Ajmer

Ajmer lies near the center of Rajasthan around Taragarh Hill in the Aravalli Range. The surrounding mountains check the spread of the Thar Desert and create a broken landscape of rocky ridges, seasonal drainage, and irrigated valleys. Ana Sagar Lake and other reservoirs stored monsoon water for a city without a permanent large river. The position allowed Ajmer to control routes across the Aravallis between the Gangetic plains, Gujarat, Marwar, and the routes toward Delhi.

The city was founded as Ajaya Meru, “invincible hill,” by a Chahamana ruler, either Ajayaraja I or Ajayaraja II, who is said to have moved the dynasty's capital here from Shakambhari. A text copied in 1113 already names the city. Taragarh fort crowned the ridge, and Ajmer served as the Chahamana capital until the twelfth century. Its Sanskrit college, the building later known as Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra, and its religious institutions made it a center of learning, while its location brought merchants and pilgrims across the hills.

In 1193 Ajmer was annexed by the Ghurids and later returned to Gaur Rajput rulers under tribute. Mewar captured it in the fifteenth century. Emperor Akbar conquered the city in 1556, bringing it into the Mughal Empire. Ajmer became the capital of the Mughal province of Ajmer, and emperors made repeated pilgrimages to the dargah of Moinuddin Chishti. Mughal building activity concentrated around the dargah and its surrounding quarters, and Akbar’s palace and pavilions on the Ana Sagar stood beside the lake. Shah Jahan’s children Jahanara and Dara Shikoh were born in the city in 1614 and 1615. Ajmer remained a provincial center and a gathering place for pilgrims and merchants. The eighteenth century brought rapid changes of power. The Scindias captured Ajmer in 1752, and the British gained authority in 1818. Its mountain setting, reservoirs, fortress, markets, and religious institutions kept it a central Rajasthani city even as its political rulers changed repeatedly. Roads through the passes made Ajmer a meeting point for Rajput courts, Mughal officials, pilgrims, and merchants.