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JAISALMER—JAKOB
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Singh, commonly known by his imperial title of Mirza Raja, whose name appears in all the wars of Aurangzeb in the Deccan; and Jai Singh II., or Sawai Jai Singh, the famous mathematician and astronomer, and the founder of Jaipur city. Towards the end of the 18th century the Jats of Bharatpur and the chief of Alwar each annexed a portion of the territory of Jaipur. By the end of the century the state was in great confusion, distracted by internal broils and impoverished by the exactions of the Mahrattas. The disputes between the chiefs of Jaipur and Jodhpur had brought both states to the verge of ruin, and Amir Khan with the Pindaris was exhausting the country. By a treaty in 1818 the protection of the British was extended to Jaipur and an annual tribute fixed. In 1835 there was a serious disturbance in the city, after which the British government took measures to insist upon order and to reform the administration as well as to support its effective action; and the state has gradually become well-governed and prosperous. During the Mutiny of 1857 the maharaja assisted the British in every way that lay in his power. Maharaja Madho Singh, G.C.S.I., G.C.V.O., was born in 1861, and succeeded in 1882. He is distinguished for his enlightened administration and his patronage of art. He was one of the princes who visited England at the time of King Edward’s coronation in 1902. It was he who started and endowed with a donation of 15 lakhs, afterwards increased to 20 lakhs, of rupees (£133,000) the “Indian People’s Famine Fund.” The Jaipur imperial service transport corps saw service in the Chitral and Tirah campaigns.


JAISALMER, or Jeysulmere, a town and native state of India in the Rajputana agency. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain temples. Many of the houses and temples are finely sculptured. Pop. (1901), 7137. The area of the state is 16,062 sq. m. In 1901 the population was 73,370, showing a decrease of 37% in ten years, as a consequence of famine. The estimated revenue is about £6000; there is no tribute. Jaisalmer is almost entirely a sandy waste, forming a part of the great Indian desert. The general aspect of the country is that of an interminable sea of sandhills, of all shapes and sizes, some rising to a height of 150 ft. Those in the west are covered with phog bushes, those in the east with tufts of long grass. Water is scarce, and generally brackish; the average depth of the wells is said to be about 250 ft. There are no perennial streams, and only one small river, the Kakni, which, after flowing a distance of 28 m., spreads over a large surface of flat ground, and forms a lake or jhil called the Bhuj-Jhil. The climate is dry and healthy. Throughout Jaisalmer only rain-crops, such as bajra, joar, moth, til, &c., are grown; spring crops of wheat, barley, &c., are very rare. Owing to the scant rainfall, irrigation is almost unknown.

The main part of the population lead a wandering life, grazing their flocks and herds. Large herds of camels, horned cattle, sheep and goats are kept. The principal trade is in wool, ghi, camels, cattle and sheep. The chief imports are grain, sugar, foreign cloth, piece-goods, &c. Education is at a low ebb. Jain priests are the chief schoolmasters, and their teaching is elementary. The ruler of Jaisalmer is styled maharawal. The state suffered from famine in 1897, 1900 and other years, to such an extent that it has had to incur a heavy debt for extraordinary expenditure. There are no railways.

The majority of the inhabitants are Bhatti Rajputs, who take their name from an ancestor named Bhatti, renowned as a warrior when the tribe were located in the Punjab. Shortly after this the clan was driven southwards, and found a refuge in the Indian desert, which was thenceforth its home. Deorāj, a famous prince of the Bhatti family, is esteemed the real founder of the present Jaisalmer dynasty, and with him the title of rāwal commenced. In 1156 Jāisal, the sixth in succession from Deorāj, founded the fort and city of Jaisalmer, and made it his capital. In 1294 the Bhattis so enraged the emperor Alā-ud-din that his army captured and sacked the fort and city of Jaisalmer, so that for some time it was quite deserted. After this there is nothing to record till the time of Rāwal Sabal Singh, whose reign marks an epoch in Bhatti history in that he acknowledged the supremacy of the Mogul emperor Shāh Jahān. The Jaisalmer princes had now arrived at the height of their power, but from this time till the accession of Rāwal Mulrāj in 1762 the fortunes of the state rapidly declined, and most of its outlying provinces were lost. In 1818 Mulrāj entered into political relations with the British. Maharawal Salivahan, born in 1887, succeeded to the chiefship in 1891.

JAJCE (pronounced Yaïtse), a town of Bosnia, situated on the Pliva and Vrbas rivers, and at the terminus of a branch railway from Serajevo, 62 m. S.E. Pop. (1895), about 4000. Jajce occupies a conical hill, overlooking one of the finest waterfalls in Europe, where the Pliva rushes down into the Vrbas, 100 ft. below. The 14th century citadel which crowns this hill is said to have been built for Hrvoje, duke of Spalato, on the model of the Castel del’ Uovo at Naples; but the resemblance is very slight, and although both jajce and uovo signify “an egg,” the town probably derives its name from the shape of the hill. The ruined church of St Luke, said by legend to be the Evangelist’s burial place, has a fine Italian belfry, and dates from the 15th century. Jezero, 5 m. W. of Jajce, contains the Turkish fort of Djöl-Hissar, or “the Lake-Fort.” In this neighbourhood a line of waterfalls and meres, formed by the Pliva, stretches for several miles, enclosed by steep rocks and forest-clad mountains. The power supplied by the main fall, at Jajce, is used for industrial purposes, but the beauty of the town remains unimpaired.

From 1463 to 1528 Jajce was the principal outwork of eastern Christendom against the Turks. Venice contributed money for its defence, and Hungary provided armies; while the pope entreated all Christian monarchs to avert its fall. In 1463 Mahomet II. had seized more than 75 Bosnian fortresses, including Jajce itself; and the last independent king of Bosnia, Stephen Tomašević, had been beheaded, or, according to one tradition, flayed alive, before the walls of Jajce, on a spot still called Kraljeva Polje, the “King’s Field.” His coffin and skeleton are still displayed in St Luke’s Church. The Hungarians, under King Matthias I., came to the rescue, and reconquered the greater part of Bosnia during the same year; and, although Mahomet returned in 1464, he was again defeated at Jajce, and compelled to flee before another Hungarian advance. In 1467 Hungarian bans, or military governors, were appointed to rule in north-west Bosnia, and in 1472 Matthias appointed Nicolaus Ujlaki king of the country, with Jajce for his capital. This kingdom lasted, in fact, for 59 years; but, after the death of Ujlaki, in 1492, its rulers only bore the title of ban, and of vojvod. In 1500 the Turks, under Bajazet II., were crushed at Jajce by the Hungarians under John Corvinus; and several other attacks were repelled between 1520 and 1526. But in 1526 the Hungarian power was destroyed at Mohács; and in 1528 Jajce was forced to surrender.

See Bräss, “Jajce, die alte Königstadt Bosniens,” in Deutsche geog. Blätter, pp. 71-85 (Bremen, 1899).


JĀJPUR, or Jajpore, a town of British India, in Cuttack district, Bengal, situated on the right bank of the Baitarani river. Pop. (1901), 12,111. It was the capital of Orissa under the Kesari dynasty until the 11th century, when it was superseded by Cuttack. In Jājpur are numerous ruins of temples, sculptures, &c., and a large and beautiful sun pillar.


JAKOB, LUDWIG HEINRICH VON (1759–1827), German economist, was born at Wettin on the 26th of February 1759. In 1777 he entered the university of Halle. In 1780 he was appointed teacher at the gymnasium, and in 1791 professor of philosophy at the university. The suppression of the university of Halle having been decreed by Napoleon, Jakob betook himself to Russia, where in 1807 he was appointed professor of political economy at Kharkoff, and in 1809 a member of the government commission to inquire into the finances of the empire. In the following year he became president of the commission for the revision of criminal law, and he at the same time obtained an important office in the finance department, with the rank of counsellor of state; but in 1816 he returned to Halle to occupy the chair of political economy. He died at Lauchstädt on the 22nd of July 1827.

Shortly after his first appointment to a professorship in Halle Jakob had begun to turn his attention rather to the practical than the speculative side of philosophy, and in 1805 he published at Halle Lehrbuch der Nationalökonomie, in which he was the first to