The Jats (1680)

Introduction

The decline of the Mughal Empire led to the emergence of numerous independent and semi-independent regional powers to assert their authority over the Mughal empire. The Jats were agriculturist settlers, living around Delhi, Agra, and Mathura who were offended due to the oppressive policies of Aurangzeb and started rebelling against the empire. These revolts started in 1669 under the leadership of Gokul, one of the zamindars of Tilpat (which corresponds to modern-day Faridabad in Haryana). After initial difficulties, they succeeded in setting up a new Jat state of Bharatpur under the leadership of Churaman and Badan Singh.

This Jat state of Bharatpur reached its zenith under Surajmal. He not only built an efficient administration but also expanded this kingdom to a greater extent. His state included the territories from the Ganges in the east to Chambal in the south. And the Subas Agra, Mathura, Meerut, and Aligarh became parts of the state.

Expansion of the Jat Power (1680-1707)

There were several leaders of this peasant community, who raised their voices against the oppressive systems of the Mughals. One such leader during the seventeenth century was Brij Raj of Sinsini (a village a few miles away from Bharatpur). He along with other Jats rebels rallied against the Faujdar of Agra, Mustafa Khan. He played an important role in gathering the villagers, who wanted to withhold the revenue asked by the Mughal administration.

Though earlier he promised the Faujdar of the area for cooperation in the matter, later with other villagers he resorted to dying than paying the revenue. And for this matter, Brij Raj called for an armed battle with the Faujdar’s army, and ultimately defeated the Faujdar Multafta Khan. In 1682 a Mughal contingent was sent to the stronghold of Bri Raj. In this battle, he lost his life along with his son Bhao Singh.

Another strong leader of the Jat community was Raja Ram, the son of Bhajja Singh(Brother of Brij Raj). He gave a tough challenge to the Mughals by conducting loot and plunders in Mughal territories. He organized the Jat communities into a proper standing army as he learned from the weakness of Gokula’s rebellion, that it is important to have a well-equipped army to fight against the advanced troops of the Mughals. And for this, he started making alliances with chieftains of different Jat clans. He even started building forts in the extreme interiors of the forest for protection and also practised guerrilla warfare for loot and plunders.

When Aurangzeb was busy in Deccan with Marathas, the northern part of the Mughal empire started weakening. This was taken as an advantage by Jats. They started conducting raids in several unprotected Mughal territories nearby Agra, to reduce the emperor's control over those regions. The Jats under Rajaram even tried to ransack Akbar’s tomb in Sikandra. But they had to encounter Abul Fazal(the Faujdar of the area), who saved the Akbar’s tomb and eventually the Mughals from this raid by Jats.

Raja Ram reappeared at Sikandra in 1688 and this time he succeeded in his plunder of Akbar’s tomb. This activity of Jats offended Aurangzeb so much, that he sent his grandson Bidar Khan to counter these Jat rebels. At that time, there was a war going on between the Rajputs of Chauhan and Shekewat. Raja Ram joined the side of Shekhawat and Bidhar Khan joined hands with Chauhan, and in this battle, Raja Ram was killed by a Mughal musketeer in 1688.

Prosperous Agriculturalists

The Jats were the largest community in the northwest part of the Indian subcontinent (India and Pakistan). This community comprised Hindu and Sikh people of the subcontinent. Initially, they were cattle and sheep herders but gradually they adopt farming as their main occupation. Probably the beginning of Jats as agriculturists in this region due to the emergence of the Indus valley civilization, where people started settling down near the river Indus. And the Indus river provided enough water for farming along with a fertile region. In the 1680’s they started dominating the area between the two important Mughal states Delhi and Agra. Two important states of Panipat and Bhallabhgarh became important trade centres under their domination. Over the years this land-owning community became an influential group in different parts of northern India like Punjab, some parts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi.

Surajmal and the Kingdom Bharatpur Emerged as a Strong State

The continuous revolt by the Jat community against the oppressive policies of the Mughals led to the formation of an important Jat kingdom under the chieftains of this community and finally set up an independent Jat state of Bharatpur. And this Jat state became more powerful under the leadership of Suraj mal(the son of Thakur Badan Singh). He efficiently administered his kingdom. To consolidate his power, he was not only facing clashes with the Mughals but also with the Marathas, Rajputs of Rajasthan, and Afghans.

Mughals tried to siege Bharatpur under the leadership of Sadat Khan. And the Mughals were successful in capturing one of the outposts. But when Raja Surajmal got to know about this he attacked them and besieged the Mughal camp. After this Sadat Khan made a peace and left Bharatpur. In 1792 Chaudhari Charan Das was given refuge by Raja Suramal against the Murtaza Khan(The governor of Faridabad) and royal Farman issued by the Mughal. On this, even one of the Rohilla nawab advised the Mughal grand wazir, Safdar Jang, that this Jat could not be defeated.

Mughals accepted this advice and they did not conduct any further actions against the Jat. And Surajmal was given Faridabad as jagir of Chaudary Charan das. This improved the relations between the Mughals and Jats.

The tension arose again when Ghazi-ud-din overthrew Safdar Jang as grand wazir and decided to take revenge on Surajmal. In 1754 with Maratha's support, he besieged the fort. This siege continued for three months. Then one of the Jat rani. Kishori Bai asked for help from Marathas and they could not deny this and helped Jats against the Mughals.

After this Surajmal had to face Afghans, as Ahmed Shah Abdali besieged the fort of Dig and asked for the tribute, which Surajmal was unable to pay. After a point of time, Abdali raise the siege and left the area but he again came back in 1760 to siege another fort of Koli(modern-day Aligarh). After this Suraj mal again decided to capture Agra fort to re-establish his influence in the Doab region and somehow he succeeded in doing so.

Ultimately, Surajmal died while fighting with Rohillas under Najib-ud-daulah. However, the Jat state suffered a decline after the death of Surajmal in 1763.

One of the famous pieces of architecture built by the Jat ruler was the garden palace at Dig. It was built in 1772 in Rajasthan few kilometers away from Bharatpur. This place was made in a Hindu style, combining the style of Agra and Amber. It was made for the leisure time of Jat rulers. It was in use till the 1970s.

Conclusion

With the disintegration of the Mughals, several kingdoms tried to assert their independence from Mughal sovereignty. One of them was the Jats, who were unhappy and offended by the anti-Hindu policies of Aurangzeb. From the second half of the 17th century, the Jat communities started retaliating against these policies in the form of revolts from different fronts. All these revolts paved the way for the formation of the Jat state of Bharatpur by Badan Singh. And the credit for bringing together all these Jat rebels and making Bharatpur a stronghold of the Jat goes to Raja Surajmal. But after the death of the strong leader Suraj Mal, the Jat kingdom began to decline as his successors could hold this kingdom efficiently like him.

FAQs

Q.1. What was the Gokula rebellion and when did it take place?

Ans. The Gokula rebellion took place in 1669 under the leadership of Jat Zamindar of Tilpat, Gokula Singh. He challenged the Mughal authority by withholding the increased land revenue.

Q.2. Which policies of Aurangzeb hurt the religious sentiments of Jats?

Ans. Aurangzeb’s religious policy in which he took anti-Hindu measures mainly offended the Jat community. He took several measures like religious persecution, destruction of temples, conversion to Islam and imposition of jizyah, etc. All these steps taken by Aurangzeb created discontent among the Jats.

Q.3. Who was Sadat khan?

Ans. Sadat Khan also called Nizam-ul-Mulk, was the governor of Awadh. Later he was given the title of ‘Khan Bahadur’ by Aurangzeb as he accompanied the Mughal emperor in the battle against Marathas in Deccan. He was also known as the founder of the principality of Awadh.

Q.4. Who are Jats? Where is this community found in present-day India?

Ans. The Jats were originally pastoralists but transformed into agriculturalists. Now, most of the Jat communities are predominantly found in Haryana along with some other parts of northern India like Punjab and Rajasthan.

Q.5. Why did the Jat state or kingdom fall after the death of Suraj Mal?

Ans. After Surajamal’s death, the state split into small areas controlled by the petty Zamindars who mainly lived by plunders and loot. They were never united by any leader after Suraj Mal, towards the establishment of a strong kingdom.