Raja Man Singh was son of Bhagwant Das, king of Amber (Jaipur), and Rani Bhagawati ji Sahiba. He was born on December 21, 1550. After his father’s death he received the title of Mansab (a commander of 5000 soldiers) in 1589. In 1605 he became mansabdar of 7000 soldiers in the Mughal force of Akbar.
His devotion for Akbar
Akbar sent Man Singh to Rana Pratap, the grandson of Rana Sanga, to convince him to accept Mughal sovereignty. Rana Pratap invited Man Singh for a dinner but when he came to know that Man Singh wanted, him to accept Mughal sovereignty, he refused to come in dinner and sent his son Amar Singh for dinner.
Man Singh took it as insult of his king Akbar and left the dinner. After that he was appointed to lead the Mughal army against Maharana Pratap and he fought many wars against him for Akbar.
In 3 April 1576 Man Singh fought a gruesome war with Maharana Pratap. In this war Man Singh’s Mahout and Rana Pratap’s famous horse ‘Chetak’ were killed. The war was won by Mughal forces but one of Rana Pratap’s nobleman Jhala Man Singh saved him by putting the helmet of Rana Pratap and pretending to be Rana Pratap, was killed by Mughal forces.
Man Singh and Mughal’s Governor in Kabul
In 1580 when Akbar started to expend his empire in Kabul, his troops were hesitating to cross the Indus River. At that time the brave Raja Man Singh was able to cross that first and the remaining troops followed him. In 1582 Kabul was annexed by the Mughal Empire and Man Singh was appointed Governor.
Raja Man Singh built a seven store temple of Lord Krishna in Virndavan as he was a devotee of Lord Krishna. Later three stores were demolished by Aurangzeb and four stores are still present in Vrindavan. Raja Man Singh devoted himself for Mughal Empire. He was a trusted general of Mughal army that Akbar called him “Farzand” (son) and also included him in his Navaratnas.