of February, 1679, two posthumous sons of Jaswant were bom at lahore. One of them died soon after birth, but the other, Ajit Singh, survived and was taken to Delhi by the principal followers of his father, who requested the Emperor to recognize him as heir to the deceased Raja.. But the Emperor offered to bring him up in his harem, or, according to another contemporary account, “the throne of Jodhpur was offered to Ajit on condition of his turning a Muslim”. This extraordinary proposal of the Emperor severely wounded the feelings of the Rathors, who vowed to sacrifice their lives rather than accept these terms. But devotion and reckless courage only could be of no avail against the organized strength of the imperialists. Luckily for the Rathors, they had, at this critical moment, a worthy leader in Durgadas (a son of Jaswant’s minister Askaran), “the flower of R&thor chivalry “.
In the history of Rajputana, Durgadas -is justly regarded as one of the immortals for his selfless devotion to the cause of his country in the face of terrible odds. “Mughul gold could not seduce, Mughul arms could not daunt, that constant heart. Almost alone among the others he displayed the rare combination of the dash and reckless valour of a Rajput soldier with the tact, diplomacy and organising power of a Mughul minister of state.” A band of “death-loving” Rajputs rushed upon the imperial force that had been sent to seize the Ranis and Ajit Singh, and, taking advantage of the prevailing confusion, Durgadas rode away with the intended victims, clad in male attire. He covered nine miles before the imperialists could overtake him, but here a small band of Rajputs under Ranchordas Jodha tried to hold back the pursuers as long as they could, and Durgadas was able to reach Jodhpur on the 23rd July, 1679, with the Ranis and Ajit. Aurangzeb now called up heavy reinforcements from different provinces, and the three princes, Mu’azzam, ‘A’zam and Akbar, were placed in command of separate divisions of the army. He himself marched to Ajmer in August, 1679, to direct the military operations. Jodhpur was captured and pillaged.
But this aggressive policy of the Mughul Emperor led the brave Sisodias of Mew&r to join the desperate Rathors of Marwar. Rana Raj Singh of Mewar was a relative of Ajit Singh, whose mother was a Sisodia princess. ‘He also considered that the annexation of Marwar exposed Mewar to the danger of Mughul conquest. Further, the revival of the jizya, after many years, incensed him highly.’ Through the Rathor-Sisodia, alliance, the Rajput war assumed the aspect of a national rising in defence of lib
