The book, it is hoped, will fulfil the long felt need of a detailed and authentic work on the remarkable life and singular achievements of Jai Singh who, besides making an Outstanding contribution in the field of astronomy and town planning. played a leading role in the political, religious and cultural life of the country during the first half of the eighteenth century.
For more than twenty years he influenced in varying degrees the policies of the Mughal government and for about a decade of the Maratha state as well. His own policies towards the Mughal government, the Marathas, the states of Rajputana, Malwa and Bundelkhand, towards the Nizam, Chhatrasal Bundela, Peshwa Baji Rao and other. important personages were somewhat intricate and have some times been misunderstood, and his role as a peace-maker and negotiator has not been fully realised.
An attempt has been made in these pages to trace, with the help of the vast mass of contemporary records preserved in the Archives of the former states of Rajputana, and the Marathi documents, the origin and growth of his policies.