When Did India Become Modern

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Coming to the examples you have given. Please read about the events leading up to Panipat III. Rajputs always kept themselves aloof. They had more to complain against the Marathas than against Abdali. Sikhs did not form any alliance with Marathas, rather they harassed Abdali afterwards. Jats were with Marathas initially for purely political reasons, but with difference creeping between the Jat king Suraj Mal and the Maratha commander Sadashivrao "Bhau", Jats left the Maratha alliance. In contrast Najib formed an alliance uniting the Muslims. Though he was also a politician than a religious bigot who used religion for his political ends. However Shuja ud Daulah, the Nawab of Awadh joined them only because it being an Islamic force. The Maratha defeat was as much a result of them not being able to form effective alliances as also due to their haphazard way of fighting in the actual battle. I admire Marathas but they thougthlessly alienated the Rajputs and Jats, due to their marauding tactics and extortionary attitude, but they are still significant compared to the others, because they had a national conception sorely lacking in others. They had an interest in almost all parts of modern India, be it Deccan south, or Bengal Orissa, the Central plain or the northwesten frontier.

The Rajputs were more wary of the Marathas during these times and right upto the end of eighteenth century, than even the British or any other power. I don't think Sawai jai Singh would have liked to willingly let go off Malwa, he was the Mughal Subhadar and Malwa was a very rich province. In fact there is an interesting incident between Baji Rao and Sawai jai Singh. They met each other to resolve some differences, when Baji Rao was onwards to a campaign cum pilgrimage to the north. Baji Rao's mother was with him. As Baji Rao and Jai Singh were seated beneath a canopy, smoking a hookah, Baji Rao, the rugged no nonsense warrior that he is tried to deliberately irritate Jai Singh by blowing the smoke on his face. Jai Singh was seething with fury inside, but still had to control himself. There is also incident of a treacherous massacre of Marathas by Rajputs after the Rajputs had called them a feast. Jayappa Shinde, the elder brother of Mahadji was murdered by Rajputs. After the battle at panipat a lot many Marathas were killed while escaping to home by Jat cultivators who had earlier been looted by the Marathas. Doesn't speak much for nationalism does it? (on the part of both the Marathas and Jats) I believe, it is essential to understand closely the geopolitics of those times than make sweeping generalizations. Its not that Marathas or Rajput were fools not to realise that they had better unite. They simply couldn't because the geopolitics of those times, their opposing systems could not allow them to unite. There was one initiative where Hyder Ali, Nizam and Marathas united against the British and decided to simultaneously launch attacks on the British at Bombay, Madras and the Circars. But it flopped, because there were more difference of interests between these powers than commonalities. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Actually you need to read the primary sources, letters that were exchanged between the rulers of the time, Sawai Jai Singh wanted Malwa for himself but he realised that the Marathas were more powerful and he would not get it, so he did the next best thing, he worked behind the scenes to screw over the Mughals so that the Marathas get it in the end (they being fellow Hindus).
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Beyond doubts, Jaysing was the patron of Hindu religion and culture. It was his ambition his kingdom from Yamuna to Narmada(27). There was nothing unnatural in it as after the fall of Farrukh Siyar, every Mughal Chief tried to create and independent position for himself, even Giridhar Bahadur(28) in Malwa was not an exception to this rule. It is correct to say that in calling the Marathas into Malwa in 1728 A.D.(29) , his action was motivated by self interest. But when he saw that he could not retain Malwa for himself, he was not sorry to leave it into the hands of the Marathas, because in the view of the Rajpurts of the generation of Sawai Jaysing there was definitely a difference between the Malwa under the Maratha Government and the Malwa under the Mughal Government. Had it not been the fact then Sawai Jaysing would have been the enemy of the Marathas especially after 1736 A.D. when their hold on Malwa was established beyond doubt.

After the defeat the death of Giridhar Bahadur at the hands of Chimaji Appa, Sawai Jaysing congratulated Nandlal Mandloi (30) thus, "You have defended our religion in Malwa and crushed the Muhammedans(31) , establishing Dharma. You have fulfilled my desire." He was ambitious no doubt but he was religious minded as well. And hence his ambition could not carry him to extreme limit in opposing the Marathas for the possession of Malwa, so as to join hands with the Turani party. He would have certainly liked to retain Malwa for himself to fulfill his cherished dream of the expansion of his kingdom. And he did all efforts to achieve it. But he was sufficiently religious minded to see that in the acquisition of Malwa by the Marathas he was leaving that province to another Hindu power that was nothing but friendly to him. It is a well-known fact that he was the well wisher and supporter of Bajirao till the death of the latter.

There should be no doubt about the fact that Sawai Jaysing saw the “Establishment of Dharma”, in the victories of the Maraths over the muslims (32) had he called the Marathas for his personal gain alone, the story would not have continued from 1728 A.D. till the cession of the Subha of Malwa to the Maraths . It is through him that the demands of the Bajirao (33) relating to Malwa reached the Emperor and it is through his efforts that Balajirao-Bajirao's son-got the Sanad of Malwa in 1741 A.D. It was due to this partiality of Jaysing towards the Marathas that Sadat Khan gained the confidence of the Emperor in 1735 A.D(34) . This common factor of Hindu religion between the  Rajputs and the Marathas was known even to the Emperor. He feared that if Jaysing were displeased, he, being a Hindu, would join Bajirao(35) .

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"Your Highness must be aware of the cordial ties that existed among our elders. I hope, by the kindness of Shri Ramji, the ties between us shall grow still closer. Shah Alam, after becoming the Emperor, resumed my watan, and called Maharaja Ajit Singh to the Court assuring him that Jodhpur would be restored to him, but did not do so. This news must have reached Your Highness. I, on my part, spared no effort, to serve the Patshah, but he harbors malice towards the Hindus, and on one pretext or another wants to ruin them. For this reason, and as it was considered necessary, we broke off from the Emperor and came to Rana Amar Singh at Udaipur, an after (full) deliberations decided that if the Patshah even now becomes favourable towards the Hindus and restores mansabs and watans, as had been enjoyed by their ancestors, then it is all right, otherwise the Hindus will also do what they can. So far we have expelled the faujdars and qiledars from Amber and Jodhpur, and have established our control there, and shall now be leaving for Amber. Ranaji will also join (us) on Dashera (there). Your Highness is the Sardar of the Deccan. The honour of all the Hindus is one and the same. Hence, you take such measures that just as by entangling Patshah Alamgir in the Deccan, the honour of Hindustan was upheld, in the same manner this Patshah too should not be able to extricate himself from there. Earlier, Your Highness servants had accompalished this much, but now you yourself are there. Kam Baksh is also in Bijapur, Haidarabad. In alliance and in consultation with him, you will no doubt do what you think is proper, so that the Hindus have an upper hand in this conflict. What more I write".

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In his letter dated October 16, 1708 to Chhatrasal(91) , Jai Singh wrote that the trouble started when the Emperor, while granting them mansabs, incorporate the parganas of their watans into khalisa. "Your Highness knows well as to how one can live without a watan and what is (the importance) of a mansab without the watan. Informing Chhatrsal about the Rajput victory at Sambhar in which three thousand of the enemies were killed, and expressing his confidence that similar victories would be gained by them in future also, he wrote, "If Sardars like Your Highness gird up their loins, then the honour of Hindustan would no doubt be maintained. Other zamindars, mansabdars and the Rajas of the intervening region have already united and have removed the thanas of the Turks from their territories. Shri Ranaji too must have written to Your Highness (to do so). You will please join us early for the sake of the honour of th entire Hindu race. As we all Hindus hae common ties, you will not delay in coming towards this side." He asked Chhatrasal to send the names of the prominent zamindars of the east whom they might contract and requested him to write letters to all such chiefs with whom he had intimate contracts. "This is no longer as issue which concerns any one person; now it concerns all the Hindu (rulers) ", he concluded.

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Hence it is incorrect to say that the Rajputs always kept themselves aloof.

The friendship lasted only as long as Baji Rao I was at the helm and we had rulers like Jai Singh and Ajit Singh on the other side who were religious, by the time of Panipat the Marathas alienated them, even the Jats did not like the Marathas but cooperated only because of the common religious factor binding them and also because they themselves did not want Abdali to establish another Muslim empire in India.

It was Surajmal who later gave shelter to many Maratha survivors and spent money from his own pocket to rehabilitate and feed them and he had no need of doing so since he had no political advantage except a big hole in his pocket.

The idea that the British needed to tell us that we had something in common is not true as the letters of Sawai Jai Singh and other rulers show us, they were all aware of what we had in common, if we say that the British united us then that still wouldn't be really true because even during the independence movement Muslims always stayed aloof from the freedom movement with some exceptions.

The only thing that the British did was to give us the idea of political unity and also united many Hindus in a bid to push the British out, the idea of commonality was already there among Hindus before the British came but we only managed to unite more stronger than ever against the British.