Maharaja Jai Singh, (1681-1743) popularly known as Sawai Jai Singh given this title by Aurangzeb, was impressed by him. He was the 29th Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Amber, who later founded the fortified city of Jaipur and made it his capital. He is the remarkable monarch of Jaipur, also a mathematician, astronomer and town planner. He built observatories like Jantar Mantar and built the city.
He was crowned two times, firstly on 5 March 1699 and second on 25 January 1700. His father was Bishan Singh and mother Indar Kanwar of Kharwa.
Jai Singh follows Hinduism. His wife Ranawat Surya Kumari Gendi and a son named Ishvari Singh.
Jai Singh broke free from the Mughal hegemony, and to assert his sovereignty, performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice, an ancient rite that had been abandoned for several centuries.[6][7] He moved his kingdom's capital from Amber to the newly-established city of Jaipur in 1727, and performed two Ashvamedha sacrifices, once in 1734, and again in 1741.[8]
Jai Singh had a great interest in mathematics, architecture and astronomy.When Jai Singh acceded to the ancestral throne at Amber, he had barely enough resources to pay for the support of 1000 cavalry.This abysmal situation had arisen during the previous 96 years, coinciding with the reign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
The armed strength of Jai Singh had always made him the most formidable ruler in Northern India and all the other Rajas looked up to him for protection and the promotion of their interests at the Imperial court. The fast-spreading Maratha dominion and their raids into the north had caused alarm among the Rajput chiefs—Jai Singh called a conference of Rajput rulers at Hurda (1734) to deal with this peril but nothing came of this meeting. In 1736 Peshwa Baji Rao imposed tribute on the Kingdom of Mewar.
He first annexed Bundi and Rampura in the Malwa plateau, made a matrimonial alliance with Mewar, and intervened in the affairs of the Rathors of Bikaner and Jodhpur. These half-successful attempts only stiffened the backs of the other Rajput clans who turned to the very same Marathas for aid, and consequently hastened their domination over Rajasthan.
The Battle of Gangwana was the last destructive battle fought by Jai Singh as he could never recover from the shock and died two years later in 1743. Madho Singh later avenged his father by poisoning Bakht Singh of Marwar. (Jai Singh was cremated at the Royal Crematorium at Gaitore in the north of Jaipur) he was succeeded by his less capable son Ishwari Singh.
WRITER: SANIYA ANSARI
टिप्पणियाँ
एक टिप्पणी भेजें