Jhunjhunu

Jhunjhunu became a centre of power in Shekhawati under the Qaimkhani nawabs. Its exact foundation remains uncertain, but the district's official historical account places Muhammad Khan's conquest from the Chauhans in 1450 and the succession of his son Shams Khan in 1459. Shams Khan was associated with the founding of nearby Shamsapur and the construction of Shams Talab, linking political authority with settlement and water provision.

Qaimkhani rule lasted until Shardul Singh took Jhunjhunu in 1730. This transfer placed the town within the expanding power of the Shekhawat Rajputs. Shardul Singh's patronage included the Kalyanji and Gopinath temples, making religious construction part of the new ruling presence. The town's later fame for merchant residences should not obscure this earlier history of competing dynasties. Before the great painted mansions of subsequent generations, Jhunjhunu was already a place where control of a town, nearby villages and shared institutions carried political significance within the fragmented landscape of Rajasthan.