 |
|||||
History of Jodhpur The land area which is called jodhpur today was only a small portion of the grand marwar state before independence. Its borders touched Bikaner in the North, Jaipur in the North-East, Ajmer Mewara in the East , Sirohi and Palampur in the South cutting across the Thar of Sindh province and Rann of Kutch and Jaisalmer State in North-West. Before independence, its total area was as widespread as 35,016 sq. miles Hundreds of centuries ago, before this expansive desert came into existance, this area was a sea called Drumkulya. Epics have it that an arrow bound fire shot by Lord Rama burnt a large part of the sea and converted it into a desert. This desert was called Maru Mandal, Marudhar, Maruwar, Maru Desh and Marwar. Hundreds of years
later and after having undergone the ravages of several Kings and their
battles , under the rule of king Rao Jodha of the Vikram Era (1510) ,
a city was slowly established around the fort constructed by King Rao Jodha.
This fort was situated 6 miles south of Mandore on a mountain called
Chidiyanath ki Tonk. This city came to be known as Jodhpur or Jodhana or
Jodhaji Ki Dhani and was the capital of the Marwar state for five centuries.
When Rao Jodha established the walled city , it had four gates.As time
passed , the city became congested with increasing population and the
boundaries continued to expand. Today that area is called Old City and has a
3 to 8 ft. wide and 15 to 30 ft. high wall around it in the shape of a horse
shoe . This wall has six big gates called Chand Pol , Nagauri Gate, Merti
Gate , Sojati Gate, Siwanchi Gate and Jalori Gate. These gates earlier had
iron sheets fixed with nails. |
Rao Jodha, 1438-1488 |
||||
|
Jodhpur the former capital of Marwar state, retains much of its medieval character and saw its beginnings in 1549, when the city was called Jodhgarh. The Rathor clan of Rajputs fought and ruled from the virtually impregnable fort until their territory covered some 35,000 sq. miles making it the largest Rajput state |
|||||
|
Rathore fortunes then turned. Rao Chanda's son and heir, Rainmal,
|
|||||
|
The fleeing ruler, Jai Chand, drowned in the Ganga River, but his son or grandson, Siyaji, had better luck. An expedient marriage alliance between the Rathore Sihaji and the sister of a local prince enabled the Rathores to consolidate themselves in this region. They prospered to such a degree that they managed to oust the Pratiharas of Mandore, nine km to the north of present day Jodhpur. He later set himself up as an independent ruler around the wealthy trading centre of Pali, just south of Jodhpur. His descendants flourished, battled often, won often and in 1381 Rao Chanda ousted the Parihars from Mandore which then became the Rathore seat of governmen
|
|||||
 Several
rulers of Jodhpur became trusted lieutenants of the Mughals, such as Raja
Surender, who conquered Gujarat and much of the Deccan for Akbar, and Raja
Gaj Singh, who put down the rebellion of the Mughal prince, Khurram,
against his father, Jahangir. With the support of the Mughals, the court
of Jodhpur flourished and the kingdom became a great centre of the arts
and culture. In the 17th century Jodhpur became a
 flourishing
centre of trade for the camel caravans moving from Central Asia to the
parts of Gujarat and vice versa. In 1657, however, Maharaja Jaswant Singh
(who reigned from 1638 to 1678) backed the wrong prince in the great war
of succession to the Mughal throne. He was in power for almost twenty-five
years with Aurangzeb before he was sent out to the frontier as viceroy in
Afghanistan. Aurangzeb then tried to seize his infant son, but loyal
retainers smuggled the little prince out of his clutches, hidden, they
say, in a basket of sweets. |
|||||
|
|
|||||
Political
Strife
©2004 Onwards, All
Rights Reserved Jodhpur.biz |
|||||