act of changing religion meant that, by custom, the imposter lost all hereditary entitlement to the lands of Marwar that he would otherwise have had if he had indeed been Ajit Singh. Exile Continuing to play along with the deceit, Aurangzeb refused to negotiate with representatives of Ajit Singh, claiming that child to be the imposter. He sent his son, Muhammad Akbar, to occupy Marwar. Ajit Singh's mother mother convinced the Rana of Mewar, Raj Singh I, who is commonly thought to be her relative, to join in fighting against the Mughals. Richards says that Raj Singh's fear that Mewar would also be invaded was a major motivation for becoming involved; another historian, Satish Chandra, thinks that there were several possible alternatives, including Singh seeing an opportunity to assert Mewar's position among the Rajput principalities of the region. The combined Rathore-Sisodia forces were no match for the Mughal army, Mewar was itself attacked and the Rajputs had to retire to the hills, from where they engaged in sporadic guerrilla warfare. For 20 years after this event, Marwar remained under the direct rule of a Mughal governor. During this period, Durgadas Rathore carried out a relentless struggle against the occupying forces. Trade routes that passed through the region were plundered by the guerrillas, who also looted various treasuries in present-day Rajasthan and Gujarat. These disorders adversely impacted the finances of the empire. Aurangzeb died in 1707; he was to prove the last of the great Mughals. Durgadas Rathore took advantage of the disturbances following this death to seize Jodhpur and eventually evict the occupying mughal force. Takes charge of Marwar After consolidating his rule over Marwar, Ajit Singh grew increasingly bold as the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah had marched south. He formed an alliance with Sawai Raja Jai Singh II of Amer and set upon capturing his ancestral lands which had been occupied by the Mughals. The Rajput kings started raiding Mughal camps and outposts, several towns and forts were captured, the biggest blow for the Mughals was however the capture of Sambhar which was an important Salt manufacturing site. In 1709 Ajit Singh made plans to conquer Ajmer and destroy the Muslim shrines and Mosques, however Jai Singh II was afraid that the destruction of Muslim shrines would lead to the wrath of the Mughal emperor after he had returned from the Deccan. Ajit Singh however ignored Jai Singhs advise