Jaipur is the first planned city of northern India after Mohenjo-daro and the Greek city of Sirkap in Taxila. Its builder was Sawai Jai Singh, the versatile ruler of Amer whose multifarious activities as a statesman, an astronomer and a patron of Hinduism form part of this book. The planning of the city too was perhaps done by Jai Singh himself, ably assisted by a Bengali Brahman, Vidyadhar, who later became his favourite minister. Within a few ...
