Merta

Merta lies in the dry plains of central Marwar, between Ajmer and Jodhpur. It was established as a Rathore centre by Rao Duda and became the seat of a branch of the family. The poet-saint Mirabai spent her childhood here, and the town remains closely associated with her devotion to Krishna.

In the sixteenth century Merta became involved in the contests between the Rathores and the expanding Mughal Empire. Akbar sent forces against its fort in 1562, and the Merta chief Jaimal later took refuge in Mewar. He helped defend Chittor during Akbar’s siege of 1567–68. The town’s history thus joins the memory of a devotional poet with that of the Rajput houses whose forts and loyalties shaped the politics of Rajasthan.