Indira Kanwar

Indira Kanwar ( 1696 – 1763) was the second wife of Emperor Farrukhsiyar. The marriage of Indira Kanwar to Farrukhsiyar made him the last Mughal sovereign to marry a Rajput princess. She left the imperial harem after her husband's death and returned to her father's household. She converted back to Hinduism after returning to Jodhpur. She was born as Marwar Princess (Rajkumari), the daughter of Ajit Singh and his first wife Rani Udot Kanwarji, the daughter of Maharaj Shri Gaj Singh Sahib. She was the sister of Bakht Singh and Abhai Singh, the next rulers of Jodhpur State. Indira Kanwar was born in 1696 as Maharajkumari Shri Indira Kanwar Baiji Lall Sahiba, the daughter of Ajit Singh, the Maharaja of Marwar (later Jodhpur) state in the present-day Rajasthan. Her mother was Shri Rani Udot Kanwarji Maji Sahiba (Amolak de Ranawat), daughter of Maharaj Shri Gaj Singh Sahib, the brother of Maharana Shri Jai Singh, Maharana of Mewar. She was the grand daughter of Maharaja Jaswant Singh. She was also related to Taj Bibi Bilqis Makani, daughter of Raja Udai Singh, the wife of Mughal Emperor Jahangir and the mother of the next Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. She was the sister of Bakht Singh and Abhai Singh, the next rulers of Jodhpur State. When Ajit Singh had expelled the imperial officers from his state during the wars of succession, and had captured Ajmer. Husain Ali Khan was sent against him, but the emperor, at the instance of his favourites, who were hostile to the Sayyids, secretly encouraged Ajit Singh to resist the imperial troops. His resistance was, however, of no avail. Husain Ali overran Jodhpur, and Ajit Singh was obliged to submit, to send his son Abhay Singh to court, and offer a daughter in marriage to Farrukhsiyar. Owing to his anxiety to return at once to Court, Husain Ali Khan had not been able to wait in Rajputana, until Rajah Ajit Singh had finished the necessary preparations for the dispatch of his daughter to Delhi.