One of the last instances of honourable rajput tradition of "शरणागत की रक्षा" i.e. We have seen many such instances in Rajput history and one of the best known example is of Hammirdeva Chauhan who gave refuge to rebel mongol soldiers of Alauddin Khilji.
Giving asylum to needy who came for refuge from some stronger enemy.
But this is lesser known deed is of Maharaja Man Singh of Marwar giving refuge to King of Nagpur, a maratha, Appaji (Mudhoji) Bhosale against British.
Appaji was put on the throne of Nagpur by the help of British in 1816 but he tried to conspire against British in contrast with the treaty. British arrested Appaji and put him in the jail but he escaped and went in hiding in jungles of central india. British pursued him and combed the whole jungle. Appaji fled from there and went to Mandu Ruler in simla hills, but could not find permanent residence as fearing British wrath nobody provided him with shelter. Even Maratha state like Gwalior didnt help him cause of British. Finally in 1829 he asked Marwar ruler Man Singh for for protection. Man Singh true to his rajput nature couldn't refuse a request for asylum even though it was against the mighty British. Man Singh provided Appaji residence at Man Mandir in Jodhpur. British were furious at this development. They asked Man Singh to handover Appaji to them. Man Singh politely refused, saying its his Kshatriya dharma to defend someone who came under his protection. British tried all methods diplomatic or otherwise but Man Singh was adamant. His all anti British activity including conspiring with other states like Punjab, Baroda to form an anti British alliance made British more suspicious of him, his activity to help the cause of Appaji to re-install him on Nagpur throne also made British anxious. Finally British threatened to attack Marwar, Man Singh too started preparing for war and fortified the Mehrangarh Durg. After repeated unsuccessful demands by British Governor General, finally British AGG Sutherland attacked Marwar. British brought some of Jodhpur nobles on their side and espoused the cause of Dhonkal Singh and got his help to place him on the throne. This greatly weakened Man Singh's situation and AGG Sutherland occupied Jodhpur fort, even then Man Singh didn't surrender Appaji to British.
With constant pressure from British over Maharaja Man Singh to surrender Appaji Bhonsle, Bhonsle feared that Man Singh may succumb under pressure and give him up. When Man Singh came to know of this, he wrote a poem to Bhonsle to remove his apprehensions.
Man Singh proposed that Appaji should be given territory in Nagpur to which British didn't agree.
Later British tried to lure out Appaji from Marwar's territory by saying that he will be given protection in British territory. Appaji refused to entertain such request as he considered it better to live in Marwar than in British territory. After spending almost a decade in Jodhpur, Appaji finally died in 1839. Till his death Man Singh gave his support to Appaji to re-take his throne. There was even a proposal to place Sheonath Singh s/o Thakur Sabal Singh of Sanderao (now in Pali district of Rajasthan) to place on the throne of Nagpur as heir-apprent of Appaji. It's probably due to the fact that Sanderao thikana of Marwar was of Sisodia of Ranawat clan and Bhosale believed themselves as descendants of Sisodias. Maharaja Man Singh's struggle against British went on in many forms till his own death.
The Splendour of Marwar region of Thar Desert
Maharaja Man Singh acceded as ruler of the princely state of Marwar (in present-day Rajasthan) in 1803, in what was an intensely contested fight for the throne. He attributed his ultimate, miraculous success to the intercession of the divine sage Jālandharanāth, of the Nāth lineage of yoga-practising ascetics. Man Singh was himself a devotee of the Nāth guru Devnāth, and during the forty years of his reign the Nāths enjoyed enormous power and influence in the kingdom, displacing the Brahmin religious establishment and Rajput aristocracy.
The Nāths, recognisable especially by the large hooped rings that pierce the cartilage of their ears, became influential in India from the thirteenth century, and often formed power alliances with kings. They were feared, and therefore valued, because of the supernatural powers they could unleash on enemies. The Nāths have become particularly associated with Haṭhayoga, and although contemporary Nāths practise little yoga they are nevertheless one of the most historically important lineages in its development and theorisation. Nāth haṭhayoga, broadly speaking, emphasises the attainment of immortality and supernatural powers, as preludes or alternatives to final, disembodied liberation—an emphasis suited to their often worldly concerns.
Jālandharnāth at Jalore. A Nath yogi and tutelary deity of Maharaja Man Singh (at Jodpur) by Amardas Bhatti. India, Marwar, ca. 1805–10. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
A painting of Maharaja Man Singh at worship
India, Jodhpur, circa 1820
The priest Jallandharnath seated on a tiger skin in a small temple at center, the king standing in regal splendor to the right with hands folded, two courtiers at left holding offerings, all against a lush mountainous background with more shrines in the distance, an inscription on the verso.
MahaRaja Man Singh patronised the composition of new works on yoga and the Nāths, and the collection and copying of a large number of existing manuscripts on yoga and other topics. Many of these manuscripts are now housed in the Man Singh Pustak Prakash at the Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur. The collection is one of the most important in India and provides a snapshot of the state of development of yoga in northern India in the first half of the nineteenth century. Also vital in this regard is the fort’s immense art collection: many of the pieces from MahaRaja Man Singh’s artistically innovative reign contain yogic themes, and point to Jodhpur as a vibrant centre for the production and collection of knowledge about yoga. The nearby Mahāmandir, the centre of Nāth power in Jodhpur at the time, is itself a work of yogic art, best known for the murals of eighty-four āsanas (postures) in the main, central enclosure. the collection’s many manuscripts and paintings on yoga through the detailed records kept by MahaRaja Man Singh’s administration. Many of the texts and artworks were gifts from other rulers across India, and some came from as far away as Nepal. By mapping the derivation of texts and images, and cross-referencing with what they already know about the development of yoga during this period, and hope to reconstruct a broad, detailed picture of yoga’s history in the first half of the nineteenth century, before the death of MahaRaja Man Singh, the dispersal of the ruling Nāths, and the arrival of the British as a significant power in Jodhpur. There is a pilot project going on which will be the first in a serious of collaborations between the Haṭha Yoga Project (SOAS, University of London), and the Man Singh Pustak Prakash, under the aegis of the soon to be established Yoga Institute at the Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur.
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