RAS question
The Kachhwaha dynasty ruled from Amber (later Jaipur). Who among the following Kachhwaha rulers married his daughter to Mughal Emperor Akbar?
Correct answer: (D) Bharmal (Bihar Mal).
Raja Bharmal of Amber married his daughter Harkha Bai, also known as Jodha Bai, to Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1562, creating a firm Mughal-Rajput alliance.
Explanation
The Kachhwaha ruler was Raja Bharmal, also called Bihar Mal, of Amber. His daughter Harkha Bai, popularly known as Jodha Bai, married Akbar at Sambhar in 1562. Encyclopaedia Britannica independently supports the core identification: it calls Akbar's 1562 marriage to a Rajput princess, daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber, one of the most momentous events of that year and says the marriage led to a firm alliance between the Mughals and the Rajputs. That is why Bharmal, not a later Kachhwaha noble or Jaipur ruler, is the historically correct answer.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Mirza Raja Jai Singh is not the Amber ruler identified as the father of the Rajput princess whom Akbar married in 1562 in the Britannica account.
- (B) Sawai Jai Singh II is not connected with Akbar's 1562 marriage alliance with Amber.
- (C) Man Singh I is not the bride's father in Britannica's account; Britannica mentions Man Singh later in the context of Mughal gains in the east, not as the ruler who made the marriage alliance.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan's medieval political history, especially the Kachhwaha-Mughal relationship. RAS often asks such points because matrimonial alliances explain how Amber became closely tied to Mughal power.