Man Singh I: Difference between revisions

{{use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}

{{use Indian English|date=March 2022}}

Man Singh was sent by Akbar to [[Maharana Pratap]] to make a treaty with Akbar and accept Mughal sovereignty. However Pratap, as a grandson of [[Rana Sanga]], wanted to drive out Mughals as foreign invaders from Indian soil; he refused to accept Akbar's sovereignty and called Akbar  'a lowly ''Turk'''.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.21517 |title = Military History of India| publisher=Orient Longmans |last1 = Sarkar|first1 = Sir Jadunath|year = 1960}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC |title = Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II|isbn = 9788124110669|last1 = Chandra|first1 = Satish|year = 2022}}</ref>

In 1580 CE, some prominent Muslim officers of Akbar, displeased with his liberal religious policies, started to conspire against him. Qazi Muhammad Yazdi declared it the duty of every Muslim to rebel against Akbar. In [[Bihar]] and [[Bengal]] they declared [[Mirza Muhammad Hakim|Mirza Hakim]], Akbar's stepbrother and Governor of [[Kabul]], to be the emperor. Akbar sent armies to [[Bihar]] and [[Bengal]] to crush this rebellion, while he himself started towards Kabul; Man Singh with him. On 8 March 1581, Akbar reached [[Machhiwara]] and soon arrived on the banks of [[River Indus]], he then sent an advance force led by Man Singh to Kabul. Although, Akbar's army was hesitating to cross the swelling Indus River, Man Singh was able to cross it first followed by troops. Hearing the news Mirza Hakim fled to Gurband. Following the army, Akbar himself arrived at Kabul on 10 August 1581. Hakim was pardoned by Akbar, but his sister [[Bakht-un-Nissa Begum|Bakhtunissa Begum]] was appointed Governor of Kabul. After Akbar returned to [[Fatehpur Sikri]]; Bakhtunissa remained as the nominal head of state, while Hakim acted as the governor (Hakim died in July, 1582). Kabul was annexed by the Mughal Empire and Man Singh was appointed governor. He remained in Kabul for some years and built a fortress, used by succeeding Mughal governors. Man Singh brought many talented men with him when he returned from Kabul. Some of their descendants still live in [[Jaipur]].{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Again in 1585 CE, some [[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan]] tribes rose against the Mughal empire. The [[Yusufzai]] and "Mandar" tribes were the main ones among them. Akbar sent an army under Zain Khan, Hakim Abul Fateh and [[Raja]] [[Birbal]] to control these revolting tribes. However,  they failed to control the revolting Afghans and Raja Birbal, friend of Akbar and one of his [[Navratnas]] was also killed in the battle with Afghans. Akbar then sent [[Raja Todar Mal]] to crush the revolt and called Raja Man Singh to help Todar Mal. Todarmal had some success in controlling  the rebellious Afghan tribes, but the real source of the revolt was behind the [[Khyber Pass]]. It was hard to cross this pass which was dominated by Afghan "Kabailies". Man Singh was accompanied by "Rao Gopaldas" of [[Nindar]] in this expedition, who bravely made way for Mughal army in the pass. After crossing the pass Man Singh decisively defeated five major tribes of Afghans including Yusufzai and "Mandar" tribes. The flag of Amber was changed from "Katchanar" (green climber in white base) to "Pachranga" (five colored) to commemorate this victory. This flag continued in use until accession of Jaipur state in India. This permanently crushed the revolt and the area remained peaceful thereafter.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

In 1586 CE, Akbar sent another army under [[Raja Bhagwant Das]], father of Kunwar Man Singh to win [[Kashmir]]. Kashmir was captured and annexed in the [[Mughal Empire]] and made a Sarkar (district) of [[Kabulistan|Kabul province]]. Man Singh and his father Raja Bhagwant Das are reputed to have brought the technology of cannon production to Amber.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

[[Prince Salim]] was born, but he became addicted to alcohol and [[opium]] in his youth. He disobeyed royal orders and became infamous for torture such as murdering [[Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak|Abul Fazal]]. Akbar tried hard to reform him as well as his eldest son [[Khusrau Mirza]]. Two of Akbar's sons, Murad and Danial, died in his lifetime. The royal court was divided into two factions, one favoring Khusrau and the other Salim to be the next emperor. Raja Man Singh and [[Mirza Aziz Koka]] were in Khusrau's favour. In 1605, when Akbar fell ill, he appointed Salim to be his heir. Though Man Singh opposed Salim's accession to the throne during Akbar's lifetime, he never opposed Jahangir (Salim) after his coronation. After [[Akbar]]'s death, [[Jahangir]] (Salim) became emperor. Man Singh was initially sent as [[Subahdar]] of Bengal on 10 November 1605 for a short period, but soon he was replaced by Qutb-ud-Din Khan Koka on 2 September 1606.<ref>Sarkar, Jadunath (1984, reprint 1994). ''A History of Jaipur'', New Delhi: Orient Longman {{ISBN|81-250-0333-9}}, pp.86-87</ref> Jahangir also ordered removal of some of the modifications which had been made by Raja Man Singh to his palace at [[Amer, Rajasthan|Amber]]. But in 1611 CE, the southern provinces of [[Ahmednagar district|Ahmednagar]], [[Berar Province|Berar]] and [[Khandesh]] defied Mughal sovereignty under [[Malik Ambar]]. [[Jahangir]] sent Raja Man Singh and others to crush the revolt.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Man Singh died a natural death on 6 July 1614 at [[Ellichpur]]. Following his death, he was succeeded by his son Mirza Raja [[Bhau Singh]]. His direct descendants became known (to this date) as the Rajawats who had the privilege to the [[throne]] of [[Amber, India|Amber]] and subsequently [[Jaipur]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Raja Man Singh was a devotee of Shri Krishna and a great ruler who come to Mughal side for a reason to first make them friends and later serve to his own people and culture. He had a seven-storied temple of Krishna constructed for Srila [[Rupa Goswami]], disciple of [[Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu]], in [[Vrindavan]]. The cost of construction was one crore rupees at that time. The four-storey temple is still present at [[Vrindavan]]. He also constructed a temple of Krishna at his capital, [[Amer, Rajasthan|Amber]]. The place is now known as "Kanak Vrindavan" near Amber Ghati of Jaipur. He constructed the temple of Shila Devi at Amber Fort. He also constructed and repaired many temples at [[Benaras]], [[Allahabad]] and various other places. He added much beautification to his palace at [[Amer, Rajasthan|Amber]]. When Akbar called a meeting of his nobles at Fatehpur Sikri in 1582, to discuss [[Din-i-Ilahi]], [[Raja Bhagwant Das]] was the only man to oppose this religion. Later, Man Singh also refused to convert to [[Din-i-Ilahi]]. It is believed his son Jagat Singh I received education from Goswami [[Tulsidas]] and Man Singh himself used to attend his religious lectures. [[Tulsidas]] was a contemporary of Akbar and author of [[Ramcharit Manas]], known as Tulsi Ramayana, and much other famous poetry devoted to [[Rama]] and [[Hanuman]].{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}