He was brought on the throne by his mother Maji Chundawatji after the suspicious death of his elder full brother Sawai Prithvi Singh II in 1778.

Being constantly goaded by the Marathas and the Mughals, he had to face repeated threats and a heavy drainage of funds by the former.

He also made his raj guru Pandit Shiv Narayan Misr the king of Jaipur for 3 days, when he was busy performing religious rituals.

The fountains behind the Govind Dev temple are credited to him, his poetic talent and patronage of arts and crafts.

He himself was a good poet and wrote poems in Braj Bhasha and Dhundari language under the pen name of Brijnidhi.