Prithviraj Singh I (died 4 November 1527), also known as Prithvi Singh I, was a 16th-century

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

ruler of

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

. He was a monarch of strong religious inclinations and during his reign, Amber became increasingly politically active. He took part in the Rajput alliance against the

Mughal emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

Babur Babur (; 14 February 148326 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also ...

, fighting against the latter in the

Battle of Khanwa The Battle of Khanwa was fought at Khanwa in modern-day Rajasthan on 16 March 1527, between the Mughal Empire, led by Babur, and the Kingdom of Mewar, led by Rana Sanga for supremacy of Northern India. The battle, which ended in a Mughal vic ...

alongside

Rana Sanga Sangram Singh I (12 April 1482 – 30 January 1528), most commonly known as Rana Sanga, was the Rana of Mewar, Maharana of Mewar from 1509 to 1528. A member of the List of Ranas of Mewar, Sisodia dynasty, he controlled parts of present-day Ra ...

Mewar Mewar, also spelled as Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasth ...

in 1527. Three of Prithviraj's sons successively followed him as ruler of Amber, with many of his descendants also populating the kingdom's highest aristocracy in subsequent centuries.

Reign

Prithviraj ascended the throne of Amber after the death of his father, Raja Chandrasen, in 1503. With his rule, Amber, which had been experiencing a long period of stagnation, was revitalised, entering an era of extensive political activity. This may be shown through his marriage to a

Mewari Mewari is an Indo-Aryan language of the Rajasthani languages group. It is spoken by about five million speakers in Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Pratapgarh districts of Rajasthan state and Mandsaur, Neemuch districts of Madh ...

princess, to whose house the rajas of Amber owed homage. Prithviraj was a fervent devotee of the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

deity

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

, taking as his spiritual teacher an ascetic who took the name ''Krishna-das'' (slave of Krishna). This

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

bestowed on the Raja two sacred idols;

Narasimha Narasimha (, , or , ), is the fourth avatara of the Hindu god Vishnu in the Satya Yuga. He incarnated as a part-lion, part-man and killed Hiranyakashipu, ended religious persecution and calamity on earth, and restored dharma. Narasimha has th ...

, which has a temple in

, and Sitaram, which has one in

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

. The latter idol was from then on carried at the head of the Amber army in battle. At one point, Prithviraj made a pilgrimage to

Dwarka Dwarka () is a town and municipality of Devbhumi Dwarka district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat. It is located on the western shore of the Okhamandal Peninsula on the right bank of the Gomti river at ...

, where he was initiated as a monk in the monastery. In March 1527, he, alongside his son Jagmal and a number of relations, fought under

of Mewar in the

against the

. This was the last of the great battles fought by the

s, during which Sanga was debilitated after being struck by an arrow. Prithviraj, alongside Rao Maldev of

Marwar Marwar (also called Jodhpur region) is a region of western Rajasthan state in North Western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. 'Maru' is a Sanskrit word for desert. The word 'wad' literally means fence in Rajasthani languages. Engl ...

and Rao Akheraj of

Sirohi Sirohi is a town, located in Sirohi district in southern Rajasthan state in western India. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirohi District and was formerly the capital of the princely state of Sirohi ruled by Deora Chauhan Rajput ...

, escorted the injured Sanga to safety.

Death

Prithviraj did not long survive after the battle, dying on 4 November 1527, two months before Rana Sanga's death. Like the latter, who was poisoned by his nobles in order to avoid further conflict with Babur, historian V.S Bhatnagar suggests that Prithviraj's death may also have been unnatural, noting that his successors later readily offered their allegiance to the Mughals.

Family

Prithviraj had nine wives from multiple clans, by whom he had eighteen sons and three daughters. Twelve of these sons reached adulthood, with three eventually became rajas of Amber: Puranmal,

Bhim Singh Bhim Singh may refer to: * Bhim Singh of Amber (died 1537), ruler of the kingdom of Amber * Bhim Singh Rana (1707–1756), ruler of the princely state of Gohad * Bhim Singh of Marwar (died 1803) * Bhim Singh of Mewar (1768–1828), of Mewar Kingdom ...

and

Bharmal Raja Bharmal, also known as Bihari Mal, and Bihar Mal (1498 – 27 January 1574), was the 23rd ruler of Jaipur State, Amber, which was later known as Jaipur. He was a ruler of the Kachhwaha clan. His daughter, Mariam-uz-Zamani was the chief ...

. Nine of his sons, alongside three collateral relations, were also awarded estates in perpetuity for them and their descendants. His fourth son, Gopalji, received Samode as his patrimony. These families are termed the ''baro kotri'' (twelve chambers) of the House of Kachwaha, who later formed the highest aristocracy of Jaipur.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prithviraj Singh I Maharajas of Jaipur 1527 deaths People from Jaipur district