Durgadas was born in 1638 CE in Salwa Village. He was the son of the third wife of Askaran who was in service of Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur. Askaran had been given the Jagir of Salwa in Marwar and with lapse of time after Muhnrot Nancy, he was also appointed the Prime Minister of Marwar.

In 1667 CE Durgadas was granted five villages namely Jhanwar, Samdari, Jagisa Kothdi, Amba-ro-vadą and Amarsar, which had an annual income of 12,000 rupees. With lapse of time, Jaswant Singh also granted Raimal Balo, Jawan Desar and Bhamsen villages of Marwar, alongwith Lunod village of Rohtak Pargana to Durgadas in the form of Jagir.

Achievements of Durgadas Rathore: 

(a) Establishment of Royal Control upon Jodhpur: A situation of conflict usually continued to exist between Maharaja Jaswant Singh and Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Due to this reason, Aurangzeb appointed Jaswant Singh at the station situated in Jamrud (Afghanistan) which was located quite for away from Marwar. In 1678 CE, As Aurangzeb heard about the news of death of Jaswant Singh in Jamrud, he suddenly said – “Today the barrier of opposition has broken”.

Then Aurangzeb declared Jodhpur as the Khalsa and appointed Tahir Khan as Fauzdar, Khidmatgujar Khan as fort keeper, Sher Anwar as ameen and Abdul Rahim as Kotwal for the purpose of management. On 26th May 1679 CE, Aurangzeb granted the state of Jodhpur the kingdom of Jodhpur to king Indra Singh. Rathore tried to get Jodhpur till last.

Protection of Ajit Singh : After the death of Jaswant Singh, the Rathore Chieftains took both his pregnent queens along and proceeded from Jamrud, but as they did not possess the royal order, the officers stopped them at Atak River. The Rathore group resisted these officers and crossed river Atak. On that place, both the queens gave birth to their two sons Ajit Singh and Dalthamban respectively at an interval of half an hour on 19th February 1679 CE.

By royal order, the two sons were taken away from there to Delhi. Noticing the deceitful intentions of the Emperor, Rathore Ranchhor Das, Bhati Raghunath, Rathore Rup Singh, Rathore Durgadas and other chieftains decided that there was no use staying there and dying, because if they remained alive, they would struggle and occupy Jodhpur.

When the Rathore chieftains started moving out of Delhi one after the other, Aurangzeb started levying more atrocities towards the royal family, witnessing their weakening power. He ordered the Kotwal Faulad Khan to remove the Rathore queens and princesses from the mansion and send them to Nurgarh. When the Emperor got the news of the princes fleeing away, he ordered his soldiers to follow them. On the way, Durgadas stopped the royal army from moving ahead, due to which Ajit Singh was able to reach Jodhpur safely.

Rathore – Sisodiya Alliance : The Marwar chieftains reached Jodhpur alongwith Ajit Singh, but as Jodhpur had been occupied by the royal army, they became concerned about the security of Ajit Singh. Due to this, child Ajit Singh was sent to kalindi (Sirohi) on advice of his stepmother Dewraji. Here, he was kept under the guardianship of Pushkarana Brahmin Jaidev, and for the purpose of his security, Mukund Das Khinchi was appointed secretly.

Maharaja Jaswant Singh’s eldest queen Rani Jaswantde was the daughter of Bundi’s Rao Chhatrasal. Her half-sister Kanan Kumari was married to Maharana Raj Singh. Due to this, Durgadas sent a request to Maharana Raj Singh through Kanan Kumari to provide protection to Ajit Singh.

The issue of security of Mewar was also associated with the entire incident. Due to this, Raj Singh accepted the request and granted the lease of Kelve alongwith twelve villages to Ajit Singh. When Aurangzeb came to know about this all, he sent an order to the Maharana demanding Ajit Singh’s custody, but the Maharana did not pay head to this.

Revolt of Prince Akbar: Durgadas got associated with Maharana Tej Singh and tried to oppose Prince Muazzam against the Emperor, but due to the advice given by his mother Nawab Bai, Muazzam did not accept this plan. After this, they tried to take Prince Akbar in their favour. Although, in the same period, Maharana Raj Singh died in October, 1680 CE yet this talk continued with the new Maharana also.

As a consequence, Akbar declared himself the Emperor on Ist January, 1681 CE in Nadol and proceeded towards Ajmer alongwith the Rajput army to oppose Aurangzeb. The army of Aurangzeb had camped at a place called Daurai situated near Ajmer. On 15th January, Aurangzeb resorted to deception and called Akbar’s Chief commander Tehwwar Khan (the fauzdar of Ajmer who had left Aurangzeb and joined Akbar) through his father in law.

Inayat Khan wrote a letter of this implication that if he came, his crime would be forgiven, otherwise his women would be offended in front of all and his children would be sold off at the price of stray dogs in the form of slaves. Due to this threat, when Tehwwar Khan reached him, without informing Akbar and Durgadas who were sleeping at that time, the royal servant killed him. After this Aurangzeb played another card to create strife between Akbar and the Rajputs.

He wrote a fake letter addressed to Akbar of this implication that he had excessively betrayed the Rajputs. Now it was required that he retained them in Harawal, so that the next day, in the morning they could be attacked upon from both the sides. Somehow this letter was sent near the encampment of Durgadas, and as he read all this, his mind became deviated.

Durgadas immediately went to the encampment of Akbar but as it was midnight, there was an order not to disturb Akbar’s sleep at any cost. After this, when he sent his men to call Tehwwar Khan, he found that he had gone away to the Emperor. At such time, his suspicion transformed into belief and even before dawn, the Rajput army looted the wealth of Akbar and went away towards Marwar.

In the morning when Akbar found himself isolated, he ran after the Rajputs. For two days, he continued to run without any support, to save his life. When Durgadas came to know about the deceit of Aurangzeb, he himself accompanied Akbar and carried him safely to the Maratha State.

Effort to Kill Durgadas: Terrified from the possibility of a revolt in Jodhpur, Aurangzeb wrote to Prince Azam in 1701 CE, saying that he should make effort either to send Durgadas in royal service or kill him. Azam tried to capture Durgadas deceitfully, but as Durgadas had prior suspicion of this incident, he fled away. After reaching Marwar, Durgadas started opposing openly in Mughal regions.

Conflict between Maharaja Ajit Singh and Durgadas: The greatest credit of saving child Ajit Singh from the claws of Aurangzeb goes to Durgadas. After getting him out safely from Delhi, he was kept at a secret place as per the plan of Durgadas himself.

After returning from the South in April 1687 CE, Durgadas was disappointed to know that even after his directions, Ajit Singh had been brought out of the secret place and made to stay in public in Paldi Village (Sirohi) on 23rd March 1687 CE even before Durgadas could return to Marwar.

By this time, the Rathore feudal lords who were unhappy with Durgadas had gathered around Ajit Singh. Now the condition of Durgadas changed and he was no more the centralized power that would decide the fate of Ajit Singh. Due to this, he decided to maintain distance while realizing the changed circumstances.

In October 1687 CE, Ajit Singh conducted a meeting with Durgadas in Bhimarlai village and removed all the doubts and confusions. After getting the news of the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 CE, Ajit Singh ousted nayab Faujdar Zafar Quli of Jodhpur and occupied his paternal state. This invasion was so sudden that some Muslims who were present in the fort had to save their lives by running away in the guise of Hindus.

It has been mentioned in ‘Jodhpur Ki Khyať that after the victory upon sambhar (3rd Oct 1780 CE), due to the presence of other compoments there, Durgadas established his separate encampment alongwith his army. The Maharaja urged him to encamp in Misal (the line of the chieftains) but he answered that then he was short lived and people who followed him would emcamp in Misal.

Disturbed by the behaviour of Ajit Singh, Durgadas went in the service of Mewar’s Maharana Amar Singh II and did not return to Jodhpur even after being called. Ajit Singh publicly offened Raghunath Sanchor who had protected the children of Akbar in the guardianship of Durgadas by lashing him and forced him to starve by keeping him imprisoned without food and water (October 1707 CE). In July 1708 CE, he got his Chief Minister Mukund Das champavat and his brothers Raghunath Champavat assassinated.

Conclusive Time : Maharana Amar Singh II granted Durgadas the Jagir of Vijaypur and retained him with him and fixed an amount of rupees. Five Hundred daily for him Later he was appointed the Hakim of Rampura where he died in Ujjain on 22nd Nov. 1718 CE. His final rites were performed on the banks of river shipra where his chhatri exists even today.

Evaluation : During the battle of succession among the sons of Shah Jahan, Durgadas had participated in the battle of Dharmat alongwith Maharaja Jaswant Singh. In Ratan Raso written by the contemporary writer Kumbhkarna Sandu, who was in contact with Durgadas. the bravery of Durgadas during the battle has been described.

Durgadas was a skilled diplomat. He not only provided protection to Ajit Singh but also enthroned him on the throne of Jodhpur. For this he not only made Rathore – Sisodia alliance by the support of Mewar’s Maharana Raj Singh, but he also inspired prince Akbar to revolt against the Emperor. Keeping Akbar’s son Buland Akhtar and daughter Safiyat un Nissa along with him, Durgadas not only carried on his friendship but also gave the proof of his religious philosophy “Sarvapanth Samadar”.

He arranged for the bringing up and education of both these children in exactly the way it is required for a follower of sunni sect. When he got the opportunity, he respectfully sent them back to the Emperor, Due to these heroic qualities, Durgadas won the heart of a stone hearted person such as Aurangzeb and acquired Mansab. Colonel James Fodd has addressed him as “The Ulises of Rathores”.