Rajasthan General Information

Rajasthan History

The Incredible State of India

The North Western frontier region of India that incorporated the beautiful state of Rajasthan remained independent and free from the great empires trying to consolidate their strong hold in this part of the subcontinent in the early periods. Even the great Mauryan Kingdom had little impact on the state's political environment during that times. According to the ancient scriptures, there is mention of Rajasthan especially Puskar in Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

Hindu Mythology relates the Rajputs to be the true descendants of the Khatriya warriors of the vedic times. The Rajput clan came in to existence in the period of 6th to the 7th century and their ancestry can be divided in to solar or Suryavanshi, descendents of Lord Rama while the lunar or the Chandravanshi claimed their descendency from Lord Krishna. The third clan emerged from agnikula or fire-born from the flames of a sacrificial Abu. Divided in to thirty six races, the Rajputs had twenty one kingdoms giving rise to dynasties like Sisodial of mewar in Udaipur, the Kachwahas of Amber in Jaipur, the Rathors of Marwar in Jodhpur and Bikaner, the Hadas of Kota and Bundi with the Chauhans of Ajmer.

Emergence of the Rajputs

The fall of the Gupta Empire brought a period of instability after a strong hold of about 300 years in the early part of the 5th century. The Stability was restored by the Gurjara Pratiharas, the earliest of the rajputs dynasties who came to possess ultimate powers in the whole of Rajasthan. From these clans came the name of Rajputana. There is evidence that some of the Rajput clan traces their emergence of the arrival of foreign invaders such as the white huns and other invaders settled from central Asia.

The Warrior legacy of the Rajputs.

The control of Sind by the Arab in 1713 came as a shock to the honour of the Rajput and they thought to first defend their dignity. But slowly there surfaced more threat from the Turks as well Mahmud Ghazni who occupied Afghanistan adjacent to the state of Rajasthan. The most cruel fate of the Rajput were at the hands of Mahmud Ghazni towards the end of the 12th century. Later the whole of Delhi and Ajmer came under the hold of the Muslim rulers under the leadership of Mohammad Ghori.

The Rajputs vs the Mughal

The Rajput sultanate came to power with the weakening of the Delhi sultanate in the beginning of the 16th century. The Rajputs expanded their territory and gained pre eminence pushed their territory further till it affected the provinces ruled by Babar, the Mughal ruler. But the Rajput were defeated by the might of the Mughals and shook the confidence of the Rajputs. Later Akbar contracted a marriage alliance with a princess of the Kachhwhas to dominate the power of the Rajputs. But as a revolt , the Rajputs came strong at Auranzeb when the small chiefs all came together and by the time of the death of Auranzeb the hold was completely lost.

The British Raj

The East India company was taken over by the British Goverment. Their dominance moved to greater areas with the small feudal fights between the small Rajput rulers. The Marathas also continued to mount pressure on the Rajput by attacking the small provinces. The British finally eliminated the Marathas and reduced the Rajput rulers to puppets in the hands of the British.

Emergence of Rajasthan

After independence, the boundaries of the state was defined in 1948 comprising the south and south eastern state of Rajputana. With the merger of Mewar, Udaipur was entrusted with the responsibility of control and was made the capital of the state. Later, in the year 1949 the united provinces of Matsya that has the kingdom of Bharatpur, Alwar,Karauli and Dholpur was merged in to the state of Rajasthan.

Top Suggested Tour of Rajasthan
- Golden Triangle Tours	- Rajasthan with Taj Mahal Tour
- Rajasthan Forts and Palaces Tours	- Rajasthan Tour with Wildlife
- Rajasthan Tour with Pushkar	- Rajasthan Village Tour
- Rajasthan Camel Safari Tour	- Rajasthan Luxury Train Tour (Palace On Wheels)

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* Tentative Date of Travel	MM Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec YYYY 2009 2010 2011
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