Dara and the Rajput princes

 Murad Ali Baig’s new novel Ocean of Cobras is an accurate history of the great Mughal Empire in the reign of Shah Jahan focusing on the bitter battles between prince Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb and his other brothers. Only the adventures of the narrator are fiction. It is riveting story of courage, action, betrayal, romance and tragedy.

The Rajput rajahs with their loyal private armies could be relied upon to be true to the masters to whom they were bound by strong codes of chivalry and pledged personal loyalties. Raised in the harsh deserts of Rajasthan they could uncomplainingly survive on meager food, sleep on the ground and unflinchingly suffer many hardships. They were a magnificent martial race usually sporting thick twirling moustaches and beards combed to left and right to imitate the fierce appearance of a tiger.

The loyalty of the Rajputs could also be totally relied upon because they were so deeply rooted to their own kingdoms that they had no ambition to conquer other places let alone challenge the Mughal Empire. Their mutual jealousies also ensured that they would not unite against the emperor. They could not also very easily rebel because they knew that their beloved kingdoms, with so many beautiful forts and palaces, were individually too small to resist conquest by the great Mughal armies if any of them should fall from Imperial favor. The Rajputs were consequently true to the masters to whom they were bound by their strong codes of chivalry. It was unthinkable for any of them to betray anyone whose salt they had eaten and they were willing to die for those they had pledged their loyalties.

The tall Afghans were another important pillar of the empire. They were a race of fearsome warriors but came from a country that had been so torn by war and strife for century after century that they had learned the necessity of being able to quickly change their loyalties to a winning side in order to survive. The Turki and Uzbek warriors were more dependable but, coming from the wild areas of Balkh, tended to be rather uncivilized. While many Turki, Afghan and Persian soldiers were excellent soldiers it was so much easier for a Mughal ruler to send a contingent of faithful Rajput vassals to undertake some onerous military task than to try to negotiate with groups of quarrelsome Muslim mansabdars.

Everything in Hindustan belonged to the emperor so the Muslim Umraos were only temporarily assigned tracts of lands or villages sufficient to yield the revenues needed to pay for the soldiers or services they were expected to produce and would lapse into the possession of the emperor upon their deaths. To ensure the constant loyalty of the Rajput clans their chiefs were the only Umraos who were allowed to inherit their properties. They therefore had much to gain from loyalty and everything to lose if they fell from imperial favor.

Many great Rajput lineages played important roles in the great drama. Raja Bharmal of the Kachwahas of Jaipur served Akbar from 1561 and his grandson Jai Singh was one of the chief commanders of Shah Jahan, Dara and later Aurangzeb. Jaswant Singh Rathor also served them faithfully. Raja Karan Singh with raja Jai Singh fought for Dara at Kandahar. The great clans of the Hadas, Jhalas and others also fought and died for Dara in Dharmat, Samugarh and finally in Deorai while many clans fought for or against Shah Shuja near Benares and Allahabad.

At Dharmat the imperial armies with redoubtable warriors like Mukand Singh Hada, Dayal Singh Jhala and Sujan Singh Sisodia, Quasim Khan and Iftikar Khan captured some of the new guns before being forced back. Six of the Rajput chiefs fell gallantly in the intense combat. At the end the furious eight hour battle six thousand imperial soldiers lay dead on the field. Two months later many more Rajput chiefs died gallantly in the decisive battle of Samugarh.

Not all the Rajput chiefs however supported the Mughals. Bir Singh Deo Bundela of Jhansi and Orchha rebelled against Shah Jahan and his grandson led Aurangzeb to a secret ford across the Chambal to outflank Dara. The hill rajas of Srinagar in Garhwal sheltered the gallant Sulaiman Shikoh son of Dara while raja Rup Singh of Jammu betrayed Dara at Deorai. The Sisodia rajas of Udaipur were the only Rajput clan to staunchly oppose the Mughals.

Ocean of Cobras takes the reader into the innermost heart of a magnificent era of Indian history.