I m p e r I a L g a z e t t ee r o f I n d I a vol. X i I i
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- VOL. XIII. C C 3 86 JAIPUR STA TP
- Number of Xisàmal. Sawai Jaipur . Daosa . . Gangapur . .
- Sàmbhar . . Shekhawati . Toràwati . .
- Population.
- AGRICULTURE 3 8 9
S a m i j h a k , the eastern portion of which is the joint property of the Jaipur and Jodhpur Darbars. A considerable part of the State is covered with alluvium, but in the northern and eastern districts large areas are occupied by schists belonging to the Aravalli system, resting 011 gneiss and overlaid by quartzites of the Pelhi system. Intrusive granite is common in the Torawati hills in the north-east. Copper is found at K i i e t r i and
S i n g h a n a at the northern end of the Aravalli range; at the former place the ore occurs in schists, and at the latter in the Alwar quartzites. Nickel and cobalt are found at Babai (7 miles south of Khetri) in association with copper pyrites disseminated through the slates, the ore being known as schta. At Karwar near Hindaun iron occurs in the 3 S 4 JAIPUR STATE jaspideous shales of the Gwalior series, while near Rajmahal in the south-west garnets are collected from the Aravalli schists. The country contains the usual small game, including imperial sand- grouse in parts of Shekhawati; there are fine herds of antelope near the capital, and a fair number of wild hog. in the two large game preserves, the one north-east of Jaipur city and the other near Sawai Madhopur in the south-east, tigers, leopards, hyenas, and sdmbcir (Cervus unicolor) are found; and the preserve last mentioned also contains black bears. The climate is dry and healthy, and malarious fevers, though very prevalent in 1900 and 1901, are of rare occurrence. During the hot season the winds from the west blow with great force in Shekhawati and the northern portions of Jaipur, but the sand soon parts with its heat, and the nights are generally pleasant and the mornings cool. The mean temperature at Jaipur city, taken from a record of thirty-five years, is 77° varying from 59 0 in January to 91 0 in June. In 1904 the maximum temperature was 114 0 in May, and the minimum 37 0 in
January. The annual rainfall for the whole State averages a little less than 23 inches, of which 20 inches are received in July, August, and Sep tember. The rainfall varies from 15 to 18 inches in the north, 21'in the west, and about 25 at the capital, to more than 31 inches in the south-east. The maximum fall in any one year was 55 inches at the capital in 1892, and the minimum 4 inches at Jhunjhunu in the north in 1901.
The Maharaja of Jaipur is the head of the Kachwaha clan of Rajputs, which claims descent from Kusa, the son of Rama, king . of
A j o d h v a , and the hero of the famous epic ' poem the Ramayana. The early history of the family is obscure; but they are said to have settled at Rohtas on the Son river, whence, towards the end of the third century, they migrated to Gwalior and Narwar. Here the Kachwahas ruled for about 800 years, but they were not always independent, nor was their rule un broken. The first Kachwaha chief of Gwalior of whom there is any record was Vajradaman, who, according to an inscription at Gwalior dated
a . d . 977, took the town about that time from the rulers of Kanauj, and became independent. The eighth in descent from Vajra daman was Tej Karan, otherwise known as Dulha Rai (‘ the bridegroom prince’), who left Gwalior about 1128. There are different stories as to the cause of his departure. Some say that he was expelled by his uncle, and others that he left in order to marry Maroni, the daughter of the Bargujar Rajput chief of D a o s a , leaving Gwalior in charge of his sister’s son, who was either a Parihar or a Paramara Rajput, and who repaid the confidence thus placed in him by usurping that principality. Both accounts, however, agree that Dulha Rai received
HISTORY 3»5 from his father-in-law (who had no sons) the district of Daosa; and the Kachwaha dynasty in Eastern Rajputana may be said to date from about 1128, with the town of Daosa as its first capital. The country was at this time called Dhundhar, a name variously derived from a once celebrated sacrificial mound ( dhundh ) on the western frontier near Kalakh and Jobner, or from a demon-king called Dhundhu, whose cave is still pointed out on the hill at Galta, a little to the east of Jaipur city, or from the river Dhund; and it was parcelled out among petty Rajput and Mina chiefs, all owing allegiance to the Rajput kings of Delhi. About 1150 one of Dulha Rai’s successors wrested Amber from the Susawat Minas and made it his capital. It remained such for nearly six centuries, and gave its name to the State. Pajun, fourth (or, as some say, fifth) in descent from Dulha Rai, is said to have married the sister of Prithwl Raj Chauhan, the last Hindu king of Delhi, and was killed with the latter in 1192 in a battle with Muhammad Ghori. Towards the end of the fourteenth century Udai Karan was chief of Amber, and about this time the district now called S h e k h a w a t i came into the possession of the Kachwahas. On the irruption of the Mughals into Hindustan, the Amber State at once succumbed to their supremacy. Bahar Mai, who was chief from about 1548 to 1574, was the first to pay homage to the Muham madan power. He received from Humayun the command of 5,000, and gave his daughter in marriage to Akbar. Bahar Mai’s son, Bhagwan Das, was the friend of Akbar, whose life he is said to have saved at the battle of Sarnal. He was also a commander of 5,000 horse, and subsequently governor of the Punjab; in 1585 or 1586 he gave his daughter in marriage to Salim, who afterwards mounted the throne of Delhi as Jahangir. Man Singh, the adopted son of Bhagwan Das, succeeded about 1590, and died about 1614. He was one of the most conspicuous of the imperial generals and, though a Hindu, was raised to a higher rank (commander of 7,000) than any other officer in the realm. Me fought in Orissa, Bengal, and Assam, and at different periods was governor of Kabul, Bengal, Bihar, and the Deccan. The next chief of note was Jai Singh I, commonly known by his imperial title of Mirza Raja. His name appears in all the wars of Aurangzeb in the Deccan. He was the commander of 6,000 horse, and he captured Sivaji, the celebrated founder of the Maratha power. Eventually, it is said, Aurangzeb, becoming jealous of Jai Singh, caused his death by poison in 1667 or 1668. Passing over two chiefs, we come to Jai Singh II, commonly known as Sawai Jai Singh. Sawai was a title given by the Mughal emperor, and is borne by his descendants to this day. The word means ‘one and a quarter,’ and is supposed to measure the superiority of the bearer to all his contemporaries, whom the unit signifies. He succeeded
3 86
to the
of Amber in 1699, and died in 1743. He was chiefly remarkable for his scientific knowledge and skill. He caused many mathematical works to be translated into Sanskrit; and he erected observatories at Jaipur, Delhi, Benares, Muttra, and Ujjain, by which he was able to correct the astronomical tables, of De La Hire and to leave, as a monument of his skill, lists of stars collated by him self known as the Zij Muhammad Shdhi, or astronomical tables of Muhammad Shah, then king of Delhi, in whose favour he stood high. Removing his capital from Amber, he laid out and built the present city of Jaipur in 1728. Jai Singh was one of the most remarkable men of his age and nation. Amid revolution, the destruction of the empire, and the meteoric rise of the Marathas, he not only steered through the dangers, but elevated his State above all the principalities around. He made, however, one great mistake. The Jaipur and Jodhpur chiefs had renewed with Udaipur the treaty for common defence against the Muhammadan power; but to obtain the privilege of remarrying with the Udaipur family, which they had forfeited by giving daughters to the emperors, they agreed that the son of an Udaipur princess should succeed in preference to an elder son by other wives. This attempt to set aside the rights of primogeniture brought great disasters on both Jaipur and Jodhpur. Soon after Jai Singh’s death, the fats of Bharatpur, after several successful encounters with the Jaipur chief, annexed a portion of the State, and the defection ox the chief of Macheri (now A l w a r ), about 1790, further reduced the limits of the territory. By the end of the century Jaipur had fallen into great confusion, being distracted by internal broils and impoverished by the exactions of the Marathas. In 1803, in the time of Jagat Singh, the most dissolute prince of his race or age, a treaty was concluded with Jaipur by the British Government, the object being to form a league against the Marathas; but the alliance was dissolved in 1805, on the ground that the State had violated its engagements by not co operating against Holkar. Subsequently the disputes between Jaipur and Jodhpur for the hand of the daughter of the Udaipur chief brought both States to the verge of ruin, while Amir Khan, with his Pindari mercenaries, was exhausting the country. In 1817 negotiations began again ; and in 1818 a treaty was signed, by which the protection of the British Government was extended to Jaipur and an annual tribute fixed. Jagat Singh died in December, 1818, and was succeeded by a posthumous son, Jai Singh III, during whose minority the. State was a scene of corruption and misgovernment. A rebellion in the city in the latter part of 1820 led to the deputation for the first time of a British officer to reside at the capital. In 1835, on the succession of Maharaja Rain Singh, a serious disturbance in the city took place,
ms tor v 387
in which Colonel Alves, the Governor-General’s Agent in Rajputana, was wounded, and his Assistant, Mr. Martin Blake, killed. After this, the British Government took measures to maintain order. A Council of Regency, consisting of five of the principal nobles, was formed under the superintendence of the Political Agent, to whose decision all measures of importance were submitted. The army was reduced and every branch of the administration reformed. The tribute, fixed by the treaty of 1818 at 8 lakhs, was subsequently considered excessive; and in 1842 a remission was made of over 46 lakhs of arrears, and the annual tribute was reduced to 4 lakhs. Maharaja Ram Singh received full powers in 1851 ; during the Mutiny he placed the whole of his available military power at the disposal of the Political Agent, and in every way assisted the British Government, and he was rewarded with the grant of the pargana of Kot Kasim. In 1862 he obtained the privilege of adoption, and in 1863 was created a G.C.S.I. For his praiseworthy behaviour and liberality during the famine which visited Rajputana in 1868 he received an addition of two guns to his salute for life ; at the Imperial assemblage at Delhi in January, 1877, his personal salute was raised to 21 guns, and he became a Counsellor of the Empress; and in 1878 he was made a C.I.E. He died in 1880 without male issue. Maharaja Ram Singh was an intelligent ruler, and took great interest in opening up roads through his State and also in education. More over, he much extended irrigation, and gave his capital the benefits of gas and water-works. On his death-bed lie nominated as his successor Kaim Singh, the younger brother of the Thakur of Isarda and a descendant of the second son of Maharaja Jagat Singh. The Government confirming the selection, Kaim Singh succeeded in 1880 under the name of Sawai Madho Singh II, and is the present ruler. He was born in 1862, and, in consideration of his youth, the ad ministration was at first conducted by a Council under the joint presidency of the Maharaja and the Political Agent, lie was invested with full powers in 1882, and has worthily followed in the footsteps of his adoptive father. In 1887 his salute was raised from 17 to 19 guns as a personal distinction, followed in 1896 by two additional guns. In 1888 he was created a G.C.S.I.; in 1901 a G.C.I.E. ; and in 1903 a G.C.Y.O. In 1904 he was made honorary colonel of the 13th Rajputs (the Shekhawati Regiment). Among important events of His Highness’s rule may be mentioned the raising of the Imperial Service transport corps in 1889-90 ; the construction of numerous irrigation works, hospitals, and dispensaries ; the gift of 20 lakhs as an endowment to the Indian People’s Famine Relief 'Trust; and his visit to England in 1902 in connexion with the coronation of King Edward VII. Maharaja Madho Singh has no c c 2
3*8 JAIPUR STATE near relations on the male side. In the event of failure of direct heirs, the right of succession is vested in the Rajawat family, or the descendants of the eldest son of Prithwi Raj, who was chief of Amber in the sixteenth century. Among places of archaeological and historical interest may be mentioned
and the fort of R a n - t h a m b h o r . At Ambaheri in the Baswa tabs'll are some interesting old palaces, and at Toda Rai Singh in the south-west is another old palace ascribed to a Sesodia Raja, Rai Singh (in the seventeenth century). The number of towns and villages in the State is 5 , 7 7 3 , and the population at each of the three enumerations was: (1881) 2,527,142, . (*891) 2,823,966, and (1901) 2,658,666. The terri- Population. . g j nto ten nizamats or districts, and contains one city, the capital of the State, and 37 towns. The chief towns
are S i k a r , F a t e h p u r , N a n v a l g a r h , J h u n j h u n u , R a m g a r h , and
L a c h m a n g a r h , all in Shekhawati in the north, H i n d a u n in the
east, and S a w a i M a d h o p u r in the south-east. The following table gives the principal statistics of population in 1901 :—
1 ,535 792 J 54 411
53 621
381 305 953 53 °
694,284
1 8 5 , 1 1 3 20,827 2 1 6 , 3 2 1 I 34 ,
S l7l,6lS
47^961 357.602 Percentage of variation in popu lation between i8gt and 1901. -
+ 0-05 -
- 6 ' — 0.7 + 22-1
— 10-9 — 32-0
— 6-89 — 3-3 +
State total 38 5,735 2,658,666 — 5'85
23,565 5,520 1
3,138 364 4 » *94 3,836 5 , 8 8 2 1 1 , 8 1 6 7 ,536
67,166 The decrease in population during the last decade was due to the famine of 1899-1900, which was most severely felt in Malpura, and to the severe outbreak of malarial fever and cholera that followed it. Kot Kasim suffered least from this famine, and the increase in its population is ascribed to immigration from the neighbouring tracts. Jaipur has a larger population than any other State in Rajputana, while as regards density it stands fourth, with 171 persons per square mile. Of the total, 2,418,401, or more than 90 per cent., are Hindus, the prevailing sects being Vaishnava. Of Hindu sects with a peculiar doctrine and worship, the most notable is that of the Dadupanthis,
AGRICULTURE 3 8 9 who in
1901 numbered S,6ro, and have their head-quarters at N araina
near the Sàmbhar Lake. Muhammadans number 193,044, or over 7 per cent., while 44,630 are Jains. The languages mainly spoken are Jaipurl or Dhundàrì, one of the four main groups of Rajasthani ; Bàgri, a form of Màrwàri ; and DSngi, a form of Western Hindi. Of castes and tribes, the Brahmans come first, numbering 349,000, or over 13 per cent, of the total; they are mostly cultivators. Next are the Jàts (265,000, or nearly 10 per cent.), well-known as patient and laborious agriculturists. The Minas number 241,000; they held a good deal of this part of the country in the twelfth century, and for some time after they were dispossessed by the Kachwàha Rajputs it was customary for one of their number to mark the
on the torehead of a new chief of Amber. They are now divided into two main classes : namely, the zamlndari or agriculturists, and the chaukidàrì or watch men ; the former are industrious and well behaved, while the latter were, and to some extent still are, famous as marauders. As noticed later on, it is not always easy to distinguish one class from the other. The Chamàrs (workers in leather and agriculturists) number 21 8,000 ; Mahàjans (bankers and traders), 212,000; Gùjars (cattle-breeders and agriculturists), 184,000; Rajputs, 124,000 (of whom 63,300 belong to the Kachwàha clan, 15,000 to the Ràthor, 13,300 to the Chauhàn, and 12,800
to the Tonwar, while 3,532 were returned in [901 as Muham madans) ; Màlis (gardeners and agriculturists), 116,000. More than 53 per cent, of the people live by the land, and over 19 per cent, are masons, builders, cotton-weavers, tailors, workers in gold, silver, and precious metals, shoemakers, and the like. Out of 364 native Christians returned in 1901, 208 were Methodist*, 50 Anglicans, 46 Roman Catholics, and 38
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