Jaisalmer Fort, Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer fort is located inside the metropolis of jaisalmer, inside the indian kingdom of rajasthan. It's far believed to be one of the only a few "residing forts" within the global (along with carcassonne, france), as almost one fourth of the vintage city's populace nevertheless is living within the fortress. for the better a part of its 860-yr records, the fortress turned into the town of jaisalmer. The primary settlements outside the fortress partitions, to accommodate the growing population of jaisalmer, are stated to have come up within the seventeenth century.

Jaisalmer fortress is the second one oldest fort in rajasthan, built in 1156 ad by means of the rajput rawal (ruler) jaisal from whom it derives its name, and stood at the crossroads of vital alternate routes (which includes the ancient silk road).

The citadel's massive yellow sandstone partitions are a tawny lion coloration at some point of the day, fading to honey-gold because the sun sets, thereby camouflaging the citadel within the yellow wasteland. Because of this it's also referred to as the sonar quila or golden citadel. the name sonar quila (bengali for golden citadel) changed into popularized by way of vacationers after well-known bengali film of the same call, that changed into shot in this fortress by using eminent filmmaker satyajit ray. The fort stands amidst the sandy expanse of the extraordinary thar barren region on trikuta hill, consequently also referred to as trikutgarh. It is today placed along the southern fringe of the town that bears its call; its dominant hilltop place making the sprawling towers of its fortifications visible for many miles around.

In 2013, at the thirty seventh consultation of the world heritage committee held in phnom penh, cambodia, jaisalmer castle, together with 5 other forts of rajasthan, turned into declared a unesco global background web page underneath the organization hill forts of rajasthan.

Legend has it that the citadel become constructed with the aid of rawal jaisal, a bhati rajput, in 1156 ce.the story says that it outmoded an earlier construction at lodhruva, with which jaisal changed into unhappy and as a result, a brand new capital was set up whilst jaisal based the city of jaisalmer.

Round 1299 ce, rawal jait singh i confronted a long siege by way of alauddin khalji of delhi sultanate, who is said to had been provoked with the aid of a bhati raid on his treasure caravan. By the cease of the siege, going through positive defeat, the bhati rajput women committed 'jauhar', and the male warriors below the command of mularaja met their fatal result in battle with the sultan's forces. For a few years after the a hit siege, the castle remained underneath the sway of delhi sultanate, before being eventually reoccupied by means of some surviving bhatis.

All through rawal lunakaran's reign, around 1530–1551 ce, the fortress become attacked through an afghan chief amir ali. When it seemed to the rawal that he became fighting a losing warfare, he slaughtered his womenfolk as there was inadequate time to set up a jauhar. Tragically, reinforcements arrived without delay after the deed changed into executed and the military of jaisalmer have become victorious in its defence of the fort.

In 1541 ce, rawal lunakaran also fought mughal emperor humayun whilst the latter attacked the castle on his manner to ajmer. he also supplied his daughter in marriage to akbar. Mughals managed the castle till 1762.

The fort remained underneath the manage of mughals till 1762, while maharawal mulraj took manipulate of the fort.

The treaty among the east india company and mulraj on 12 december 1818 allowed the mulraj to maintain manage of the castle and provided for safety from invasion. After the dying of mulraj in 1820, his grandson gaj singh inherited manage of the castle.

With the advent of british rule, the emergence of maritime alternate and the boom of the port of bombay led to the gradual economic decline of jaisalmer. After independence and the partition of india, the ancient change direction was definitely closed, therefore permanently removing the city from its former function of significance in worldwide commerce. Although, the ongoing strategic significance of jaisalmer was tested at some point of the 1965 and 1971 wars among india and pakistan.[citation needed]

Even though the city of jaisalmer not serves as an important buying and selling town, or as a primary navy put up, the city is still able to earn sales as a prime tourist destination. To begin with, the complete population of jaisalmer lived within the citadel, and these days the vintage fortress nevertheless retains a resident populace of about four,000 folks who are largely descended from the brahmin and rajput communities.

 Those two groups as soon as served as the group of workers for the fort's one time bhati rulers, which carrier then entitled the workers to live on the hilltop and in the partitions of the fortress. with the gradual increase within the area's population, some of the metropolis's citizens step by step relocated to the foot of the trikuta hill. From there the city's population has because largely unfold out well past the vintage partitions of the citadel, and into the adjoining valley underneath.

Architecture

The castle is 1,500 ft (460 m) long and 750 ft (230 m) huge and is built on a hill that raises above a top of 250 ft (seventy six m) above the encircling geographical region. The bottom of the fortress has a fifteen feet (4.6 m) tall wall forming the castle's outermost ring, within its triple ringed defence structure. The fort's top bastions or towers shape a protective inner-wall perimeter that is approximately 2.5 mi (four.Zero km) long. The castle now carries ninety nine bastions, of which ninety two were built or substantially rebuilt among the duration of 1633–47. The citadel also has four fortified entrances or gates from the townside, considered one of which turned into as soon as guarded with the aid of cannon. different points of hobby inside the fort's walls and grounds consist of:

Suarj pol, one of the entry gates to the jaisalmer citadel

4 big gateways via which traffic to the castle should bypass, situated along with the primary method to the fort.

The raj mahal palace, former residence of the maharawal of jaisalmer.

Corridor of jain temple – jaisalmer castle

Jain temples: inside jaisalmer fort, there are 7 jain temples built by way of yellow sandstone at some stage in 12–16th century. askaran chopra of merta constructed a huge temple devoted to sambhavanatha. The temple has more than 600 idols with many old scriptures. chopra panchaji built ashtapadh temple within the castle.

The laxminath temple of jaisalmer, committed to the worship of the gods lakshmi and vishnu.

Haveli within the jaisalmer castle

Severa merchant havelis. Those are massive homes frequently constructed by rich traders in rajasthani towns and towns in north india, with ornate sandstone carvings. Some havelis are many loads of years antique. In jaisalmer there are many elaborate havelis carved from yellow sandstone. Some of these have many flooring and countless rooms, with decorated windows, archways, doors and balconies. A few havelis are these days museums however most in jaisalmer are nonetheless lived in by way of the families that built them. Among those is the vyas haveli which changed into constructed in the fifteenth century, which remains occupied by means of the descendants of the authentic developers. Every other example is the shree nath palace which become as soon as inhabited via the prime minister of jaisalmer. A number of the doors and ceilings are extraordinary examples of vintage carved wooden from many hundreds of years ago.

Nathmal haweli with signature seals of architects

Nathmal haweli  is an iconic monument of jaisalmer fort. It is constructed in yellow sand stone that shines like gold beneath sun. The haweli is named after nathmal, the then top minister at the court of jaisalmer. it turned into built with the aid of two brothers lulu and hathi, simultaneously, from one of a kind segments. Because of this, the building has no symmetry, yet it's far an super piece of art, and ornate architecture. Those architects left their signature on the plinth of the constructing as a carving of a rajputana warrior on elephant. The building is traditionally recognized with two elephants on either facet. The building is a mix of islamic and rajputana fashion of structure.

The fortress has an inventive drainage machine called the ghut nali which permits for the easy drainage of rainwater away from the citadel in all four guidelines of the fort. Through the years, haphazard creation sports and constructing of recent roads has greatly reduced its effectiveness.