View source for Churaman

{{short description|Ruler of Bharatpur India from 1695 to 1721}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Raja Churaman Singh
| title        = Ruler of [[Bharatpur, India|Bharatpur]]
| image        = File:Portrait of Raja Churaman Jat.jpg
| caption      = Portrait of Raja Churaman Singh
| reign        = 1695–20 September 1721
| coronation   =
| predecessor  = [[Rajaram of Sinsini|Raja Ram Sinsinwar]]
| successor    = [[Muhkam Singh]]
| spouse       =
| issue        = [[Muhkam Singh]]
| royal house  = Sinsinwar
| father       = Bhajja/Bhagwant Singh
| religion     = [[Hinduism]]
| mother       =
| birth_date   =
| birth_place  =
| death_date   = {{death-date|20 September 1721}}
| death_place  =
| place of burial =
}}
'''Churaman''' (1695–20 September 1721) was a chieftain of [[Sinsini]], [[Rajasthan]]. He became leader of the zamindars after [[Rajaram of Sinsini|Rajaram]]'s death. [[Bahadur Shah I]] made him a ''[[mansabdar]]'' after he supported him against [[Muhammad Azam Shah]] in becoming the emperor. He was also made the ''[[faujdar]]'' of [[Mathura]], and the [[Grand Trunk Road|imperial highway]] from [[Delhi]] to [[Agra]] was placed under his protection by the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Mughal emperors|Emperor]].<ref name="Bhardwaj1">{{cite book |last=Bhardwaj |first=Suraj Bhan |title=Contestations and Accommodations: Mewat and Meos in Mughal India |year=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-946279-7 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199462797.003.0006 |page=211 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zj8PkAEACAAJ |chapter=The Bhomias}}</ref>
He was the founder of [[Bharatpur State|Bharatpur]] dynasty. He also founded a city of the name of Bharatpur which subsequently was made the capital of the state in the beginning of the 17th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pawar |first=Hukam Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRNuAAAAMAAJ&q=churaman |title=The Jats, Their Origin, Antiquity, and Migrations |publisher=Manthan Publications |year=1993 |isbn=9788185235226 |pages=105}}</ref>
== Early life & Rise to power ==
Churaman's ascent to prominence began after the death of his elder brother, Raja Ram Jat, during the war of Bijal between the Shekhawats and Chauhans on July 4, 1688. Following this event, his father, Bhajja Singh, assumed leadership of the Jats. However, Aurangzeb's appointment of Raja Bishan Singh of Amber as Faujdar of Mathura threatened the autonomy of the Jats, leading to a struggle for freedom from Mughal rule.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dwivedi |first=Girish Chandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AR5uAAAAMAAJ |title=The Jats, Their Role in the Mughal Empire |publisher=[[Arnold Publishers]] |year=1989 |pages=41|isbn=9788170311508 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Qanungo |first=K. R. |title=Some Sidelights on the Career of Raja Bishan Singh, Kachhwah of Amber |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |issue=XI |pages=170–71}}</ref>
== Military campaigns and leadership ==
In 1702 after the death of his father Bhajja Singh, Raja Churaman Singh came to the fore. Within a short period Raja Churaman Singh gathered 500 horsemen and thousands of soldiers. Nand Ram, the [[Zamindar]] of [[Hathras]], joined him along with 100 horsemen. Raja Churaman Singh recruited a well-known brigand of Mendoo and Mursan to his army. He constructed a fort at Thoon, 150 kilometres west of Agra, near Bharatpur in modern day [[Rajasthan]], [[India]]. Within a short span there were 80 villages under the Thoon state and an army of 14 – 15 thousand.<ref name="Chandra">{{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-link=Satish Chandra (historian) |title=Parties and Politics at the Mughal Court, 1707–1740 |year=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-565444-8 |pages=162–164 |edition=4th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2zxuAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last=Bhardwaj |first=Suraj Bhan |title=Churaman and the making of the Jat state in the late 17th and early eighteenth century |journal=[[Studies in People's History]] |year=2020 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=30–52 |doi=10.1177/2348448920908238 |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]]|s2cid=216320823 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite book |last=Rana |first=R. P. |title=Rebels to Rulers: The Rise of Jat Power in Medieval India c. 1665–1735 |year=2006 |publisher=Manohar |isbn=978-81-7304-605-6 |pages=153–160 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSeb2L1uLWAC}}
*{{cite book |last=Dwivedi |first=Girish Chandra |title=The Jats: Their Role in the Mughal Empire |year=1989 |publisher=Arnold Publishers |isbn=978-81-7031-150-8 |pages=27–28, 37–39, 45, 47–48, 51–53, 55, 57–68, 70–80, 84–88, 91–92, 94–97, 170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AR5uAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite book |last=Pande |first=Ram |title=Bharatpur up to 1826: A Social and Political History of the Jats |year=1970 |publisher=Rama Publishing House |pages=11–27 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RBJuAAAAMAAJ |oclc=555482496}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:1721 deaths]]
[[Category:Jat]]