Ratan Singh (? – 15 May 1548) was the

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

ruler of

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

from 1537 to 1538. Reigning during a period of political uncertainty, Ratan Singh proved himself to be an ineffective monarch. He faced multiple rebellions among his relatives during his short reign as well as incursions by the

Sur Empire The Sur Empire ( ps, د سرو امپراتورۍ, dë sru amparāturəi; fa, امپراطوری سور, emperâturi sur) was an Afghan dynasty which ruled a large territory in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent for nearly 16 year ...

. He was assassinated and supplanted by his brother after ten years of rule.

Life

Ratan Singh was the eldest son of Bhim Singh,

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

. His paternal grandparents were Raja

Prithviraj Singh I Prithviraj Singh I (? –1527), also known as Prithvi Singh I, was a 16th-century Rajput ruler of Amber. He was a monarch of strong religious inclinations and during his reign, Amber became increasingly politically active. He took part in the R ...

and his wife Bala Bai, a daughter of Rao

Lunkaran Lunkaran (12 January 1470 – 30 March 1526) was the third Rao of Bikaner, ruling from 1505 to 1526. He spent much of his two-decade long reign consolidating and expanding the territories of his relatively new kingdom. Background Lunkaran was ...

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 ...

. He ascended the throne upon the premature death of his father in July 1537. However, he showed himself to be an ineffective monarch, being viewed as weak and suffering from alcohol addiction. This resulted in a breakdown of order in the kingdom. Raimal, a relative from a cadet branch of the

Kachwaha The Kachhwaha or Kachawa is a Rajput clan found primarily in India. Sometimes families within the clan ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states, such as Jaipur, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Alwar and Maihar. Subclans Rajawat, ...

s, took advantage of this turbulence and ceded territory from the crown for himself. Ratan Singh's paternal uncles, Sanga and

Bharmal Raja Bharmal, also known as Bihari Mal, Bhagmal and Bihar Mal ( 1498 – 27 January 1574), was the 22nd Rajput ruler of Amber, which was later known as Jaipur, in the present-day Rajasthan state of India. His daughter, Mariam-uz-Zamani (po ...

, also turned against him and attempted to launch a conspiracy, though this proved less successful. In 1544, the Sur emperor

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

launched an attack against the kingdom. Already the ruler of much of

Rajputana Rājputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs", was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day ...

, Suri was a formidable threat who had already forced the submission of the likes of

Maharana Udai Singh II Udai Singh II (4 August 1522 – 28 February 1572) was the Maharana of Mewar and the founder of the city of Udaipur in the present-day Rajasthan state of India. He was the 12th ruler of the Udaipur State, Kingdom of Mewar. He was the fourth so ...

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 ...

. Perhaps taking cue from the latter, Ratan Singh likewise surrendered and accepted the suzerainty of the Afghan ruler. By the end of his reign, Ratan Singh had earned the enmity of many of his courtiers through his use of insults. These individuals instigated his younger brother,

Askaran Askaran (? – ) was a sixteenth-century Rajput monarch. Though briefly Raja of Amber, for the majority of his life Askaran was the ruler of Narwar. He also had a distinguished career as a military officer under the Mughal emperor Akbar and r ...

, to make a bid for the crown and on 15 May 1548, Ratan Singh was poisoned to death. Askaran ascended the throne, though was himself overthrown after a reign of only 16 days and was in turn succeeded by their uncle Bharmal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Askaran Medieval India Maharajas of Jaipur 16th-century Indian monarchs Indian Hindus Year of birth missing 1548 deaths People from Jaipur district