Yuva Bharati - August 2007 - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

titles. Aurangzeb did not absolutely refuse,but suggested, supposedly for the infant’sown safety, that Ajit grow up in his harem.The nurturing of the head of the Rathoreclan in Aurangzeb’s staunchly muslimhousehold was not acceptable to the clan.Durgadas and others of the delegationresolved upon smuggling Ajit Singh out ofDelhi. Even as they approached theoutskirts of the city, the Mughal guard fellin hot pursuit of them. Durgadas and his300 men, notable among themRaghunandan Bhati, had to make theirescape while fighting hand-to-hand withthe much larger mughal guard. Every sooften, some 15-20 Rajputs would fallbehind to check the mughal pursuers, inthe process getting them killed, thusallowing the forward party to create somedistance between Ajit and the Mughals.This continued till the evening; Durgadaswas left with just seven men out of the 300he started with, but he managed to conveythe infant Ajit Singh to safety in Jaipur.Later, the infant was removed to the safetyof Sirohi, a remote town on the southernfringes of Marwar, and grew up inanonymity.For 30 years after this event, Marwarremained under the direct rule of a Mughalgovernor. During this period, Durgadascarried out a relentless struggle against theoccupying forces. Trade routes that passedthrough the region were plundered by theguerillas, who also looted varioustreasuries in present-day Rajasthan andGujarat. These disorders adverselyimpacted the finances of the empire.Durgadas done a wonderful great workfor unification of Mewar-Marwar-Marathaand Dundar, for this purpose he went tomeet Shambhaji at Raigarh and lived therefor six years. He also met with MaharajaSawai Jai Singh of Jaipur Maharana ofMewar (Udaipur) Raj Singh and his son JaiSingh, they also helped Durgadas in Nadolwar against Mughals. Aurangzeb’s sonAkbar rebelled against his father.Naturally, Durgadas extended aid to himin the rebellion and gave him title“Bharateshwar”. This venture came to anend, as Akbar died in exile at Iran; he lefthis children in the custody of Durgadas.Aurangzeb became extremely anxious toget his grandchildren back. He requestedDurgadas, who agreed to send them toAurangzeb. When the children arrived,Aurangzeb asked a Qazi to start teachingthem the Quran. On hearing this, his littlegrand-daughter began reciting ayats fromthe holy book. Aurangzeb was leftdumbfounded. On being asked, his granddaughtertold him that while she was inDurgadas’s custody, a Qazi had beenengaged to take care of their religiousinstruction. Aurangzeb although a staunchruler had tears in his eyes on this incidentand highly impressed by humanity ofDurgadas.Aurangzeb died in 1707; he was to provethe last of the great mughals. Durgadastook advantage of the disturbancesfollowing this death to seize Jodhpur andeventually evict the occupying mughalforce. Ajit Singh was proclaimed Maharajaof Jodhpur. He rebuilt all the temples thathad been desecrated by the occupyingmuslims.YUVA BHARATI - August 200716