The Mughal Era
The return of Humayun to power meant that Bikaner due to its involvement with Sher Shah Suri came into conflict with the Mughals again. However Kalyan Mal by using all the advantages of the harsh desert environment around Bikaner was able to defeat any invading Mughal army. The coming of Akbar to power saw the Mughal empire turn to diplomacy instead of force to bring the individual Rajput states into the empire. As a result Raja Rai Singh, the sixth ruler of Bikaner was among the first Rajput Chiefs to make an alliance with the Mughal Empire. As a result during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar the rulers of Bikaner were esteemed among the most loyal adherents of the empire and held high ranks as Mansabdars of special order in the imperial court. They served as military commanders in various Mughal campaigns all over the Indian sub-continent. In 1570 Akbar married a daughter of Rao Kalyan Singh. Kalyan's son, Rai Singh, who succeeded him in 1571, was one of Akbar's most distinguished generals and the first Raja of Bikaner. Two other distinguished chiefs of the house were Raja Karan Singh (1631–1669), who in the struggle of the sons of Shah Jahan for the throne threw in his lot with Aurangzeb, and his eldest son, Anup Singh (1669–1698), who fought with distinction in the Deccan, was conspicuous in the capture of Golconda, and earned the title of maharaja. With the decline of Mughal power in India with the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 AD, the bonds of Mughals-Rajput relationship slowly dissolved. Sujan Singh (1700–35) formally broke the connection with the Mughal throne and from 1719 based himself within his kingdom.
From this time forward the history of Bikaner was mainly that of the wars with Marwar, which raged intermittently throughout the 18th century, most notabily in 1722 when Abhai Singh of Marwar invaded Bikaner and in 1739. During the latter conflict Bikaner was only saved by the intervention of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh of Jaipur, which led to a close alliance between Bikaner and Jaipur. Maharaja Gaj Singh (1746–87) made peace with Marwar which was seen as a sign of weakness by his nobles (thakurs), who rebelled, which led to several years of conflict before he reestablished his authority.
Read more about this topic: History Of Bikaner
Famous quotes containing the word era:
“It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past.... Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
—George Steiner (b. 1929)