Hearing about the death of his father, Desingh, the newly married son of Raja Swarup Singh, started for Gingee from Bundelkhand, his ancestral home.
Differing accounts have the Nawab of Arcot, Saadatullah Khan I somewhat recalcitrant to the Mughal Empire,[3][unreliable source?]
and the terms of the grant from Aurangzeb were disputed, nevertheless a debt was claimed after Aurangzeb's death ... a debt that the Raja refused to pay, eventually the arrears of payments due amounted to 70 lakhs rupees (7 million), and being a defaulter for ten years; the Nawab of Arcot reported this matter to the Mughal Emperor at the time, Bahadur Shah I at Delhi.
[4] Traditional plays and ballads are sung in and around Gingee about the gallantry displayed by Desingh at the young age of 22, against the more powerful Nawab Sadatulla Khan of Arcot in a struggle that was unmatched from the outset (Desingh’s army consisted of only 350 horses and 500 troopers, while the Nawab’s army had 8,000 horsemen and 10,000 sepoys).
However, the fortress of Gingee lost its pre-eminent position and political importance within a few years of the extinction of the Rajput rule.