|
|
|
|
The strategic position of this city has been the key to its long, and rather turbulent history. Ajmer is connected to Delhi, Agra, Ahmedabad, Abu, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jaipur, by main highways. It was a key centre of Chauhan power, along with the twin capital of Delhi. However, with Prithviraj Chauhan's defeat at the hands of Sultan Mohammed Ghori (1193), Ajmer was rendered vulnerable to many an invasion and gory battles.
Ajmer has been, for time immemorial, a great centre of pilgrimage, for both Hindus and Muslims, a feature that gives the city its character. The city is a genuine amalgam of rich Hindu and Islamic heritage. The sacred lake of Pushkar believed by Hindus, to be as old as the temple of Brahma, has been a place of pilgrimage, for ages. The great Sufi saint Khwaja Moin-ud-din-Chisti of Persia, was buried here, and his Dargah is equally sacred for the followers of Islam, as well as Hinduism.
Ajmer was established in the early seventh centuary by Ajaipal Chauhan. Ajaipal chauhan constructed a tall fort here and named the place Ajaimeru means invincible hill. Here he built India,s first hill fort Taragah. Ajmer was a chauhan Stronghold till 1194. The Only remains of their times are the fort and the beautiful Anasagar lake built in 1150 by Anaji. The legendry Prithviraj, last of the Chauhans, is the inspiration for many heroic ballads sung even today in the vilages of Rajasthan.
It was during the regim of Prithviraj, in 1191, that Muhammad of Ghori invaded India. Prithviraj died fighting the sultan's army, and with the establishment of the Sultanate in Delhi, a new era began.
Ajmer remained under the Sultanate till 1326. Thereafter, it became a bone of contention between the Sultans of Delhi, the Ranas of Mewar, the Rathors of Marwar and the Sultans of Gujarat. Peace was restored with the accession of Akbar to the Mughal throne in 1556. He made Ajmer a full fledged province and the base for his operations in Rajputana.
He fortified the city, but only parts of the 4045-yard (3735-m) long wall remain.
His palace, the Daulat Khana, houses ceding the Government Museum.Akbar's son, Jahangir, lived in Ajmer from 1613 to 1616. His palace, the Daulat Bagh, is now in ruins. The celebrated English ambassador during to the Mughal court, Sir Thomas Roe, was received here by the emperor. |
|
|
|
|
