Maharaja Surajmal was tall in stature, slightly fat in body and dark in complexion. His eyes were very bright. He was courteous, humble, intelligent, patient, prudent, heroic, pious, venerable, and a visionary king. He loved his father Badan Singh and sons very much. He did not allow his father's kingdom to decline but went on increasing continuously. Surajmal did not lose his temper even after the revolt of Prince Jawahar Singh. He listened to the advice of the queens in times of crisis and followed them. Once in AD 1754, the Jat army captured some of the Maratha women. The Maharaja sent those women back respectfully. The Maharaja once befriended Nawab Safdarjung and played till the end. Like his father Badan Singh, Surajmal also always respected the king of Jaipur, Jai Singh. Surajmal was the most prosperous king of his time.
North India's biggest power
In the eighteenth century, Maharaja Surajmal was the greatest and only power of North India. He conducted the politics of North India by staying close to the capital of India in difficult circumstances. Living between the Mughals and the Marathas, he not only kept his kingdom alive but also expanded it rapidly. Even after the death of the Holkar prince Khanderao, the Marathas could not make permanent enmity with him. All the great enemies of Surajmal took refuge in Surajmal when the time came. When Ahmad Shah Abdali wanted to enter Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna, he sent his son along with ten thousand soldiers to block his path. His brave soldiers laid down their lives to protect the birthplace of the Lord. No one else could have done this in that era except Surajmal. Bharatpur was the only state in the whole of North India to give shelter to the Maratha soldiers who were defeated in the Third Battle of Panipat. He was never afraid to go to the battle field, but did not put his own safety in danger by coming in the words of others. No one could defeat him in the front battle. He was killed by deceit.
Kingdom of Maharaja Surajmal
At the time of the death of the Maharaja, his kingdom was extended to cities and far and wide areas like Bharatpur, Agra, Dholpur, Mainpuri, Etah, Hathras, Meerut, Rohtak, Bhiwadi, Farrukhabad, Mewat, Rewari, Gurgaon and Mathura etc.
Queens of Maharaja Surajmal
The exact number cannot be told about the queens of Maharaja Surajmal, but some historians believe that Surajmal had fourteen queens. Franco has given the names of six queens of Surajmal, out of which Maharani Kishori and Maharani Hansia have become more famous. Maharani Kishori was the daughter of Choudhary Kashiram of Hodal. Rani Hansia was the daughter of Chaudhari Ratiram Jat of Salimpur Kalan. The names of his other queens were Ganga, Kalyani Gauri and Khattu. Rani Khattu was the special queen of Surajmal. Maharani Hansia and Maharani Kishori also had political acumen, due to which they supported Maharaja Surajmal in times of crisis. When Maharaja Surajmal died and the Marathas set out to end the Jats rule, Maharani Kishori made a touching appeal to the Marathas not to destroy the only state of the Jats. The Marathas obeyed him and allowed the Jats' kingdom to continue.
Progeny of Maharaja Surajmal
Maharaja Surajmal had five sons from four queens - Jawahar Singh, Ratan Singh, Naval Singh, Ranjit Singh and Nahar Singh. It is believed that Jawahar Singh and Ratan Singh were born from the womb of a Rajput queen. Ranjit Singh and Nahar Singh were born from Jat queens while Naval Singh's mother was of Mali caste. Queen Kishori had adopted Prince Jawahar Singh. When Jawahar Singh rebelled against his father, it was Queen Kishari who protected Jawahar Singh and played an important role in getting him pardoned.
Protection of Art and Literature
Maharaja Surajmal had great love for art and literature. Many poets like Sudan, Somnath, Akhayraj, Shivaram, Vrindavandas, Kalanidhi, Sudhakar and Harvansh were patronized in his court. Sudan was his chief court poet. He accompanied the Maharaja in all the major battles with him and described the wars waged by the Maharaja in his book Sujan Charitra. His court poet Somnath wrote many books like Sujan Vilas, Brajendra Vinod, Madhav Vinod, Dhruv Vinod, Shashinath Vinod, Prem Pachisi, Sangram Darpan, Ras Piyush Nidhi, Shringar Vilas, Ramcharit Ratnakar and Krishna Leelavati.
Maharaja Surajmal appointed Somnath as the charity-president of the state. Somnath and Kalanidhi translated the entire Ramayana into Hindi. Poet Shivram Surajmal stayed with him in Kumher since his youth. Surajmal gave him 36 thousand rupees in AD 1735 for his poem Navadha Bhakti Ragaras Saar. Poet Akhayram composed the throne Battisi, Vikram Vilas and Sujan Vilas. Udayaram composed Girivar Vilas and Sujan Samvat. Kavi Datta's book is the best work of Maharaja Surajmal's Kripan Veeras. Mahakavi Dev also got patronage in the state of Bharatpur. He composed a book called Sujan Vinod.