Map
Bharatpur – xx gun state [1]
Introduction.
Bharatpur was a state in the east of Rajasthan which lay
roughly between 26o 43’ and 27o 50’ N. and 76o 53’ and 77o 46’ E.. It had an area of
just under 2,000 square miles at the start of the 20th century, but
this had varied with the changing fortunes of the state over preceding years
and centuries..
To the north was the
In pre-Muslim times the north of the state belonged to the
Tonwar Rajputs, ruling from
During the period of interest to the collector of Indian
Native States coins, the country was ruled by the Jats, of the Sinsinwar clan
who claim descent from Madan Pal, a Jadon Rajput, and the third son of Tahan
Pal, a ruler at Bayana. Firstly, Madan
Pal possessed himself of most of Karauli.
The origin of the clan is of some interest. The story goes that one of Madan Pal’s
descendents, Bai Chand, had two sons by his Jat concubine, Bijai and Sijai, who
because of their mixed parenthood were not admitted to the Rajput brotherhood,
but were regarded by them as Jats.
Having no clan (gol) they decded to invent one of their own and called
themsi=elves after the name of their paternal village, Sinsini, a few miles
south of Dig. Thence came the name
Sinsinwara chosen for their clan. This
clan gave rise to the later Jat rulers of Bharatpur. Originally they were a jungle tribe, who
subsisted mainly by plunder. The founder
of the state is a Jat leader called Brijh, a contemporary of Aurangzeb, who was
killed in the late 18th century trying to defend Sinsini against an
imperial army sent to curb the depredations for which his clan were
responsible. About this time, another of
the clan set himself up over about 40 villages to the west of Sinsini, at
Thun. Eventually these two groups were
combined under the seventh son of Brijh, named Churaman,, who was a builder of
forts, and possessed himself also of Dig and Kumher (Kunber of modern history)
among other places. He joined his
fortunes to those of another Jat leader, Khem Khan of the Sogariya clan, and
between them they so
ravaged the country as to close the roads between
Farrukhsiyar, being a weak and effete ruler, was unable to
defeat them, and, instead, in 1714AD, offered them several districts in Jagir,
and for a time they ceased their brigandry.
Nature must out, however, and they soon resumed their predatory
lifestyle, and the position became so serious for the law-abiding populace that
in 1718 AD another army under Sawai Jai Singh of Jaipur was sent to expel
Churaman from the country, if possible.
By that time, Farrukhsiyar was a puppet, pageant monarch, and the real
power in the land was in the hands of the Sayyid brothers, of execrable memory.
The Jats fought gallantly in defence of their land, but were
about to lose out to the imperial hosts who had invested them at Sinsini and
Thun. However, nothing was ever that
simple in which the dastardly Sayyids were involved, and, being at odds with
Jai Singh, they made their own peace with the Jats, and Jai Singh retired in
understandable disgust. In return for
this favour shown to them by the Sayyids, the grateful Jats assisted them in
their treachery against Muhammad Shah.
In 1722 Churaman, who had quarrelled with his son, Mokhan,
took poison and died. Mokhan took over
the headship of the Jats, and imprisonned his cousin, Badan Singh, whom he
feared as a rival for the throne. The
Jats objected to this and invited Jai Singh back, and Thun was taken after a
siege of six months, in 1722. Mokhan
escaped and Badan Singh was proclaimed Raja of Dig, tributary to
Suraj Mal became arrogant, even hunting in the imperial game
reserve, and it was during such an act of folly that he met his end, being
surprised by a detachment of the Mughal cavalry, and killed in the action which
followed. He was succeeded by his son,
Jawahar Singh, who expanded the Jat possessions to their greatest extent, and
used
The Marathas became a serious problem to Bharatpur (as to so
much of “upper India” at that time) and the ruler of Alwar, becoming more
powerful, and in 1775AD he retook the Alwar fort and most of the rest of his
territory so recently lost to the Jats was taken back by the end of the
century. Jawhar was followed by Ratan
Singh,, who ruled for 9 months, and then his son, Khesri Singh, a minor, became
Raja. Nawal Singh was appointed Regent,
but his brother, Ranjit Singh plotteed
against him, and a period of confusion ensued.
During this chaos, the Marathas took advantage and expelled the Jats
from all territory held by them east of the
In 1784, Sindhia, nominally on behalf of Shah Alam II but
really for himself, confiscated the Bhratpur territories, but a petition from
Rani Kishori once again achieved their restoration, in 1785AD, along with
Dig. Ranjit Singh thenceforward
supported Sindhia, and for this he was awarded three more districts in 1795AD.
During the early years of the next century, the struggle was
between the British and the Marathas for supremacy, the Mughal power having
been utterly dissipated by then, and the French, Dutch and Danish powers also
having been broken. At first, Bharatpur
chose to align itself with the British, and a treaty was signed between Ranjit
Singh and Lord Lake On September 29th, 1803AD. Bharatpur troops assisted the British at the
battle of Laswari in Alwar, and for this, Ranjit Singh was awarded five
additional districts. However, Ranjit
Singh had a pre-existing treaty with Holkar, and in 1804 he took the field with
Holkar against the British, and was responsible for many British deaths before
the Dig fort, which was taken by storm December 23rd. Bharatpur was then besieged (January 3rd
to February 22nd, 1805AD) and after four unavailing assaults, in
which the attacking forces los 3203 killed and wounded, the siege was
raised. The action was re-started by
In 1805 Ranjit Singh died and was succeeded by his son,
Randhir Singh (1805-1823) and then by Randhir’s son, Baldeo Singh (1823-25).
Baldeo’s minor son Balwant Singh was recognised by the British government, but
deposed and imprisoned by his cousin, Durjan Sal. When Durjan’s usurpation, supported by
outside Maratha and Rajput powers, threatened to lead to a prolonged and
destructive war, the British acted in support of Balwant., and after a hard
fought campaign, Balwant was put in power, under the regency of his mother, and
in 1835 he took full ruling powers. He
died in 1853 and was succeeded by his infant son Jaswant under an Agent and Council. During this period, valuable assistance was
rendered to the English during the troubled period following the Mutiny of
1857/58AD. Balwant was granted right of
adoption in 1862, and took full ruling powers in 1871AD. He was followed on the gaddi by his son Ram
Singh in 1893, but Ram was deprived of all powers for his “intemperate habits”
two years later, and deposed for his murder of a servant in 1900AD. He had a son, Kishan Singh, born in 1899, and
he later became the Maharaja. He was
followed by his son, Brijendra Singh, born in 1918, installed on the gaddi in
1929, and invested with full ruling powers in 1939AD. Brijendra was succeeded by his son, Vishendra
Singh, born 23rd June 1962, on 8th July, 1995AD. He has a son, Yuvaraj Singh