Mirza Raja Ram Singh I was the

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

of the

Kingdom of Amber The Kingdom of Amber, later the Kingdom of Jaipur or the Jaipur State, was located in the north-eastern historic Dhundhar region of Rajputana and was ruled by the Kachhwaha, Kachwaha Rajput dynasty. The kingdom was established by Dulha Rai, po ...

and head of the Kachwaha Rajput clan, succeeding his father Mirza Raja

Jai Singh I Mirza Raja Jai Singh I (15 July 1611 – 28 August 1667) was the senior most general ("Mirza (noble), Mirza Raja") and a high-ranking mansabdar at the imperial court of Mughal Empire as well as the Kachhwaha Rajput ruler of the Jaipur State, Ki ...

. He also served as the general of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

and commander-in-chief of its army as well as the

Subahdar Subahdar, also known as Nazim, was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty, Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, and the Mughal era who was alternately designated as Sahib- ...

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

. He was commissioned by 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 ...

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

as a commander of 4000 in 1667 to invade the Ahom Kingdom of present-day

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, but the loss at the Battle of Saraighat (1671) and the subsequent retreat led to his recall to the capital and following disgrace and a downfall in rank and order at the imperial Mughal court which though lasted for a short span of time, rejuvenated by his great-grandson Maharaja Sawai

Jai Singh II Sawai Jai Singh II (3 November 1688 – 21 September 1743), was the 30th Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Amber, who later founded the fortified city of Jaipur and made it his capital. He became the ruler of Amber at the age of 11, after ...

in the beginning of 18th century.

Escape of Shivaji

After the incomplete Mughal invasion of

Bijapur Bijapur (officially Vijayapura) is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importa ...

in 1665,

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

king

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

was sent to the Mughal court in Agra on 12 May 1666. Shivaji was offended by being made to stand alongside relatively low-ranking nobles, stormed out of the court, and was promptly placed under house arrest. Ram Singh was granted custody of Shivaji and his son

Sambhaji Sambhaji (Sambhajiraje Shivajiraje Bhonsle, ; 14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689), also known as Shambhuraje, ruled from 1681 to 1689 as the second king ( Chhatrapati) of the Maratha Empire, a prominent state in early modern India. He was the elde ...

. Shivaji's situation under house arrest was precarious. Aurangzeb's court deliberated whether to execute him or keep him as a servant. Jai Singh, having assured Shivaji of his personal safety, tried to influence Aurangzeb's decision. However, Aurangzeb intended to kill Shivaji and ordered Faulad Khan to transfer Shivaji from Ram Singh's custody to the house of Radanaza Khan. Ram Singh refused to deliver over Shivaji because of his father's promise of safety to Shivaji and said he should be slain first to kill Shivaji. Aurangzeb made him to sign security bond for Shivaji. Shivaji devised a strategy to secure his freedom. He ordered the majority of his troops home and urged Ram Singh to withdraw his pledges to the emperor for the safe custody of himself and his son. Shivaji escaped and left Agra on August 17, 1666, by putting himself in one of the enormous baskets and his son Sambhaji in another. After Shivaji's escape, Ram Singh was accused of assisting Shivaji's escape and was punished, first by being barred from entering court and subsequently by being demoted.

Campaign in Assam

Ram Singh fought Ahom kingdom with 21 Rajput chiefs, his own 4,000 soldiers, 1,500 ahadis (Mughal emperor's own household troops), 500 artillerymen, and with the reinforcements from Bengal, numbers totalled up to 30,000 infantry, 18,000 Turkish cavalry, and 15,000 Koch archers. The weaker Ahom army wore down the massive Mughal army through guerrilla tactics and clever diplomatic negotiations to buy time before decisively winning the naval Battle of Saraighat against the weak Mughal navy. This defeat and the subsequent retreat to Bengal ended the Mughal expansion into Assam.

Death

Ram Singh grew sick of war and finally, in 1676 he was allowed to leave and return to his province. He was later posted to quell the rebellion of the

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...

Kohat Kohat (; ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century. With a population o ...

where he died in 1688. He was succeeded by his grandson Bishan Singh as the Raja of Amber.

Notes

References

* Sarkar Jadunath (1984, reprint 1994). ''A History of Jaipur'', New Delhi: Orient Longman, . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsingh 1 1688 deaths Maharajas of Jaipur 17th-century Indian monarchs Year of birth unknown

Escape of Shivaji

Campaign in Assam

Death

See also

Notes

References