Battle of Sarai Sobhachand
The Battle of Sarai Sobhachand occured when Maharaja Abhay Singh of Jodhpur died. His son Ram Singh faced opposition from uncle Bakht Singh. Emperor Ahmed Shah supported Bakht Singh, sending Salabat Jung with soldiers. Salabat Jung trapped by Suraj Mal, chose peace after three days. Suraj Mal accepted, strengthening Jats and his own position.
| Battle of Sarai Sobhachand | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Bharatpur State |
 Mughal Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Suraj Mal Jawahar Singh Gokla Surat Ram Singh Balram Singh Pratap Singh |
Mir Bakshi Salabat Jang  Ali Rustum Khan †Hakim Khan †Fateh Ali Khan [1] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 7,500 | 18,000 | ||||||
Background[edit]
On June 21, 1749, Maharaja Abhay Singh of Jodhpur passed away. He was known for having a bad temper and a strong addiction to opium. Before becoming ruler, he didn't do well as Subedar of Gujarat. After his death, his son Ram Singh took over, but his happiness didn't last long. His uncle, Bakht Singh, also wanted to become ruler. Ram Singh sought help from Ishwari Singh of Amber. Emperor Ahmed Shah supported Bakht Singh, and in November, he sent Mir Bakshi Salabat Jung with an army of 18,000 soldiers to assist him. Instead of taking the usual Delhi-Agra road to Ajmer, Salabat Jung chose to go through Mewat, which was controlled by the Jat Raja. The plan was for Salabat to reclaim territory from the Jats in Agra and Mathura, which they had captured earlier. After dealing with the Jats, Salabat Jung was supposed to join forces with Bakht Singh in Ajmer.[2][3][4][5][6]
Battle[edit]
The Mir bakshi, Salabat Jung, took his time traveling. He stopped at Patuadi for ten days before going to Mewat and capturing the mud fort of Nimrana. Feeling confident, he ignored Suraj Mal's messenger and decided to challenge him. He forgot about Ajmer and Jodhpur for a while. Suraj Mal waited until the right moment. When Salabat Jung reached Sarai Sobhachand, the Jats attacked. Suraj Mal, with 6,000 soldiers, surrounded the Mughals on New Year’s Day 1750.[2][4][6] He had important Jat chiefs with him, like Gokla, Surat Ram Singh, Balram Singh with 1,000 troopers, and Pratap Singh with 500 horsemen. Salabat Jung found himself trapped with no way out. He asked for help from Delhi, but it arrived too late. The Jats attacked quickly and caused many Mughal casualties. Two important Mughal leaders, Ali Rustum Khan and Hakim Khan, were among the dead. Salabat Jung was now in Suraj Mal's hands.[2][3][5][6]
Aftermath[edit]
Three days later, Salabat decided it was smarter to make surrender than to keep fighting. Suraj Mal, showing wisdom, agreed to the peace offer because he didn't want to harm a high-ranking official.
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This showed he was a good leader; even though he was winning, he didn't want to start more trouble or make Delhi suspicious. Earlier, the Mir Bakshi had asked for a lot of money from Raja Badan Singh for a few villages, but Suraj Mal knew this wasn't fair. So, he asked his young son Jawahar Singh to talk to the Mir Bakshi and make peace. This was Jawahar Singh's first time doing this job, and he did it well.[2][3][5][6]
The Mir Bakshi agreed to these terms for peace with the Jats:
(i) The government promised not to cut down pipal trees or stop people from worshiping them.[2]
(ii) They wouldn't disrespect or damage Hindu temples in the area.[2]
(iii) Suraj Mal would collect fifteen lakh rupees from the Rajputs as Ajmer's revenue and give it to the government, as long as the Mir Bakshi didn't go beyond Narnol.[2][3][4]
This victory made the Jats stronger and confirmed Suraj Mal's leadership among them. At 43 years old, Suraj Mal became an important person in Hindustan because he was strong, good at making deals, good at managing things, and he understood what was happening in the world.[2][3][6]
References[edit]
- ^ Kalikaranjan, Qanungo (1925). History Of Jats. pp. 72–74.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Singh, Natwar (1981). "Maharaja Surajmal". Internet Archive. pp. 34–36.
- ^ a b c d e Dwivedi, Girish Chandra (2003). The Jats: Their Role in the Mughal Empire. Originals. pp. 130–133. ISBN 978-81-88629-08-4.
- ^ a b c Sahai, Jwala (1898). History of Bhurtpore. Patrika Press. pp. 56–57.
- ^ a b c Sarkar, Jadunath (1964). Fall Of The Mughal Empire Vol. 1. pp. 192–193.
- ^ a b c d e Qanungo Kalikaranjan (1925). History Of Jats. pp. 73–74.