Jodhpur in Jodhpur District, Rajasthan, India — भारत (South Asia)
Rathores of Marwar - Jodhpur
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, January 26, 2020
1. Rathores of Marwar - Jodhpur Marker
Inscription.
Rathores of Marwar - Jodhpur. . The Rathore kings of Marwar are Rajputs, a term that denotes their status as the descendants of Kshatriyas, the traditional Hindu warrior caste. Within Rajputs, the Rathores are a clan of Suryavanshi Rajputs who claim descent from the Sun (Surya). They count as one of their ancestors the Hindu god Rama, an avatar of the god Vishnu whose story is told in the great Indian epic the Ramayana.
The Rathores arrived in the desert tracts of western India during the 13th century, in the wake of invading armies, from their ancestral territories on India's northern plains. By the 15th century, they had established a powerful kingdom and built a walled capital city - Jodhpur-with the massive Mehrangarh Fort (or Fort of the Sun) at its center. Jodhpur's prosperity, owed largely to the Rathores' control over lucrative trade routes, attracted the attention of two successive empires that ruled India: the Mughals (1526-40, 1555-1857) and the British (1858-1947). Both encounters would reshape Jodhpur's cultural landscape, expanding the Rathores' interactions with the external world and introducing objects, artisanal traditions, architectural styles, languages, and systems of administration from afar to this desert kingdom.
Displayed in this Museum are portraits of Marwar rulers who played significant role as patrons of art and architecture. Also the interiors of the monument celebrates fine craftsmanship of Marwar craftsmen and is very much a living museum with practicing rituals associated with the monument.
The Rathore kings of Marwar are Rajputs, a term that
denotes their status as the descendants of Kshatriyas,
the traditional Hindu warrior caste. Within Rajputs, the
Rathores are a clan of Suryavanshi Rajputs who claim
descent from the Sun (Surya). They count as one of their
ancestors the Hindu god Rama, an avatar of the god
Vishnu whose story is told in the great Indian epic the
Ramayana.
The Rathores arrived in the desert tracts of western
India during the 13th century, in the wake of invading
armies, from their ancestral territories on India's
northern plains. By the 15th century, they had
established a powerful kingdom and built a walled
capital city - Jodhpur-with the massive Mehrangarh
Fort (or Fort of the Sun) at its center. Jodhpur's
prosperity, owed largely to the Rathores' control over
lucrative trade routes, attracted the attention of two
successive empires that ruled India: the Mughals
(1526-40, 1555-1857) and the British (1858-1947). Both
encounters would reshape Jodhpur's cultural
landscape, expanding the Rathores' interactions with
the external world and introducing objects, artisanal
traditions, architectural styles, languages, and systems
of administration from afar to this desert kingdom.
Displayed in this Museum are portraits of Marwar
rulers who played significant role as patrons of
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art and
architecture. Also the interiors of the monument
celebrates fine craftsmanship of Marwar craftsmen and
is very much a living museum with practicing rituals
associated with the monument.
Location. 26° 17.976′ N, 73° 1.193′ E. Marker is in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, in Jodhpur District. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Jodhpur, Rajasthan 34200-1, India. Touch for directions.
circa 1905
2. The Meherangarh Fort at Jodhpur
Photograph of the Meherangarh Fort at Jodhpur in Rajasthan, taken by an unknown photographer in the 1900s. The photograph is from an album containing views of various locations in India, formerly in the collection of Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, (1850-1916), who was Commander in Chief of India between 1902 and 1909.
The city of Jodhpur has been the capital of Marwar - the "region of death" - in western India since the 15th century. It was founded on the edge of the arid Thar Desert by Rao Jodha of the Rathore Rajputs in 1459, replacing the previous Marwar capital of Mandor. The formidable Meherangarh Fort, considered the finest in Rajasthan, was built by Rao Jodha and stands on an isolated outcrop of rock which rises abruptly from the surrounding plain. Its high sheer walls and massive bastions dominate the city and can be seen for miles around. Within the fort at the northern end are the Old Palaces, a series of beautiful courtyard buildings, which date from the 17th century onward. This is a view of the fort from the Rani Sagar, a lake to the north-west of the fort within the old city walls. (Photo courtesy of the British Library).
Credits. This page was last revised on May 16, 2020. It was originally submitted on January 27, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 288 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on January 27, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. 2. submitted on April 14, 2020, by J. Makali Bruton of Accra, Ghana. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A wide view photo of the marker and the surrounding area together in context. •
Correction of the marker's coordinates. • Can you help?
