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The Jaipur City (City of Victory) owes its name, its foundation and its careful planning to the great warrior-astronomer Maharaja Jai Singh II. Initially his capital was Amber, which lies at a distance of 11kms from Jaipur. The decision to move out of his hilltop capital Amber was compelled by reasons of growing population and paucity of water.
Jaipur is the first planned city of India and the King took great interest while designing this city. Jaipur is a corroborative effort of Sawai Jai Singh's strong grounding in sciences and astrology and a Bengali architect Vidyadhar with a strong instinct for planning.
It took around 4 years to complete the major palaces, roads and square. The city was built following the principles of Shilpa Shastra, the Indian Architecture.
The original land that served as the Kacchawa Rajput capital was established by Dhula Rai in 1128 A.D. The Kacchawa Rajputs claim their descent from Kush, who was the son of Lord Rama who is believed to be an incarnation of lord Vishnu on Earth.
Dhula Rai married a Chauhan princess and fought many wars in North India, his son Kakil Dev conquered Amber and established the Kacchawa supremacy.
Jaipur of course was christened by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh who was known for his great political acumen and statesmanship. Sawai Jai Singh struck several alliances with the Mughals and paved the way for the successful Jaipur economy and general prosperity. Jaipur’s history is filled with tales of internal conflicts and warfare. The rulers of the state or rather city were constantly fighting battles with the Marathas, Jats, British, Pindaris and the other Rajput kings. With the decline of the Mughal Empire Jaipur and other Rajasthan states became the targets of continual military attacks from the Marathas, later the British stepped into the picture. However, in the year 1803, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh signed a treaty with the British. However, later on this treaty was dissolved by Lord Cornwallis. In the year 1857, the Maharaja of Jaipur helped the British to suppress the sepoy mutiny in Gurgaon. In the post independence period, Jaipur was retained as the capital of Rajasthan, India.