The Watan Jagirs

Introduction

During the Mughal period, the Mughals institutionalized a new concept of Watan Jagirs, in which the word Jagir refers to the land grant and Watan refers to the territories of local rulers of that particular area. In a way after several battles with the Mughals, these local kingdoms accepted the suzerainty of the Mughal rulers. This strategy of Watan Jagir was started during the reign of Akbar, who realized that in order to expand and consolidate his empire, it is important to have the support of the Rajputs.

Therefore, he tried to gain the loyalty of the Rajputs by implementing the concept of Watan Jagirs by giving them high positions with considerable autonomy. By the eighteenth century, these rulers of Watan Jagirs tried to consolidate and extend their control over adjacent areas.

What is Watan Jagir?

During the Mughal era, the Rajputs remained the main challenge for them to expand and consolidate their empire. For this, they came up with the idea of Watan Jagirs. In this system, even though the Mughal kings won the battle they did not annex the kingdom of the defeated ones rather the king of that particular area or province was allowed to continue to rule his kingdom provided he had to accept the subjugation of the Mughal ruler. So in this concept, a king remained a king of his kingdom under the overlordship of the Mughal emperor. After a point in time, these kings were given considerable autonomy in their Watan Jagirs.

One of the interesting facts about this Watan Jagir was not hereditary e.g. if a king of a Watan Jagir dies then that whole Jagir will not be inherited by his successor rather some parts of that Watan will be given to the successor according to his mansab. In this way, the Mughals used to keep control over Rajput kings.

Several Rajput clans accepted Mughal over lordship except two; one was of Sisodiyas of Mewar and the other was Chauhans of Ranthambore. The tussle between Rana Pratap Mewar and Mughals resulted in the battle of Haldighati in1576 BCE. The Mughal army under Raja Man Singh’s command defeated the Rajputs.

Rajputs and Mughals

It was very important for the Mughals to win the support and trust of Rajputs in order to expand their empire. Therefore, the Mughals tried to gain the loyalty of Rajputs by strengthening their ties with them, assigning them high posts in administration and army, and also by adopting non-interference policies in their internal affairs as well as providing them Watan Jagirs.

Until Shajahn’s reign, the Rajput-Mughal relations were well managed but with the succession of Aurangzeb to the Mughal throne, these relations started worsening. And this became a matter of concern for both Rajput rulers and the Mughal nobility. Though this system of Watan Jagir was initiated by Akbar, it was firmly established during the reign of Jahangir. Some Rajput kings were given considerable independence to rule their Watan, such as Rajput rajas of Amber and Jodhpur. Some of these Rajput rajas served very loyally to the Mughals. As a result of their service, they were given outside Jagirs(the neighbouring ones) or subas to take charge of along with their own Watan Jagirs. Raja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur received the Subedari of Gujarat and Malwa and Sawai Raja Jai Singh of Amber was held with the Subedari of Malwa.

With the weakening of Mughal rulers these Rajput kings now started extending their territories by invading the areas neighbouring their Watans, which were parts of imperial or Mughal territories. Two such examples of this kind of expansion were the annexation of Nagpur by Rajputs of Jodhpur and the seizure of Bundi by Amber.

Roles and Duties

Rajput's chiefs were serving in high posts in the Mughal empire. A few important examples of important Rajputs from the Mughal administration and army were Raja Todarmal, Birbal, Man Singh, etc.

Raja Todarmal was in charge of the revenue administration during Akbar’s reign. He made reforms in the field of revenue administration. Therefore, the whole revenue system made by him was called ‘’Todar Mal’s Bandobast’

Another important Rajput in Akbar’s court was, Birbal, who was the main adviser of the emperor and also the commander in chief of the Mughal army. Similarly, Raja Man Singh was another important general of the Mughal army.

Rise and Decline

The succession of Aurangzeb to the Mughal throne damaged the Mughal–Rajput relations, which were very well maintained by his predecessors because they were familiar with the fact that Rajputs' support was essential to consolidate their empire. Aurangzeb brought many changes to his policies. These changes included the confiscating of the territories given to Rajput kings as ‘Watan Jagirs’, did not assign them important posts, and started interfering in their religious and internal affairs. All these things offended the Rajputs. And now they started conspiring against the Mughals. This is how Rajputs started losing their importance.

At the same time, Marathas came to dominate the position and became one of the power rebels of the Mughals and Rajputs. Hence, the Rajput influence came to an end along with the later Mughals and the Maratha confederacy came to rise in India.

Conclusion

During the sixteenth century the Mughal-Rajputs relations developed due to the political need of the time, for two of the important ruling elites of northern India to consolidate their position. One important step towards this relationship was the allotment of Watan Jagirs to Rajput kings with some autonomy. Gradually, these Rajput kings started expanding their Watan Jagirs by seizing the neighbouring territories.

But by the seventeenth century, this relationship started suffering setbacks against the backdrop of the steady expansion of the Empire. Internal conflicts among the Rajputs and the proclamation of the independent regional kingdom also paved the way for the decline of both. Ultimately the rise of Maratha served as a major challenge to the prominence of the Mughal-Rajput relations.

FAQs

Q.1. Who were the Rajputs?

Ans. The Rajputs originated from the Kshatriya clan of the Varna system. These Rajputs were mainly warriors who used to fight in wars and battles. The protection of the area lies on their shoulders. Other than this, they used to perform administrative duties as well.

Q.2. How did Aurangzeb’s religious policy offend the Rajputs?

Ans. All the Rajput rulers were Hindu and Aurangzeb wanted to convert the whole of India into a land of Islam. In order to accomplish that goal, he took many steps against Hindus like the imposition of Jaziyah, demolishing temples and idols and discriminatory tolls for Hindu traders, etc. All these things offended the Rajput rulers and they started losing their trust in the Mughals.

Q.3. What were the revenue reforms known as Todarmal’Bandobast?

Ans.

• The land was measured with a measuring rod called jarib.

• The land was divided on the basis of its quality like good, middle and bad.

• Revenue was fixed for one of the products over ten years.

• Tax collection was to be done with kindness.

• If some natural disaster was there, payment was cancelled.

Q.4. Who were Marathas?

Ans. Marathas were ferocious rebels of the Mughals, who were united under the leadership of Chatrapati Shivaji. They were famous for their Guerrilla technique of fighting. And they emerged as a tough challenge not only for the Mughals and Rajputs but also for the British empire.

Q.5. Why were the factors for the downfall of the Mughal empire after Aurangzeb?

Ans.

• There was no clear succession policy for the throne. So these Mughal princes indulged in a war of succession.

• The nobility of the Mughals started becoming more powerful than the Mughal kings.

• After Aurangzeb, all the Mughal rulers were very weak. Unlike their predecessors, they were not able to hold and strengthen the empire.

• The empire extended almost the whole of northern India and some parts of Southern India as well. Hence, managing such a vast empire also became a challenge for later Mughals.