Man Singh (3 February 1783 – 4 September 1843) was the last independent Maharaja 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. The word 'maru' is Sanskrit for desert. In Rajasthani languages, "wad" means a particular area. English tran ...

Kingdom and

Jodhpur State Kingdom of Marwar, also known as the Jodhpur State under the British, was a kingdom in the Marwar region from 1226 to 1818 and a princely state under British rule from 1818 to 1947. It was established in Pali by Rao Siha, possibly a m ...

( 19 October 1803 – 4 September 1843). He was appointed as Heir Apparent by his grandfather

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( hif, विजय सिंह ; born 22 February 1963), nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer. He has won 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three major championships: one Masters title (2000) and two ...

on 7 November 1791. However upon Vijay Singh's death, Bhim Singh seized

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...

and proclaimed himself as the ruler of Marwar. Man Singh was sent to Jalore for his own safety, where he remained throughout the reign of his cousin,

Bhim Singh of Marwar Bhim Singh (? - 19 October 1803), was the Maharaja of Marwar Kingdom ( 17 July 1793 – 19 October 1803). He seized Mehrangarh and proclaimed himself ruler in place of his grandfather on 13 April 1792. On 20 March 1793, he surrendered and re ...

. He succeeded on his cousin's death on 19 October 1803. In 1804 Man Singh broke the treaty with the British for cooperation and formed an alliance with

Yashwantrao Holkar Yashwant Rao Holkar (c. 1776-1811) also known as Jaswantrao Holkar belonging to the Holkar dynasty of the Maratha Empire was the Maharaja of the Maratha Empire. He was a gifted military leader and educated in accountancy as well as literate in P ...

, however Jodhpur was invaded by Sindhia and was forced to break their alliance with Holkar and pay heavy tribute. Opposed by many of his principal nobles throughout his reign, he depended on the support of successive factions. The last of these were the Nath family, the Maharaja's spiritual advisers, who came to control state affairs and turned him into a recluse. Many of the nobles fled to neighbouring principalities, state repression having become entirely vengeful and cold-blooded. Man Singh, after finding it unbearable to see his kingdom get destroyed by the Sindhias and his own corrupt nobles and ministers, entered into treaty relations with the British on 6 January 1818.

Siege of Mehrangarh

In 1806 the combined armies of

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital of ...

and

Mewar Mewar or 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 Rajasthan, Neemuch and Man ...

declared war on

in order to install a pretender as the Maharaja of Marwar. However, Man Singh defeated the combined army so comprehensively that Jagat Singh of Jaipur had to pay a sum of Rs. 2,00,000 to secure his safe passage. In honour of Man's victory over Jaipur the Jai Pol, or victory gate of, was built in the

Mehrangarh Mehrangarh Fort covers an area of 1,200 acres (486 hectares) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The complex is located on a hilltop around 122 metres above the surrounding plain, and was constructed by Rajput ruler Rao Jodha, though most of the exi ...

fort in 1808.

Asylum to Nagpur ruler

In 1829, Man Singh gave shelter to

Mudhoji II Bhonsle Mudhoji (Madhoji) II Bhonsale (died 15 July 1840), also known as Appa Sahib, of the Bhonsale dynasty, ruled the Kingdom of Nagpur in central India from 1816 to 1818. His reign coincided with the Third Anglo-Maratha War between the Maratha Empir ...

, also known as Appa Saheb, the dethroned ruler of Nagpur against the wishes of British. He refused to hand him over to the British in spite of persistent demands by Governor General Lord William Bentinck. Appa saheb remained in Jodhpur at Man Mandir till his death in 1840.

Death and legacy

Man Singh died at Mandore, 4 September 1843.

Works

Man Singh was a eminent poet and scholar of his time and had composed several poems and texts. *

Charan Badi Amolak Cheej Charan Badi Amolak Cheej ( IAST: Cāraṇa Baḍī Amolaka Cīja; Devnagari: चारण बड़ी अमोलक चीज; ) is a 19th-century short Dingal ( Marwari) poem written by Maharaja Man Singh of Marwar. The poem is divided into 5 ...

* Nath-Purana * Nath-Sharot * Nath-Shatak * Siddha-Gyan

References

1783 births 1843 deaths Rulers of the Kingdom of Marwar {{India-royal-stub

Siege of Mehrangarh

Asylum to Nagpur ruler

Death and legacy

Works

See also

References