History of Jaipur

History of Jaipur dated back to 18th century. Jaipur, the current capital of Rajasthan, was built in 1727 AD by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II. Maharaja Bishan Singh was demised and his son Jai Singh came to power at the age of 11. The Kachwaha Rajput faced with the rivalry with Sisodia, ruler of Mewar, he allied with the Mughals. With the help of he Mughals, Jai Singh had secured his throne and the kingdom flourished in his reign.

Jai Singh first had the capital in Amber, which is 11km away from Jaipur. As the city grew, water supply became a problem in Amber. Finally he decided to move the capital to Jaipur. Jai Singh was a talented ruler. When he moved the capital, he appointed Vidhyadhar Bhattacharya, an architect from Bengal to make a complete city plan according to Shilpa Shastra, the science of Indian architecture. From residential area, parks, markets, palaces to roads, water system and fortification of boundary, everything was meticulously planned. It took four years to plan and it was said that Jai Singh actually laid down the foundation of the city himself in 1727. He continued to monitor the construction of the city to make sure it followed the traditional Rajput architectural design. Thus, Jaipur has the privilege being the first planned city in India. The Royal City Palace was also built in this period with the Hawa Mahal as a continuation by the later ruler.

With the death of Jai Singh in 1744, the city was constantly attacked by the Rajputs and Marathas. Throughout the history, Jaipur was mostly under the rule of Rajputs. This includes Sawai Pratap Singh (1764 – 1803) who built Hawa Mahal, Sakai Ram Singh II (1835 to 1880), Madho Singh II (1861 – 1922) and Sawai Man Singh II (1911 – 1970). Even when the British. came, Jaipur is one of the very few parts of India which was never rule by the British.

History of Jaipur Royal Family

Raja Bhagwan Das (1574-1589 AD.)
He was the son of Raja Bharmal Kachchwaha of Amber and was a great warrior who fought many battles of Gujarat, Punjab, and northern frontier. He was appointed as Governor of Punjab and was generously known for its courage and warrior ship.

Maharaja Man Singh I (1589-1614)
He was the son of Raja Bhagwan Das and was the prince of Amber. Man Singh was very brave and was energetic in learning fighting and battling skills. He got a huge success in Bengal, Orissa, and Assam during the ruling era of Akbar and battled successfully with the tribal chiefs of Afghanistan and this winning was followed by an appointment in the Mughal Army as a commander in Chief to look after the North-western frontier, of, Afghanistan Punjab, Kashmir including the North-eastern states of India counting Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Assam to crush the defiant in the reign of Akbar .

Jai Singh I(1621-67 AD.)
Jai Singh, I was born to Maha Singh the Raja of Garha and was moved up to the throne of Amber at the age of ten. He was a great warrior and won many battles during the reign of three Mughal Kings i.e. Jehangir, Shahjahan, and Aurangzeb individually and he got huge success against Shivaji during the reign of Aurangzeb. He leads as a great leader in the Mughal Army that included the Rajputs, Afghans, and Mughals.

Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II
According to the history of Jaipur, he was the founder of the city and was born to Maharaja Bishan Singh of Amber. During the reign of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, he fought the battles of Khelna, Panhala and other areas in the Deccan and seeing his gallantry the emperor gifted him the title of “Sawai”. He also fought with Bahadur Shah Zafar who resumed Amber into a Mughal Territory and Jai Singh along with Ajit Singh of Jodhpur fought against the Mughal emperor and recovered the state in the year 1710. In the year 1727, he laid the foundation stone of the Chandra Mahal complex of the City Palace, Madho Vilas in the center of Jai Mahal, and the Sisodia Rani ka Bagh and many other beautiful temples too.

Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II(1880-1922 A.D.)
Madho Singh II was the adopted son of Ram Singh II, Raja of Jaipur. He was a very good king and deliberately invested in sanitation and education in the city. He captured the throne at the age of 19 and ruled as successful rulers and an administrator.

Maharaja Sawai Ishwari Singh (1743-1750 A. D.)
He was the eldest son of Jai Singh II but was not an as great warrior like his father and he died quickly but was a great artist, poet and involved in classical music and dance.

Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh I (1751-1768 A.D.)
He was the younger son of Jai Singh II and captured the throne just after the demise of his elder brother and he unfettered the Kachchwaha Kingdom from the Marathas and won many other important battles. He built many palaces that includeMadhoNiwas in the Chandra Mahal complex of the City Palace, Madho Vilas in the center of Jai Mahal, and the Sisodia Rani ka Bagh and many other beautiful temples too.

Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II(1880-1922 A.D.)
Madho Singh II was the adopted son of Ram Singh II, Raja of Jaipur. He was a very good king and deliberately invested in sanitation and education in the city. He captured the throne at the age of 19 and ruled as successful rulers and an administrator. The king made Jaipur as a planned city and his various contributions made good earnings for the state of Rajasthan and he donated 25 lacs rupees to provide funding to a noble cause for the most natural disasters in the country- All India Famine Relief Fund. And after that, there were many irrigation projects took place by his ancestors and they were completed and many of them were done by his own creativity and contributed near about 224 irrigation dams with distribution canals so that eh state do not face any problems in farming and also can get help during drought.

Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II (1911-1970 A.D.)
Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II with His Wife Maharani Gayatri Devi by Wikipedia.com He was the second son of Thakur SawaiSinghji and was considered as one of the best kings of the history of the Jaipur royal family. Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II adopted him as his crown prince and was put on the throne as the king in the year 1922. Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II tried to regroup the Army of Jaipur and his effort resulted in a division of two additional battalions of Jaipur Forces which were later accepted by the Government of India as Indian State Forces Units. During the British reign, he was conferred with the prestigious rank of Major General and followed by Lt. General. He always worked to make the Jaipur city as a modern and developed one.

Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh (1931 – 2011 A.D.)
He was the eldest son of Sawai Man Singh II and was a studious person since childhood. Sawai Bhawani Singh was hired by the Indian Army in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment as a Second Lieutenant in the year 1951 and later in the year 1954, he was designated as the President’s Bodyguard. He had a great contribution in the Indo-Pak war that happened in the year 1971 and was awarded the second-highest gallantry award “Mahavir Chakra”.