Early Life of Raja Man Singh 1st and His Achievements

Raja Man Singh I was born on 21 December 1550 to 6 July 1614 and he was the Rajput Raja of kachwaha  of Amer, a state later known as Jaipur in Rajputana. He was a devoted general of the Mughal emperor Akbar, who included him among the Navaratnas, or the nine (Nava) gems (Ratna) of the royal court.

The Early life of Man Singh I

Bhagwant Das was the Father of king Man Singh I  and his queen Bhagawati of Amber was his Mother. Man Singh I was born on Sunday, 21 December 1550. Man Singh I was about eight years younger than Mughal Emperor Akbar who was born on 14 October 1542 and about ten years younger than Rana Pratap who was born on 9 May 1540, These three personalities, of the same generation, concerned sixteenth century India’s polity, society, and history. Rana Pratap fought continuous wars with both of them.

Initially known as prince(Kunwar) Man Singh I received the title of “Mirza” and the rank (mansab) of 5000 after the death of his father on 10 December 1589 from Akbar. On 26 August 1605, Man Singh became a mansabdar of 7,000, i.e., a commander of 7,000 squadrons in the Mughal forces, which was the maximum command for anyone other than a son of the Mughal emperor and the guardian of Khusrao, the eldest son of Jahangir.  Akbar called him a son (Farzand) He challenged many important campaigns for Akbar. Man Singh I attend the Mughal Army in the important battle of Haldighati fought in 1576 between the Mughal Empire and Maha Rana Pratap.

Cultural achievements

Raja Man Singh I was a believer of Shri Krishna. For Srila Rupa Goswami, he had a seven-storied temple of Krishna manufactured, , a disciple of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in Vrindavan. The cost of development was 1 crore rupees at that time. The four-story temple is still present at Vrindawan. Man Singh I also constructed a temple of Krishna at his capital, Amber. The place is now known as “Kanak Vrindavan”now it is known as Kanak Ghati near Amber Ghati of Jaipur. He manufactured the temple of Shila Devi at Amber Fort. Man Singh I also Manufactured and repaired many temples at Banaras, Allahabad and different other places.

Man Singh I added much adornment to his palace at Amber. When Akbar called a meeting of his nobles at Fatehpur Sikri in 1582, to discuss Din-I-Illahi, Raja Bhagwant Das was the only man to protest this religion. Later, Man Singh I also banned to convert to Din-I-Illahi. It is believed his son Jagat Singh I accepted education from Goswami Tulsidas and Man Singh I himself used to attend his religious lectures. Tulsidas was a new of Akbar and author of Ramcharit Manas, known as Tulsi Ramayana, and much other famous poetry concerned to Rama and Hanuman. He used to be followed by Charan poets. There are two moments when these poets inspired Man Singh I by their Poetry:

When the Mughal army was hesitating to cross the Indus River at Attock, the poet said that:

“Sabbe Bhummi Gopal Ki, Ye Mann Atak Kahan

Jab ke Mann mai atak hai, So he Atak Raha”

By hearing this, Man Singh I crossed the river first, followed by the army.