Rajput and Mughals

It remains an incontrovertible fact that at present, Kshatriyas are probably the most reviled community in this republic. Decades long indoctrination and the malicious propaganda of spreading of disinformation has consciously altered the public perception and opinion when it comes to viewing Rajputs through the prism of history. A smear campaign of unprecedented proportions is being directed at Rajputs whereby they are often excoriated for accepting to become collaborators of the Mughals and thus apparently leaving their pitiful coreligionist masses at the mercy of the Muslim Turks.

Now of course, such preposterous slanders are devoid of any rationality and speak volumes about the lack of historical awareness and comprehension on the part of such propagandists.

Let’s begin by countering this inane line of reasoning by looking at the historical developments that were taking place in the isles of Great Britain at the same time when Hindu Rajputs were forging alliances with Muslim Turanis who later came to be known as the great Moghuls.

Queen Elizabeth 1st had to walk a precarious tightrope between the competing religious demands of vocal Protestants on the one hand and insurrection by the disaffected Catholics on the other. To counter the looming Catholic danger, England began to build ties with anyone who was an enemy of Catholic rulers in Europe. In the 1590s, for example, the English and the Moors participated in a ‘jihad’ against Catholic Spain.

A considerable effort was devoted by England to forge close relations with the Ottoman Turks. At a time when most of Europe looked on with horror as Turkish forces were all but knocking on the gates of Vienna, the English backed a different horse and refused to ally with the coalition of European Christian rulers against the Ottomans. The Sultan in Constantinople was assiduously courted with warm letters of friendship and the dispatch of gifts from the court of Queen Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s approaches to the Sultan were underpinned by the fact that with all the major Christian rulers united against the Ottomans, developing good relations with Constantinople seemed sensible foreign policy – as well as offering the prospect of developing commercial links.

Thus while the rest of the Christian Europe resisted hard to stem the tide of Ottoman expansion in the west, the English seemed to enjoy positive relations with them with Turks increasingly being seen as loyal and dependent as could be gauged from their positive portrayals in the famous Shakespearean plays such as Merchant of Venice and Othello.

Now here arises the pertinent question. Why is it that despite England openly choosing to defy and turn a blind eye to the bloody fate of their Christian co religionists at the hands of Ottomans, no modern historians term them as traitors to the religion of Christianity. We don’t see modern Catholics or Protestants using slurs such as Gaddar or Ottomanpoot for the English for opting to choose pragmatism over religious sensibilities.

Now therefore it’s reasonable to ask ourselves that why only Rajputs are singled out for apparently having sold out their religion to the invaders and turning into accomplices of Mlechchas when in fact the Mughal period saw a resurgence in the activity of popular Hinduism under the patronage of multitude of Rajput dynasties (The Ramcharitmanas, one of the most popular Hindu scripture today, was written during the same period and under the patronage of one of the most criticized figure of the period).

The concordat with the Mughals was done keeping in mind the foreign policy considerations as well as the safety of the common public. Thanks to these pacts, the masses residing in the Rajput Vatan Jagirs lived in relative peace after years of struggle thus contributing to the economy and prompting a surge in the trade activities in the Rajput held regions.

And yet, Queen Elizabeth is universally regarded as an astute statesman under whose regime England started emerging as a global superpower while Rajput stalwarts such as Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Veer Singh Bundela are merely brushed aside as turncoats who chose to collude with the imperialist to fill their coffers.

Such a deliberate attempt to paint all Rajputs with a single treacherous brush demonstrates that the current establishment seeks to use Rajput figures solely for their potential to polarize elections and societies. Those who do not serve this purpose are either ignored or targeted in propaganda literature. This approach aids in electoral prospects by consolidating a fearful electorate into a reliable voting bloc.

In any other country, the Rajput kings of yore would have been celebrated as heroes who for centuries stood defiant in the face of sustained foreign invasions while continuously sacrificing their lives in the service of dharma and rashtra. But as it turns out, expecting such basic gratitude is perhaps too much to ask for in this ungrateful republic whose very foundations were laid on the ruins of lost Kshatriya socio-political order.

• Sujaan Singh Shekhawat

Source: https://x.com/KshatriyaItihas/status/1802393501620895988