Raja Jagat Singh
Raja Jagat Singh of Nurpur
King of Nurpur kingdom
Reign1618 – January 1646
PredecessorSuraj Mal of Nurpur (1613–1618)
SuccessorRajrup Singh Nurpur kingdom(1646–1700)
Born(1575-01-01)1 January 1575
Nurpur, Nurpur kingdom, Mughal India (present-day Himachal Pradesh, India)
Died1 January 1646(1646-01-01) (aged 71)
Chitral, Pakistan
IssueRajrup Singh, Bhau Singh, Guleri Rani
FatherRaja Vasudev
ReligionHinduism

Raja Jagat Singh was a Rajput soldier and ruler of the Nurpur kingdom.

History

When the Nurpur kingdom was being heavily taxed in 1630 by the Mughals, its king Raja Jagat Singh instead of taxing sided with people, who were starving during the famine and paid taxes from his own pocket. A lack of rain for three years caused the Deccan famine of 1630–32. It affected the Gujarat, Malwa, and Deccan regions while the Mughals carried out a war campaign. 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”.[1] While people in the entire province were dying due to famine caused by his own army, Shah Jahan was collecting money to build the Taj Mahal, the construction of which began on 1632. Taxes in the 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 from peasants.[2] Where the state's revenue needed to be used to quell the famine, Shah Jahan used it to build the Taj Mahal. According to contemporary sources like a letter written by a Dutch East India Company lawyer, the famine led to 7.4 million deaths.[3] In contrast to Mughal tax regime of 1632, Hindu kings like Raja Jagat Singh and Raja of Bundelkhand took one-sixth (16.6%) as laid out in the Hindu scriptures. They rebelled to prevent further famines. The Bundelkhand rebellion by Jhujhar Singh was stopped in 1635 but Jagat Singh fought until 1642, when the Taj Mahal was completed and no more additional funds were needed. 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. A composition by bard Gambhir Raj mentions starvation and hunger in the period of Jagat Singh and his generosity in dealing with the catastrophe " जैसा राजा जगत सिंह अगर होता कोई, नौ द्वीप भूमंडल में भूखा रहे ना कोई |" Like Raja Jagat Singh, if there was anyone, no one would have gone hungry in the nine valleys and basins of the Shivalik hills.I In folklore the most renowned incident that resulted in victory of Raja Jagat Singh became the Legend of Fort Taragarh 1640–1642, Near Dalhousie, India-Khajjiar, that event of victory is celebrated even today every year on 10th April at fort Taragarh 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 a small and long flat valley 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, the 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 folklore it took the 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 the 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 the fort on his terms. After 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 as was the honour of ‘favourite of Mughals’ since he was needed in the Afghanistan campaign.[4]

References

  1. ↑ . Ibid PP.50
  2. ↑ The Economy of the Mughal Empire C. 1595: A Statistical Study, Shireen Moosvi, Oxford University Press, 2015, pp.301
  3. ↑ Winters et al, “A famine in Surat in 1631 and Dodos on Mauritius: a long lost manuscript rediscovered”, Archives of natural history, Volume 44, Issue 1(2017), Edinburgh University Press
  4. ↑ Dogra Legends of Art & Culture By Aśoka Jeratha, Ashok Jerath,Indus Publishing,p172,173
  • 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.
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