Rajasthan (/ˈrɑːdʒəstæn/
Hindustani pronunciation: [raːdʒəsˈt̪ʰaːn] ( listen); literally, "
Land of Kings")[3] is
India's largest state by area (342,239 square kilometres (132,139 sq mi) or
10.4% of India's total area). It is located on the western side of the country, where it comprises most of the wide and inhospitable
Thar Desert (also known as the "
Rajasthan Desert" and "
Great Indian Desert") and shares a border with the
Pakistani provinces of
Punjab to the northwest and
Sindh to the west, along the Sutlej-Indus river valley.
Elsewhere it is bordered by the other
Indian states: Punjab to the north;
Haryana and
Uttar Pradesh to the northeast;
Madhya Pradesh to the southeast; and
Gujarat to the southwest. Its features include the ruins of the
Indus Valley Civilization at
Kalibanga; the
Dilwara Temples, a Jain pilgrimage site at Rajasthan's only hill station,
Mount Abu, in the ancient
Aravalli mountain range; and, in eastern Rajasthan, the
Keoladeo National Park near
Bharatpur, a
World Heritage Site[4] known for its bird life. Rajasthan is also home to two national tiger reserves, the
Ranthambore National Park in
Sawai Madhopur and
Sariska Tiger Reserve in
Alwar.
The state was formed on 30
March 1949 when Rajputana – the name adopted by the
British Raj for its dependencies in the region[5] – was merged into the
Dominion of India. Its capital and largest city is
Jaipur also known as
Pink City, located on the state's eastern side. Other most important cities are
Jodhpur,
Bikaner,
Kota and
Ajmer.
Contents
Etymology
The first mention of the name "Rajasthan" appears in
James Tod's 1829 publication Annals and
Antiquities of Rajast'han or the
Central and Western Rajpoot
States of India,[6] while the earliest known record of "Rajputana" as a name for the region is in
George Thomas's 1800 memoir
Military Memories.[6]
John Keay, in his book
India: A History, stated that "Rajputana" was coined by the
British and even given a previous history: in 1829,
John Briggs, translating
Ferishta's history of early Islamic India, used the phrase "Rajpoot (
Rajput) princes" rather than "
Indian princes".[7]
R. C. Majumdar explained that the region was long known as "Gurjaratra", meaning "country protected or ruled by the Gurjars".[8][9]
Parts of what is now Rajasthan were part of the Indus Valley Civilization.
Kalibangan, in
Hanumangarh district, was a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization,.[10] It is believed that
Western Kshatrapas (
405–35 BC) were
Saka rulers of the western part of India (
Saurashtra and
Malwa: modern Gujarat,
Southern Sindh,
Maharashtra, Rajasthan). They were successors to the Indo-Scythians and were contemporaneous with the
Kushans, who ruled the northern part of the
Indian subcontinent. The Indo-Scythians invaded the area of
Ujjain and established the Saka era (with their calendar), marking the beginning of the long-lived Saka
Western Satraps state.[11] Matsya, a state of the
Vedic civilisation of India, is said to roughly corresponded to the former state of Jaipur in Rajasthan and included the whole of Alwar with portions of Bharatpur.[12][13][14][15][16] The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagar (modern
Bairat), which is said to have been named after its founder king Virata.[17]
Traditionally the Rajputs,
Jats, Meenas, Gurjars,
Bhils, Rajpurohit, Charans, Yadavs, Bishnois, Sermals, PhulMali (Saini) and other tribes made a great contribution in building the state of Rajasthan. All these tribes suffered great difficulties in protecting their culture and the land.
Millions[18] of them were killed trying to protect their land. A number of Gurjars had been exterminated in
Bhinmal and Ajmer areas fighting with the invaders. Bhils once ruled Kota.[18] Meenas were rulers of
Bundi and the
Dhundhar region.[17]
Maharana Pratap of Mewar resisted
Akbar in the famous
Battle of Haldighati (1576) and later operated from hilly areas of his kingdom. The Bhils were Maharana's main allies during these wars. Most of these attacks were repulsed even though the
Mughal forces outnumbered Mewar Rajputs in all the wars fought between them. The
Haldighati war was fought between 10,
000 Mewaris and a
100,000-strong Mughal force (including many Rajputs like Kachwahas from Dhundhar).[24]
Jat king
Maharaja Suraj Mal (February 1707–
25 December 1765) or
Sujan Singh was ruler of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. A contemporary historian has described him as "the
Plato of the
Jat people" and by a modern writer as the "Jat
Odysseus", because of his political sagacity, steady intellect and clear vision.[19]
Gurjars ruled for many dynasties in this part of the country, a region that was long known as Gurjaratra.[8] Up to the tenth century almost the whole of
North India, excepting
Bengal, acknowledged the supremacy of the Gurjars with their seat of power at
Kannauj.[20]
- published: 04 Jan 2016
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