Battle of Mangrol (1821)

01The regent and the Maharao

For half a century the real ruler of Kota was Zalim Singh Jhala, the regent, who had steered the state through the Maratha years. The treaty of 1817 with the Company, and a secret article added in 1818, left the Maharao his title and gave the regent and his heirs the government. When Kishore Singh II came to the gaddi in 1819 he would not accept it. In 1821 he raised men and tried to take power by force.

02The field at Mangrol

The Company, bound by its treaty, sent troops to support the regent. The two forces met near Mangrol on the Bhatwara plain, where Kota had beaten Jaipur sixty years before. The Maharao’s men, mostly Hada Rajputs loyal to the house, were broken by the regular troops and guns. His younger brother Prithvi Singh fell fighting. Kishore Singh escaped and went to Nathdwara. A settlement late in 1821 brought him back to Kota as Maharao in name, with the administration still in the regent’s hands.