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The district of Jodhpur was known as the ancient
kingdom of Marwar the land of Death, the largest kingdom
in Rajputana. Jodhpur, former capital of Marwar state, retains
much of its medieval character. Beginning in 1549, when
the city was called Jodhgarh, the Rathore 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.
According to Rathore tradition, the clan
traces its origins back to the Hindu god, Rama, hero of the
epic Ramayana, and thence to the sun. So the Rathore's belong
to the Suryavansha (solar race) branch of the Kshatriyas,
the warrior caste of Hindus. Later, breaking into historical
reality, in 470 A.D. Nayal Pal conquered the kingdom of Kanauj,
near modern Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The Rathor capital for
seven centuries, Kanauj fell in 1193 to the Afghan invader's
led by Muhammad Ghori.
The fleeing ruler, Jai Chand, drowned in
the Ganga. 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 Rathoresto consolidate
themselves in this region.
In fact, 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 justify 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 government.Rathore fortunes
then turned. Rao Chanda's son and heir, Rainmal, won praise
for his capture of Ajmer and was then entrusted with the care
of his orphaned nephew, destined to inherit the Mewar throne
of Chittor.
Rainmal may well have had his eyes on this fine, hilltop
fort. But court intrigue and treachery stopped him. In 1438
he was doped with opium, and finally shot dead. This triggered
bitter feuds, ending with Mewar and Marwar becoming separate
states.Rathore legend continues in various versions. One is
that Jodha, one of Rainmal's 24 sons, fled Chittor and finally,
15 years later, recaptured Mandore in 1453. Five years later
he was acknowledged as ruler. A holy man sensibly advised
him to move his capital to hilltop safety.
By 1459, it became evident that a more secure
headquarters was required. The high rocky ridge nine km to the
south of Mandore was an obvious choice for the new city of Jodhpur,
with the natural enhanced by a fortress of staggering proportions,
and to which Rao Jodha's successors added over the centuries.
Rao Ganga Singh of Jodhpur (reigned 1516-32) fought alongside
the army of the great warrior king of Mewar, Rana Sanga, against
the first Mughal emperor, Babur. But
over the next half century or so, the rulers of Jodhpur allied
themselves with Babur's grandson, Akbar. 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 justify of the arts and culture.
In the 17th century Jodhpur became a flourishing justify of
trade for the camel caravans moving from Central Asia to the
parts of Gujarat and vice versa. In 1657, however, Maharaja
Jaswant Singh (reigned 1638-78) 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: The kingdom of Jodhpur
then formed a triple alliance with Udaipur and Jaipur, which
together threw off the Mughal yoke. As a result,the maharajas
of Jodhpur finally regained the privilege of marrying Udaipur
princesses something they had forfeited when they had allied
themselves with the Mughals. A condition of these marriages,
however, was that the sons born of the Udaipur princesses
would be first in line to the Jodhpur throne. This soon led
to considerable.jealousy. Nearly a century of turmoil followed.
The state of affairs was such that a young Rathore prince,
when asked ,where Jodhpur was, simply pointed to the sheath
of his 'dagger and said, "Inside here".
In the 1870's, a remarkable man came to the
fore in Jodhpur: Sir Pratap Singh a son of Maharaja of Jodhpur,
he himself ruled a neighboring kingdom called Idar, abdicated
to become Regent of Jodhpur, which he ruled, in effect, for
nearly fifty years. Sir Pratap Singh was a great warrior and
the epitome of Rajput chivalry. He became an intimate friend
of three British sovereigns. At Queen Victoria's durbar he is
said to have presented her not with mere jewels, like everyone
else, but with his own sword, his most valuable possession as
a Rajput warrior. Sir Pratap Singh laid the foundation of a
modern state in Jodhpur, which Maharaja Umaid Singh (reigned
1918-47) built upon. The of Jodhpur was not merely the largest
of the Rajput states, but also one of the most progressive.
In 1949, after the independence of India, it
was merged into the newly created state of Rajasthan.
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