The Tale of the Horse: A History of India on Horseback by Yashaswini Chandra

Author:Yashaswini Chandra [Chandra, Yashaswini]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2021-01-22T00:00:00+00:00

The first major fallout between the Mughals and the Rajputs had less to do with the Sisodiyas and more to do with the Rathores of Jodhpur-Marwar.58 Jaswant Singh I, the Rathore ruler, had as a mansabdar led an army against Aurangzeb, then a prince looking to grab power from his father, Shah Jahan. However, on Aurangzeb’s accession after he had deposed his father, the new emperor and Jaswant were reconciled. The Rajput went on to become one of the main grandees of the realm. He died in Mughal service in Afghanistan without leaving behind an heir. He did, however, leave a glimmer of hope in the form of two pregnant wives, who had been with him in Afghanistan. His clansmen waited with bated breath for at least one posthumous son. The senior queen, of the Hada clan, took charge of the Rathores in the absence of a male head. She and, naturally, the two expectant mothers were spared from committing sati. Indeed, of Jaswant’s numerous consorts, only one did.59 Many concubines and female slaves also burnt themselves – although the ‘sacrifice’ of such women was never glorified as sati. These developments encapsulate the central, multifaceted role of women in bringing about the Rajput polity and shaping aristocratic culture.60 Inter-clan alliances were forged through marriage. Queens could overcome the restrictions of purdah – being veiled and secluded – and exercise power by virtue of being the most senior, the ruler’s favourite, the mother of the heir or ruler. Rajput women were expected to embody the caste ideal of honour and display a brute courage of their own by committing sati on their husband’s death or jauhar, mass self-immolation in times of war. While non-Rajput concubines were required to be as ‘dutiful’ as Rajput consorts,61 their sacrifice was considered a lesser one – more a reflection of their desperation, bereft of the means to support themselves without the patronage of their lord and master.62

The events that followed Jaswant’s death reveal that elite Rajput women also rode horses. The two widowed queens travelled from Afghanistan to Lahore, where both of them obligingly produced a son each, although one of the infants died soon after. The surviving heir, named Ajit Singh, was brought by the queens to Delhi and there he remained under the protection of Durga Das, Jaswant’s loyal aide. Even before any of this happened, Aurangzeb had assimilated most of Jodhpur-Marwar into the crownlands. He bypassed the infant Ajit’s claim passionately put forward by Durga Das and other nobles of the Rathore state and declared Inder Singh, a cousin of Jaswant’s, the ruler instead. This led to the so-called Rathore rebellion. To make matters worse, Aurangzeb decided that Ajit and the queens should be placed under his custody and sent a force to their base in Delhi to bring them. As the Mughal and Rathore troops clashed, Durga Das took advantage of the confusion and planned a daring escape. Collecting the infant, he rode off in the direction of Jodhpur-Marwar. According to

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