George Thomas

George Thomas (; 22 August 1802), known in India as Jaharai Jung and Jahazi Sahib,

Though he was the favourite general of Begum Samru, due to jealous intrigues of his French rival Le Vassoult (committed suicide in 1795) he was supplanted in 1792 in her favour. He then transferred his allegiance to Apa Khande Rao, a Maratha chieftain under Mahadaji Scindia of Gwalior State.

In return for service to the Marathas, he was gifted the jagir of Jhajjar. Here he constructed a fort known as Georgegah, which was locally known as Jahazgarh.

Raja of Hansi

On the death of his patron Apa Khande Rao in 1797, Thomas declared independence from the Marathas. He quickly took possession of Rohtak and Hisar and made Hansi his capital.

During his short period of rule, he established a mint in Hansi and released rupees of his own kingdom. His area of control included area from Ghaggar river in the north to Beri in south and from Meham in the east to Bhadra in west. He rebuilt the Asigarh Fort at Hansi, which was in a ruined state and built defensive walls and fortifications. He divided his area of control into 4 small parganas. He raised an army of eight battalions of infantry comprising 6000 men, fifty pieces of cannon, 1000 cavalry, including the Jats who made up two battalions of Infantry and one-fourth of his cavalry (paid pensions to them and encouraged them to settle in Haryana, colonisation of land through pensions to sipahis contributed to Haryana becoming a stable military labour market in the 1790s), 1500 Rohilla Muslims and 2000 soldiers guarding his several forts.

He styled himself as the Raja of Hansi and he also liked to introduce himself as Raja from Tipperary. He marched on the kingdoms of Jaipur, Bikaner and Udaipur and was sometimes victorious. George told his biographer, William Francklin,

Legacy The Jahaj Kothi Museum, formerly George's residence, is named for him, as is Jahaj Pul suburb in Hisar of Haryana state in India.

George met his biographer William Francklin on the way to Berhampur shortly before his death, and narrated his exploits to William, who published George's biography "Military memoirs of George Thomas" in 1805, based on direct interaction and original documents.

James Skinner, while serving the Marathas, had earlier fought against George Thomas. After George's defeat, Skinner lived at Jahaj Kothi in Hisar. Skinner himself died at Hansi on 4 December 1841, at the age of 64.