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Ajmer

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Ajmer
Ajmer
city
Population
 (2005)
 • Total500,000

Ajmer pronunciationⓘ (Hindi: अजमेर /ədʒmeːr/) is a city in Ajmer District in India's Rajasthan state. Its population was approximately 500,000 in 2001. The city gives its name to a district, and also to a former province of British India called Ajmer-Merwara, which, after India's independence, became the state of Ajmer until November 1, 1956, when it was merged into Rajasthan state.

Geography

It is situated in 26° 27, N. lat. and 74° 44, E. long., on the lower slopes of Taragarh hill, in the Aravalli Range. To the north of the city is a large artificial lake, called Anasagar, adorned with a marble structure called Baradari.

The city is well laid out with wide streets and handsome houses. Ajmer is at an important railway junction. The city is a trade center and has cotton mills and railroad shops. Manufactures include wool textiles, hosiery, shoes, soap, and pharmaceuticals.

History

Ajmer (Ajaya-meru in Sanskrit) was founded in the tenth century CE by Raja Ajay Pal Chauhan. He established the Chauhan dynasty which continued to rule the country while repeated waves of Muslim invasion swept across India. Ajmer was conquered by Muhammad of Ghor, founder of the Delhi Sultanate, in 1193. Its internal government, however, was handed over to the Chauhan rulers upon the payment of a heavy tribute to the conquerors. Ajmer then remained feudatory to Delhi until 1365, when it was captured by the ruler of Mewar. In 1509 Ajmer became a source of contention between the maharajas of Mewar and Marwar, and was ultimately conquered by the Marwar ruler in 1532. Ajmer was lost to the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1559. It continued to be in the hands of the Mughals, with occasional revolts, till 1770, when it was ceded to the Marathas. From that time up to 1818 Ajmer was the scene of an ongoing struggle, being seized at different times by the Mewar and the Marwar maharajas, from whom it was often retaken by the Marathas. In 1818 the Marathas sold Ajmer to the British for 50,000 rupees. Since then Ajmer has enjoyed unbroken peace and stable governance. Great musicians have lived and worked in Ajmer.

Places of interest

The chief objects of interest are Pushkar, and the Dargah, tomb of the most revered Muslim sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti, the Gharib Nawaz.

The Pushkar Lake

Pushkar is a town in the state of Rajasthan in India near Ajmer, about 14 Kilometers away, and is an important tourist destination. Pushkar is famous for Pushkar Lake and the 14th century Hindu temple to Brahma, God as the Creator of all creation. This is the only temple of Brahma in the world. Pushkar is also famous for its annual Camel Fair.

The Dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti

The Dargah Shareef of Khwaza Moinuddin Chishti is situated at the foot of the Taragarh hill, and consists of several white marble buildings arranged around two courtyards, including a massive gate donated by the Nizam of Hyderabad, a mosque donated by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the Akbari Masjid, and the domed tomb of the saint. To this place Emperor Akbar, with his queen, performed pilgrimage on foot from Agra every year in observance of a vow he had made when praying for a son. The large pillars, erected at intervals of two miles the whole way between Agra and Ajmer, marking the daily halting places of the royal pilgrim, are still extant.

Taragarh Fort, the fort of Ajmer, seat of the Chauhan rulers, is claimed to be the first hill fort of Asia, built at a time when the Aravalli mountain ranges were above the snowlines. This gives it the reputation of being one of the oldest hill forts of the world, and it is definitely the oldest among the hill forts in India.

The Adhai-din-ka-jhonpra, a Jain temple constructed in 1153 and converted into a mosque by Qutubuddin Aibak after 1193, is situated on the lower slope of the Taragarh hill. With the exception of that part used as a mosque, nearly the whole of the ancient temple has fallen into ruins, but the relics are not excelled in beauty of architecture and sculpture by any remains of Hindu art. Forty columns support the roof, but no two are alike, and great fertility of invention is manifested in the execution of the ornaments.

Magazine, the city's Museum, was once the residence of Prince Salim, son of Emperor Akbar, and presently houses a collection of the Mughal and Rajput armour and sculpture.This residence of Salim is significant from a historical point of view, because Salim as Emperor Jahangir read out the firman for trade to India to the British East India company from here, thus starting the chain of events that lead to India's colonisation by the British.

The summit of Taragarh hill, overhanging Ajmer, is crowned by a fort, the lofty thick battlements of which run along its brow and enclose the table-land. The walls are two miles in circumference, and the fort can only be approached by steep and very roughly paved planes, commanded by the fort and the outworks, and by the hill to the west. On coming into the hands of the British Raj, the fort was dismantled by order of Lord William Bentinck, and was converted into a sanatorium for the troops stationed at the British cantonment town of Nasirabad.

Mayo College was established in 1875 by Lord Mayo, Viceroy of India. The architecture of the school buildings evoke the grandeur of erstwhile princely Rajasthan. The main building of the school, in white marble, is a classic example of Indo-Saracenic architecture, and the design now lies in the archives of the British Museum in London.[1]

Nasirabad is a town near Ajmer.

  • Magazine
  • Rajputana Museum
  • Nasiyan (Jain mandir)
  • Abdullah Khan's tomb
  • Ana Sagar
  • Circuit house
  • Khobra Bheroon Temple
  • Visal Sar

Around Ajmer

Education

Ajmer is home to Mayo college, a boarding school founded by the British Raj in 1870 to educate the children of Rajputana's nobles on the lines of an English public school. Ajmer is also home to the prestigious Sophia Girls' School [now College], and the historic Ajmer Music College, founded in 1942, which was the first accredited institution in Rajputana for teaching classical Hindustani music. One of the four NCERT Demonstration Schools of India is also located in Ajmer.

Other educational institutions which prominently shaped the academic environment of Ajmer before India became independent are the Government College, Savitri Girls' School & College, D.A.V. College, Government High School, Convent Girls' School, King George Royal Indian Military School, St. Anslem's School, Moinia Islamia School, Oswal Jain High School, Husband Memorial High School, Govt. Central Girls' School, Arya Putri Pathshala, and Saraswati Balika Vidyalaya.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[2] Ajmer had a population of 485,197. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Ajmer has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 56% of the males and 44% of females literate. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

References

  1. ^ Main Building Architecture: Official website of Mayo College, Ajmer, India
  2. ^ Template:GR
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

See also

Ajmer Singh Phull

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