RAS question
Raja Bharmal of Amber was the first Rajput king to establish a matrimonial alliance with which Mughal emperor?
Correct answer: (A) Akbar.
Raja Bharmal of Amber established the first Rajput-Mughal matrimonial alliance by marrying his daughter to the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1562.
Explanation
Raja Bharmal, also known as Bihari Mal, belonged to Amber, and the alliance in question was with Akbar. The bride was Harkha Bai, also known as Jodha Bai or Mariam-uz-Zamani, and the marriage took place at Sambhar in 1562. Encyclopaedia Britannica independently supports the core point: among the major events of 1562 was Akbar's marriage to a Rajput princess, the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber, and this marriage led to a firm alliance between the Mughals and the Rajputs. That is why Akbar is the answer: the question is not asking for a later Mughal-Rajput connection, but for the first matrimonial alliance that became the model for later arrangements.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Babur is wrong because no Rajput marriage alliance is recorded with him, while the 1562 alliance was with Akbar.
- (C) Jahangir is wrong because he was born of this alliance, not the emperor who first formed it.
- (D) Humayun is wrong because no recorded Kachwaha alliance is associated with him, whereas Bharmal's alliance was made with Akbar.
Concept
This tests Rajput-Mughal relations under Akbar, a standard RAS Rajasthan History theme because Amber's alliance marks a shift from conflict alone to negotiated imperial incorporation. It recurs because the event links a Rajasthan dynasty with the wider Mughal state.