Sawai Jai Singh (English: Jai Singh II, born- 3 November, 1688 AD, Amer; died- 21 September 1743 AD) was a brave and very diplomatic king of Amer. He is also known as ‘Jaisingh II’. Sawai Jai Singh was a lover of learning and religious from the beginning. Jai Singh impressed even a diplomat and fanatic king like Aurangzeb by showing his extraordinary talent in his childhood. Aurangzeb had realized that it was very important to get Jai Singh’s support in maintaining the power of the Mughal Empire. When Aurangzeb died and there was chaos in the Mughal Empire, at that time Jai Singh raised his flag of rebellion. Sawai Jai Singh remained on the throne of Amer for 44 years.
Sawai Raja Jai Singh (II) was born on 3 November, 1688 in the Amer palace from the womb of Raja Bishan Singh’s Rathore queen Indrakunwari. At that time Raja Bishan Singh was only 16 years old, so it is natural that Raja Jai Singh’s mother must have been even younger in age. The original name of the child (Sawai Jai Singh) was Vijay Singh and the name of the younger brother was Jai Singh.
It is said that when Vijay Singh was eight years old, he was introduced to Aurangzeb. Jai Singh appeared before the emperor in April 1696. To test him, emperor Aurangzeb held both his hands and asked- ‘What can you do now?’ The child Vijay Singh immediately replied intelligently- ‘Now I can do a lot, because when a man holds one hand of a woman, then that woman gets some rights. A great emperor like you has held both my hands, hence I have become superior to everyone.’ Pleased with his answer, the emperor said- ‘He must be very intelligent, his name should be Sawai Jai Singh (i.e. superior to Mirza Raja Jai Singh).’ Accordingly, the emperor named him Jai Singh and gave his real name Vijay Singh to his younger brother.[1][2]
After the death of Aurangzeb, when chaos was spreading in the Mughal Empire, Jai Singh’s name suddenly shone. He raised the flag of rebellion against Bahadur Shah I, but his rebellion was suppressed and the emperor also forgave him. He was appointed the emperor’s representative in Malwa and later in Agra. He had friendly relations with Peshwa Bajirao I. He sympathized with the Peshwa’s goal of establishing ‘Hindu Pad Padshahi’ on the ruins of the Mughal Empire.
Sawai Jai Singh was a scholar of Sanskrit and Persian languages and also an extraordinary scholar of mathematics and astronomy. He created a pure table of constellations in 1725 AD and named it Jij Muhammadshahi after the name of the then Mughal emperor. He also wrote an astrological book named ‘Jaisingh Karika’. Sawai Jai Singh’s greatest contribution is Jaipur, which he founded in 1727 AD. The architect of Jaipur was Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. From the point of view of city construction, this city is unique in its kind in India and Europe, which has been praised wholeheartedly by contemporary and current foreign travellers.
Jai Singh built Sudarshangarh (Nahargarh) fort in Jaipur and made a cannon named ‘Jaiban’ in Jaigarh fort. He built five observatories in Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Mathura and Banaras.[3] It was constructed to accurately understand the movements of planets and stars.
There is a ‘Sun Clock’ made by Sawai Jai Singh in Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, which is known as ‘Samrat Yantra’, which is famous as the world’s largest sun clock. Being a protector of religion, Sawai Jai Singh had organized Vajpayee, Rajsuya etc. Yagyas. He was the last Hindu king who also performed ‘Ashwamedh Yagya’ as per Indian tradition. Thus, Sawai Jai Singh became a famous person of his time due to his bravery, strength, diplomacy and scholarship, but he could not rise above the prevalent evils of the era.[4]
Sawai Jai Singh died on 21 September 1743 after ruling Amer for 44 years. It was during his reign that the new capital in the form of the Pink City Jaipur was created.
