A city - awesome and beautiful. A vast expanse of rippling sand and scorching sun.An arid, rocky scrubland. It is situated on an elevated ground, surrounded by a seven-kilometer-long embattled wall marked by five gates.
The Rathore prince Rao Bikaji, the liveliest and most enterprising son of Rao Jodhaji of Marwar, founded Bikaner in 1488 AD. The harsh desert surrounds this rich city, no doubt few could gather courage to venture into this part of the globe.
The old part of Bikaner city is surrounded by a stone wall that is 15�30 feet (5�9 m) high and has five gates. Bikaner is now a trade centre for wool, hides, building stone, salt, and grain. Bikaneri woolen shawls, blankets, carpets, and sugar candy are famous, and there are also ivory and lacquerware handicrafts. The city has electrical and mechanical engineering works, railway workshop, and factories that manufacture glass, pottery, felts, chemicals, shoes. The old part of the city is overlooked by a fort and has numerous buildings of bright red and yellow sandstone. Within the fort are several palaces of different periods, a museum housing Rajput miniature paintings, and a library of Sanskrit and Persian manuscripts. Bikaner is situated in an arid tract of undulating sand hills where the breeding of camels, horses, and sheep is the principal occupation. Bajra (pearl millet), jowar (sorghum), and pulses are the main crops grown in the locality.
The fortified town still preserves the aura of medieval times, as it is protected by harsh desert and remained untouched by outside influence. The city is an exercise in architecture ,one gapes in awe at the embattled wall with ornamental gates.The lofty houses with excellent carvings still survive averring to the craftsmanship and prosperity of the people.
The Town is also famous for delicacies like Rasgullas ,Bhujias and Papads.It has become a big wool production centre,and has a unique Camel research farm.
History
Bikaner's history dates back to 1488 AD when a Rajput prince Rao Bika ji a descendent of the founder of Jodhpur (1459 AD)., Rao Jodha Ji established his kingdom here. Bika Ji chose a barren land called "Jungladesh" and shaped it into an impressive city, called Bikaner after the founder's name. Archeological surveys and excavations have established beyond doubt that civilization flourished here even before the Harappa period . Excavated statues, coins and carvings of stones and clay stands as testimony to this fact. Ever since the foundation of Bikaner till its accession into Indian Union in 1947 A.D. and there after it's integration in Rajasthan state in 30-3-1949 A.D., Bikaner has played a notable role in the history of the country.
City, north-central Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It lies 240 miles (386 km) west of Delhi.The city was the capital of the former princely state of Bikaner. About 1465 Bika, a Rajput chieftain of the Rathor clan, began to conquer the area from other Rajput clans. In 1488 he began building the city of Bikaner (�the settlement of Bika�). He died in 1504, and his successors gradually extended their possessions. The state adhered loyally to the Mughal emperors, who ruled in Delhi from 1526 to 1857. Rai Singh, who succeeded as chieftain of Bikaner in 1571, became one of the emperor Akbar's most distinguished generals and was named the first raja of Bikaner. As Mughal dominance ebbed, wars between Bikaner and the princely state of Jodhpur raged intermittently in the 18th century. A treaty establishing British paramountcy was concluded in 1818, and order was restored in the country by British troops. The rebellious behaviour of the local thakurs, or subsidiary chiefs, continued, however, until the princely state was made subject to the Rajputana agency in 1883. The state's military force included the Bikaner Camel Corps, which gained renown in China during the Boxer Rebellion (1900) and in the Middle East during World War I. In 1949 Bikaner, which by then totaled more than 23,000 square miles (60,000 square km) in area, became part of the Indian state of Rajasthan and was divided into three districts .
