Sikar (estate)

The estate included around 440 villages and covered an area of approximately 1,400 square miles (3,625 km²).^[1] The territory was divided into seven tehsils for administrative purposes.^[2] These were Reengus, Sikar, Singrawat, Nechwa, Laxmangarh, Fatehpur, and Ramgarh.^[2]

It was bounded to the north by Bikaner State, to the east by Shekhawati, a nizamat of Jaipur, to the south by Sambhar, another nizamat of Jaipur, and to the west by Bikaner State and Jodhpur State.^[2] Sikar had a total of nine forts.^[3]

Raisal, a Shekhawat, was a favorite of Akbar, and his descendants went on to establish a series of estates in Rajputana.^[4][5] His descendants are known by the patronymic Raisalot.^[5] One of Raisal's many sons was Rao Tirmul.^[5] He accompanied his father in the Battle of Ahmedabad.^[6] Akbar, in recognition of his commendable service, conferred upon him the title of Rao and granted him the parganas of Nagaur and Kasli.^[2][6] His descendants came to be known as Raojika.^[5] Rao Rajas of Sikar claim descent from Tirmul.^[2][3] A descendant of Tirmul, Jaswant Singh, was killed by Bahadur Singh, the Raja of Khandela, at Sheogarh Fort in Khandela.^[6][7] To atone for the murder, Bahadur Singh granted Virbhan-ka-Bas to Daulat Singh, the son of the deceased, in 1687.^[8] Daulat Singh subsequently renamed it Sikar after Rao Shekha.^[7][9]