History of Jaisalmer: The Golden City’s Legacy

Jaisalmer History means “the hill fort of Jaisal”. The desert city is also called the golden city thanks to the colour it gets from the yellow sandstone used for the construction of the buildings. Jaisalmer is one the last big towns in Rajasthan closest to the India-Pakistan border and stands in the heart of the Thar desert. The luxury desert camp Jaisalmer has come a long way since being an important town along the ancient camel-train route that ran through India and Central Asia for a non-touristic camel safari in Sam. Over the centuries, the fortunes of Jaisalmer have risen and fallen thanks to the geopolitics of the region and, of course, the emergence of newer trading routes. The rise in sea trade, especially during the British era, lent a crippling blow to Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer desert camp with independence and the resulting hostility with Pakistan it seemed like Jaisalmer would fall off the map sooner rather than later. But it was during India’s darkest hour that Jaisalmer’s fortunes rose once again. Jaisalmer desert camping during India’s wars with Pakistan in 1965 and again in 1971 the Indian government realized the importance of Jaisalmer’s strategic position along the border. Legacy of  Jaisalmer history.

Soon, the town that was almost forgotten found its place on the map once again. About Jaisalmer History, The economy of Jaisalmer which once relied on the ancient trade routes was now fuelled by the military installations that mushroomed over the years. Tourism also contributed a great deal to the livelihood of Jaisalmer’s people. Sam camping event Jaisalmer requires a long day tour — the closest big city is Jodhpur, almost 300 km away, and it easily takes at least six hours or an overnight train to travel the distance — the well-paved roads by border roads organisation (or BRO) make the journey infinitely easier than it would have otherwise been.

Jaisalmer history. At the end of this journey stands the majestic fort of Jaisalmer that has been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2013. This fort is what forms the centre of all tourist activity in Jaisalmer. But there is a lot more to Jaisalmer than the fort. There are the spectacular havelis that have been constructed from the same golden sandstone as the fort, there are the sand dunes which attract hundreds of tourists domestic and international alike and there are the legends… of evil diwans and beautiful damsels and the story of a village safari that was abandoned almost overnight and remains so even centuries later. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. The story of Jaisalmer History begins, as several fairy tales do, with a prince seeking to prove himself Sam Sand Dunes Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer History, Sometime in the 12th century, Rawal Jaisal of the Bhati clan was passed up for the throne of Laudrava in favor of his younger half-brother Vijayraj Lanjha. One of the first acts of the newly-appointed heir was to exile Jaisal from his kingdom. Young Jaisal began looking for a suitable place to establish his new capital and came across a huge triangular rock that rose some 250 feet above the desert sands around it. The rock provided a good vantage point to survey the lands below. On the rock was a sage called Eesul who informed Jaisal that Krishna had prophesized the arrival of his descendant who would establish a kingdom at the very spot. Jaisal, who hailed from the Yaduvanshi clan to which Krishna belonged, took this as a sign and stopped looking for newer spots. In 1156, Jaisal built a small mud fort and named it after himself. It was thus that the Jaisalmer Desert was born.

But the sage Eesul had reminded Jaisal of the second part of Krishna’s prediction — that the city would be sacked two-and-a-half times — to which Jaisal paid no heed and went ahead with establishing the city anyway.

It wouldn’t be long before the prediction of Thar Desert came true. About Jaisalmer’s History, In 1294 Jaisalmer saw the first Jauhar or the act of mass suicide by women when the armies of Alauddin Khilji descended upon the city after the Bhatis raided one of his treasure caravans. By some estimates, the siege lasted some eight years but the Bhatis eventually lost and Jaisalmer fell after some 3800 warriors threw open the gates of the fort and faced certain death at the hands of Khilji’s armies. Jaisalmer Camping Following this Jaisalmer remained abandoned for some years before the Bhatis returned to their city.

About two centuries later, yet another Turkic ruler of Delhi, Firuz Shah Tughluq laid siege to Jaisalmer after a Jaisalmer prince stole his prize steed. This led to the death of 16,000 women and the death of 1700 soldiers including the ruler, Rawal Dudu and his son Tilaski. And Jaisalmer was more or less abandoned again.

Jaisalmer History: In any case, the early centuries since the foundation of Jaisalmer were troublesome in part because the rulers primarily depended on looting. As you may have surmised, the rulers themselves were the reason for the fall of Jaisalmer the first two times! In any case, as centuries passed, Jaisalmer began to prosper in part because of its very strategic position along the trade route. The prosperity continued right up until the time of the British when sea routes opened up. This led to the population of Jaisalmer moving out of the city towards (literally) greener pastures. After Partition, the land routes to Pakistan were cut off and it seemed (albeit for a short time) that the prophesy may not have factored a fourth silent invasion — that of the changing economy. But the wars of 1965 and 1971 reminded the folks in New Delhi that Jaisalmer’s strategic position could be used to the country’s advantage. Jaisalmer Desert Camp Military installations came up and tourism began to boom all over again. Jaisalmer seemed to have almost returned from the dead!