| Sawai Raja Jai Singh II | |||||||||
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| Saramad-e-Raja-e-Hindustan Raj-Rajeshwar Raj-Rajendra Shri Maharajadhiraj Maharaja Sawai Bahadur[1] Shri[2] | |||||||||
 Sawai Jai Singh's portrait (1725) fromBritish Museum | |||||||||
| 30thRaja ofAmber | |||||||||
| Reign | 5 March 1699 – 18 November 1727 | ||||||||
| Coronation | 5 March 1699 (first) 25 January 1700 (second) | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Bishan Singh | ||||||||
| Successor | Ishwari Singh of Jaipur | ||||||||
| 1stRaja of Jaipur | |||||||||
| Reign | 18 November 1727 – 21 September 1743 | ||||||||
| Successor | Ishwari Singh | ||||||||
| Subahdar ofMalwa | |||||||||
| Reign | 25 October 1732 – 24 December 1737 | ||||||||
| Emperor | Muhammad Shah | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Muhammad Khan Bangash | ||||||||
| Successor | Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I | ||||||||
| Born | Kunwar Vijay Singh (1688-11-03)3 November 1688 Kharwa,Ajmer Subah,Mughal Empire | ||||||||
| Died | 21 September 1743(1743-09-21) (aged 54) Jaipur,Jaipur State,Rajputana | ||||||||
| Burial | |||||||||
| Spouse |
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| Issue | Sons
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| Dynasty | Kachhwaha | ||||||||
| Father | Bishan Singh | ||||||||
| Mother | Rathorji Indra Kanwarji d. of Rao Kesari Singh of Kharwa inAjmer[3] | ||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism | ||||||||
Sawai Jai Singh II (3 November 1688 – 21 September 1743), was the 30thKachwahaRajput ruler of theKingdom of Amber, who later founded the fortified city ofJaipur and made it his capital. He became the ruler of Amber at the age of 11, after the untimely death of his father MirzaRajaBishan Singh on 31 December 1699.[4]
Initially, Raja Jai Singh served as avassal of theMughal Empire. He was given the title of "Sawai" byMughalEmperorAurangzeb before the siege ofKhelnaFort inDeccan."Sawai" means one and a quarter times superior to his contemporaries. He received the title of "Maharaja Sawai,Raj Rajeshwar,Shri Rajadhiraj " in the year 1723 which happened to be the reign of laterMughals under emperorMuhammad Shah; this was in addition to the title of "Saramad-i-Raja-i-Hindustan", conferred on him on 21 April 1721.[1][5]
In the later part of his life Sawai Jai Singh broke free from Mughalhegemony, and to assert his sovereignty, performed theAshvamedha sacrifice, an ancient rite that had been abandoned for several centuries.[6][7] He moved his kingdom's capital from the town of Amber to the newly established walled city of Jaipur in 1727 and performed two Ashwamedha sacrifices, one in 1734, and again in 1741.[8]
Sawai Jai Singh II other than administration and state craftship had a profound interest in the fields ofMathematics,Architecture,Astronomy,Astrology andLiterature. He commissioned theJantar Mantar observatories at multiple places in India, including his capital Jaipur.[9] He hadEuclid's "Elements of Geometry" translated intoSanskrit.[10]
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 theMughal EmperorAurangzeb. The Jaipur kings had always preferred diplomacy over arms in their dealings with the Mughals, since their kingdom was located so close to the Mughal power centers ofDelhi andAgra.
Six months after his accession, Jai Singh was ordered by Aurangzeb to serve in the Deccan Wars. However, there was a delay of about one year in his responding to the call. One reason for this was that he was ordered to recruit a large force, in excess of the contingent required by hismansab. He also had to conclude his marriage with the daughter of Udit Singh, the nephew of Raja Uttam Ram Gaur of Sheopur, in March 1701. Jai Singh reachedBurhanpur on 3 August 1701, but he could not proceed further due to heavy rains. On 13 September 1701, an additional cut in his rank (by 500) and pay was made.[11] His feat of arms at the siege ofKhelna (1702) was rewarded with the mere restoration of his earlier rank and the title ofSawai (meaning one and a quarter, i.e., more capable than one man). When Aurangzeb's grandsonBidar Bakht deputed Sawai Jai Singh to govern the province ofMalwa (1704), Aurangzeb angrily revoked this appointment asjaiz nist (invalid).
The death of Aurangzeb (1707) at first only increased Jai Singh's troubles. His patrons Bidar Bakht and his father Azam were on the losing side in theMughal war of succession. Sawai Jai Singh formed an alliance with the Rajput states ofMewar (matrimonially) andMarwar againstMughal EmperorBahadur Shah I.
TheKachwaha ruler was appointed to governMalwa three times between 1714 and 1737. In Jai Singh's firstviceroyalty (subahdar) of Malwa (1714–1717), isolated Maratha war-bands that entered the province from the south (Deccan) were constantly defeated and repulsed by Jai Singh.[12] In 1728, PeshwaBaji Rao defeated theNizam ofHyderabad, part of the Mughal Deccan (Treaty of Shevgaon, March 1728). With an agreement from Baji Rao to spare the Nizam's own domains, the Nizam allowed the Marathas a free passage throughBerar andKhandesh, the gateway intoHindustan.[13] The Marathas were then able to plant a permanent camp beyond the southern frontier ofMalwa. Following the victory of thePeshwa's brother,Chimaji Appa, over the governor of MalwaGirdhar Bahadur on 29 November 1728, coupled with the subsequent rebellion in Bundelkhand led byChhatra Sal with Maratha support, the Marathas were able to convulse much of the country beyond the Northern and Southern borders of theNarmada.[14]
Upon Jai Singh's second appointment to Malwa (1729–1730), as a far-sighted statesmen, Jai Singh was able to perceive a complete change in the political situation, during the twelve years which had passed since his first viceroyalty there. Imperial power had by then been crippled by therebellion of the Nizam of Hyderabad as well as the ability of Peshwa Baji Rao to stabilize the internal situation of the Marathas, which resulted in their occupation ofGujarat and an immense increase of their forces.Nonetheless, in the name of the friendship between their royal ancestors, Jai Singh II, was able to appeal toShahu to restore to the imperialist, the greatfortress ofMandu which the Marathas had occupied a few weeks earlier (order date 19 March 1730). By May, Jai Singh was recalled back toRajputana to attend more pressing matters, which thus resulted in his two years disassociation from Malwa.[citation needed]
In 1732, Jai Singh was for the last time, appointed Subahdar of Malwa (1732–1737), during which time he petitionedMuhammad Shah to compromise with the Marathas underShahu, who remembered the positive relationship between the lateJai Singh I and his own grandfather,Shivaji.For this sensible advice, coupled with anti–Jai Singh rhetoric at the Mughal court at Delhi, as well as Muhammad Shah's inability to assert his ownwill, Jai Singh was removed from his post while the Mughals decided on war. In this regard, Jai Singh II was practically the last subahdar of Malwa, asNizam-ul-MulkAsaf Jah, who replaced him in 1737, met with most discomfiting failure at the hands of the Peshwa, resulting with the ceding of the whole of Malwa to the Marathas (Treaty of Duraha, Saturday 7 January 1738).[15][better source needed]
Exploiting the weakening of the Mughal state, thePersian raiderNadir Shah defeated the Mughals atKarnal (13 February 1739) and finally sackedDelhi (11 March, same year). Through this period of turmoil, Jai Singh remained in his own state—but he was not idle. Foreseeing the troubled time ahead, Jai Singh II initiated a program of extensivefortification within thethikanas under Jaipur. To this day, most of the later fortifications around the former Jaipur state, are attributed to the reign of Jai Singh II.
Jai Singh increased the size of his ancestral kingdom by annexing lands from the Mughals and rebel chieftains—sometimes by paying money and sometimes through war. The most substantial acquisition was ofShekhawati, which also gave Jai Singh the most able recruits for his fast-expanding army.[16]
According to an estimate byJadunath Sarkar,Jai Singh's regular army did not exceed 40,000 men, which would have cost about 60 lakhs a year, but his strength lay in the large number ofartillery and copious supply of munitions which he was careful to maintain and his rule of arming his foot withmatchlocks instead of thetraditionalRajputsword andshield -He had the wisdom to recognize early the change which firearms had introduced in Indian warfare and to prepare for himself for the new war by raising the fire-power of his army to the maximum,[clarification needed] he thus anticipated the success of later Indian rulers likeMirza Najaf Khan,Mahadji Sindhia andTipu Sultan. Jai Singh's experimental weapon,the Jaivana, which he created prior to the shift of his capital to Jaipur, remains the largest wheeledcannon in the world. In 1732, Jai Singh, as governor ofMalwa, maintained a force of 30,000soldiers, split evenly into horsemen and foot-musketeers. This figure does not include his contingents in the Subahs ofAgra andAjmer or in his own dominions andfortgarrisons.
The armed strength of Jai Singh had made him the most formidable ruler inNorthern India, and all the otherRajas looked up to him for protection and the promotion of their interests at theImperial court. As the fast-spreadingMaratha 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 it. In 1736, Peshwa Baji Rao imposed tribute on the Kingdom ofMewar. To thwart further Maratha expansion, Sawai Jai Singh planned the formation of a local hegemony, led by Jaipur, and a political union in Rajputana. To this end, he annexedBundi andRampura in the Malwa plateau, made a matrimonial alliance with Mewar, and intervened in the affairs of theRathors ofBikaner andJodhpur. These half-successful attempts only stiffened the backs of the other Rajput clans, who turned to the Marathas for aid, consequently hastening that state's domination over Rajasthan. Jai Singh's ambitions in Rajputana failed after theBattle of Gangwana.
TheBattle of Gangwana was Jai Singh's last significant battle. Never recovering from the shock, he died two years later, in 1743.Madho Singh later avenged his father by poisoningBakht Singh of Marwar. Jai Singh was cremated at the Royal Crematorium at Gaitore in the north of Jaipur. He was succeeded by his[17] sonIshwari Singh.[18][19]
Jai Singh was the first Hindu ruler in centuries to perform ancientVedic ceremonies like theAshwamedha sacrifices (1716)[20] and theVajapeya (1734); on both occasions, vast amounts were distributed incharity. Being initiated in theNimbarka Sampradaya of theVaishnava sect, he also promotedSanskrit learning and initiated reforms inHindusociety, including the abolition of Sati and the reduction of wasteful expenditures associated withRajputweddings. It was at Jai Singh's insistence that the hatedjaziyatax, imposed on theHindupopulation by Aurangzeb (1679), was finally abolished by theEmperorMuhammad Shah in 1720. In 1728, Jai Singh prevailed on him to also withdraw thepilgrimagetax onHindus atGaya.[citation needed]
In 1719, he was witness to a noisy controversy in the court ofMughal EmperorMuhammad Shah. The argument concerned astronomical calculations intended determine an auspicious date on which the emperor could start a journey. This discussion led Jai Singh to believe that the nation needed to be educated on the subject ofastronomy. His interest may have been kindled as early as 1702 by his tutor Jagannatha Samrat. Despite local wars, foreign invasions, and consequent turmoil, Jai Singh found time and energy to build astronomicalobservatories.[19]
He ordered the construction of five such buildings—atDelhi,Mathura (in his Agra province),Benares,Ujjain (capital of his Malwa province), and his own capital ofJaipur. His astronomical observations were remarkably accurate. He drew up a set of tables, entitledZij-i-Muhammadshahi, to enable people to make astronomical observations. He instigated the translation into Sanskrit of Euclid'sElements of Geometry, several works on trigonometry, and Napier's work on the construction and use of logarithms.[21] Relying primarily onIndian astronomy, his observatories were used to accurately predict eclipses and other astronomical events. The observational techniques and instruments used in his observatories were also superior to those used by the EuropeanJesuit astronomers he invited to his observatories.[22][23] Termed as theJantar Mantar, they consisted of theRam Yantra (a cylindrical building with an open top and a pillar in its center), theJai Prakash (a concave hemisphere), theSamrat Yantra (a huge equinoctial dial), theDigamsha Yantra (a pillar surrounded by two circular walls), and theNarivalaya Yantra (a cylindrical dial).
TheSamrat Yantra is a hugesundial. It can be used to estimate thelocal time, to locate thePole Star, and to measure thedeclination of celestial objects. TheRama Yantra can be used to measure thealtitude andazimuth of celestial objects. TheShanku Yantra can be used to measure thelatitude of the place.[21]
Jai Singh's greatest achievement was the construction of the city ofJaipur (known originally as Jai Nagara[24] in Sanskrit and as the 'city of victory' and later as the 'pink city' by the British by the early 20th century). The planned city later became the capital of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Construction of the new capital began as early as 1725, although it was only in 1727 that the foundation stone was ceremonially laid. By 1733, Jaipur officially replaced Amber as the capital of the Kachawahas. Built on the ancient Hindu grid pattern, found in the archaeological ruins of 3000 BCE,[clarification needed] it was designed byVidyadhar Bhattacharya, who was educated in the ancient Sanskrit manuals on city-planning and architecture (silpa-sutras). Merchants from all over India settled down in the relative safety of this rich city, protected by thick walls and a garrison of 17,000 (including adequate artillery). The Sanskrit epic 'Ishvar Vilas Mahakavya', written byKavikalanidhi Devarshi Shrikrishna Bhatt, recounts various important events of that era, including the construction of Jaipur city, in detail.[25]
Jai Singh also translated works by people likeJohn Napier. For these multiple achievements, Jai Singh II is remembered as the most enlightened king of 18th-centuryIndia even to this date. These days Jai Singh's observatories atJaipur,Varanasi, andUjjain are functional. Only the one at Delhi is not functional and the one atMathura disappeared a long time ago.[26]
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