Pratap Singh (2 December 1764 – 1 August 1803) was a Kachwaha ruler 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 ...

. He is known for constructing the

Hawa Mahal The Hawa Mahal is a palace in the city of Jaipur, India. Built from red and pink sandstone, it is on the edge of the City Palace, Jaipur, and extends to the ''Zenana'', or women's chambers. The structure was built in 1799 by the Maharaja Sawai ...

Biography

Pratap was born as a younger son of

Madho Singh I Madho Singh I (December 1728 – March 5, 1768) was ruler of the state of Jaipur in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan.D.K. Taknet, Razia Grover, Nandita Bhardwaj, 2016Jaipur: Gem of India He was the younger son of Jai Singh II and bec ...

on 2 December 1764 . Pratap Singh became the Maharaja at the age of 14 after the death of his brother Prithvi Singh. He ruled from 1778 to 1803. His 25-year rule witnessed many spectacular achievements and strategic failures. Being constantly goaded by the

Marathas The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

and the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, he had to face repeated threats and a heavy drainage of funds. The fountains behind the Govind Dev temple are credited to him, his poetic talent and patronage of arts and crafts. During his time, the art of paintings reached its peak. By the time of his ascension to the throne, the Mughal Empire was almost in shambles and the artists were fleeing

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. Pratap Singh gave them patronage and they came and settled in Jaipur. It was these artists who brought recognition to the Jaipuri school of painting. Jaipur-Hawa Mahal-Panoramic view-20131017

Jaipur-Hawa Mahal-Panoramic view-20131017

The finest example of his connoisseurship is the unique monument of

(the palace of the Winds) and few rooms of City Palace, which he got constructed. A large number of scholarly works were produced during his time. He himself was a good poet and wrote poems in

Braj Bhasha The Braj language, ''Braj Bhasha'', also known as Vraj Bhasha or Vrij Bhasha or Braj Bhāṣā or Braji or Brij Bhasha or Braj Boli, is a Western Hindi language. Along with Awadhi (a variety of Eastern Hindi), it was one of the two predominant ...

and

Dhundari language Dhundhari (also known as Jaipuri) is a dialect of Rajasthani spoken in the Dhundhar region of northeastern Rajasthan state, India. Dhundari-speaking people are found in four districts – Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa, Tonk and some parts o ...

under the pen name of Brijnidhi.

References

Pratap 1764 births 1803 deaths {{India-royal-stub

Biography

See also

References