The south continued to be the arena in which the martial Rajput sought renown, and the emperor had only rightly to understand his character to turn the national emulation to account. Shah Jahan, in the language of the chronicler, “became a slave to the seraglio,” and sent his sons, as viceroys, to govern the grand divisions of the empire. The first service of Jaswant was in the war of Gondwana, when he led a body composed of “twenty-two different contingents” in the army under Aurangzeb.[[2]] In this and various other services (to enumerate which would be to go [48] over the ground already passed),[[3]] the Rathors were conspicuous. Jaswant played a comparatively subordinate part, until the illness of the emperor, in A.D. 1658, when his elder son Dara was invested with the powers of regent.[[4]] Prince Dara increased the mansab of Jaswant to a leader of “five thousand,” and nominated him his viceroy in Malwa.
The War of Succession.
Campaign against Aurangzeb, A.D. 1657-58—The Battle of Dharmātpur.
Of all the deeds of heroism performed on this day, those of Ratna of Ratlam, by universal consent, are pre-eminent, and “are wreathed into immortal rhyme by the bard” in the Raesa Rao Ratna.[[10]] He also was a Rathor, the great-grandson of Udai Singh, the first raja of Maru; and nobly did he show that the Rathor blood had not degenerated on the fertile plains of Malwa. If aught were wanting to complete the fame of this memorable day, which gave empire to the scourge of Rajputana [50], it is found in the conduct of Jaswant’s queen, who, as elsewhere related,[[11]] shut the gates of his capital on her fugitive lord, though he “brought back his shield” and his honour.
Battle of Jājau.
Battle of Khajwa.
Policy of Jaswant Singh.
The wily tyrant had, in all these changes, used every endeavour to circumvent Jaswant, and, if the annals are correct, was little scrupulous as to the means. But the Raja was protected by the fidelity of his kindred vassalage. In the words of the bardic chronicler, “The Aswapati,[[16]] Aurang, finding treachery in vain, put the collar of simulated friendship round his neck, and sent him beyond the Attock to die.”
The emperor saw that the only chance of counteracting Jaswant’s inveterate hostility was to employ him where he would be least dangerous. He gladly availed himself of a rebellion amongst the Afghans of Kabul; and with many promises of favour to himself and his family, appointed him to the chief command,[[17]] to lead his turbulent Rajputs against the equally turbulent and almost savage Afghans. Leaving his elder son, Prithi Singh, in charge of his ancestral domains, with his wives, family, and the chosen bands of Maru, Jaswant departed for the land of the “barbarian,” from which he was destined never to return.