From the hills of Amer
A solar line: the Kachwahas count themselves Suryavanshi, descended from the sun through Kusha, a son of Rama.
Dulha Rai: by tradition their founder in Rajasthan came from the country around Gwalior and won land in Dhundhar, the region around Jaipur.
- Lineage claimed
- Suryavanshi, through Kusha, son of Rama
- Founder in Rajasthan
- Dulha Rai, by tradition
- Took Amer from
- Meena chiefs
- Early dates
- Disputed in the old chronicles
- Amer from the Meenas: his descendants took Amer from its Meena chiefs. The old chronicles disagree on the dates by a century, so we don't pretend to know them.
- The Meena bond: Meena guards long kept the treasury at Jaigarh by tradition, a sign of the old relationship between the two peoples.
- Dhundhar: the old name of the Kachwaha country. Our guide to Dhundhar covers its towns, forts and dialect.
- The clans explained: our guide to the Rajput dynasties places the Kachwahas among the other ruling houses.
The alliance that made them great
Raja Bharmal: in 1562 he gave his daughter in marriage to Akbar, and the Kachwahas became the empire's closest Rajput allies.
Mariam-uz-Zamani: the Amer princess became the mother of the emperor Jahangir. Mughal sources know her by this title. The name Jodha Bai is a much later popular usage, as our piece on Akbar and Jodha explains.
- Raja Man Singh I: one of Akbar's greatest generals, who commanded imperial armies from Kabul to Bengal and led the Mughal side at Haldighati in 1576.
- A builder too: Man Singh I built much of the palace at Amber Fort and the great Govind Dev temple at Vrindavan in 1590.
- The goddess from Bengal: by tradition he brought the image of Shila Devi from Bengal, and she still has her temple inside Amber Fort.
- Mirza Raja Jai Singh I: a great general of the seventeenth century, who served Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb and negotiated with the Maratha leader Shivaji.
- Wealth into stone: the riches of Mughal service built the palaces, temples and gardens of Amer, and later paid for Jaipur.
Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder
Sawai: one and a quarter. By tradition the Mughal court gave Jai Singh II the title to mean he was worth more than one man. Every ruler of Jaipur since has used it.
Jaipur: founded in 1727 on the plain below Amer, with the scholar-architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. Our Jaipur guide explains the plan.
- The stars: he built five observatories, including the Jantar Mantar beside his palace. Our piece on Sawai Jai Singh the astronomer tells his story.
- The palace: he began the City Palace in 1729, at the heart of the new city.
- The flag and a quarter: the small extra flag that flies when the head of the family is in residence is linked with the same idea of Sawai, more than one.
- Krishna comes to Jaipur: in his reign the image of Govind Dev was brought from Vrindavan, and the temple in the palace gardens became the city's most loved shrine.
- After him: his sons fought over the succession, and the peace he had bought for Jaipur ended in the decades of Maratha pressure that followed.
The rulers who coloured the city
Sawai Pratap Singh and the Hawa Mahal
- The palace of winds: he built Hawa Mahal in 1799, a screen of small windows from which the royal women could watch processions unseen.
- A poet-king: he was a devotee of Krishna and a patron of poets and painters.
Sawai Ram Singh II, the moderniser
- The pink: the walled city was colour-washed in pink for the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1876. Our piece on why Jaipur is pink tells it.
- A modern city: his reign brought new schools, a hospital, gas lighting and the Albert Hall Museum, whose foundation stone was laid in 1876.
Sawai Madho Singh II and the silver urns
The journey to London: he travelled to England for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902.
- The Gangajali: two giant silver urns were made to carry Ganga water for him to drink abroad. They stand in the City Palace today.
- The Mubarak Mahal: the reception palace in the outer court was built in his reign, and now houses the textile gallery.
Branches and nobles of the house
The Shekhawats: a Kachwaha branch descended from Rao Shekha gave its name to Shekhawati, the land of painted havelis north of Jaipur.
The Narukas: another branch broke away to found Alwar as its own state in 1770, under Pratap Singh.
- Shekhawats
- Founded the country of Shekhawati
- Narukas
- Founded the state of Alwar in 1770
- Nathawats
- The family of Samode
- Today
- Many branch forts welcome guests
- The Nathawats of Samode: their sixteenth-century fort became a painted palace in the early 1800s. Samode Palace has been a family-run hotel since 1987.
- In the city: the same family's townhouse is Samode Haveli, inside the walled city.
- Nobles at court: the great nobles of Jaipur held estates across Dhundhar and kept town houses near the palace. Some of those havelis still stand in the old lanes.
- Meet them: a night in a family-run fort near Jaipur is the easiest way to meet a Kachwaha family as their guest.
Man Singh II and Gayatri Devi
An adopted heir: Man Singh II was born into a noble branch of the family and adopted by Sawai Madho Singh II. He came to the throne as a boy in 1922.
Polo: he led a Jaipur team that won the great tournaments of England in the 1930s, and polo has been the family's sport ever since.
- Maharaja
- Sawai Man Singh II, ruled from 1922
- Rajpramukh
- Ceremonial head of Rajasthan, 1949 to 1956
- Maharani
- Gayatri Devi, of the house of Cooch Behar
- Rambagh a hotel
- 1957
- Parliament
- Gayatri Devi elected in 1962
- Rajpramukh: when Jaipur joined Greater Rajasthan on 30 March 1949, he became the Rajpramukh, the ceremonial head of the new state.
- An ambassador: after the princely years he served as India's ambassador to Spain.
- His death: he died in England in 1970 after a fall during a polo match.
- Gayatri Devi: a princess of Cooch Behar who married Man Singh II, she founded a girls' school in Jaipur in 1943 that still bears her name.
- In public life: she won a seat in Parliament in 1962 by a famously large margin, and remained a public figure in Jaipur until her death in 2009.
- Rambagh: their home, Rambagh Palace, opened as a hotel in 1957, one of the first palaces in Rajasthan to do so.
Bhawani Singh, the soldier Maharaja
The title: Bhawani Singh, son of Man Singh II, succeeded his father in 1970. A year later the privy purses and official recognition of rulers were abolished.
The army: he served as an officer in the Indian Army, and in the war of 1971 led his parachute battalion on a raid deep into Sindh.
- The Maha Vir Chakra: he was awarded India's second-highest wartime gallantry decoration for that action.
- Known in Jaipur: the city remembered him affectionately as Bubbles, a nickname from his childhood.
- His death: he died in 2011, and the title passed to his grandson.
The family's public life today
The head of the family: Padmanabh Singh, grandson of Bhawani Singh, was adopted as his heir in 2002 and became head of the family on his grandfather's death in 2011.
A polo family still: like his great-grandfather, he plays polo, and the sport remains bound up with the family's name.
- In public life: his mother, Diya Kumari, has served as a member of Parliament and in the state government of Rajasthan.
- The museum trust: the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum runs the public galleries of the City Palace, its costumes, arms, paintings and manuscripts.
- Private tours: at times the trust opens rooms of the Chandra Mahal for private visits. We arrange them when they are offered.
- The flags: the royal standard flies over the Chandra Mahal at all times, and the extra quarter flag joins it when the head of the family is in residence.
The crafts the court brought to Jaipur
Gem cutting: the trade in coloured stones, especially emeralds, grew around the court. Our guide to gems and jewellery explains how to buy well.
Enamel: by tradition Raja Man Singh I brought enamellers to Amer, and meenakari, bright enamel on gold, is still a Jaipur speciality.
- Blue pottery: the craft was revived and encouraged in the reign of Sawai Ram Singh II. Our page on blue pottery shows where to see it made.
- Block printing: the printers of Sanganer and Bagru dressed the court and the city. See block printing in Bagru.
- Textiles in the palace: the City Palace textile gallery shows royal robes, shawls and the famous fine muslins of the court.
- Bazaars by trade: the city's streets were planned by craft, which is why Jaipur's bazaars still sort themselves that way.
Where to see the Kachwaha story
Amber Fort
- Why go: the old capital, with the Sheesh Mahal, the Ganesh Pol and the temple of Shila Devi.
- When: opening time, before the crowds. We go up by car or on foot, never by elephant.
Jaigarh Fort
- Why go: the fort above Amer that guarded the treasury, with the great Jaivana cannon cast in Jai Singh's reign.
- Read more: our Jaigarh guide.
The City Palace
- Why go: the museum courts, the Gangajali urns, the painted gates of Pritam Niwas Chowk and the family's portraits.
- When: opening time, with a private tour of the Chandra Mahal if one is being offered.
Gaitore
- Why go: the royal cenotaphs of the Jaipur rulers, carved marble and sandstone chhatris in a quiet valley below Nahargarh.
- When: late afternoon, when few visitors come.
Rambagh Palace
- Why go: the home of Man Singh II and Gayatri Devi, now a hotel. Tea on the lawns is the gentlest way to feel the twentieth-century court.
Festivals the family still leads
Gangaur: the goddess is carried from the Zenani Deorhi of the City Palace through Tripolia Gate, with women in their finest leheriya lining the route.
Teej: the monsoon festival of married women, with a procession from the palace in the rains.
- Gangaur
- March or April, from the City Palace
- Teej
- July or August, the monsoon festival
- Kite day
- 14 January, Makar Sankranti
- Polo season
- Winter, through to March
- Dates
- Lunar festivals move, so we confirm each year
- Kite day: on Makar Sankranti the whole walled city takes to its rooftops to fly kites.
- Polo: the Jaipur polo season keeps alive the sport the family made famous.
- How we help: a good vantage point, a guide who explains each ritual and a respectful distance from the procession.
Courtesy in the Pink City
Greet with khamma ghani: the Rajasthani greeting, with joined hands, is right for everyone you meet.
Hukum: you will hear staff and older people address members of old families as Hukum. Guests needn't use it, but it is gracious to recognise it.
- Ask about the house: guides love questions about the palace, the polo and the old court.
- Leave private life alone: we never discuss the family's private affairs or inheritance matters, and ask guests not to either.
- Photographs: respect the private areas of the City Palace, and don't photograph family members without asking.
- Learn more: our page on meeting the royal families explains how we arrange visits with respect.
What most visitors miss
The portraits: in the City Palace galleries, the Kachwaha rulers hang in order. Find Jai Singh II, then Man Singh II, and the two centuries between make sense.
The Govind Devji temple: in the palace gardens, the temple of Krishna as Govind Dev is the family's beloved shrine and the city's. Go for the evening aarti.
- The Gangajali urns up close: stand beside them and imagine the journey to London in 1902 with Ganga water on board.
- Gaitore at dusk: the royal cenotaphs are almost empty in the late afternoon, and the carving is finest in low light.
- The flags at dawn: from a rooftop near Tripolia Gate you can see the flags over the Chandra Mahal as the city wakes.
Before you go
Give Jaipur three nights: one day for Amer and Jaigarh, one for the City Palace and the walled city, one for Gaitore, Rambagh and the bazaars.
- Arrive at opening time: both Amber Fort and the City Palace are calmest first thing.
- Ask about private tours early: Chandra Mahal tours are offered at the trust's discretion, so tell us your dates as soon as you can.
- Read first: our short history of Rajasthan gives the Mughal and British background in an evening.
Who will love the Jaipur royal story
First-time visitors: the family's story is the key to Amber, the City Palace and the walled city.
Polo and horse lovers: a winter match in Jaipur ties you straight to the family's twentieth-century fame.
- Readers: Gayatri Devi's own memoir is the best way into the last princely years.
- Families: forts, cannons, giant silver urns and a palace with seven storeys make the story easy for children to follow.
- Who might skip it: if palaces bore you, spend your Jaipur time in the bazaars and craft villages instead. The family's story is written there too.
- Planning it: our Jaipur itinerary and the Jaipur in three nights journey make room for the family's story at an easy pace.