History of Jaipur
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Jaipur was a princely state of India. It was centered around Jaipur town.
[edit] History
During the British Raj, Jaipur was the capital of a princely state of the same name. Jaipur state, which existed from the twelfth century until Indian Independence in 1947, took its name from the city. It had a total area of 15,579 square miles (40,349 km²) in 1900. The maharajas of Jaipur belonged to the Kacchwaha clan of Rajputs, claiming descent from Rama, king of Ayodhya. The state is said to have been founded about 1128 by Dūlaha Rāya, who hailed from Gwalior; he and his Kachwaha kinsmen are said to have absorbed or driven out the local Meenas and Rajput chiefs. In which the Meenas were to become a key ally of the Kacchwahas. Their original capital in the Dhundhar region was Dausa, Ramgarth then Amber before the shift to Jaipur. The ruling dynasty of Jaipur provided the Mughal Empire with some of their most distinguished generals. Among them were Man Singh I, who fought and governed from Kabul to Orissa and Assam; Jai Singh I, commonly known by his imperial title of Mirza Raja, whose name appears in all the wars of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb; and Jai Singh II, or Sawai Jai Singh, the famous mathematician and astronomer, and the founder of Jaipur city. Throughout the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, the armies of Jaipur were in a constant state of warfare. Towards the end of the 18th century, the Jats of Bharatpur and the chief of Alwar (Also a Kachwaha) declared themselves independent from Jaipur and each annexed the eastern portion of Jaipur's territory. This period of Jaipur's history is characterized by internal power-struggles and constant military conflicts with the Marathas, Jats, other Rajput states, as well as the British and the Pindaris (Jaipur's former mercenary allies). Nevertheless enough wealth remained in Jaipur for the patronage of fine temples/palaces, continuity of its courtly traditions and the well-being of its citizens and merchant communities. A treaty was initially made by Maharaja Sawai Jagat Singh and the British under Governor general Marquis Wellesley in 1803, however the treaty was dissolved shortly afterwards by Wellesley's successor, Cornwallis. In this event, Jaipur's Ambassador to Lord Lake observed that This was the first time, since the English government was established in India, that it had been known to make its faith subserveint to its convenience(Tillotson). It was later in 1818, that the Jaipur state entered into subsidiary alliance with the British. In 1835 there was a serious disturbance in the city, after which the British government intervened. The state later became well-governed and prosperous. During the Revolt of 1857 when the British invoked the treaty to request assistance in the suppression of rebellious sepoys,the Maharaja opted to preserve his treaty, and thus sent in troops to subdue the uprisings in the area around Gurgoan. The Jaipur forces also secured and kept open the strategic Agra-Ajmer highway, and shelter was given to Europeans fleeing from the menace of the mutineers in the Nahargarh Fort.
Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II (1922-1949), in 1948, shortly after India's independence, acceded the state of Jaipur to the Government of India, and Jaipur became the capital of Rajasthan. Jaipur's current (albeit titular) Maharaja is H.H. Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh Bahadur. He has no official powers, but is seen as a Father-figure by the people of Jaipur.
