Bikaner General Information

Bikaner History

Bikaner was founded in the 15th century by Rao Bikaji, the son of the Rathor raja of Marwar (Jodhpur). Bikaji was the second son of Rao Jodhaji, the real founder of Jodhpur state, its magnificent fort and city, Bika left Jodhpur in a huff with a few kinsmen and followers because his father taunted him in open durbar about expansionist schemes with his uncle, Rao Kandhal. He set up his own kingdom in the desert of the north. Supported by the blessing of a great female mystic, Karni Mata, whom he had met along the way and who had predicted that his fame and glory would someday exceed that of his father, Rao Bika fought the local desert clans for thirty years, and ultimately carved out a kingdom approximately the size of England. This desert city was a major trade center on the old caravan route linking central Asia and North India with the Gujarat sea ports long before a Rathor Prince, Bika, conquered it in 1486 A.D. and called it Bikaner.

Fortunately for his descendants, no enemy could withstand the harsh desert that surrounds this rich city and disrupt its leisurely lifestyle, which still prevails. Here, medieval settings, customs, and attitudes are natural, and modern ways rather alien. Bikaner has a special quality, an authentic medieval flavor that immediately draws the outsider's attention.

In the 16th century the maharajas of Bikaner came into conflict with the Mughal emperor in Delhi, who were in the process of setting up their new empire in Hindustan. Being located closer to Delhi, Bikaner spent much more time fighting the Mughals than other desert kingdoms, such as Jaisalmer or Jodhpur. With the harsh desert terrain on their side, the Bikaner armies soundly defeated the Mughals in their early encounters. By the late 16th century, however, they had won over by the diplomacy of Emperor Akbar. As a result, several of Bikaner's rulers commanded the Mughal armies, fighting with distinction from Gujarat in the west to the Deccan in the south. One great ruler, Raja Prithviraj Singh, a poet and a warrior, in fact became one of the "Nine Gems " of Akbar's court. Bikaner, meanwhile, had had become a flourishing town and an important trading post along the centuries-old caravan trails that connected India with the Middle East and China. As the town prospered it became known , it became known for the hand work of its gold and silver smiths, weavers and perfumaries and leather craftsmen. It also became known as an important center for the arts and music . It was especially well known for its of miniature paintings, which were a delicate fusion of the Rajput and the Mughal style.

However, with the eclipse of the Mughals in the 18th century, Bikaner along with the rest of Rajasthan, fell into the slow decline, although its desert barriers at least spared it the depredations that the Marathas were wreaking on its other Rajput neighbours. This situation continued until the treaty with the British in 1818, in which " perpetual friendship, alliance and a unity of interests" were pledged.

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