RAS question
In the context of Bikaner’s treaty with the East India Company, which identification of Surat Singh is correct?
Correct answer: (A) He was the Bikaner ruler in whose reign the 21 March 1818 treaty was concluded..
Maharaja Surat Singh was the Bikaner ruler during whose reign Bikaner concluded its treaty with the British on 21 March 1818.
Explanation
The identification turns on matching the ruler, state and treaty date, not merely recognising a familiar royal name. Maharaja Surat Singh belonged to the Bikaner Rathore line, and Bikaner signed a treaty with the British on 21 March 1818. The political setting also matters: rebellious chiefs and outside pressure made Company support important. After the treaty, British help enabled Surat Singh to suppress those chiefs, while a later phase of unrest under Ratan Singh did not receive the same military backing. That makes option A the precise identification: Surat Singh belongs to Bikaner and to the 21 March 1818 treaty context.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Bundi’s 10 February 1818 treaty belongs to a different state, so it cannot identify Bikaner’s Maharaja Surat Singh.
- (C) Kishangarh’s 7 April 1818 treaty is a separate Rathore-state context and is not the Bikaner treaty linked with Surat Singh.
- (D) The repeated requests for help during 1830-1847 fall after Surat Singh’s reign and relate to the later Ratan Singh period, not the 1818 Bikaner treaty.
Concept
This tests the RAS Rajasthan History habit of pairing princely states with their rulers and East India Company treaty dates. It recurs because 1818 treaty chronology is a compact way to test political transition in Rajasthan.