हिंदीOn this day

Kachwahas of Amber and Jaipur

The Kachwahas ruled Dhundhar from Amber. Allied with the Mughals from 1562, they became the empire’s great generals; Sawai Jai Singh II then built Jaipur and its observatories.

  1. Raja Bharmal1548–1574
  2. Bhagwant Das1574–1589
  3. Man Singh I1589–1614
  4. Mirza Raja Jai Singh I1621–1667
  5. Ram Singh I1667–1688
  6. Sawai Jai Singh II1699–1743
  7. Ishwari Singh1743–1750
  8. +5
Period: c. 11th century–1949 CERegion: Dhundhar, eastern Rajasthan, around Amber and JaipurCapitals: Amber (Amer), Jaipur
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC0

01Amber and the Mughal bargain

The Kachwahas traced their line to Kusha, son of Shri Rama. They took Amber from the Mina chiefs and held a modest state there for centuries. In 1562 Raja Bharmal met Akbar, gave him his daughter in marriage, and entered imperial service. It was a choice Mewar never made, and it changed the family’s fortunes. Bharmal’s grandson Man Singh became one of Akbar’s first commanders, led the Mughal army at Haldighati in 1576, and governed Kabul, Bihar and Bengal.

02Temples and treaties

Man Singh built the red sandstone Govind Dev temple at Vrindavan in 1590, then the tallest temple in the north, and brought the image of Shila Devi to Amber from Bengal. Mirza Raja Jai Singh I, sent by Aurangzeb against Shivaji, besieged Purandar and made the Treaty of Purandar in 1665, under which Shivaji went to Agra. When Aurangzeb’s officers damaged the Vrindavan temple, its images were carried west; Govind Devji reached Jaipur and is worshipped in the palace garden to this day.

Vrindavan
Place · Tirtha of Shri Krishna’s childhood; temples re-founded from 1515 by Chaitanya’s followers; Govind Dev temple 1590VrindavanThe forest of Tulsi on the Yamuna where Shri Krishna grazed cows and danced the Raas with the gopis. Rediscovered by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the six Goswamis in the 16th century, it now has thousands of temples.Read →

03Sawai Jai Singh’s city

Sawai Jai Singh II laid out Jaipur in 1727 on a grid of wide streets and squares, planned with the help of the Bengali scholar Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. He built five observatories, at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura, with masonry instruments far larger than any brass astrolabe, and prepared new astronomical tables. He also performed the Ashvamedha and Vajapeya yajnas. Pratap Singh added the Hawa Mahal in 1799. Jaipur joined the Union in 1949, and Man Singh II became Rajpramukh of Rajasthan.

The rulers

  1. 1Raja BharmalAlliance with Akbar, 15621548–1574
  2. 2Bhagwant Das1574–1589
  3. 3Man Singh IAkbar’s general; Govind Dev temple, Vrindavan1589–1614
  4. 4Mirza Raja Jai Singh ITreaty of Purandar, 16651621–1667
  5. 5Ram Singh I1667–1688
  6. 6Sawai Jai Singh IIFounded Jaipur 1727; Jantar Mantars1699–1743
  7. 7Ishwari Singh1743–1750
  8. 8Madho Singh I1750–1768
  9. 9Pratap SinghHawa Mahal, 17991778–1803
  10. 10Ram Singh II1835–1880
  11. 11Madho Singh II1880–1922
  12. 12Man Singh IIJaipur joined India1922–1949

What they left

  • Amber fort and palace, part of the UNESCO Hill Forts of Rajasthan
  • Jaipur city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • The Jantar Mantar observatories, Jaipur’s a World Heritage Site
  • Govind Dev temple, Vrindavan (1590)

People

Chhatrapati Shivaji MaharajRuler
1630–1680 CE; crowned 1674

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

Founder of Hindavi Swarajya, crowned Chhatrapati

Places

VrindavanStanding
The Mughal era and the resistance

Vrindavan

The forest of Tulsi on the Yamuna where Shri Krishna grazed cows and danced the Raas with the gopis. Rediscovered by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the six Goswamis in the 16th century, it now has thousands of temples.

Govind Dev Temple, VrindavanRuined
The Mughal era and the resistance

Govind Dev Temple, Vrindavan

The red sandstone temple Raja Man Singh of Amber raised for Govind Dev in 1590, the largest temple north India had seen in centuries. In 1670 the murti was carried away to Kachwaha country ahead of Aurangzeb’s order, and it is worshipped in Jaipur to this day; the building stands without its upper storeys.

Amber Fort and Shila DeviStanding
The Mughal era and the resistance

Amber Fort and Shila Devi

The hill palace of the Kachwaha rajas above Maota lake, capital of Dhundhar until Sawai Jai Singh II founded Jaipur in 1727. Its Shila Devi temple is still the family shrine of the house.

Prachin Hanuman Mandir, Connaught PlaceStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Prachin Hanuman Mandir, Connaught Place

The old Hanuman temple on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, older than New Delhi itself, where Hanuman is worshipped in his child form. The chant of Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram has gone on here without a break since 1 August 1964.

JaipurStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Jaipur

The walled city Sawai Jai Singh II laid out on the plain below Amber in 1727, on a grid of broad streets and blocks drawn by his architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. Govind Dev rules it from the palace garden, and the Jantar Mantar measures its sky.

Govind Dev Ji Temple, JaipurStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Govind Dev Ji Temple, Jaipur

The Govind Dev of Vrindavan, the deity Rupa Goswami served, brought away from Braj in the troubled years of the late 17th century and enshrined by Sawai Jai Singh II in his new city. The kings of Jaipur ruled as his diwans.

Jantar Mantar, JaipurStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

The open-air observatory of nineteen masonry instruments that Sawai Jai Singh II built beside his palace, the largest of the five he raised. Its Samrat Yantra, about 27 m high, is the largest stone sundial in the world; the site has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010.

Moti Dungri Ganesh Temple, JaipurStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Moti Dungri Ganesh Temple, Jaipur

Jaipur’s Ganesh, at the foot of the little Moti Dungri hill, brought to the city in 1761. Every wedding invitation in Jaipur goes to him first, and every new car is brought here for puja.

Battles

Battle of Haldighati

Akbar sent Man Singh with a large army to bring Maharana Pratap to submission. They met at the mouth of the yellow-earthed Haldighati pass.

June 1576 CE (18 June by most reckonings)

Evidence

Jantar Mantar observatoriesScience
Delhi 1724; Jaipur c. 1728–34

Jantar Mantar observatories

Giant instruments of masonry, built to measure time and the positions of the sun, moon and stars with the naked eye.

On the timeline

  • 3 November 1688

    Sawai Jai Singh II born at AmberPolity

    The Kachwaha king who founds Jaipur and builds the Jantar Mantar observatories at Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura is born.

  • 1724 CE

    Sawai Jai Singh builds the Jantar Mantar at DelhiScience

    Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Amber raises his first great masonry observatory at Delhi; others follow at Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura. The Jaipur instrument, the Samrat Yantra, reads time to two seconds.

  • 18 November 1727

    Jaipur founded by Sawai Jai Singh IICulture

    The foundation of Jaipur is laid on a grid plan drawn up with the architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, following the Shilpa Shastra. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.