Invincible Jat Forts of the Mughal Empire

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The invincible Jat forts in the Mughal Empire Political turmoil enveloped the ‘Jat-belt’ that stretched between Delhi and Agra in the seventeenth and the eighteenth century. A close scrutiny of documentary evidence indicates that there was a network of Jat forts and strongholds which buttressed their recalcitrant activities in the said period. The zamindars of the Mughal Empire maintained forts in their administrative area. It was only after the Jat become seditious that these forts became a cause of Mughal concern. The intention in this paper is to investigate the geographical layout, mode of fortification and operation of Jats to asses how their powerful sway came about over a considerable area of the “core” of the Mughal Empire and how their resistance came to occupy such magnitude for the Mughal Emperor. The above investigation will be based on information contained in Vakils Report and medieval maps and documents in the Kapad Dwara collection. The documents under study are daily reports or Arzdasht send by Vakil of the Raja from the Mughal court and other chief postings of the Amber Raja. The medieval maps of Kapad Dwara are unique in the sense that they indicate the geographical layout of the said forts. The most important aspect of the Jat forts was that they built these edifices in so thick jungles that it was difficult to enter even for beasts.1 It provides the Jats a strong defense. These forts were strongly fortified, especially like Bharatpur, Dig, Kumbher etc. The walls of the forts were so high and some of the forts have many bastions at intervals which make these edifices more massive and strong. A very deep and wide ditch was also dug all around the fort like in the fort of Thun which was always full of water so that no one could dare to reach inside the fort2. Their mud ramparts, coated with bricks and rocks were formidable in
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