A valiant sentinel in the desert, on the eastern
fringe of the Thar desert has the distinction of neither
being a part of the Thar desert nor out of it.
At best it is a doorway to the wonderland of sand dunes
and shrubs, rocky terrain and thorny trees. The home
of the Rathroes - the awesome princely state of Rajasthan.
They conquered Marwar or Maroodesh, land of the sand
after the fall of Delhi and Kannauj.
In 1459 AD, Rao Jodha, chief of Rathore clan of Rajputs,
who claimed descent from Rama, the epic here of the
Ramayana, laid the foundation of Jodhpur. A high stone
wall protects the well-fortified city. The wall is nearly
10km in length and has eight gates facing various directions.
Within, stands an imposing fort on a low range of sandstone
hills, about 125m above the surrounding plains. Invincible!
And dauntless in its league with time! The city lies
at the foot of the hills. The clear distinction between
the old and the new city is visible from the ramparts
of the fort.
On the other side of the city, facing the fort is the
Umaid Bhawan Palace. One of the most spacious, sprawling
and well-planned palaces in India. And from here, as
you look at fort, a tantalizing view rises before your
eyes at sunset.
The peculiar slant of the sunset lends the desert landscape
an awe-inspiring glow and the people, a chivalry undaunted
.
This bustling desert city is the second largest city
in Rajasthan after Jaipur and has landscape dominated
by the massive Meherangarh Fort topping a sheer rocky
ridge.
The old city is fenced by 10 km long wall with eight
Gates leading out of it. The new city is outside the
walled city. Rao Jodha, a chief of the Rathore clan,
founded the city in 1459 and it is named after him.
The Afghans drove the Rathores out of their original
homeland Kaunaj and they fled to this region around
Pali a short distance from present day Jodhpur. A manoeuvre
lead to marriage between Rathore Siahaji and the sister
of a local prince that helped the Rathores to establish
and strengthen themselves in this region. In fact they
flourished so well that managed to oust the Pratiharas
of Mandore, just 9 km of present day Jodhpur.
By 1459 a need for more secured capital lead to the
founding of Meherangarh Fort on its rocky perch and
Jodhpur was thus founded by Rao Jodha. The Rathores
enjoyed good relations with the Mughals and Maharaja
Jaswant Singh (1678) supported Shah Jahan in the latter's
struggle for war of succession. Only problematic relationship
they had was with Aurangzeb.
After Auranzeb's death Maharaja Ajit Singh drove out
Mughals from Ajmer and added it to Marwar. In the reign
of Maharaja Umed Singh Jodhpur grew into a fine modern
city. The quintessence of Jodhpur was its valour and
equestrian skill. Polo has been the traditional sport
of the Jodhpur nobility since medieval times.
Jodhpur has two railway stations, City and Rai ka Bagh
both are outside the walled city. The bus stand is right
outside the Rai ka Bagh Station. The High Court is a
while from the bus stand after the Umed Gardens, after
which is located the tourist reception centre and RTDC
Hotel Ghoomer.
Ahead is the main market and entry in to the wall from
Sojati Gate. This area also has many hotels. Jodhpur
is also military and air force station and has a large
cantonment and airbase. |
