Bishan Singh

Raja Bishan Singh was the grandson of Raja Ram Singh I and was ruler of Amber, and head of the Kachwaha Rajput clan, from 1688 to 1699.

Accession

On the death of his grandfather Ramsingh I, the 16-year old Bishan Singh returned to Amber with his Kachwaha clansmen. He had been serving with Ram Singh in Afghanistan, even though the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had demanded that he be sent to serve in the Deccan Wars. But remembering the fate of other Hindu princes when serving in the Mughal armies on distant campaigns, Ram Singh had evaded that order. For this he had been demoted in rank and reduced in the possession of some estates——Bishan on the other hand was entirely deprived of his rank and lands.

Raja Bishan Singh was thus the first ruler of Amber (since the days of the great Man Singh) to sit on the throne without any rank or status in the Mughal nobility. So when Aurangzeb recognized Bishan Singh as Raja (30 April, 1688), made him commander of 2500 (cavalry), and gave him a cash advance for their maintenance, it seemed that the Amber royal family had come out of its dark days. Unfortunately this restoration came with a harsh condition——Bishan Singh was commanded to uproot the Jat rebels in the Agra province or these grants would be revoked.

Hindu rebellions

At this stage, while Aurangzeb was fighting in the Deccan Wars, North India was also covered by strife. The main rebellions were of the Rajputs in Rajasthan, Malwa, Gujarat, Bundelkhand——only the...
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