01Suraj Mal’s fort
Suraj Mal, the greatest of the Jat rulers, began the fort in 1733 when Bharatpur became his seat. His builders put an inner stone fort behind a wide ditch, and an outer rampart of packed earth behind a second moat, fed from the Moti Jheel. Shot sank into the mud walls and did not shatter them. From here Suraj Mal took the Agra fort in June 1761, gave shelter and help to the Maratha survivors of Panipat that winter, and ruled from the Yamuna to Mewat until he was killed near Delhi in December 1763. His son Jawahar Singh raided Delhi in 1764–65, and the Jawahar Burj tower inside the fort marks that campaign.
021805 and 1826
In 1804 Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Bharatpur sheltered Yashwantrao Holkar, then at war with the East India Company. Lord Lake laid siege in January 1805 and stormed the walls four times between January and February; each assault failed in the ditch and on the earth rampart, with heavy British losses. In April Ranjit Singh made peace on his own terms and kept the fort. The Fateh Burj was raised for that victory. Twenty-one years later, in a succession dispute, Lord Combermere brought a larger army, dug mines under the ramparts and stormed Bharatpur on 18 January 1826.
The life of this place
- 1733Suraj Mal begins the fort at Bharatpur.
- June 1761Suraj Mal’s army takes the Agra fort.
- January–April 1805Lord Lake’s four assaults fail; the siege ends in a treaty.
- 18 January 1826Lord Combermere storms the fort after mining the ramparts.
In the middle of Bharatpur town; the government museum is inside the Kachahri Kalan. Keoladeo bird sanctuary is 3 km away.
