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 BHARTPUR.

373

liis march through the Punjab. During the prosperity of the Mughal empire, the turbulence of their character brought upon them more than once the imperial wrath. The decline of the Mughal power, and the anarchy which followed the death of Aurangzeb, gave full scope for the play of their hardy and daring character. Under their

on

chief,

Chiiraman, the founder of the present ruling house, they erected

and Sinsiniwar, the lands of which Chiirdman was dispossessed by his brother Badan Singh, who was formally proclaimed at Dig as leader of the Jats with the title of Thakur. Under the son of Badan Singh, Suraj Mall, the territory of the rising State was considerably extended. He was in favour with the Raja of Jaipur, and held the forts of Dig and petty castles in the villages of Thiin

they cultivated.

Khumbher. Bhartpur

is

first

mentioned as a place of great strength about

1754, Suraj Mall baffled the allied forces of the Wazi'r, Gh^zi-ud-din, the Marathas, and the Rajd of Jaipur,

this

time

(1730).

In

he compounded with them by the payment of the head of 30,000 men, the great Maratha confederacy, which, under Seodaseo Bhao, marched to Delhi to oppose Ahmad Shah Durani in his invasion of Hindustan ; but the incompetence of the Maratha leader was so patent, and his insolence so galling to Suraj Mall, that he withdrew from the confederacy, and thus escaped the carnage of the defeat It was during the confusion resulting from this battle at Pam'pat. that Suraj Mall obtained possession of Agra, by bribing the commander of the garrison. He was surprised and killed in 1763, leaving five sons, three of whom administered the State of Bhartpur in succession. During the reign of the third, Nawal Singh, the fourth son, Ranjit Singh, rebelled, and called to his aid Najaf Khan, who was nominally the commander-in-chief of the army of Delhi, but in reality Najaf Khan obtained possession of Agra an independent potentate. but being called away into Rohilkhand, Nawal Singh took advantage of On Najaf his absence to carry the war into the enemy’s country. Khan’s return, accompanied by Ranjit Singh, the State and fortress of Bhartpur were taken j but all the territory was seized by Najaf Khan, except the fortress of Bhartpur, held by Ranjit Singh, and land valued at nine /dMs of rupees, which was restored to the latter on the intercession of his mother. On Najaf Khan’s death, Sindhia seized all the country, including Bhartpur ; but again Ranjit’s mother interceded, and Sindhia restored to him 1 1 parga/ids, to which 3 more were These subsequently added for services rendered to General Perron. fourteen pargands now form the State of Bhartpur. Ranjit Singh of Bhartpur was one of the first chieftains of northern Hindustan to connect his interests with those of the British Governthough

in


 * ^7o,ooo.

the end

Six years later, he joined, at