Jhujhar Singh

This article is about the raja. For the son of Guru Gobind Singh, see Jujhar Singh.

Raja Jhujhar Singh Ju Deo was a Bundela ruler of Orchha Kingdom in the 17th century, reining from 1627 to 1635 in the cultural Bundelkhand region of modern Madhya Pradesh.

Raja Jhujhar Singh Ju Deo
Jhujhar Singh on Horseback, c. 1720–30
Raja of Orchha
Reign	1627–1635
Coronation	1627
Predecessor	Raja Vir Singh Deo
House	Bundela Rajput
Religion	Hinduism

Jhujhar Singh was the first-born son of Raja Vir Singh Deo and the senior of his three queens.^[1] In 1626,^[2] he succeeded his father as ruler and determined not to remain a vassal of the Mughal Empire as his father had been. His attempt to assert independence from Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan led to his downfall. The Mughal army, which was led by the teenager Prince Aurangzeb, conquered his kingdom in 1635 and forced him to retreat to Chauragarh.

Death

Jujhar Singh had written a letter to Kok Shah, the Gond king of Deogarh, to let him pass through his territory unharmed and was waiting for an answer at Chauragarh. He heard rumors that the king of Deogarh was dead and hence he travelled through his territory toward Golconda. However, he and his son were killed by Gonds in the Kingdom of Chanda. Due to Jujhar Singh's attempts at independence, Shah Jahan wrote a farman ordering Khan-i Dauran, Khan-i-Jahan Barha and Firoz Jung to kill Jujhar Singh. Khan-i-Jahan Barha played a crucial role in the suppression of his rebellion.^[3] Their heads were cut by Khan-i-Dauran and sent to Firoz Jung to be presented to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.^[4][5] The Mughal army recovered treasures worth one crore which Jujhar Singh had hidden in various wells in Deogarh territory.^[6]