Bikaner, Rajasthan, India
Left Jaisalmer and stopped by at Bikaner. It is still desert, but there is a little more green now and more people, of course. We are still on NH 5 , the absolutely brilliant road. The stretch from Jaisalmer to Bikaner is one of the best stretches I have driven in - lovely road, sparse traffic, straight as an arrow. Wonderful.
Junagarh Fort is right in the heart of Bikaner
. "Juna" means old and "Garh" of course means home or palace ; this fort got the name after the royal family moved to a new palace in the early 1900s. One of the few forts in Rajasthan not built on a hill, it is however typical of the state's many forts. Big and ornate, all pomp and splendour ; the Maharajas of the various kingdoms of Rajasthan knew how to live.
Maharaja Ganga Singh is probably the best known rule of Bikaner. He was a favourite of the British - he was even included in the Imperial War Cabinet of Britain during the first World War - the only non white to be included. He is also credited with much improvement in his realm, including the establishment of Sri Ganganagar; today a flourishing town.
Rajasthan is littered with kingdoms and Maharajas - Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and more. Each controlled small territories and were constantly squabbling with each other. Rajputs and the other clans that lived here were fierce warriors and proud people. And yet because they were never united, the Mughals first and then the British steamrollered them, despite individual and sporadic acts of resistance and bravery. If there had existed an united state of Rajasthan in those days, very few of the invaders and colonialists would have succeeded in ruling India.
Even today we squabble amongst ourselves all the time. A united Andhra now sees a divided Telangana and Seemandhra. We fight border disputes and squabble on sharing anything - water, revenues, whatever. Every state has a fringe that argues for a policy of "sons of the soil", sometimes violently. History has not taught us much.
The history of the princely states of Rajasthan is a reminder of the power of unity and the weakness of disunity. What did all the bravery, honour and splendid forts ultimately amount to ?
Bikaner Fort
Saturday, March 01, 2014
Bikaner, Rajasthan, India
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2025-05-22
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Sandhya
2014-03-01
Nice fort. As you are in Rajasthan, you must write one food blog pls pls pls daal Barati churma, bikaneri bhujiya, Rajasthani achaar
mouth is already watering....
Now don't tell me that's the difference between Rajalakshmi and Ramesh ;-)
indigoite
2014-03-02
@Sandhya - I don't even know that those things you are referring to are :(
Vincy
2014-03-03
You sait it about Unity. We would have been a richer nation today, if only our Indian kings stood together those days. The Mongols wouldnt have had the nerve to plunder us and later, various troops from the so called Civilised west. The saddest thing as you said is we are contunuing to make the same mistakes over and over again.
Ramesh, lovely set of pictures again. full of details.
indigoite
2014-03-03
@Vincy - Yes it is in the basic nature not to be united i think - something of the survival of the fittest philosophy. Don't we even see it in our building associations :(
My My, all this flattery on my photos is getting to my head :)
Suja
2014-03-04
Your observations regarding the lack of unity is sadly true. Nature of man or is this particular to Indians I wonder...why fight for narrower and narrower identities when we cannot even hold on to our Indian ways in music, attitudes, culture etc? The cultural borders are porous, bleeding out at a rate we cannot control. What use holding on to physical borders?
asha
2014-03-04
a post on Bikaner without mention of Bikaneri bujiya?.
Jokes aside, as always a lovely and lively post and yes, like you observed many don't want to learn history or even humanities as subject. Taking our children ( and even politicians) on excursions /family trips or introducing them to Indian history may perhaps inculcate them in a love for history and humanities. It is one subject which is neglected while science and commerce are appreciated..
indigoite
2014-03-06
@Suja - So true. When cultural borders are becoming almost non existent, what use of watertight physical borders. Very nice insight.
@Asha - Wasted on me Asha, as you know. I wouldn't even know what Rajasthan bhujia is !! However one of my friends insisted I try Dhal Bhatti, which I understand now is a specialty of Rajasthan. I dutifully ordered it somewhere without knowing really, what I was going to get ! Well, it was OK .... :)
Yes, humanities in general and history in particular is awfully taught in schools and I also believe the older you get, you appreciate this area more.