How did the Rajputs go from being the principal rivals of the Mughal Empire to being its strongest supporters?

To understand the history of Mughal-Rajput relations we must understand the history of three dynasties who would come to dominate the Northern part of the Indian subcontinent between the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries. To begin with we must take a look at the Mughals.

At the time when Babur first contemplated the idea of invading India he had already conquered Kabul. Zahir-ud-din Mohammed Babur, was the eldest of Umar Sheikh Mirza, who was governor of Ferghana, which is a region in eastern Uzbekistan. Babur was by lineage the great-great grandson of Timur. Babur's early military career was full of frustrations. Born in 1483, he had assumed the Throne of his father at age 12, in the year 1494. He conquered Samarkand two years later, only to lose Fergana soon after. In his attempts to reconquer Fergana, he lost control of Samarkand. In 1501, his attempt to recapture both the regions failed when Muhammad Shaybani Khan the founder of the Shaybanid dynasty, defeated him. He conquered Kabul, in 1504, after having being driven away from his patrimony and homeland. He formed an alliance with the Safavid Shah Ismail I, to take parts of Turkestan as well as Samarkand itself only to lose them again to the Shaybanids.

Hence, he had decided to give up on the dreams of taking back Ferghana and Samarkand and set his eyes on North India. At the time he had only thought of conquering the Punjab region. A task he accomplished in his second campaign in 1525, after a short campaign in 1519. Thus, at this juncture, we the political situation in North India was ripe for conflict and power changes. In Punjab, Babur prepared for a march towards Delhi to take it and all the realms under the rule of the Lodi Dynasty from Ibrahim Lodi who was currently the sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, whose own relatives, Daulat Khan Lodi and Alauddin had invited Babur to invade the Delhi Sultanate. Under the Lodi Dynasty the Sultanate had lost most of its eastern and southern as well as western territories and Ibrahim ruled over merely the Upper Gangetic plains. Meanwhile, a third contender for power and perhaps bigger threat to Babur's rise was looming in the Rajputana, in the form of the Rajput Confederacy, which was the first of its kind since the reign of Prithviraj Chauhan. This Confederacy was formed under the auspicious leadership of Rana Sangram Singh, of House Sisodiya of Mewar which had risen in prestige and power at the cost of neighbouring Malwa and Gujurati Sultanates during the reign of Rana Sangram other wise known as Rana Sanga.

The following events are well known, Babur defeated the Lodis at Panipat and then faced the Rajputs at Khanwa in 1527. However after his victories at Chanderi and at Ghaghra, he soon died leaving the Empire to his son Humayun whose reign was turbulent and prospects uncertain until his son Akbar assumed the Throne.

Now let us look at the Sisodias of Mewar. This house of Rajputs traces it's origins from the legendary Suryavnshi lineage. But while records to back up such claims are obviously questionable, the historical foundation of this dynasty lies in the rise of Rana Hammir Singh, the founder of the Sisodiya Cadet Branch of the Guhila dynasty. The Guhila dynasty was extinguished by Alauddin Khalji after he besieged and conquered Chittor in 1303, their capital. But Rana Hammir Singh had taken back Chittor and since then reclaimed control of the region and re-established the dynasty under its cadet branch of the Sisodias by 1326. Owing to the legendary exploits of their kings and being one of the few Hindu noble houses that had remained independent during the successive reigns of various dynasties at the helm of the Delhi Sultanate, the House of Mewar carried weight amongst Rajput nobility.

Apart from Rana Hammir Singh, two rulers in particular, Rana Kumbharna Singh (1433-1468) and his great grandson Rana Sangram Singh (1508-1528), had raised the prestige of the House of Mewar to astronomical heights by not only defeating neighbouring Sultanates in Gujurat, Nagaur, Delhi and Malwa, but infact under the reign of Rana Sangram, actually conquering Gujurat and Malwa. Therefore, by 1526, most Rajput states had formed a Confederacy under the leadership of Rana Sanga. Ofcourse, following his defeat the Confederacy fell apart and while the house of Mewar still held a high place on the Rajput and indeed the Indian sociopolitical stage, there would never again be such a untied political front offered by the Rajputs.

In terms of the motivations and objectives of the Confederacy, it could be said that the Confederacy was buoyed together towards the political wills of the Rana of Mewar. Rana Sanga had made a policy to attack and acquire the territories of his kingdom's old enemies such as the Sultanates of Delhi, Gujurat, Nagaur and Malwa, and at the same time remove any traces of Turkic or Afghan dominion in North India. Therefore, it would be safe to say that had Babur not invaded Delhi and taken the Upper Ganga Valley, the Rana would have quite soon. Among the many noble houses that had joined the Rajput Confederacy was the next dynasty which will complete the puzzle to understanding the key players in North India and Mughal-Rajput history.

This was the Kachwahas of Amber. This dynasty claimed it's descent from the son Kush of the legendary King Rama of Ayodhya. Their ancestors allegedly migrated from Rama's kingdom of Kosala and established a new dynasty at Gwalior. After 31 generations, they moved to Rajputana and created a kingdom at Dhundhar. Dullah Rai, one of the ancestors of the Kachwaha rulers, defeated the Meenas of Manchi and Amber and later completed the conquest of Dhundhar by defeating the Bargurjars of Dausa and Deoti. However, in the early 16th century, they were conquered and vassalised by the Rathore ruler Maldeo of the kingdom of Marwar.

In 1527, the ruler of Amber who had joined the Rajput Confederacy was Prithviraj Singh I. Prithviraj had fought at Khanwa and like Rana Sanga, died soon afterwards, being succeeded by his son Puranmal. After Puranmal's succession, which was quite controversial, the Kachwaha domain became unstable over disputes regarding the succession of Puranmal to the Throne. This problem was only further exacerbated by neighbouring Rajput kingdoms that sought to capitalise on the situation. While accounts about Puranmal seeking the aid of Humayun are varying and quite contradictory we know for sure that after Puranmal, his brother Bhim Singh assumed the Throne. Bhim only reigned three and a half years before dying on 22 July 1537. He was succeeded in quick succession by two sons, Ratan Singh and Askaran, before the throne eventually passed to his younger brother Bharmal in 1548.

It is here that we arrive at a crucial juncture in Mughal-Rajput relations. In Mewar, the reigns were assumed by the 4th son of Rana Sanga, Maharana Udai Singh II, under whose reign the capital of Chittor was lost to Akbar in 1568 and the capital was shifted to Udaipur. Here his son, Maharana Pratap assumed the Throne after Udai died in 1572. Meanwhile, Akbar had overthrown his guardian Bairam Khan who had grown too ambitious and controlling and at the age of 18, the young Baadshaah of the Mughal Empire removed Bairam from service and continued his expeditions by directly controlling all affairs from 1560 onwards. Meanwhile, in 1562, the situation became critical for the Kachwahas of Amber when Mirza Muhammad Sharaf-ud-din Hussain was appointed Mughal governor of Mewat. Mirza led a large army to Amber which Bharmal could not resist. Mirza forced the Kachwahas to leave Amber and live in forests and hills. Bharmal promised a fixed tribute to Mirza and handed over his own son, Jagannath, and his nephews, Raj Singh and Khangar Singh, as hostages for its due payment. When Sharaf-ud-din was preparing to invade Amber again, Bharmal met Akbar's courtier, Chaghtai Khan. Fortunately, for Bharmal, Akbar was at Karavali (a village near Agra) on his way from Agra to Ajmer (on a pilgrimage to the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti). Bharmal himself met Akbar at his camp at Sanganer on 20 January 1562. Here, Bharmal proposed a marriage between Akbar and his eldest daughter Hira Kunwari. Therefore, when Akbar agreed, the Kachwahas were now relatives of Akbar, Bharmal was his father-in-law and was in par with the highest Muslim nobles of the Empire. Hence, Sharaf-ud-din Mirza, returned to Bharmal his lands and relatives and in the following years, the Kachwahas rendered unwavering service to the Mughals while they themselves enjoyed the highest salaries, status and prestige the Empire had to offer.