Rao Shekha
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Maharao Shekha (1433–1488), was a chieftain in 15th-century India. The Shekhawati gets its name from him, comprising the districts of Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan. The descendants of him known as the "Shekhawat".
Birth
He was born to the Kachhwaha chief Mokal singh. His parents, previously childless, are said to have sought the prayers of intercession(the action of saying a prayer on behalf of another) of the Muslim pir Shaikh Burhan, for whom Shekha was named. In due time shaikh burhan had an heir,who according to the injunctions of boorhan, was styled after his own tribe,Shekh. He directed that child should wear the buddea(a strings or threads) which, when laid aside , was to be suspended at the saint's durgah; and further ,that he should assume the blue tunic and cap, abstain from hog's flesh and eat no meat"in which the blood remained." He also ordained that at the birth of every Shekhawat male infant a goat should be sacrificed. These obligations religiously maintained by a couple of centuries. [1]
Coronation
MahaRao Shekha has succeeded as the head of Nan and Barwada estate along with 24 more villages at the tender age of 12 years as a result of untimely death of his father Mokal Ji in V.S 1502; A.D 1445.[2]
Life
Maharao Shekha, when he attained man's estate, greatly augmented the territory left by his father, and consolidated 360 villages under his sway,by conquest from his neighbours, when his reputation and power attracted the jealous notice of the lord paramount of amber. He was attached, but by the aid of the Punnee Pathans he successfully withstood the reiterated assaults of his suzerain. Up to this period they had acknowledged the amber prices as liege lords, and in token of alliance paid as tribute all the colts reared on the original estate. A dispute on this point was the ostensible cause(though subordinate to their rapid prosperity), which occasioned a total separation of the Shekhawat colonies from the parent state, until the reign of Sawai Jay Singh, submission and pecuniary relief from them. Shekha left a well-established authority to his youngest son Raimal.[3]
Death
Shekha died in the year V.S 1545;A.D 1488 fighting the Gaur Rajputs in the war of Ghatwa defending the modesty and self respect of a newly wed lady. Shekha breathed his breathed at Ralawta. A cenotaph(Chhatri) was built at the place where he died. A statue of Maharao Shekha was also inaugurated at the same place by then-President of India Smt. Pratibha Patil [4]
See also
References
- ^ James tod (1873). Clear writing edition of -Annals & Antiquities of Rajasthan or the central & western Rajput states of India. madras Higginbotham and co 165 mount road. p. 359.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Singh Shekhawat, Thakur Surjan. Rao Shekha.
- ^ James tod (1873). Clear writing edition of - Annals & Antiquities of Rajasthan or the central & western Rajput states of India. madras Higginbotham and co 165 mount road. p. 360].
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Sinh, Ranbir (2001). History Of Shekhawats. Jaipur: Publication Scheme. ISBN 8186782745.