Pilgrims Ajmer Sharif
Sufi
: History of Ajmer
Sharif Rajasthan India
Ajmer Sharif Sufi History, Rajasthan, India
Ajmer renowned as
one of the most pious cities and a venue of religious and cultural harmony all over
the world. Ajmer enjoys the distinction of being the prime destination of people
who have a staunch faith, whether they are Hindus, the worshipper of Lord Brahma
or be they Muslims, coming to visit the mighty court of Huzoor Khawaja Garib Nawaz
(R.A.) The distance of 444 kms from Dehli and 1043 kms from Bombay are nowhere less
or more. Landing at the destination leaves the visitor full of energy and spirit.
Ajmer (Rajasthani:,
Urdu:) formerly written as Ajmere, is a city in Ajmer District in Rajasthan state
in India. Ajmer has a population of around 800,000 (2011 census), and is located
135 kilometres (84 mi) west of the Rajasthan state capital Jaipur, 200 km from Jodhpur,
274 km from Udaipur, 439 km from Jaisalmer, and 391 km from Delhi.
Ajmer is surrounded by the Aravalli Mountains. It is a popular Muslim pilgrim city
for the shrine or Dargah of the Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. It is also
the base for visiting Pushkar (11 km), an ancient Hindu pilgrim town for the temple
of Brahma. Ajmer is regarded as a center of education in Rajasthan. Ajmer was once
known as Ajaymeru, the city ruled by Prithviraj Chauhan. The city has given its
name to Ajmer district, and to a former region of British India called Ajmer-Merwara,
and to the erstwhile state of Ajmer, which was formed after independence of India,
and was incorporated into Rajasthan state on November 1, 1956.
Geography
It is situated in 26° 27, N. lat. and 74°
44, E. long., on the lower slopes of Taragarh hill, in the Aravalli Range. To the
north of the city is a large artificial lake, called Anasagar, adorned with a marble
structure called Baradari. Ajmer is an ancient crowded city with modern developments
in the outskirts.
Transport
Ajmer is at an important railway junction with Broad gauge lines to
Jaipur and Marwar,Ahmedabad and Mumbai onwards to Banglore and a Metre gauge line
subject to conversion under Project Unigauge to Udaipur. The railway complex includes
a major workshop. The railway has helped the city as a trade center for manufactured
goods including wool textiles, hosiery, shoes, soap, and pharmaceuticals.Poultary
Farming is a major source of income for the urban farmers.The near by town of Kishangarh
is one of the biggest seller market for marble and marble products.Ajmer is well
connected with the national highway.and only 135 km from the Swai Mansingh international
airport at Jaipur.
History
Ajmer (Ajaya-meru
in Sanskrit) was founded in the seventh century CE by Dushyant Chauhan. He established
the Chauhan dynasty which continued to rule the country while repeated waves of
Turkish invasion swept across India. Ajmer was conquered by Muhammad of Ghor, founder
of the Delhi Sultanate, in 1193. Its internal government, however, was handed over
to the Chauhan rulers upon the payment of a heavy tribute to the conquerors. Ajmer
then remained feudatory to Delhi until 1365, when it was captured by the ruler of
Mewar.
In 1509 Ajmer
became a source of contention between the maharajas of Mewar and Marwar, and was
ultimately conquered by the Marwar ruler in 1532. Ajmer was conquered by the Mughal
emperor Akbar in 1559. It continued to be in the hands of the Mughals, with occasional
revolts, till 1770, until it ceded to the Marathas. From that time up to 1818 Azmer
was the scene of an ongoing struggle, being seized at different times by the Mewar
and the Marwar maharajas, from whom it was often retaken by the Marathas. In 1818
the Marathas sold Ajmer to the East India Company for 50,000 rupees.
Since then Ajmeri
has enjoyed stable governance even though during the 1857 War of Independence, some
Indian sepoys at the garission in the nearby town of Nasirabad joined the revolt.
In the British Raj, Ajmeru was governed by an Agent to the Governor General [AGG]
overseeing Rajputana. After independence in 1947, Ajmer retained its position as
a centrally administrated state under a Chief Commissioner for some time. Ajmeer
was eventually merged with the State of Rasjasthan.
Air
An airport
near Ajmer has been proposed by the Government of Rajasthan. It is expected to be
operational in the year 2012. At present the nearest airport is the Jaipur International
Airport, about 132 km away, with flights connecting several major cities in India.
Rail
Ajmer
is at an important railway junction with Broad gauge lines to Jaipur and Marwar,
Ahmedabad and Mumbai onwards to Bangalore and a Metre gauge line subject to conversion
under Project Unigauge to Udaipur. The railway complex includes a major workshop.
The railway has helped the city to connect it with major Indian cities like New
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hydrabad, Bangalore, Ahemedabad, Indore, Bhopal,
Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Nagpur, Pune, Patna, Lucknow etc. The station is the
origin for many far distance trains like Ajmer - Bhopal Express, Ajmer - Indore
Link Express, Ajmer - Ratlam Express, Ajmer - Jammu Tawi Pooja Express, and Ajmer-
Chandigarh Express. Ajmer Railway Station has been identified for development into
World Class Station through Public-Private Partnership(PPP) mode.
Road
This beautiful city lies on the Golden Quadrilateral
National Highway (NH) 8, midway between Delhi and Mumbai, located about 400 km from
Delhi and 135 km from Jaipur. RSRTC provides air conditioned bus service from Delhi,
Jaipur and other important cities to Ajmer. Both public transportation and private
luxury road transport is available to reach the city. The road between Ajmer and
Pushkar passes over the mountains and provides with picturesque view of the surroundings.
Also the work of 6 lane Expressway between Ajmer Collectorate and Kishangarh is
under work, which will reduce the time of 50 minutes to 15–20 minutes between
the two. On an average around 7000 vehicles including the tourist buses daily pass
through the highway out of which about 2000 are cars going to the
Ajmer Sharif city
Rajasthan India.