JEYPORE Ajmer the open tableland spreads eastward towards Jeypore, which stands on a sandy and barren plain sixteen hundred feet above the sea, surrounded on three sides by stony hills. From this point the Aravell range no longer forms an unbroken barrier against the desert. Ajmer whispers the mediaeval enchantment of the East : Jeypore proclaims itself a prosperous modern town. It owes its political importance to being the capital of one of the two chief States of Rajpootana, and its prosperity to being a great commercial centre for the trade between Delhi and Agra and Rajpootana. Though Jeypore is a modern prosperous Hindu city, the State to which it gives its name has a respectable antiquity. The chiefs of Jeypore claim their descent from Kash, the second son of Rama, who was the fifty-seventh of the line of Surajbans, or begotten kings, and therefore may be allowed " the boast of heraldry." Rama ruled long and gloriously in Ajodhya (the blessed) in Oude, and when the city waxed and waned the royal kinsmen went forth and carved out chiefships for themselves. When Edgar was King of all the English (A.D. 967) Dhola Rao and his Kachwahas, after many and stubborn struggles with the local chiefs, obtained a solid establishment in a territory known by the name of Dhundar from (Tod says) a sacred mount of that name situated where on the western frontier of the present State. Half a century later and the Kachwa chief got possession of Amber, consecrated to Amba the Universal Mother, a flourishing town erected by the Mynas, the great, pure, unmixed race of Upper India, whose original home was in the range of hills called Kali-Kho, extending from Ajmer nearly to the Jumna. As Amber lies in a gorge of the hills, the Mynas proudly styled it Ghatta Rani, Queen of the Pass. The prosperity of the town increased with the power of her new masters, and having become their capital she gave her name to their chiefship. From the annals of Amber little fruit can be gleaned till her chiefs became intimately connected with the Moghul dynasty. The far sight of Akbar saw that the strength of the Moghul Empire could be only sustained by alliances with the princely families of the Hindus, and so bringing the Hindu States into the Imperial system. He himself had two Rajpoot queens of the houses of Jeypore and Marwar, and his eldest son, Prince Selim, afterwards Je hangir, was married to a daughter of Raja Bagwandas of Jeypore. " By what arts or influence Akbar," says Tod, " overcame the scruples of the Cuchwaha Rajpoot we know not, unless by appealing to his avarice or ambition ; but the name of Bhagwandas is execrated as the first who sullied Rajpoot purity by matrimonial alliance with the Islamite."
Maun Sing, nephew, adopted son, and successor of Bhag wandas, was one of the ablest of Akbar's soldier statesmen. " As the Emperor's lieutenant, he was entrusted with the most arduous duties, and added conquests to the Empire from Khoten to the ocean. Orissa was subjugated by him, Assam humbled and made tributary, and Cabul maintained in her allegiance. He held in succession the governments of Bengal and Behar, the Dekhan and Cabul." Maun Sing did much for his own capital, and commenced the palace, uniting it to the feudal castle of the former kings, some portions of which may still be seen.
He was succeeded by two unworthy successors, debauchees who reigned but did not govern. The influence of Jeypore declined, and the princes of Jodpoor took the lead in the Imperial Court. Then, at the instigation of the celebrated Joda Bae, daughter of the Raja of Bikaner, Jey Sing, a grand-nephew of Maun, was raised by Jehangir to the throne of Amber. The chronicle relates that " the suc cession was settled by the Emperor and the Rajpootni in a conference at the balcony of the seraglio, where the Emperor saluted the youth below as Raja of Amber, and commanded him to make his salaam to Joda Bae, as the source of this honour. But the customs of Raj warra could not be broken ; it was contrary to etiquette for a Rajpoot chief to salaam, and he replied, ' I will do this to any lady of your Majesty's family, but not to Joda Bae' ; upon which she good-natured ly laughed, and called out, It matters not ; I give you the Raj of Amber.' " The chivalrous Jey Sing or Mirza Raja, the title by which he is best known, was qualified to restore and invigorate a kingdom. During his reign Amber reached the zenith of its prosperity and magnificence. By the con struction of a dam he had formed the beautiful lake of Tal Koutora, and he adorned the royal city with luxurious gardens. He added to the palace which Maun Sing began the Jey Mandir, the Diwan-i-Khas, and several other noble buildings, and he diligently strengthened it by enclosing it within a wall. To the Empire he also rendered great service. Aurangzeb bestowed on him the munsub, or command of seven thousand horse, and he led many a campaign at the head of his valiant tribesmen. Aurangzeb sent him to crush the upstart Deccan robber Shivaji, who defied the armies of the Moghul. After a vigorous campaign of some months Mirza Raja brought the great Mahratta leader to bay at the Fort of Purandhar. Shivaji made several ineffectual sorties, and Jey Sing opening negotiations, a treaty was ratified.