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| Ishwari Singh started defaulting and in 1750 Maratha army came to Jaipur to recover their taxes. |
December 20, 2015, NewsCrunch
Aakar Patel's Sunday article comparing Marathas to Mongols has stirred controversy. He contends that the true interest of Marathas was in extracting a hefty tax they called chauth from Hindu and Muslim kings alike.
Aakar Patel also says that Marathas were quite brutal in their extortion, which even prompted a Rajput King Ishwari Singh to commit suicide.
Here are some more details about tragic and short reign of Maharaja Sawai Ishwari Singh.
Ishwari Singh was the elder son of a Kachwaha ruler of Jaipur, Sawai Jai Singh II.
His ascension to the throne in 1743, after his father died, was contested by his half brother Madho Singh 1.
Ishwari Singh and Madho Singh 1 fought two battles. Both the time Ishwari Singh emerged victorious with the help of Maratha chieftains Malhar Rao Holkar and Ranoji Scindia.
In 1749 Ishwari Singh even built a victory tower Isar laat popularly known as Sarga Suli in the Tripolia Bazar.
But he was already in trouble by then. The Marathas had been collecting chauth and sardeshmukhi taxes that counted up to almost 35% of state income, for their support and services.
Ishwari Singh started defaulting on these and in 1750 Maratha army came to Jaipur to recover their taxes.
Unable to pay, Ishwari Singh ended his life on December 12, 1750 with poison. According to a legend he got himself bitten by a cobra.
Ishwari Singh was succeeded by Madho Singh 1, who went on to make his mark as a successful ruler.
But there were initial hiccups. The new ruler, his nobles and the people of Jaipur bitterly resented Maratha demand of one third or at least one fourth of the Jaipur territory.
The simmering anger of the people of Jaipur found expression in the killing of thousands of Marathas in the Jaipur city on January 10, 1751.
Madho Singh 1 managed to convince Maratha leaders of his innocence and rebuilt his relations with them.
Source
Jadunath Sarkar, Fall of the Mughal Empire, Vol. I
G.S. Sardesi, New History of the Marathas,
The Rajput-Maratha relations in the Eighteenth century
PhD Thesis by Ashok Kumar, CHS, JNU, 2010