Raja Jagat Singh

Raja Jagat Singh
Raja Jagat Singh of Nurpur
King of Nurpur kingdom
Reign	1618 — January 1646
Predecessor	Suraj Mal of Nurpur (1613-1618)
Successor	Rajrup Singh Nurpur kingdom(1646-1700)
Born	(1575-01-01)1 January 1575 Nurpur, Nurpur kingdom, Mughal India (present-day Himachal Pradesh, India)
Died	1 January 1646(1646-01-01) (aged 71) Chitral, Pakistan
Issue	Rajrup Singh, Bhau Singh, Guleri Rani
House	Dogra
Father	Raja Vasudev
Religion	Hinduism

Legendary Rajput Soldier and Ruler of the Himalayan kingdom.

Introduction

King of Nurpur State (1618-1646) Akbar befriended the distrust and rebellious nature of 22 hill Rajas by raising their second sons along with Mughal princes. So by fate, Raja Jagat Singh was raised amongst Mughals with whom he developed compassionate relationships. At an early age he entered in the Mughal Army and was serving Bengal when his elder and younger brothers defected to Chamba along with Nurpur treasury, they were being enforced to capture Kangra Fort for Mughals but rather chose to side with fellow states. So in 1618 Mughals had to recognize Raja Jagat Singh as the only heir of the throne. Soon, Jagat Singh took control of Dameri Nurpur kingdom and broke the defense of impregnable Kangra Fort in 1620. When Shahjahan rebelled in 1622, Nurpur kingdom flexed its borders on all its sides, annexing Chamba (1623) and Basolhi (1624) while scaring all its neighbouring states. Under him, the state reached her pinnacle.

Career

Raja Jagat Singh Pathania Mansabdar of Mughal Army in Afghanistan rose from 300 to 12000 Mansabs.

• Year: Mansabdar of:-
• 1610: 300 men
• 1618: 1000 men and 500 horses
• 1622: 3000 men and 2000 horses
• 1634: Appointed Faujdar of Lower Bangash
• 1638: 10th year of ShahJahan's rule, appointed Sahayak Sardar Kabul
• 1639: 11th year of ShahJahan's rule, captured Jamrud Fort
• 1640: Appointed Faujdar of Lower and Upper Bangash
• 1641: 5000 men and 5000 horses,
• 1642: Compelled to side with his rebellious son against tax collection.
• 1644: 12000 men and 8000 horses, appointed Kiladar Fort Kohat
• 1645: Conquered Balkh, Badakhshan
• 1646: Death by freezing in snow storm Chitral, cremated in Peshawar

In Folklore

Legend of Brij Raj temple built in 1613, inside Nurpur Fort is a Krishna statue which lied in ruins of Fort Chittorgarh during Mughal occupation from (1568-1616). Raja Basu was sent to capture Rana of Mewar ( Udaipur) Amar Singh I where he died at thana Jhalawar in September 1613. His sons, especially Raja Suraj Mal of Nurpur must have accompanied Raja Basu although Raja Jagat Singh is reputed to have halted at Chittorgarh in the night and heard the sound of "ghungroo" and smell of Mollesary and someone reciting bhajan with "tanpura" outside in the ruins of Fort Chittor. When he told this episode to the learned Brahmin, he was advised by him that he had transcended into the twilight of Mira-Krishna and thus as a tribute to his enlightenment should smuggle the same very statue which Mira worshipped to hills where it will be safe from the barbaric hands of Mughals. The erected temple in Nurpur Fort closely resembles that of the Hari dev temple, built by Raja Bhagwant Das in Govardhan (1557), and of the Govind Dev Ji Temple shrine, erected by Mansingh in Sarii.Vrindavan (1590), as per ASI report, destruction of temple took place in (1618) when Suraj Mal of Nurpur rebelled. The frescoes in Diwan-i-Aam mentions the establishment year as (1610), while the statue was hidden underneath the pond during uncertain times. Thakur dwara was repaired and the statue was recovered in peaceful times by Raja Mandhatta (1661-1700) (grandson of Raja Jagat Singh). In 1886 ASI discovered the ruins of a temple which were excavated in 1904.

The legend of Nur Jahan and Jahangir union 1610-1611 He had entered Mughal services very early at the age of 21 and his first duty was in Bengal with a mansab of 300 and there is a possibility that he pursued Jahangir's interests like participation in the battle at Burdwan between Sher Afghan Khan and Qutubuddin Koka, the then Mughal Subahdar of Bengal and the foster brother of Jahangir where both died fighting in 1610.

Jagat Singh knew that Nur Jahan was forcibly married by Akbar to Sher Afghan so after she became widow he made arrangements so that Jahangir's mother consented to keep her as women in waiting till she married Jahangir in 1611. Soon after the capture of Kangra Fort, on 6 Nov 1620 Jahangir and Nur Jahan visited Dhameri. To commemorate their visit, Jagat Singh renamed Dhameri as Nurpur. Nur Jahan was so fascinated by the beauty of the place that she ordered construction of a palace for her at Nurpur by paying one lakh rupees. It is believed that Jagat Singh enjoyed a special confidence of Nur Jahan and that, according to the Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, Nurpur bordered Kashmir and so Nurpur Kingdom was given importance by Noorjahan as her own fallback in case of political instability.

Legend as hero of Kabul and Kandahar He distinguished himself at Kabul by capturing Karim Dadh S/o Jalala Tariki who had rebelled against the Mughals. He assisted Mughal forces in Kandahar and conquered Zamindawar and Bost (Lashkargah). All this gave him great influence in the Mughal court and he was presented with gifts and honours by the emperor.

Legend for rebellions against heavy taxation for construction of Taj Mahal 1630-1642 In 1630 he sided with his own country people of Nurpur who were starving during the famine and decided to pay taxes from his own pocket and somehow managed to save his country from starvation and hunger till 1642. Continuous scarcity of rains for three years created one of the deadliest Deccan famine of 1630-32 in world history. It afflicted the Gujarat, Malwa and Deccan regions as it was precisely here that Mughals ran their devastating campaign. But where was all the food ? While the entire province lay dead, Shah Jahan's war camp was “fair and spacious, plentifully stored with all provisions, being supplied with all things from all parts, far and near”. While people in the entire province were dying due to famine caused by his own army, Shahjahan was busy collecting money for construction of Taj Mahal which began on 1632. Taxes in Mughal empire were among the highest in the world. According to the estimates of J.N.U scholar Shireen Moosvi, Mughals took 56.7% of total produce of peasants. Where the state's revenue needed to be used to quell the famine, he instead intensified it by diverting the funds to build Taj Mahal. According to contemporary sources like the letter written by Dutch East India Company (VOC) lawyer, the famine led to 7.4 million deaths. This was a man made famine. And one man whose lust for power and wealth knew no bounds was responsible for it. In contrast to Mughal tax regime of 1632, Hindu kings like Raja Jagat Singh and Raja of Bundelkhand took only one-sixth (16.6%) as laid out in the Hindu scriptures. So, they rebelled as they didn't want to create famines in their countries. Bundelkhand rebellion by Jhujhar Singh was crushed in 1635 but Jagat Singh continued to struggle till 1642, the year main mausoleum of Taj Mahal was completed and no more additional funds were needed. The famous words of bard on this moment were: "Jaisa Raja Jagat Singh aghar hota dua koi, Now dweep bhu mandal mein bhuka rahae na koi". If there was even one contemporary of Jagat Singh, the country of hills with 9 basins or elsewhere would have never starved.

Legend of Balkh and Badakhshan military expedition 1644-1645 was second expedition to Central Asia in which he excelled while accompanying Mughal prince Murad Bakhsh to subdue Uzbegs and Badakhshan for which Raja had recruited over 14000 men from his principality. Elphinstone speaking of this great Dogra conquest into Central Asia says: "the spirit of the Dogra never showed more brilliantly than in this unusual duty. They stormed mountain passes, made forced marches over snow, they constructed redoubts by their own labour. The Raja himself taking the axe like the rest and bore up against the tempest of frozen region as firmly as against the fierce and repeated attack of the enemy". In December 1645 he had completed military expedition to the northeastern tip of Afghanistan for Mughals and had reached Tajikistan-Pakistan-Afghanistan axis. As he had only scattered the enemies, he expected hostilities on his return journey. Instead of going back to Badakhshan and Balkh from Sarhad-e Broghil he attempted to cross Broghil Pass to reach Chitral from where he had started his expedition in 1644 but died due to a snow storm in January 1646. His grandson built a temple/memorial in Haridwar for the lost souls.

Legend of Fort Taragarh 1640–1642, Near Dalhousie-Khajiar is a fort made on the highest peak of this area on meeting point of Hathidhar range with sub range of Dhauladhar range below Kakira. This fort was made to keep away any armies coming from Nurpur and or Punjab side. Down this fort towards all side is thousands feet deep stiff descent all sides except only North side that is towards Chamba side. Below this fort towards north side is small and long flat valley is formed where people of Taragarh have constructed their houses and Draman to Chamba road also passes through a Village named Bariean da Gala. At such a highly inaccessible location impregnable fort was built after a Brahmin named Tara offered his sacrifice to protect from demons. Taragarh Fort was so well fortified by Jagat Singh and his sons that according to local folklores it took huge Mughal army 12 years to annex it. It is said that Mughal forces surrounding the fort had planted Mango saplings which fruited in the course of siege and soldiers enjoyed their fruits (this place near Taragarh fort is to-day called ‘Amb ka Bagh’ literally meaning ‘Mango Orchard’). To break the moral of invading army, the sons and men of Jagat Singh threw pudding made from bitches milk out of fort. Mughal soldiers saw this pudding and reported to the commander of cordoning forces who could not believe his eyes and died of shock. When this news reached the Mughal emperor that despite such a long siege the Raja and his men are still feasting on milk pudding he decided to negotiate with Jagat Singh who eventually opened the gates of Fort on his terms. 12 years of anti-taxation rebellion against the Mughals and the War of Taragarh 1640–1642, he was not only granted condonation on 10 April 1642 but his knighthood of 12,000 Mansabadari was restored and the honour of ‘favourite of Mughals’ as he was needed in Afghanistan Campaign.

Legend as a formidable warrior He was immortalized by the poet Gambhir Rai, who wrote of his military expeditions, four years after he had died:The Rhapsodies of Gambhír Rái, the Bard of Núrpur, A.D. 1650.— by John Beames, C.S.

"Uthapan, Uthapan Naresh Tu Paithan Path, Jako dae Badshahi panch sath pave, Dandath udandi nokhandat akhandi, Panch Sath dweep kirth, yash ghave, Uthal-Vithal aur udal ujal jath, Sangi gaey suk jath, bhojan na khave, Kaith Gambhir sur spath Ashok Raja, Sanj lo salam karan Khan yahan aave"

(Hey Lord, You are the glory of Pathania clan. Only few are bestowed upon such greatness in this world. Your lordship punishes the defaulters. Your valour conquered nine parts and consolidated to form single kingdom. Several islands sing your glory. In battle our forces could not take food. And yet the Khan came to salute you O lord. Ghambir speaks the truth that you in your glory equal the king Ashoka)

References

• Translated by Walia, Raghunath Singh Pathania (2004). Chronology of Royal Family of Pathania. Archive Department H.P.
• Sukhdev Singh Charak (1979). Art Culture and History of Himalayan Kingdoms. ISBN 978-9937105507.
• Jeratha, Aśoka (2000). Forts and Palaces of the Western Himalayas. Indus Publishing. ISBN 9788173871047.
• Jeratha, Aśoka (1998). Dogra Legends of Art and Culture. Indus Publishing. ISBN 9788173870828.
• Brentnall, Mark, ed. (2004). The Princely and Noble Families of the Former Indian Empire. Vol. 1 - Himachal Pradesh. Indus Publishing. ISBN 9788173871634.