The Rajput kingdoms interacted with the Mughal powers and the colonizing British, to create unique legacies which retained much of the original flavour of the land and integrated the best
influences from these outside cultures. Shahpura, according to the Rajputana Gazetteer of 1879, was a large and flourishing town governed by the Zagirdar of Shahpura.
The history of Shekhawati can be traced back to the 14th Century, a number of Muslims clans moved into the area and the towns which developed became important trading posts on the caravan routes
emanating from the ports of Gujrat. Rao Shekha was born on September 24, 1433 at the obscure hamlet of 'Amra Dhabai ki Dhani' to Mokal Kachawaha and his wife Nirwan. Mokal was a chieftain who
held the estate of Nan in fief from the ruler of Amber (Jaipur). The story of Shekha’s birth is rather interesting. Mokal and Nirwan were much troubled as they had no son for several years.
They heard about the miraculous powers of the Sheikh Burhan, a Muslim mendicant. They decided to pay the man a visit. After they received the blessings of the Sheikh, a son was born to the
couple. In honour of the mendicant, the couple named his son Shekha. In 1459, Mokal died and was succeeded in his estates by Shekha. He was a tazimi sardar of the Maharaja of Amber (Jaipur)
and thus was nominally a vassal of that court. Shekha is credited with having founded the town of Amarsar.
As the Mughal Empire fell into decline after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the descendants of Rao Shekha, who had already installed themselves in areas to the east of the Aravalli Range,
began to encroach on the regions to the north and west. Covering an area of some 30,000 sq km, today this region encompasses the administrative districts of Churu, Jhunjhunu and Sikar, and is
known as Shekhawati.The chieftains of the region retained a nominal loyalty to the Rajput states of Jaipur and Amber, who in turn honored them with hereditary titles known as tazimi sardars.
It was probably exposure to the courts of jaipur and Amber which encouraged the chieftains, who were known as thakurs, or barons, to commission the first of the thousands of murals which decorated
their Hotels, or mansions.By 1732, two of these chieftains, Sardul Singh and Shiv Singh, had overthrown the nawabs of Fatehpur and Jhunjhunu and British Ports at Bombay and Calcutta were able to
handle a much greater volume of trade than those at Gujarat.
Rao Shekha Ji from Dhundhar established his own independent kingdom with the capital at Amarsar. He was the first independent ruler. After him, Rao Raimal, Rao Suja and Rao Lunkaran become the
rulers of Amarsar. Rao Manohar succeeded his father Rao Lunkaran and founded Manoharpur later renamed Shahpura (The present ruler of Shahpura is the Tikai of Shekhawat subclan). Shekhawats
conquered the Jhunjhunu, Fatehpur, Narhar of Kaimkhanis and established their rule on them. Shahpura (Manoharpur) is the head seat of the Shekhawat Clan of Rajput's and the famous Shekhawati
derives its name from it. It is named after the founder ruler of Shekhawat Maha Rao Shekhaji and the Manoharpur Shahpura Family takes pride in being direct descendent --- from Maha Rao Shekhaji.
In the 19th century Rao Pratap Singh ji Grandson & Kunwar Kalyan Singh ji’s son Rao Dheer Singh was an eminent statesman of Shahpura who had the Rao Title ( reached He later became Minister
and wielded absolute power. His descendant, Maharaj Surendra Singh the present owner gave the buildings at Shahpura a face lift. He also restructured and refurnished their old palatial house into a
Hotel and Also the Hotels in Shahpura which is a 300 yrs Old, as one drives past the town, on the left of the main road towards west of the highway leads to the Hotels. |
