Page 92 - SST Class 07

was also an able ruler who patronised art, learning. He ordered to cut down expenditure on
literature and architecture. He ruled up to 1754
and brought peace to the state.
Jats
The Jats were chiefly peasants who lived in Delhi,
Agra and Mathura on both sides of the Yamuna
River. When the revenue was increased from one-
third to one-half during the Aurangzeb’s rule, they
revolted under the leadership of Gokula .
However, they were suppressed. The Jats
continued to rise repeatedly. They were against
the Mughal policy of land revenue and religious
discrimination. After the death of Aurangzeb, they
established an independent state of Bharatpur
under the command of Badan Singh and
Churaman . The Jat state reached its glory under
Surajmal . The special feature of the Jat state was
that whenever the state was at war, the peasants
too picked up arms and fought by the side of the
regular army. However, after his death, this state
declined and broke up into a number of small
lands controlled by zamindars.
Rajputs
The Rajputs both fought and befriended the
Mughals since the beginning. As the early Mughal
rulers promoted them, they often cooperated with
them. However, Aurangzeb stopped promoting
them, so they turned against the Mughals. The
religious policy of Aurangzeb too played a key
role in this.
When the Mughal empire became weak under
Aurangzeb, many independent states were
established in Rajasthan. Sawai Raja Jai Singh of
Ambar was an outstanding ruler of the eighteenth
century. He ruled from 1699 to 1743. He was an
able administrator and a great warrior. He also
took interest in social reform and scientific
Sawai Raja Jai Singh Jantar Mantar in Delhi
Contemporary Social Science-7
92
weddings, so that the evil of female infanticide
could be eradicated. He also built up astronomical
observatories in Delhi, Mathura, Ujjain, Jaipur and
Banaras. He founded the city of Jaipur.
F ind Outind Out
Find out the places where Sawai Raja Jai Singh
established observatories.
Sikhs
The Sikhism started as a spiritual cult under Guru
Nanak ; however, it became a strong political and
military force by the time of Guru Gobind Singh ,
the tenth Sikh guru (1664-1708). The institution of
Guruship was vested in the Guru Granth Sahib ,
the holy book of the Sikhs. After Guru Gobind
Singh, Banda Bahadur rose as the leader of the
Sikhs. He struggled against the Mughals.
After the invasion of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah
Abdali, the Mughal empire became very weak.
Taking advantage of this situation, the Sikhs
brought the Punjab and Jammu under their
control. They organised themselves into 12 misls
or confederacies. These misls were equal in status
and cooperated with each other; but with time,
they started to fight among themselves. Maharaja
Ranjit Singh brought all these misls together and
became a formidable power in the Punjab, west of
the river Sutlej. He was an able ruler and
commanded a very strong and disciplined army.
His officers and soldiers included both Hindus
and Muslims. He built the Golden Temple at
Amritsar. The other Sikh states were Nabha,
Kapurthala and Patiala.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Guru Gobind Singh
Satnamis
The Satnamis were traders and peasants who lived
in and around Narnaul, now in Mahendragarh