Deeg Palace, built in 1772 as a palace for the rulers of Bharatpur State.Lohagarh Fort, built by Maharaja Suraj Mal in 1732 on an artificial island and took eight years to complete.View of the Deeg Fort taken in the 1890s. Deeg was the first capital of the Sinsini Jats established by Badan Singh. Later the capital was moved to Bharatpur.
Bharatpur State was a Princely state under British suzerainty that was ruled by the Sinsinwar clan of the Hindu Jats. At the time of reign of king Suraj Mal (1755–1763) revenue of the state was 17,500,000 Gold coin per annum.[2] The major architecture of this state include Lohagarh Fort and Deeg Palace.
Lohagarh Fort is one of the well-known forts located in Bharatpur city of Rajasthan which was built by Maharaja Suraj Mal in 1732 on an artificial island and took eight years to complete. He is famous for building other such forts and palaces in his kingdom. It needed large number of manpower and significant amount of wealth to build such impregnable fort, as the name of the fort itself says-- "Lohagarh", which means, Iron fort (Loha means Iron and Garh means fort).[3] Lohagarh Fort is considered as one of the strongest fort as British forces led by Lord Lake could not capture it in spite of several attacks during the Siege of Bharatpur. Lord Lake made a siege of the fort in 1805 for six weeks but in spite of so many attacks he couldn’t annex it.[4]
Between December 1825 and January 1826, British troops under Lord Combermere initially surrounded the state's capital until on 18 January 1826 its fortress was stormed and captured. After this siege, Bharatpur became princely state under British Raj control.[5]
The rulers of the Bharatpur dynasty were Sinsinwar Jats. As per the origin legend, they claimed their descent from Balchand, a Yadav Rajput, 19th in line from Sindpal, the claimed ancestor of both the Bharatpur and the Karauli families and also a descendant of Madan Pal, a Jadon Rajput. Balchand's wife was infertile, so he had two sons named Vijje and Sijje with a Jat concubine whom he had captured during one of his usual plundering raids. His sons became Jats and adopted Sinsinwar as their gotra based on the village of Sinsini after being rejected as Rajputs. Historian Ram Pande notes several issues when examining the veracity of this legend: Sinsini had never been part of Karauli State, the caste of a child is not based on the mother's caste, and they would have become Darogas when rejected as Rajputs instead of Jats.[7] Ram Pande states that this legend was created "to show superiority of Sinsinwar Jats over other Jats."[8]
The formation of the state of Bharatpur was a result of revolts by the Jats living in the region around Delhi, Agra, and Mathura against the imperial Mughals.[9][10]Gokula, a local Jat zamindar of Tilpat, led the first of such revolts in 1669. Even though the Jats were defeated and Gokula was executed, the movement was not completely crushed and discontent continued to simmer.[9] In 1685, there was a second uprising of the Jats under RajaRam of Sinsini, that was better organized this time and used guerrilla warfare, combining it with loot and plunder.[9] Now Aurangzeb approached the Kachhwaha ruler Bishan Singh to crush the uprising and appointed him as the faujdar of Mathura, granting him the entire area in zamindari. Conflict between Jats and Rajputs for zamindari rights also complicated the issue, with Jats primarily being landowners, whereas the Rajputs were primarily revenue collectors.[9] The Jats put up a stiff resistance but by 1691, RajaRam Sinsini and his successor Churaman were compelled to submit to the Imperial Mughals. However unrest among Jats continued and later on in the beginning of the 18th century, Churaman, taking advantage of the Mughal civil wars, was able to oust the Rajputs from the area and establish an independent state where Jat chiefs formed the ruling class.[9]Rajaram who also exhumed and burned the remains of Akbar is known for setting up a small fort at Sinsini. It was the key foundation of this kingdom.[11][12]
In 1805, war between the British and the Holkars broke out. Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Bharatpur agreed to help the Holkar and the two Maharajas fell back to the Bharatpur fort. The British surrounded the fort and after three months, Ranjit Singh agreed to peace and signed a treaty with the British, thus becoming a princely state.[17]Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Bharatpur provided great support for the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and this aid was greatly acknowledged by the British. The young Maharaja was made a G.C.S.I and his personal gun salute was increased.[18]
In August 1947, the state of Bharatpur acceded to the newly independent Dominion of India. In 1948, it became part of the Matsya Union and in 1949, it was absorbed into the state of Rajasthan. Members of the ruling family continue to be active in national and regional affairs. Several members of the family have served as members of parliament and in the state legislature.[19]
The Kingdom during Jawahar Singh's time had a large army of 25,000 Infantry, 15,000 Cavalry and 300 pieces of cannons with addition to the troops stationed at his forts.[22]
^Pande, Ram (1970). Bharatpur up to 1826: A Social and Political History of the Jats (1st ed.). Rama Publishing House. p. 29. OCLC610185303. The legend current in the Durbars of Bharatpur and Karauli till late was that one Balchand, a Yadav Rajput, 19th from Sindpal, a common claimed ancestor of Bharatpur and Karauli families, one day went out, as was his custom, on plundering expedition. On the way he met a Jat of Dogar clan, resident of Jagar, Hindaun in the former State of Jaipur. This Jat was carrying home his wife from Hodal, Balchand made both the Jat and his wife the prisoners and carried them of to his home Sinsini. Balchand had no family by his own wife and made his Jat prisoner's lady as his concubine and by her had two sons, Viije and Sijje. From that time when these two sons of Balchand were not admitted in the Rajput clan, they became Jats. After becoming Jats they proclaimed Sinsinwar as their Gotra from their own village Sinsini. There are several difficulties in accepting the story. Firstly, Karauli never had been such a big Stage at any time that Sinsini could have been a part of it. Secondly, a child's caste is normally determined by the caste of the father not by that of the mother. If Balchand's sons were not admitted to a Rajput clan, they would have been known as Darogas. Probably the purpose of above legend was to show superiority of Sinsinwar Jats over other Jats.
^ abcdeChandra, Satish (1990). Medieval India. India: National Council for Educational Research and Training. pp. Chapter 18 p. 295, 296.
^Kunj Bihari Lal Gupta. The Evolution of the Administration of the former Bharatpur State. Vidya Bhawan Publishers, Jaipur, 1959.
^Tony McClenaghan. Indian Princely Medals: A record of the Orders, Decorations and Medals of the Indian Princely States. Lancer Publications, Spantech & Lancer, New Delhi, 1996.
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