Jaipur

Important dates in the history of Jaipur.

1093 AD                                                Dundhar state founded.

1300's - Nov 1727 AD                             Also known as Amber.

Nov 1727 AD                                         New capital, Jaipur (Jayapura), founded.

25 Apr 1819 AD                                     British protectorate.

 

Maharajas (title Sri Sawai Maharaja)

31 Dec 1699 - 21 Sep 1743 AD               Sawai Jai Singh II

1743 - 12 Dec 1750 AD                          Sawai Ishwari Singh

1750 -  5 Mar 1768 AD                           Sawai Madho Singh I

1768 - 13 Apr 1778 AD                           Sawai Prithvi Singh II

1778 – 1803 AD                                     Sawai Pratap Singh

1803 - 21 Nov 1818                                Sawai Jagat Singh II

22 Dec 1818 - 25 Apr 1819 AD                Mohan Singh (Man Singh II) -Regent

25 Apr 1819 -  6 Feb 1835 AD                 Sawai Jai Singh III

27 Sep 1835 - 17 Sep 1880 AD               Sawai Ram Singh II

Aug 1880 – ZZZZ                                    Sawai Madho Singh II

Sep 1922                                              Sawai Man Singh II

 

Maharajadhiraj (title Saramand-i-Rajha-i-Hindustan Raj Rajindra

Sri Maharajadhiraj)

17 Sep 1880 - 7 Sep 1922 AD                 Sawai Madho Singh II

7 Sep 1922 - 15 Aug 1947 AD                 Sawai Man Singh II

 

History

Jaipur was an important, and the fourth largest Rajput state, situated in the northeast of Rajasthan, lying between 25° 41’ and 28° 34’ N. and 74 41’ and 77° E.  The area was approximately 15,600 square miles, although the proportion of this over which the rulers had direct control varied with the political situation in Malwa and Rajasthan.  To the north are Bikanir, Loharu and Patiala, and the detached pargana of Kot Kasim adjoins Rewari, Gurgaon and Nabha.  To the west are Bikanir, Jodhpur, Kishangarh and Ajmer, to the south are Udaipur, Bundi, Tonk, Kotah and Gwalior, and on the east are Karauli, Bharatpur and Alwar.

The ruler of Jaipur is a Rajput of the Kachwaha clan, who claim descent from Kusa, son of Rama, king of Ayodhya of Ramayana fame.  The early history of these people is lost in the mists of time, but they are thought to have come to settle around Rohtas, from whence, about the end of the third century, they moved to Narwar and the Gwalior area.  Their rule lasted some 800 years, some of which they spent tributary to the larger powers of the land.  It is known that some Kachwahas took Gwalior from the rulers of Kanauj in about 977 AD and continued in power there until the eighth ruler in the line, Dulha Rai (Tej Karan), left Gwalior in 1128AD and married Maroni, daughter of a Bargujar Rajput chief of Dundhar (capital - Daosa), from whom he received the chieftaincy, his father-in-law having no sons of his own.

About 1150 AD, a successor to Dulha Rai, siezed the town of Amber from the Susawat Minas, and made it his capital, which it remained for almost 600 years, and the state was named for the town.  Towards the end of the 12th century, the chief of Amber was called Udai Karan, his district was called Shekhawati, and fell into the hands of the Kachwahas.

About this time, the whole of north India suffered greatly by the Muslim invasions, but the chieftancy of the Kachwahas was little affected until the coming of the Mughals.  When Humayun marched into Rajasthan, the Amber chief, Bahar Mal (1548-1574 AD) was the first to submit to the invaders.  He was rewarded by the command of 5000 zat and sawar, and he gave a daughter in marriage to yhe young heir to the Muhgal throne, Muhammad Akbar.  Bahar Mal’s son, Bhagwan Das, was a friend of Akbar’s, and is reputed to have saved that emperor’s life at the battle of Sarnal.  Akbar gave him command of 5000 horse and governorship of the Punjab.  He gave his daughter to Prince Salim, later Emperor Jahangir.

Bhagwan Das adopted a son, Man Singh, who ruled Amber from 1590 to about 1594 AD.  Man Singh was a conspicuously successful general and was raised to a higher rank (Commander of 7,500) than any other officer of the time.  He fought, usually with distinction and valour, and always on the winning side, all over the expanding empire.

The chiefs of Amber remained loyal to their salt, and the realm prospered, along with the Kachwaha royal house.  The next chief of note was Jai Singh I (Mirza Raja), who fought alongside Aurangzeb in his Deccan campaign, and it was he, as a commander of 6000 horse, who captured Shivaji.  This did not endear him or his state to the Marathas, who, as we shall see, were soon in a position to exact their revenge.  Jai Singh is said to have been poisoned by Aurangzeb, who had become jealous of his power and prominence. 

Third in line after Jai Singh I was Sawai Jai Singh II (1699-1743AD).  Sawai means “one and a quarter”, denoting “a cut above”, and was a title given to him by the emperor, his suzerain.  He it was who founded Jaipur city (in 1728 AD), and made it his capital.  He was a remarkable chief in his time, causing many written works of note to be translated into Sanskrit, was deeply interested in science and mathematics, built some very advanced observatories (the most famous being the Janta-Manta in Jaipur itself) and endowed a number of institutions for the study of astronomy (and astrology) and other branches of knowledge.

The period following Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 AD was one of confusion, chaos and the general break down of law and order throughout the empire.  Many local governors and petty princelings set themselves up as independent rulers, wars between themselves and against the remaining central authority, and the meteoric rise to power of the Marathas led to great suffering and destruction, with realignment of lines of command and alliances throughout the land.  Through this time of trouble, Jai Singh II steered his administration with almost unerring judgement and statesmanship, with one very notable exception.  The decisions by his predecessors to give daughters in marriage to the Mughal emperors had led to the disfavour of the rulers of Udaipur, who disdained to allow intermarriage between Udaipur and all states which ever had, which included both Jaipur and Jodhpur.  To regain the right of obtaining such marriages in future, the rulers of both states agreed to ignore the strict adherence of all Rajput dynasties to the rule of primogeniture.  Instead, they agreed that if a princess of Udaipur should be given in marriage to any of their princes, to put the claim to the chiefship of any eldest son born to a princess of Udaipur above the claims of any other son, no matter to which race or tribe the mother belonged.

Part of the state was lost to the Jats of Bharatpur after the death of Jai Singh II, and in 1790 AD the chief of Macheri (Alwar) defected from his tributary positionunder Jaipur, declaring Alwar independent. Closely following on these troubles, the Marathas became active in the area.  In 1803 AD, Jagat Singh formed an alliance with the British to try to curb the excesses that were destroying Rajasthan and central India, but after Jagat Singh’s show of bad faith in not assisting the British in their struggles against Holkar, the alliance was dissolved in 1805 AD.

The Pindaris and Marathas were very successful in sowing the seeds of rivalry and disunity between the Jaipur and Jodhpur Rajas by urging them both to apply to obtain the hand of the Udaipur princess in marriage, after which they began to take the best advantage they could from the feelings of hostility thus introduced into their relationship.  By these means, they divided the two largest Rajput states, and ensured that neither would intervene to assist the other when overrun by the Pathans under Amir Khan and Pindaris under Karim and Chitu Khan, or combinations of the three.  Disputes based on this rivalry brought both states to their knees.  The predatory Pindari, Pathan and Maratha chiefs repeatedly plundered and pillaged the territories of both states.  In this, they had the active help and encouragement of Holkar and Sindhia, who both wished, if possible, to take all the states in central and north India under their own sovereignty (an aim in which Sindhia, with his army under De Boigne and Perron nearly succeeded).  The whole area thus became impoverished and unsafe.  Agriculture and trade took a severe knock every time a raid by these predatory Afghans and Deccanis took place, or was even threatened.  The country became greatly depopulated, the treasuries at Jaipur and Jodhpur emptied, and the power and demands of the aggressors increased at a rapid rate.

When things had advanced to a very sorry state, the British again took a hand, regarding the continuing and escalating Maratha and Pindari threats to the stability of all India, including their own lands and those of their allies, very seriously indeed.  Negotiations with Mohan Singh, the new ruler of Jaipur, began in 1817 AD and led to the signing of a treaty vesting the security of Jaipur in British hands in return for the payment of an agreed tribute of rupees eight lakh, which was somewhat too high for such an impoverished state, and was never paid in full.

Mohan Singh died in 1819 AD and was succeeded by his posthumous son, Jai Singh III.  The beginning of the long regency of this infant chief was marked by such corruption and bad rulership that in 1820 AD., a British Resident was sent to settle the situation.  Violent disturbances broke out again in 1835 AD., at the time that Jai Singh III died and Maharaja Ram Singh came to the gaddi, to the extent that some British officers and many others were killed.  As a result, the British government felt obliged to take sterner measures to pacify the state, and a Regency Council was set up to govern it and maintain good order.  In 1846 AD, the army was reduced in size, arrears of tribute amounting to rupees 46 lakhs were written off, and the future tribute was reduced to four lakhs.  Maharaja Jai Singh II died in 1880 with no heir to succeed him.  An adopted relative, Maharaja Ram Singh II, was placed on the gaddi.  Under him there was much improvement in education and other institutions and the basic infrastructure of the state.  On his deathbed, he nominated Kaim Singh, a descendent of Maharaja Jagat Singh as his successor, and this nomination was accepted.  Kaim Singh succeeded in 1880 AD under the name Madho Singh II.

Sawai Maharaja Madho Singh II began his reign in August 1880 AD.  He continued the useful work of his predecessor, and encouraged the Arts, and the development of all manner of craftsmanship and skill throughout his life.  Education, health care and the infrastructure were his priorities and the state and its people thrived under him.  He died in 1922 AD.

His successor was Man Singh II, who was born in 1911 AD., and came to the throne as a minor in 1922 AD.  During his minority, a Regency Council ruled the state for him, until he assumed full ruling powers in March 1931 AD.  He was still ruling at the time India achieved independence, and continued in office until 1949AD.

 

Coinage

There were no Mughal mints in the territory of Jaipur, unless we count Alwar (which struck specie for the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Akbar, in copper, but which was not a part of Jaipur at the time).  Coinage began at Jaipur towards the end of the reign of Jai Singh II in 1153 AH (1740/41 AD) which was the 23rd regnal year of Muhammad Shah.  Madhopur mint began production in 1179 AH (1765/66 AD), the seventh regnal year of Shah Alam II, and the 5th year of Madho Singh’s reign.  Until the deposition of Zafar Shah Bahadur at the end of the Indian mutiny in 1858 AD, coins were struck in the name of the ruling Mughal Emperor.  Thereafter they bore the names of both the sovereign of the United Kingdom, and the Maharaja of Jaipur, until coinage ceased in 1949 AD, when Jaipur became a part of the Rajasthan State, in the republic of India.  The Krause catalogues lists the rupees of Jaipur struck during the reign of Muhammad Shah, dated 1153 to 1161 AH in both their Mughal listing, where they can be found under the number KM.436 31, and the State listing, where they are numbered KM.1.  In fact, they are State coins, as Jaipur had been to all intents and purposes independent of Delhi practically as soon as Aurangzeb’s body was cold.  Coins are known for the reigns of all the Jaipur rulers.  Gaps occur in a number of years, but when the history is examined, we can quickly comprehend that the state was sometimes in no position to operate a mint.  The striking of Nazaranas in both copper and silver occurred regularly and many such issues are by no means scarce or rare.  No gold Nazaranas were produced at either mint.