Historians say that the town probably got its name from a Jat ruler (Jats are the people of Haryana, and they played a major role in certain parts of Rajasthan too, like Bharatpur). But historians do not say when exactly the foundation day of Jhunjhunu happened. So the first 'recorded' ruler was Mohammad Khan, a Kaimkhani nawab (Mughal governor) who occupied Jhunjhunu in 1450. His descendants sat tight on the throne until 1730, when the then nawab, Rohilla Khan, died on a journey to Delhi. and that was the end of the nawab rule, because Sardul Singh, the great Shekhawat Rajput, who was also a diwan (minister) in Khan's court, seized Jhunjhunu in a bloodless coup.
