Samod palace

Samode is located 42 km north-west of Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan, India. A noble feudatory of the Amber & Jaipur principality, Samode nestles quietly among the rugged hills of the Northern Aravallis. The region was under the larger Amber Kingdom and was among its wealthiest territories. Samode was ruled by the Nathawat clan, a branch of the Kachhawaha Rajputs of Amber. The Rawals (a self proclaimed title) of Samode were absolute lords of their small fiefdom. Some of them were also ministers in the Jaipur court.

Raja Prithvi Raj Singh (1503 AD to 1527 AD) was the eighteenth Kachhawaha ruler of Dausa-Amber Kingdom since Raja Sodh Dev (966 AD to 1006 AD). Prithvi Raj had 12 sons from 3 wives. His fourth son, Gopal Singh, from Rani Apurva Devi of Bikaner, was granted the Jagirs of Chomu and Samode in 1528 AD. Natha Singh succeeded his father Gopal Singh in 1565 AD. Natha Singh’s descendents were called “Nathawats”, who ruled Samode for the next few centuries till the Zamindari passed on to the hands of Behari Das, a Rajput warrior in the Mughal service. In 1757 AD the territory was returned to the Nathawats.

The history of Samode Palace goes back to more than four hundred and fifty years. Set cozily in the scenic rocky hills, Samode Palace is an ochre and white hereditary home of the Nathawat Rajputs. For the first half of its existence, it was little more than a fortified Rajput stronghold. Only after the 1818 AD treaty making Jaipur a protectorate of the British East India Company, did the Palace take its current splendor. It was under Rawal Berisal and his son Rawal Sheo Singh that the fabulous Durbar Hall was added to the Samode Palace.

On a hill immediately above the Palace is the Samode Fort. This used to be the Nathawat’s former residence, before Samode Palace was built. The Fort is accessible to the Palace through an underground passageway. The main entrance to the complex is through the village of Samode. The Fort is in a dilapidated condition but the Palace was completely renovated and converted into a premium hotel. Thakur Yaduvender Singh and his brother Raghuvender Singh began to turn the Palace into an exotic site for the ever increasing tourism. The Hotel Samode Palace officially opened in 1987 AD.