Domicile and trends of Jats
Jats are a very ancient Indian community. It is often associated with agriculture and animal husbandry, it is a prosperous, hardworking and tribal-like community, which has been residing in large numbers in the fertile plains of North India and the fertile plateau of Central India. The Mahabharata first mentions a caste named Jatrik or Jatika, who lived in Punjab, it seems that in some period after the turmoil after the Mahabharata war, the Jat caste came out of the fertile plains of Punjab and traveled far and wide. Extended far and wide. Due to doing hard work like agriculture and animal husbandry freely in the fertile regions and following the ancient Vedic civilization, prosperity and freedom-loving are easily visible in the Jat caste. It is also believed that after the Naagyagya of Janamejaya, the remaining serpents left Indraprastha (Delhi) and spread to Nagpur (Maharashtra) and below. This is the reason that a large number of Jats reside in the districts of Delhi, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Agra, Mathura, Meerut, Hisar, Sikar, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Bikaner, Nagaur, Jodhpur and Barmer etc.
struggle of Jats of Braj region
The Do-Aab of Ganga-Yamuna was the most oppressed by the atrocities of the Muslim rulers of Delhi. The tendency of excessive collection of land revenue adopted by the Sultans of Delhi inflicted terrible atrocities on the peasants of Do-Aab. Many sultans adopted the policy of not taking rent from Muslim farmers and taking excessive land revenue from Hindu farmers, due to this it was natural for the Hindu peasants to be born rebellious. The farmers of this region were also very freedom-loving due to the residents of the prosperous region of Do-Aab, due to this the farmers of this region resisted the forces of Delhi Sultanate and the revenue collecting officials, resulting in atrocities on the farmers of this region. occurred in greater quantities. Many peasants had to leave their fields and flee into the forests, often in fear of the imperial armies. When peace was established, these farmers would again return to their lands. Many peasants had to face painful and terrible death at the hands of the soldiers. Nevertheless, the Jats of the Braj region maintained their control over their lands. Because of this, he had a fighting instinct. They organized in small groups and started facing the terrorists. This fighting instinct, adopted against the Muslim armies, proved to be a boon for the upliftment of the Jats.
During Akbar's time, Bayana, Bari, Todabhim, Khanua and Dholpur Mahal were under the Agra government located in the Agra province, while Gopalgarh, Nagar, Pahari and Kaman were under the princely state of Jaipur. A huge forest stood around Rupbas in those days, where Akbar often used to come for hunting. The governance system of this region continued till the time of Aurangzeb.
By the seventeenth century, from the boundaries of the state of Agra, Mathura, Koel (Aligarh), Mewat and Amer to Meerut, Hodal, Palwal and Faridabad, 20 miles from Delhi in the north to Gohad across the banks of the Chambal River in the south. By this time the Jat caste had spread extensively. Because of this, this vast area became famous as Jatwara. It became a great challenge for Shah Jahan to control this area. During the reign of Shah Jahan, Jats were prohibited from riding horses, possessing guns and building fortifications.
Slaughter of Murshid Quli Khan
In AD 1636, Shah Jahan appointed Murshid Quli Khan Turkman as Faujdar of Kama, Pahari, Mathura and Mahaban parganas to crush the Jats of Brajmandal. He treated the Jats with great humility due to which the Jats lost their lives after the life of Murshid Quli Khan. It happened that on Krishna Janmashtami, a huge fair of Hindus was held at Govardhan across the Yamuna near Mathura. Murshid Quli Khan also came to that fair wearing a disguise of Hindus, wearing a tilak on his head and tying a dhoti. His soldiers started walking behind him. He sorted out all the beautiful women in that fair and handed them over to his soldiers. His soldiers caught those women and took them to the boat. No one knew what happened to those women. At that time no one could say anything to Murshid Quli Khan, but after a few days in AD 1638, Jats killed him at a place called Jatwar (near Sambhal).
appointment of Amber Naresh Jaisingh
On this, Shah Jahan appointed Amber King Jai Singh to crush the Jats. Jai Singh successfully suppressed the Jats and collected revenue from them. Jai Singh wiped out a large number of Jats, dry fruits and Gujars and settled his trusted Rajput families in this area.
Gokula's leadership
Around AD 1699 the Jats were organized under the leadership of Gokula. Gokula Tilpat was the zamindar of the village. Tired of Aurangzeb's atrocities, he came to Mahavan. He got the Jats, Meos, Meenas, Ahirs, Gujars, Naruks and Pawars on his side and persuaded them not to pay taxes to the Mughals. Mughal general Abdul Nabi Khan attacked Gokula. At that time Gokula was in Sahor village. The Jats killed Abdul Nabi Khan and looted the Mughal army. After this Gokula burnt Sadabad village and looted the area heavily. Finally Aurangzeb himself came to the front and surrounded the Jats. The women of the Jats committed Jauhar and the Jats broke down on the brave Mughals. Thousands of Hindus were killed. Gokula was taken in handcuffs and taken before Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb asked him to accept Islam. Gokula refused to accept Islam. On this, Aurangzeb cut off every part of Gokula in front of the Kotwali of Agra and got him thrown. After drinking the poison of defeat, pain and humiliation, Gokula, dying mole and mole, went on the path of immortality of Vimal Kirti to maintain his freedom.
Rajaram's leadership
The kind of painful and humiliating death that Gokula received at the hands of Aurangzeb due to refusal to accept Islam, Aurangzeb also gave the same painful and humiliating death to many others. Due to this an atmosphere was created against the Mughals all around the country. From the end of Gokula the Jats were furious. This time they gathered under the leadership of Brajraj, Brajraj's brother Bhajja Singh and Bhajja Singh's son Rajaram. Brajraj was killed while fighting with the Mughals. Shortly after his death, a son was born from his wife's womb, who was named Badan Singh. Later on, Badan Singh also became the leader of the Jats. Brajraj's younger brother Bhajja Singh was a simple farmer. The family belonged to the village of Cincini. Bhajja Singh's son Rajaram was also of rebellious nature like his forefathers. It is said that once a person named Lalbeg was the police officer of Mau. He forcibly outraged the modesty of an Ahir's woman. When Rajaram came to know about this, he killed Lalbeg. Pleased with his bravery, the Jats followed him and Rajaram became their undisputed leader. Soon Rajaram started building pucca gadhaiyas (small forts) surrounded by earthen walls. When Rajaram's position became very strong, he started attacking Agra province. On this Aurangzeb summoned Rajaraj to Delhi and granted the chieftain of Mathura and the jagir of 575 villages.
Rajaram distributed his jagir among his brothers and sisters on regular condition of gunsmith and thus raised his regular army. Aurangzeb had thought that by getting the jagir, Rajaram would join with the Mughals and keep the Jats under control, but Rajaram did not care for the Mughals at all. Due to this the Jats started looting the government treasuries, merchants and military posts in the entire Jat region. Robbers started appearing all around. The movement of government goods and merchants between Agra and Delhi became difficult. Due to this loot, the Jats's strongholds started filling up with goods. On this Aurangzeb sent Shafi Khan as the Subedar of Agra to suppress the Jats. Rajaram attacked the fort of Agra. Shafi Khan got locked in the fort in fear. Rajaram and his companions plundered the Agra pargana with all their might. On this Aurangzeb sent Kokaltas Zafarjung to Agra but he too failed to suppress Rajaram. In AD 1687, Aurangzeb sent his grandson Shahzada Bedar Bakht against the Jats by giving a huge army. In the last week of March 1688, even before Bedar Bakht reached Agra, Rajaram surrounded Akbar's tomb at Sikandra during the night. After digging Akbar's tomb, he threw his bones in the fire and took off the gold and silver plates on the roof of the tomb. The bronze doors on the main entrance of the tomb were broken. From there he plundered the villages of the Mughals. Khurja pargana was also badly looted by him. The Thanedar of Palwal was arrested.
When Bedar Bakht proved ineffective against the Jats, Aurangzeb sent Amber King Bishan Singh against the Jats. He killed Rajaram in the battle field and beheaded him and sent it to Aurangzeb. Rajaram's ardent assistant Ramchehar was also caught in this war. He was beheaded and hanged in front of the Agra Fort. Aurangzeb celebrated a big celebration after seeing Rajaram's severed head. Aurangzeb could not be satisfied even with the death of Rajaram. He asked Raja Bishan Singh to annihilate the Jat caste itself. Bishan Singh was a born enemy of the Jats because the Jats used to loot his kingdom. He launched a terrible campaign against the Jats in which a large number of Jats were killed.
Jats of Cincinnati
In those days the Cincinna fort was the main center of power of the Jats. There were only thirty villages under Cincini, but this fort was surrounded by dense forests and marshes. Small forts of Panghor, Karsat, Sogar, Abar, Sankh, Raisis and Sonkhre-Sonkhari were built all around. It would not have been possible to reach Cincinna without winning them.
In AD 1688, Maharaja Bishan Singh laid siege on Sankh Garhi. It took four months to conquer it, but after that the road to Cincinna was opened. Apart from the Kachhwahas, Bishan Singh also had a Mughal army. He cut the forest around Sicily and captured Cincini on 15 February 1690. Rajaram's son Fatah Singh and Chudaman somehow escaped with their lives. 900 Mughal soldiers and 1500 Jat soldiers were killed in this war. After this, on 21 May 1691, Bishan Singh besieged Soghor Gadhaiya. Paddy was being transported to the fort that day. Due to this the gates of the fort were opened. At the same time, Bishan Singh reached there and took the fort under his control. Whoever picked up the weapon was killed there. The surviving 500 Jats were taken prisoner in the fort. After the defeat of Sinsini, there was a fight among the Jats and Rajaram's son Fateh Singh was held responsible for the defeat. The Jats chose Rajaram's younger brother Chudaman as their leader in place of Fatah Singh. In AD 1704, Chudaman re-conquered the fort of Cincini, but in AD 1705 this fort again went under the control of the Mughals.
The Jat ruler of Cincini, traces his relation to the Yaduvanshi king Madanpal. Madanpal was the third son of Tajanpal who was the ruler of Bayana in the eleventh century and later the founder of Karauli kingdom. A woman of Balchand, a descendant of Madanpal, belonged to the Jat caste. Two sons were born to this woman, one of whom was named Vijay and the other was named Sijay. Both these boys were considered as Jats and not Kshatriyas. Both these boys used to write their caste as Cincinnavar because the name of their native village was Cincini. Cincinna is 13 km south of Deeg. The Jat rulers of Bharatpur consider their relation to these Sinsinwars.
Chudaman's Leadership
After the death of Rajaram, Chudaman became the leader of the Jats. After the death of Aurangzeb in AD 1707, Chudaman greatly increased his power and plundered the elephants and treasury of Emperor Jahandarshah. He gathered his power in the Thun fort and started plundering the royal treasures, trading caravans and others.
On the death of Aurangzeb, his sons Bahadur Shah and Azam Shah quarreled over the authority over the Mughal throne. Both the sides fought face to face in Jajau ground and came to decide. Chudaman also brought his armies near these two armies. When the artillery was firing from both the sides, there was a sudden chaos in the battle field and Azam Shah's generals surrendered and started going towards Bahadur Shah. So Chudaman broke down on Azamshah's camp and started plundering in it. After a while, a fire broke out in Bahadur Shah's tent and there was chaos there too. On this Chudaman left Azam Shah's camp and broke down on Bahadur Shah's camp and plundered the defeated cantonment badly. In this way, Chudaman looted them impartially, without caring about the victory or defeat of both the parties. Bahadur Shah won this war. So Chudaman befriended Bahadur Shah. The emperor made Chudaman a mansabdar of 1500 zat and 500 sawars. Thus Chudaman became the mansabdar of the Mughals, not being a robber.
In AD 1712, Jahandar Shah sat on the throne of the Mughals. उसने चूड़ामन की मनसब समाप्त कर दी किंतु जब फर्रूखसीयर सिर उठाने लगा तो जहांदारशाह ने चूड़ामन को बुलाकर फिर से पुराना मनसब सौंप दिया। जब जहांदारशाह और फर्रूखसीयर की सेनाएं लड़ रही थीं तब चूड़ामन, जहांदारशाह की ओर से लड़ने के लिये युद्ध के मैदान में पहुंचा। जैसे ही जहांदारशाह की सेना भारी पड़ने लगी, चूड़ामन और उसके सैनिक लड़ाई करना छोड़कर फर्रूखसीयर का शिविर लूटने में लग गये। इससे फर्रूखसीयर को मौका मिल गया और उसने जहांदारशाह को परास्त कर दिया। जब फर्रूखसीयर दिल्ली के तख्त पर बैठा तब चूड़ामन उसके दरबार में उपस्थित हुआ ओर बादशाह को इक्कीस मोहरें तथा दो घोड़े प्रदान किये। बादशाह फर्रूखसीयर ने उसे राव बहादुर की उपाधि दी, एक हाथी दिया तथा मनसब का दर्जा बढ़ा दिया। साथ ही दिल्ली से चम्बल तक की राहदारी भी उसे सौंपी गई। चूड़ामन के राहदार के पद पर टिप्पणी करते हुए कानूनगो ने लिखा है- ‘एक भेड़िये को भेड़ों के झुण्ड का रक्षक बना दिया गया।’
चूड़ामन ने इतनी कठोरता से राहदारी वसूलनी आरम्भ की कि चारों ओर हा-हाकार मच गया। उसने थूण परगने के प्रत्येक मनसबदार तथा जागीरदार से दो रुपया प्रति मनसबदार तथा जमींदार से नजराना वसूलना आरम्भ कर दिया। अब वह जागीरदारों के मामलों में बेखटके हस्तक्षेप करने लगा। उसकी टोलियों ने मथुरा और सीकरी के परगनों के गांवों को लूटना आरम्भ कर दिया। चूड़ामन ने गुप्त रूप से अस्त्र-शस्त्र बनवाये और गढ़ियों को मजबूत कर लिया।
सवाई जयसिंह की नियुक्ति
जब चूड़ामन का आतंक बढ़ गया तब बादशाह फर्रूखसीयर ने जयपुर नरेश सवाई जयसिंह को विपुल धन एवं विशाल सेना देकर चूड़ामन के विरुद्ध भेजा। चूड़ामन बीस वर्ष की खाद्य सामग्री एकत्र करके थूण के दुर्ग में बंद हो गया। जब सवाई जयसिंह, कोटा के महाराव भीमसिंह तथा बूंदी के महाराव बुधसिंह को लेकर थूण के निकट पहुंचा तो चूड़ामन में दुर्ग में स्थित व्यापारियों से कहा कि वे अपना धन एवं सामग्री किले में छोड़कर किले से बाहर चले जायें। यदि युद्ध के बाद वह जीता तो उनके सामान की भरपाई कर देगा। व्यापारी बुरी तरह लुट-पिटकर किले से बाहर निकल गये।
कच्छवाहा राजा सवाई जयसिंह, हाड़ा राजा महाराव भीमसिंह तथा हाड़ा राजा महाराव बुधसिंह की सेनाएं सात माह तक थूण का दुर्ग घेरे रहीं किंतु चूड़ामन को किले से बाहर नहीं निकाल सकीं। इस पर मुगल साम्राज्य की पूरी ताकत थूण के विरुद्ध झौंक दी गई तथा थूण के चारों ओर का जंगल काटकर साफ कर दिया गया। इस प्रकार दो वर्ष बीत गये और इस अभियान पर मुगल बादशाह के दो करोड़ रुपये खर्च हो गये। अंत में ई.1718 में दोनों पक्षों (जाटों और मुगलों) में समझौता हुआ। इस समझौते से महारा जयसिंह को दूर रखा गया। इस समझौते के अनुसार चूड़ामन को क्षमा कर दिया गया और उसे अनी पत्नी, पुत्र तथा भतीजों सहित मुगल दरबार में उपस्थित होने के लिये कहा गया। डीग तथा थूण के किलों को नष्ट करने की आज्ञा दी गई और चूड़ामन को मुगलों की नौकरी में रख लिया गया।
जब कुछ समय बाद फर्रूखसीयर को गद्दी से उतारा गया तो चूड़ामन ने सैयद बंधुओं का साथ दिया। जब सैयद बंधुओं ने बादशाह का महल घेर लिया तब किले तथा महल की सारी चाबियां चूड़ामन ने ले लीं ओर बादशाह को अंधा करके कैद में डाल दिया गया। फर्रूखसीयर के बाद रफीउद्दरजात को तख्त पर बैठाया गया। इस पर शहजादे नेकूसीयर ने विद्रोह कर दिया। इस पर चूड़ामन नेकूसीयर के पास गया और उसने गंगाजल हाथ में उठाकर कसम खाई कि नेकूसीयर को सुरक्षित रूप से जयपुर नरेश के राज्य में पहुंचा देगा। नेकूसीयर पचास लाख रुपये तथा अपने भतीजे मिर्जा असगरी को साथ लेकर चूड़ामन के साथ चल पड़ा। चूड़ामन ने नेकूसीयर को तो रफीउद्दरजात को सौंप दिया तथा रुपये अपने पास रख लिये।
इस प्रकार चूड़ामन ने अन्य कई अवसरों पर भी बहुत से व्यक्तियों के साथ विश्वासघात किया तथा उन्हें लूट-खसोट कर दुर्भाग्य के हवाले कर दिया। उसने जाटों के विख्यात नेता एवं अपने भतीजे बदनसिंह को बंदी बना लिया। चूड़ामन के इस कुकृत्य से समस्त जाट, चूड़ामन से नाराज हो गये और वे चूड़ामन का साथ छोड़कर बदनसिंह के साथ हो लिये। चूड़ामन के लड़के चूड़ामन से भी अधिक धूर्त्त निकले। उसके पुत्र मोहकमसिंह ने अपने किसी सम्बन्धी की काफी बड़ी सम्पत्ति पर अधिकार कर लिया। इस सम्पत्ति में चूड़ामन के दूसरे पुत्र जुलकरण ने भी हिस्सा मांगा। इस बात पर दोनों भाइयों में झगड़ा हो गया तथा दोनों एक दूसरे को मारने के लिये तैयार हो गये। इस पर चूड़ामन ने मोहकमसिंह से कहा कि वह जुलकरण को कुछ सम्पत्ति दे दे। इस पर मोहकमसिंह चूड़ामन को भी मारने के लिये तैयार हो गया। इस पर चूड़ामन ने दुःखी होकर जहर खा लिया।
मोहकमसिंह का नेतृत्व
चूड़ामन के मरते ही मोहकमसिंह ने स्वयं को जाटों का नेता घोषित कर दिया और स्वर्गीय ब्रजराज के पुत्र बदनसिंह को बंदी बनाकर खोह नामक स्थान पर कारागार में डाल दिया। बाद में जाटों ने मोहकमसिंह के गुरु माखनदास बैरागी से कहकर बदनसिंह को छुड़वाया। बदनसिंह जयपुर नरेश सवाई जयसिंह के पास चला गया। मोहकमसिंह ने मुगल बादशाह को भी अपने विरुद्ध कर लिया। इससे जयसिंह ने मोहकमसिंह को थूण के किले में जा घेरा। मोहकमसिंह प्रबल शत्रु को सम्मुख आया देखकर स्वयं ही गढ़ी में बारूदी सुरंगें बिछाकर और उनमें पलीता दिखाकर गढ़ से भाग गया। बदनसिंह के माध्यम से जयसिंह को इस बात का पता लग गया। अतः महाराजा सवाई जयसिंह, थूण गढ़ से दूर चला गया और उसके प्राण बच गये।