Mat Prakash, also known as Medini Prakash, was a king of

Sirmur State Sirmur (also spelled as Sirmor, Sirmaur, Sirmour, or Sirmoor) was a princely state of India, located in the region that is now the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh. The state was also known as Nahan, after its main city, Nahan. The sta ...

in present-day Himachal Pradesh, India. He ruled from 1684 until his death in 1704.

Early life

He was born as Jog Raj and was the son of Budh Chand Prakash. He had a brother named Hari Prakash.

Relationship with Sikhs

In 1685 he invited

Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (; born Gobind Das; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708) was the tenth and last human Sikh gurus, Sikh Guru. He was a warrior, poet, and philosopher. In 1675, at the age of nine he was formally installed as the leader of the ...

to live in his realm. The reason for him doing so has been attributing either to him being highly reverent of the Guru, whose life was endangered in Anandpur due to hostile rajas seeking to eliminate him or as a realpolitik move to ally himself to the Guru to prevent any possible attacks on his state by rival kingdoms. Mat Prakash did not join

Bhim Chand (Kahlur) Bhim Chand (born 1651) was the Rajput King of Bilaspur state (reigned 1665 – 1692) and Anandpur Sahib fell under his territorial area. He launched his first expedition against Guru Gobind Singh in 1682. In 1686 he conflicted with the armies of ...

and the other local rajas in their wars against the

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

Construction works

Two

mandirs A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

were built in Shepri (Shivpuri) during his reign dedicated to Bankhadi Mahadev and Maharani Kartika Kalratri.

Death

He died without

issue Issue or issues may refer to: Publishing * ''Issue'' (company), a mobile publishing company * ''Issue'' (magazine), a monthly Korean comics anthology magazine * Issue (postal service), a stamp or a series of stamps released to the public * '' ...

in 1704. Since he had no issue, he was succeeded to the throne by Hari Prakash, his brother.

References

Sources

''The Sikh Encyclopedia'' article on Prakash
1704 deaths Indian royalty Year of birth unknown People from the Sirmur State {{India-royal-stub