Ram Singh I

Raja of Amber (1640–1688)

Mirza Raja Ram Singh I was the Raja of the Kingdom of Amber and head of the Kachwaha Rajput clan, succeeding his father Mirza Raja Jai Singh I. He also served as the general of the Mughal Empire and commander in chief of its army as well as the Subahdar of Kashmir. He was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb as a commander of 4000 in 1667 to invade the Ahom Kingdom of present day Assam, but the loss at the Battle of Saraighat (1671) and the subsequent retreat led to his recall to the capital and following disgrace and a downfall in rank and order at the imperial Mughal court which though lasted for a short span of time, rejuvenated by his great grandson Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in the beginning of 18th century.

After the incomplete Mughal invasion of Bijapur in 1665, Maratha king Shivaji was sent to the Mughal court in Agra on 12 May 1666. Shivaji was offended by being made to stand alongside relatively low ranking nobles, stormed out of the court, and was promptly placed under house arrest. Ram Singh was granted custody of Shivaji and his son Sambhaji. Shivaji's situation under house arrest was precarious. Aurangzeb's court deliberated whether to execute him or keep him as a servant. Jai Singh, having assured Shivaji of his personal safety, tried to influence Aurangzeb's decision. However, Aurangzeb intended to kill Shivaji and ordered Faulad Khan to transfer Shivaji from Ram Singh's custody to the house of Radanaza Khan. Ram Singh refused to deliver over Shivaji because of his father's promise of safety to Shivaji and said he should be slain first to kill Shivaji. Aurangzeb made him to sign security bond for Shivaji. Shivaji devised a strategy to secure his freedom. He ordered the majority of his troops home and urged Ram Singh to withdraw his pledges to the emperor for the safe custody of himself and his son. Shivaji escaped and left Agra on August 17, 1666, by putting himself in one of the enormous baskets and his son Sambhaji in another. After Shivaji's escape, Ram Singh was accused of assisting Shivaji's escape and was punished, first by being barred from entering court and subsequently by being demoted.

Ram Singh fought Ahom kingdom with 21 Rajput chiefs, his own 4,000 soldiers, 1,500 ahadis (Mughal emperor's own household troops), 500 artillerymen, and with the reinforcements from Bengal, numbers totalled up to 30,000 infantry, 18,000 Turkish cavalry, and 15,000 Koch archers. The weaker Ahom army wore down the massive Mughal army through guerrilla tactics and clever diplomatic negotiations to buy time before decisively winning the naval Battle of Saraighat against the weak Mughal navy. This defeat and the subsequent retreat to Bengal ended the Mughal expansion into Assam.

Ram Singh grew sick of war and finally, in 1676 he was allowed to leave and return to his province. He was later posted to quell the rebellion of the Pashtuns in Kohat where he died in 1688. He was succeeded by his grandson Bishan Singh as the Raja of Amber.