User:Surendra sharma singh/sandbox

The Indus Valley Civilization, one of the world's first and oldest, was in parts of what is now Rajasthan. Kalibangan, in Hanumangarh district, was a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization,[8] now part of Pakistan. It is believed that Western Kshatrapas (405–35 BC) were Saka rulers of the western part of India (Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Southern Sindh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan). They were successors to the Indo-Scythians and were contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Indo-Scythians invaded the area of Ujjain and established the Saka era (with their calendar), marking the beginning of the long-lived Saka Western Satraps state.[9] Matsya, a state of the Vedic civilisation of India, is said to roughly corresponded to former state of Jaipur in Rajasthan and included the whole of Alwar with portions of Bharatpur.[10][11][12][13][14] The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagar (modern Bairat) which is said to have been named after its founder king Virata.[15]

Traditionally the Meenas, Gurjars, Bhils, Rajputs, Rajpurohit, Charans, Jats, Yadavs, Bishnois, PhulMali(Saini) and other tribes made a great contribution in building the state of Rajasthan. All these tribes suffered great difficulties in protecting their culture and the land. Millions[16] of them were killed trying to protect their land. A number of Gurjars had been exterminated in Bhinmal and Ajmer areas fighting with the invaders. Bhils once ruled Kota.[16] Meenas were rulers of Bundi and Dhundhar region.[15]

Gurjars ruled many dynasties in this part of the country. In fact this region was long known as Gurjaratra.[6] Up to the tenth century almost the whole of North India, excepting Bengal, acknowledged the supremacy of Gurjars with their seat of power at Kannauj.[17] Chittorgarh Fort is one of the largest forts in Asia.

The Gurjar Pratihar Empire acted as a barrier for Arab invaders from the 8th to the 11th century. The chief accomplishment of the Gurjara Pratihara empire lies in its successful resistance to the foreign invasions from the west, starting in the days of Junaid. Historian R. C. Majumdar says that this was openly acknowledged by the Arab writers themselves. He further notes that historians of India have wondered at the slow progress of Muslim invaders in India, as compared with their rapid advance in other parts of the world. Now there seems little doubt that it was the power of the Gurjara Pratihara army that effectively barred the progress of the Arabs beyond the confines of Sindh, their first conquest for nearly 300 years.[18] The Mehrangarh Fort at Jodhpur was built by Rao Jodha in 1459.

The earlier contributions of warriors and protectors of the land Meenas, Gurjars, Ahirs, Jats, Bhils were ignored and lost in history due to the stories of great valour shown by certain specific clans in later years, which gained more prominence than older acts of bravery.[19]

Modern Rajasthan includes most of Rajputana, which comprises the erstwhile 19 princely states, two chiefships and the British district of Ajmer-Merwara.[3] Marwar (Jodhpur), Bikaner, Mewar (Udaipur), Alwar and Dhundhar (Jaipur) were some of the main Rajput princely states. Bharatpur and Dholpur were Jat princely states whereasTonk was princely state under a Muslim Nawab. Rajput families rose to prominence in the 6th century CE. The Rajputs put up a valiant resistance to the Islamic invasions and protected this land with their warfare and chivalry for more than 500 years. They also resisted Mughal incursions into India and thus contributed to their slower-than-anticipated access to the Indian Subcontinent. Later the Mughals, through a combination of treachery and skilled warfare, were able to get a firm grip on northern India, including Rajasthan. Mewar led other kingdoms in its resistance to outside rule. Most notably Rana Sanga fought the Battle of Khanua against Babur, the founder of the Mughal empire.