RAS question
Veer Durgadas Rathore is associated with the protection of which prince?
Correct answer: (C) Ajit Singh.
Veer Durgadas Rathore protected Prince Ajit Singh, the posthumous son of Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur, from Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
Explanation
Veer Durgadas Rathore is linked with Prince Ajit Singh because the Marwar succession crisis after Maharaja Jaswant Singh's death turned on the safety of this infant heir. Sahapedia records that after Jaswant Singh died in 1678, Aurangzeb brought Marwar under direct Mughal administration. When Ajit Singh, Jaswant Singh's posthumous son, was born in Lahore in 1679, Aurangzeb demanded that the infant be brought to Delhi and surrendered to imperial custody. The Rathore contingent rejected that order, and Durgadas, along with Raghunath Bhati, staged an escape from the Mughal court. Ajit Singh was raised in concealment, Marwar sardars rallied around him, and he later regained his hereditary seat at Mehrangarh.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Man Singh belongs to a later Marwar episode in the cited Jodhpur history, while the protection episode under Aurangzeb names Ajit Singh as the infant heir.
- (B) Jaswant Singh was Ajit Singh's father and had already died before the succession crisis began, so he was not the prince protected by Durgadas.
- (D) Gaj Singh appears earlier in the Jodhpur succession line, but the cited account connects Durgadas's protection with Ajit Singh, not Gaj Singh.
Concept
This tests the RAS Rajasthan History theme of Rathore Marwar and its resistance to Mughal control. It recurs because Durgadas Rathore and Ajit Singh form a compact, high-yield example of succession, loyalty and regional assertion in Marwar history.