Shekhawati
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Shekhawati
The largest nizamat or district in the State of Jaipur, Rajputana, lying between 27 degree 20' and 28 degree 34.' N. and 74 degree 41' and 76 degree 6' E. It is bounded on the north and west by Bikaner ; on the south-west by Jodhpur ; on the south and east by Jaipur proper ; and on the north-east by the States of Patiala and Loharu. The area is estimated at about 4,200 square miles. The district contains 12 towns and 953 villages; and the population in 1901 was 471,961, Hindus numbering 413,237, or 87 per cent., and Musalmans 55,251, or more than u per cent, The principal towns are SIKAR, FATEH- Pur, Nawalgarh, Jhunjhunu, Ramgarh, Lachmangarh, and Udai- Pur. Some of them present a fine appearance, the houses being built of blocks of white stiff clay, cut from the kankar beds and allowed to dry ; but, on the other hand, the numerous mansions of the wealthy bankers, though nearly always palatial, are in many cases gaudy. The country is for the most part a mass of rolling sandhills ; the rainfall is precarious, averaging from 15 to 1 8 inches ; and there is, speaking generally, but one harvest in the year, raised during the rainy season, consisting of bajra^ mung, and moth. The mode of cultivation is of the rudest description, and the ploughing is frequently done by camels. The minerals of Shekhawati used to be important, but the copper- mines near Khetri and Singh ana and the salt lake of Kachor Rewassa (the latter leased to the British Government in 1879) have not been worked for many years. Nickel and cobalt are, however, found at Babai in the east, and the ore is largely used for enamelling.
Shekhawati takes its name from Shekhji, the great-grandson of Udaikaran, who was chief of Amber towards the end of the four- teenth century. The country was wrested either by Udaikaran or his fourth son, Balaji, from the Kaimkhanis, or Musalman descendants of converted Chauhan Rajputs, who had been permitted by the Delhi kings to hold their estates as a reward for their apostasy. It is recorded that Balaji and his son, Mokal, used to pay as tribute to the chief of Amber all the colts reared on their land ; but Shekhji so enlarged his powers that for some generations the lords of Shekh- awati became independent of the parent State. The Shekhawats or descendants of Shekhji are a sept of the Kachwaha clan, of which the Maharaja of Jaipur is the head, and may be divided into two main branches, Raisilots and Sadhanis. The former are descended from Raisil, a great-grandson of Shekhji, who, for services rendered to the emperor Akbar, was made a mansabddr of 1,250 horse, and obtained several districts, such as Khandela, Rewassa, and Udaipur. The principal Raisilot chieftains are now the Rao Raja of SIKAR, the two Rajas of Khandela, and the Rao of Manoharpur. The Sadhanis claim descent from Raisil's third son, Bhoj Raj, and take their name from one of his descendants called Sadhu ; the chief repre- sentatives of this branch are the Raja of Khetri And The Thakurs Of Bissau, Nawalgarh, And Surajgarh,
The numerous chiefs forming the Shekhawati confederacy were, as stated above, for many years practically independent; but in the be- ginning of the eighteenth century, Maharaja Jai Singh II, with his means as lieutenant of the empire, forced them to become to some extent tributary, though their submission was not complete till after the Marathas had ravaged the country. In 1836-7, in consequence of the disturbed state of the district, it was decided to raise a corps of cavalry in order to give employment to the plundering classes. Two regiments of infantry and a battery of six guns were subse- quently added ; and the whole force formed the Shekhawati Brigade under Lieutenant Forster, who received the rank of major from, -the Jaipur Darbar. The force attained a high degree of efficiency and proved of valuable service on many occasions under the gallant leading of its commander and his sons. All plundering was soon repressed, and the country enjoyed a degree of freedom from highway robberies previously unknown. The brigade was disbanded in 1842 ; one of the infantry Regiments was taken over by the British Government, and is now represented by the i3th Rajputs (the Shekhawati regiment), of which Maharaja Madho Singh, the present chief of Jaipur, was appointed honorary colonel in 1904. The tenures of Shekhawati have this pecu- liarity, that, excepting two or three of the greater estates, all holdings are regularly divided among all the sons on the death of the father.
