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Rajputana



 
 
Rajputana, also called Rajwar, was the pre-1949 name of the present-day India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
n state of Rajasthan
Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the largest States and territories of India of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan....
, the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area.

It was a region of western India ruled by the Rajputs, from the seventh and eighth century - and hence its name which literally means “land of the Rajputs”.






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Rajputana 1909
Map Rajasthan Dist All Shaded
Rajputana, also called Rajwar, was the pre-1949 name of the present-day India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
n state of Rajasthan
Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the largest States and territories of India of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan....
, the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area.

It was a region of western India ruled by the Rajputs, from the seventh and eighth century - and hence its name which literally means “land of the Rajputs”. Rajasthan, meaning “The Abode of the Rajas,” was formerly called Rajputana, “The Country of the Rajputs” (sons of rajas).

Characteristics and history

By any standards, Rajputana is an area with an extraordinarily high density of historic fortification
Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defense in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs....
s, and even to this date it is a common sight in Rajasthan
Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the largest States and territories of India of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan....
 to see a fortified structure of some sort scattered through the landscape.

During the British Raj
British Raj

British Raj primarily refers to the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule....
 in the 19th century, two more states were created, Dholpur
Dholpur

Dholpur is a city in eastern Rajasthan state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Dholpur District.Dhaulpur was a part of Bharatpur district....
 and Tonk
Tonk

Tonk may refer to:* Tonk District, a district in Rajasthan state in western India** Tonk, India, a town in the Tonk district** Tonk , a former princely state before Indian independence...
, which were land taken from the Rajput states. Only Ajmer was the area which fell directly under Muslim rule after the defeat and death of Prithviraj Chauhan in 1192 CE.

More or less Ajmer
Ajmer

This article is about a city in central Rajasthan, for the historical region, see Ajmer region.'Ajmer' is a city in Ajmer District in India's Rajasthan states and territories of India....
 continued to be under central rule since then. The region was organized as the Rajputana Agency
Rajputana Agency

Rajputana Agency was a collection of native states in India , under the political charge of an agent to the Governor-General of India who resided at Mount Abu in the Aravalli Range....
, made up of a number of princely state
Princely state

For other uses, see Principality, Princely state#Other princely statesA Princely State was a nominally sovereign entity of British rule in India that was not directly administered by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy....
s, whose rulers enjoyed local autonomy from the advent of the Mughal empire
Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire was a Muslim imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, ruled most of the Indian Subcontinent by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century....
 until the end of the British Raj
British Raj

British Raj primarily refers to the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule....
.

Upon Indian independence in 1947, the local rulers acceded to India, and in 1950 Rajputana was combined a little later with the former British province of Ajmer-Merwara
Ajmer-Merwara

Ajmer-Merwara is a former province of British Raj in the historical Ajmer region. The territory of the province was ceded to the British by Daulat Rao Sindhia by a treaty on June 25, 1818....
 to become the Indian state of Rajasthan
Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the largest States and territories of India of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan....
.

Geography

The area of Rajputana is estimated to be 132,559 square miles (343,328 square km) and breaks down into two geographic divisions:
  • An area northwest of the Aravalli Range including part of the Great Indian (Thar) Desert, with characteristics of being sandy and unproductive.
  • An higher area southeast of the range, which is fertile by comparison.
The whole area forms the hill and plateau country between the north Indian plains and the main plateau of peninsular India.