but also imposed a tribute on Ishwari Singh. In 1750, the Marathas declared a war on Ishwari Singh for his failure to pay the arrears. Ishwari Singh was desperate as he did not have sufficient money to pay off the Marathas, and he could not impose excessive taxes on his citizens. As a result, he committed suicide by consuming poison. After Ishawari Singh's death, Madho Singh became the ruler of Jaipur. However, he no longer trusted the Marathas, having seen their treatment of his elder brother. He participated in battles against the Marathas, until Safdarjung intervened and convinced the Marathas to leave with an apology and some compensation. After Safdarjung's death, the Marathas again invaded the Rajput territories. This forced Madho Singh to seek help from Safdarjung's successor Shuja-ud-Daula as well as the Afghan king Ahmad Shah Durrani (Abdali). In 1749, Abhai Singh of Jodhpur (Marwar) died, leading to a war of succession between Bakht Singh and Ram Singh. Ram Singh sought help from Jayappa Scindia. By the time Scindia marched to Jodhpur in September 1752, Bakhat Singh had died. He was succeeded by his son Bijay Singh, who sought help against the Marathas from the Mughals, the Rohillas and Madho Singh. With Madho Singh's help, Maharaja Vijay Singh resisted the Marathas for a year, before he agreed to peace talks. During one such peace negotiation, Jayappa Rao Scindia was assassinated by emissaries of Vijay Singh of Marwar in July 1755. This led to further hostilities between the Marathas and the Rajputs until Dattaji Rao Scindia concluded a peace treaty in February 1756. Relations with the Jats The Marathas-Jat relations also worsened during Balaji Rao's reign. Balaji's younger brother Raghunath Rao wanted a share of revenues from the prosperous Bharatpur State. Suraj Mal, the ruler of this state, had interfered in Jaipur politics in support of Ishwari Singh. This had antagonized Maratha chiefs like Malhar Rao Holkar, who had supported Madho. In 1754, the Mughal wazir Safdarjung sought Suraj Mal's help against the Mughal emperor. To counter him, the imperial loyalist Imad-ul-Mulk, sought Maratha help. Raghunath Rao used this opportunity and sent a force led by Malhar Rao Holkar to Bharatpur. Suraj Mal tried to avoid a war by offering him 4,000,000; but, Raghunath Rao was not satisfied with the offer. The Marathas besieged Bharatpur's Kumher fort in early 1754 for around four months, before a peace treaty was concluded.