Maharaja Suraj Mal: The Jat Odysseus; Image Source: Quora

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The Jat community consisted of non-elite tillers and herders belonging to North India and Pakistan. Jats were originally pastoralists from the Indus valley civilisation of Sindh, but later on, migrated to the north. In medieval times, they further shifted to Punjab and then to Delhi, northeastern Rajputana, and western Gangetic plain. The Jats were one of the firsts to rebel against the Mughal Empire during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. They also played a pivotal role in the development of Khalsa Panth. However, the Jats were given importance only after Maharaja Suraj Mal came to power in the 18th century. The Jat community was considered to be one of the most powerful revolutionary communities of India under the dauntless leadership of Suraj Mal.

By the 20th century, the Jats became quite influential in states like Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi. With changing times, the Jats have shifted from the agricultural profession to professional and corporate jobs and have also used their dominant and influential status to reach the higher ranks of the society.

> Now, let's meet one of the spokesperson of the Jat community, under whom the community flourished and became powerful. Popularly monikered as “the Plato of the Jat tribe” or “Jat Odysseus” by contemporary historians, he is known for his "political sagacity, steady intellect, and clear vision".
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Maharaja Surajmal came into the world on 13 February 1707. This is a similar date in history on the day when Aurangzeb breathed his last. Surajmal is taken with extraordinary pride among the lords who have a unique spot in north India for giving a befitting answer to the attack of the Mughals. He was the child of Raja Badan Singh and was also a talented administrator, visionary, and an affluent ruler of strategy. He had turned into the “universally adored” in Braj Pradesh because of his boldness from immaturity. He is considered as the sole spokesperson to have united the Jats and at the same time, he also fought several wars to keep the legacy of the Jats alive.

> Maharaja Suraj Mal vanquished the site of Bharatpur from Khemkaran Sogaria, the child of Rustam, in the year 1733 and set up the Bharatpur town in the year 1743. He invigorated the city by building an enormous divider around the city and began living there in the year 1753.
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The foundation stone of Lohagarh Fort was laid down in the eighteenth century by Raja Suraj Mal. It is the main stronghold in India that nobody in history has won. Lohagarh Fort is viewed as probably the most grounded stronghold because the British couldn't catch it despite a few assaults. Master Lake blockaded the fortress in 1805 for a considerable length of time yet after so many assaults, he was unable to overcome it. Not only Lohagarh, but Suraj Mal assembled numerous other fortifications and castles.

Jawahar Burj and the Fateh Burj were built to celebrate the triumph over the Mughals and British. The fortification is encircled by profound canals. There is a legend that expresses that the fortification will tumble down assuming a crocodile takes up all the water of the canals. There is additionally a legend that expresses that a door of the fortification was brought from Delhi which Alauddin Khilji brought from the stronghold of Chittorgarh. The entryway was brought and fixed in the fortress in the seventeenth century.

General Lake attacked the fort to create a situation of enmity and misunderstanding between the Rajputs and Marathas. During that time, Holkar was under his protection and he refused to hand him over to the Britishers. The Englishmen attacked the fortification and assaulted it under the order of Lake, but were crushed gravely. A significant number of their fighters and officials were killed. In the following two days, the British broke the divider, but the Jats assaulted them through gunnery.

> In the third assault, the British effectively crossed the channel yet, the assault by the Jats filled the canal with the dead bodies of the soldiers. General Lake was approached to find a harmonious arrangement yet, he rejected saying that support is coming. The consolidated powers of Holkar, Amir Khan, and Ranjeet Singh assaulted the British.
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At the point when the British restored their army to power from the soldiers that came from Mumbai and Chennai. Yet, the British fighters were assaulted by rocks and some of them managed to enter the fort, but not before experiencing weighty misfortunes. Around 3000 were killed and a few thousand were harmed. Later on, Lake went into a ceasefire with the Rajputs.

Maharaja Suraj Mal assaulted Delhi on 9 May 1753. The Nawab of Delhi Ghazi al-Din III was crushed on 10 May 1753 and Delhi was captured by Jats. Many individuals left Delhi and set out toward what is presently New Delhi. The Mughal armed force couldn't secure them. On 13 May Safdar Jang was excused as wazir and designated in his place Intijam, with Imad as Mir Bakshi. On Suraj's recommendation, Safdar Jang responded by designating Akbar Adilshah as the head. On 14 May the Jats fired Charbag, Bag-e-kultat, and Hakim Munim Bridge, and the following day Jaisinghpura, consuming a few regions. On 16 May, the Jats assaulted Delhi and crushed Sādil Khan and Raja Devidatta in a fight. On 17 May the Jats caught Feroz Shah Kotla. In the battle against the Rohillas, Najib Khan was injured and 400 Rohillas passed on. The Nawab of Delhi called for help from the Marathas.

> But this was not all as Suraj Mal went on many such wars and captured several powerful areas of India. These areas include Kumher, Farrukhnagar, Bharatpur, and Agra Fort.
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Out of all these captures, one of the most phenomenal was the capture of Agra. Agra was the most extravagant town during that period. Maharaja Suraj Mal chose to catch Agra's post to restore his impact in the Doab district. On 3 May 1761, the Jat multitude of Suraj Mal with 4000 Jat fighters arrived at Agra under the order of Balram and gave the message of Maharaja Suraj Mal to the *kiledar* at the Agra post that the military needed to cross the Yamuna and required setting up camp spot. The *kiledar* gave the authorization for setting up camp. In the meantime, the Jat armed force began entering the fortification, which was opposed by the guards. Jat armed force began the battle from Jama Masjid. During this period, Maharaja Suraj Mal remained at Mathura to keep an eye on the circumstances.

On 24 May 1761, Maharaja Suraj Mal alongside Imad and Gangadhar Tantya moved from Mathura, crossed Jamuna, and arrived at Aligarh. From Aligarh, his military moved and caught the spaces of the Jat ruler. They arrived at Agra to help his military in the principal seven-day stretch of June. Suraj Mal captured the relatives of the gatekeepers living in Agra town and threatened them to give up the fight. Finally, the *kiledar* consented to give up by getting a pay off of Rs 1 lakh and jagir of five towns. In this manner following a seize of one month, Maharaja Suraj Mal captured Agra Fort on 12 June 1761.

However, Suraj Mal couldn't live long to enjoy his victory. The Rohilla under Najib-ud-daula was now surrounded and the conflict was inescapable. Ruhella close by Baloch Sayyidu Muhammad Khan, Afzal Khan, Zaibita Khan had assembled the soldiers. But the number of soldiers and weaponry was still quite less as compared to King Suraj Mal’s army. The Jat’s raid on to the foe was prepared from both front and backside and it was sufficiently strong to have obliterated the consolidated Rohilla and Baloch in two days, however, an underhanded trap by Sayyidu close to the Hindon stream base took the King Surajmal with shock. Outnumbered by the enemy's army, King Surajmal died on the evening of 25 December 1763.

However, his legacy lives on even today. His huge cenotaph is at Kusum Sarovar, Govardhan, Uttar Pradesh. His *chattri* is flanked on one or the other side by two more modest *chattris* of his two spouses, "Maharani Hansiya" and "Maharani Kishori". These commemoration *chattris* were worked by his child and successor Maharaja Jawahar Singh. The engineering and cutting are in the penetrated stone style and the roof of cenotaphs are elaborated with artistic creations of the life of Krishna and Suraj Mal. His court artist Sudan recorded his history in *Sujan Charitra*.

> Eminent establishments have been named after him including Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology, Maharaja Surajmal Brij University, Bharatpur, and Surajmal Stadium metro station.
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Belonging to the powerful Jat community, he is said to be “the Plato of the Jat tribe” and “Jat Odysseus”, because of his “political sagacity, steady intellect and clear vision”. With pictures painting him as a grey personality, there is no evidence as to what kind of a person he was. 