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The city of Kota (previously spelt as Kotah) is
situated at the center of the southeastern region of Rajasthan,
a very region widely known as Hadaoli, the land of the Hadas.
The also Hadas are a major branch of the great Chauhan clan
of the Agnikula (fire dynasty) Rajputs. They had settled in
the hilly terrain of Mewar near Bijolianat Bambaoda in the 12th
century A.D.and soon extended their rule, conquering Bundi in
1241 and Kota in 1264 (some writers date both these events exactly
100 years later). Originally, all this formed the Hada state
of Bundi dire with Kota as the Jaghir (land grant) of
Bundi. Kota later became a separate state in 1624.
The kingdom of Kota was carved out of Bundi in 1579 by a ruler
of Bundi as a gift for a favourite younger prince, Rao Madho
Singh , who is said to have proven himself as a successful and
courageous general at the tender age of fourteen. The great
maritial tradition continued down the family : fighting on behalf
of the ageing Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, against the usurper
prince , Aurangzeb , five of Rao Madho Singh's sons died on
the battlefield. The sixth, who narrowly survived, lived on
to count no less than fifty wounds on his body , acquired during
the course of a long and eventful military carreer. Kota has
a complex history with great swings of fortune, unlike its sister
kingdom of Bundi, hidden away behind its rampart of hills. Menaced
over the centuries by various Mughal rulers, the maharajas of
Jaipur and Mewar , the Maratha warlords, and sometimes their
own cousins in Bundi, the rulers of Kota developed a keenly
honed instinct for diplomacy. One result was a treaty with the
Marathas in the 18th century to keep the Kachhawas rulers of
Jaipur at bay. ZALIM SINGH'S LEADERSHIP
It was around this time that Kota produced one of the most
fascinating characters of modern Rajput history :Zalim Singh,
a statesman and diplomat who has been refered to as the "Talleyrand
of North India" and the "Machiavelli of Rajwarra". Starting
out as a general of the Kota armies, he became the Regent
of the kingdom when the ruler died, leaving an infant son
on the throne. He then set about manipulating the kingdoms
belligerant neighbours, parleying with them and shrewdly setting
one against the other . Meanwhile he also reorganised the
kingdom completely, setting up a modern administration, adopting
European weapons and tactics for its armies and creating a
comprehensive revenue systemt that taxed everything from widows
to brooms. In doing all this , he certainly was not without
personal ambition - the result of which was that there were
numerous attempts on his life, including a memorable one when
he was set up by a rani and attacked by a band of armed ladies
in the purdah palace
KOTA AND THE BRITISH In 1817, under Zalim Singh's
leadership , Kota became one of the first of the Rajput states
to sign a treaty with the British, in return for which Zalim
Singh extracted an aggrement that the kingdom would be divided,
and a seperrate kingdom carved out of it for his own descendants.
The result was the new kingdom of Jalawar , formed in 1838.
The rulers of Kota had their little revenge on theBritish;
during the great Uprising of 1857, Kota was one of few states
of Rajputana where the Indian troops rebelled, discreetly
aided, it is said, by the ruler.
In 1947, Kota was a town of people, the capital city bearing
the same name, with palaces and public buildings, modern administration,
civic amenities and utilities. The population swelled soon
after, first with the influx from the Punjab and later by
the growth of industry.
City Palace and Fort:
Standing beside the Kota barage and over looking the Chambal
River, the city palace and fort is one of the Largest such
complexes in Rajasthan. The Palace itself was the former residence
of the Kota rulers and used to be the centre of Power. Some
of the buildings are now occupied by schools but most of the
complex is open to the public. Entry is from the south side
new Gate.
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