Jquery validation plugin maxlength?

Jquery validation plugin maxlength?

I am using JQuery validation plugin. I want to specify maxlength for one
of the fields.It can be specified as below.
rules: {
Message: {
required: false,
maxLength: 200
}
}
But instead of defining the rules externally, i want to specify the rules
inside html input code
Similar to :
<input type="text" name="AssistanPhone" value="" class="required" />
In above example "required" is specified through class. Similarly how can
i specifiy maxlength which can be recognized by jquery plugin and gives
error message if length exceeds?
Thanks!