Rao Churaman Singh Bahadur (died 20 September 1721) was ruler of Thun (Later Bharatpur Kingdom ). He was son of Faujdar Thakur Bhajja Singh and Thakurrani Amrit Kaur and younger brother of Raja Ram Jat. He was selected as a head of the Sinsinwar clan in year 1696 after his nephew Thakur Fateh Singh relinquished his rights, he made thun his capital and became th de facto ruler of the whole territory between Delhi and chambal.
- Rao Churaman Singh Of Thun expanded his base :-
In 1702 after the death of Thakur Bhajja Singh, Rao Churaman Singh came on front. Within a short period Churaman gathered 500 horse riders and thousands of soldiers. Chaudhary Nand Ram, the Jagirdar of Hathras, also joined him along with 100 horse riders. Rao Churaman Singh recruited the famous brigand of Mendoo and Mursan in his army. He constructed a fort at place known as ‘Thoon’ at a distance of 150 km in west of Agra. Within a short span there were 80 villages under the Thun state. There was an army of 14 – 15 thousands.
Such a big army needed a lot of money. Churaman Singh Of Thun decided to gather booty from rich states of Kota and Bundi. He acquired Sinsini from the Mughals in 1704. In 1705 there was a war with Mughal subadar Mukhtar khan of Agra and with Raja bahadur in 1707 at Sinsini. In the second war at Sinsini 1000 Jats were lost but they got the victory.
- The Battle of Jajau and rise of Churaman Singh :-
Aurangzeb died in 1707. Taking advantage of the weakness of Mughal rule Churaman Singh planned to expand his state. His rise started from the battle of Jajau in 1707. After the war was over he looted both armies of Azam as well as Muazzam. Churaman Singh showed wisdom and decided to be honest to the New Mughal ruler with a view to protect huge wealth of booty, he appeared before Bahadurshah on 15 September 1707 and presented gifts in his honour.
In January 1709 Churaman Singh entered into an agreement with Jai Singh, looking to the possibilities of victory of Rajputs in the battles of Sambhar and Kaman and Bahadurshah’s intention to arrive at compromise with them. Under the garb of agreement Churaman Singh intensified his campaign to abolish Rajput Zamindaris and capturing back the Jat areas occupied by Kachwaha. He succeeded in getting back Sogar, Bhusawar, Kaman, Khohari, Kot, Khunthare, Ithera, Jadila and Chaugdara.
In 1710 Churaman Singh joined Bahdurshah in his campaign against Sikhs. He took part in the battles of Sadhaura and Lohagarh and went up to Lahore with Bahadurshah. Then Churaman Singh was excused unconditionally and he returned to his old Mansab.
After the death of Bahadurshah his son Jahandarshah became the successor. In 1713 when there was a war between Jahandarshah and Farrukhsiyar, Churaman Singh looted both during the course of this succession war. This way he got a lot of wealth in booty. Similarly he captured elephants of the Royal army during the battle of Hasanpur.
- Received “ Rao” And “Bahadur” Title and death :-
He was received Rao and Bahadur title from Emperor Bahadur Shah .Farrukhsiyar appointed Raja Chhabilaram Nagar and later Khan-a-dauran as Subadar of Agra with orders to punish Churaman. Khan-a-dauran and Amir-ul-Umra, who had acquired Faujdari of Mathura wanted to maintain law and order and peace in the areas of their possessions and finding themsselves helpless before Churaman Singh, they cultivated friendship with him and prepared him to appear before the Emperor in the Royal Darbar. Therefore, on 27 September 1713 Churaman Singh appeared before the Mughal Emperor who raised his status by granting him the title of Rao and Bahadur rights over the Royal Highways from Barapula to Sikandara.
In 1715 Farrukhsiyar gave Ikram, Aghapur, Malah, Badhagaon, Bharatpur and Rupwas parganas in Jagir. Even after this Churaman Singh continued to sack along with Rai Rustam Singh and Rai Khemkaran Singh Sogaria. With such allurement also Farrukhsiyar could not curb the activities of Churaman Singh so he sent Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur for subjugation in 1716. Churaman Singh won the war. Rajput and Mughal armies returned back.
In 1719 when there was a war between Nikosiyar and Shamsherkhan, Churaman helped Shamsherkhan under the leadership of Thakur Govind Singh, the son of Thakur Nand Ram Thenua of Hathras. On 13 November 1720 he looted Abdullakhan and got 20 lakh gold coins in the booty. This way Churaman Singh had become the real ruler from Delhi to Chambal on the land west of Yamuna.
Churaman had organized his state with great labour, tact and struggle. He was not having the formal title of Raja but the real undisputed ruler of area under his occupancy.
Badan Singh, the nephew of Churaman Singh, was always with Churaman in every campaign. Badan Singh wanted the Jagir of Sinsini to support his increasing family. But Mohkam Singh, the ambitious son of Churaman Singh was not in favour of giving the Jagir of Sinsini to Badan Singh. The conflict between the ambitions of Mohkam Singh and Badan Singh became the cause of death of Churaman Singh, who consumed poison and died on 20 September 1721.
Reference :-
- The Jats – Their Role in the Mughal Empire/Chapter V,p.95-96
- “Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 8