Page:History of India Vol 4.djvu/190

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148
THE RUIN OF AURANGZIB

upon every soul who did not conform to Islam – a tax which Akbar had disdained, and Shah Jahan had not dared to think of – their indignation knew no bounds. They repudiated the jizya, or religious tax, and contrived to spirit away the infant princes of Marwar out of the emperor's reach.

STREET SCENE IN JODHPUR.

It was the first serious rebellion during the reign, and its provoker little realized the effects which his fanatical policy would produce. He marched at once upon Rajputana, where he found two out of the three leading States, Udaipur (Mewar) and Jodhpur (Marwar), united against him, and only Raja Ram Singh of Jaipur (Amber) still loyal to the empire. The Rajputs kept twenty-five thousand horse, mostly Rathors of Jodhpur, in the field, and, although frequently driven into their mountains, were never really subdued. At