The Nature of the Earth to Heaven, Rajasthan, India (প্রকৃতির ভূস্বর্গ, রাজস্থান, ভারত)

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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]