Raja Jagat Singh

Who was Raja Jagat Singh?

Raja Jagat Singh Pathania succeeded Suraj Mal as the king of Dhameri in present-day Himachal, India. He was the second son of another former king, Basu Dev. The golden period of Pathania rule in Dhameri came under the reign of Jagat Singh. Under him the state reached her pinnacle.

In 1618, while Dhameri was still ruled by Suraj Mal, Jagat Singh was in charge of a mansabdar in Bengal. The rebellious and fiercely independent attitude of Suraj Mal was a source of constant annoyance to the Mughals and caused their emperor, Jahangir, to exile him to Chamba and place Jagat Singh on the gaddi'’.

Jagat Singh exploited his proximity to the Mughals in expanding the boundaries of his state. He ruthlessly pursued the interests of Dhameri and as a result was on bad terms with the neighbouring states of Chamba, Basoli, Guler, Mandi and Suket. His forces conquered Basoli and Chamba and on 6 November 1620 they captured the Kangra Fort.

Soon after the capture of Kangra Fort, Jahangir and Nur Jahan visited Dhameri. To commemorate their visit, Jagat Singh renamed Dhameri as Nurpur. Nur Jahan was so fascinated by the beauty of the place that she ordered construction of a palace for her at Nurpur. This did not appeal to Jagat Singh who considered the palace a hindrance to his newfound freedom. Therefore, to dissuade Nur Jahan, he perpetrated the idea that the place did not have good weather and locals were prone to contracting the disease Goitre. It is believed that Jagat Singh enjoyed a special confidence of Nur Jahan and that, according to the Tuzk-e-Jahangiri, after his rebellion against the Mughals during 1640-1642, he was not only granted condonation on 10 April 1642 but was also restored the honour of ‘favourite of Mughals’, at her behest.