RAS question
Veer Durgadas Rathore is celebrated for protecting which infant prince of Marwar from Aurangzeb?
Correct answer: (D) Ajit Singh.
Veer Durgadas Rathore protected Ajit Singh, the infant heir of Marwar, from Aurangzeb's attempt to control the succession after Maharaja Jaswant Singh's death.
Explanation
Ajit Singh is the answer because he was the surviving infant son born to Maharaja Jaswant Singh's widowed queens after Jaswant Singh died in 1678. Rathor ministers pleaded with Aurangzeb to recognise Ajit Singh's succession, but Aurangzeb instead kept the family under imperial guard and offered terms that threatened the infant heir's autonomy and faith. Durgadas Rathore then led the plan to free the child and his mother from Delhi, attacking the imperial guards so that Ajit Singh could be carried away. Durgadas protected Ajit Singh through the long struggle against Aurangzeb and eventually restored him to Marwar's throne.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Man Singh was a Kachwaha ruler, while this episode concerns the Rathor succession in Marwar after Jaswant Singh's death.
- (B) Bakht Singh belongs to a later Marwar generation, not the infant heir whom Durgadas rescued from Aurangzeb's custody.
- (C) Jaswant Singh was the deceased Maharaja whose succession created the crisis, not the infant prince protected by Durgadas.
Concept
This tests the Marwar resistance to Aurangzeb and the role of Rathor nobles in preserving regional sovereignty. RAS repeats this theme because Rajasthan history often links named warriors with succession crises, Mughal policy and local state formation.