NAGAUR, Rajasthan

Main Attraction: CHHATRI OF AMAR SINGH RATHORE

Born on 12th December 1613 AD Rao Amar Singh Rathore was the son of Maharaja Gajsingh. Besides being fearless and brave he was a person of self-respect and favoured Independence. After his father appointed his younger brother Jaswant Singh as the heir to the throne, Amar Singh rallied his fellow Rathores in 1628 AD and went to the Mughal Badshah Shahjahan who gave him a Mansab of 1300 horses. In support of the Mughal Emperor, he fought many battles for which he was bestowed the title of Rao and was given the Nagaur Pargana in Jagir in the year 1939 AD. He also fought along with the Iranians and was bestowed with a Mansab of 3000 horses. On 25th July 1644 in a conspiracy in the Mughal Darbar at Agra he killed Salawat Khan (Mir Kasim) and he himself died fighting valiantly. A Chhatri was built to commensurate his memory. The Chhatri of Amar Singh Rathore stands in the centre supported by 16 pillars of yellow stone constructed in traditional Rajasthani art.

Brief History

The history of Nagaur finds mention even in the Mahabharata. The kingdom of Ahichhatrapur which Arjun is said to have conquered and subsequently offered to his Guru Dronacharya was perhaps some of the area of the Nagaur district. The birth place of Meera and Abul Fazal, Nagaur district has a Charbhuja and Parsawanath Temple at Merta and the Dargah of Sufi Saint Tarkin at Nagaur city. Nagaur also witnessed the valour of Great Rao Amar Singh Rathor who challenged the mighty Mughal empire. The large old Fort has many glorious tales of bravery of the erstwhile rulers of the states.

The district is named after its principal town Nagaur that also forms headquarters. The origin of the name is uncertain but according to an old reference, this place was formerly known as Nagapura. It was one of the chief towns of Ananta gochar, which included the regions of Harsha and Sakambhari.

The district was formerly a part of the erstwhile Jodhpur state, which had its headquarters at Jodhpur town, its administration, was, therefore carried out in accordance with the rules and regulation framed for the entire state which was then divided into various parganas. A hakim that functioned collectively as a judicial and an Executive officer besides discharging revenue jobs was placed in charge of each pagan. In the jagir areas certain judicial and executive powers were vested in the jagirdars according to their status and the appeals against their decisions lay with the Mahakma khas. After the establishment of a chief court in 1912, most of the powers of Mahakma khas were transferred to it. In 1942, when the judiciary was separated from the executive, separate execute Hakims were appointed one of who was posted at Nagaur.

In 1938-39 a Central Advisory Board and District Advisory Boards were constituted at the capital and Hakumat headquarters respectively with a purpose to associate the public with public administration. Subsequently, in1941-42, the district Advisory Boards were abolished where Central Advisory Board was replaced by a Representative Advisory Assembly. With the merger of the princely state of Jodhpur into the United State of Greater Rajasthan, Nagaur district came into existence in the present form. The district comprised of the four parganas namely Nagaur, Merta, Parbatsar and Deedwana and a part of the Nawa region of Sambhar pargana all of which were parts of the former Jodhpur state. These were subsequently bifurcated into Nagaur, Deedwana, Merta and Parbatsar sub divisions with the exception of Parbatsar which was constituted of two tehsils namely parbatsar and Nawa each of the sub division had a tehsil of the same name until 1954 when three new tehsils viz. Jayal, Ladnu and Degana and one sub-tehsil Makrana were formed. 

Jayal tehsil was carved out by transferring 113 village possessing an area of 2941.7 sq.km from Nagaur tehsil. Ladnu tehsil was formed out of Deedwana tehsil by detaching from it 93 villages and ladnu town having an area of 1131.3 sq.km whereas Deedwana tehsil was created by transferring 170 village extending to an area of 1898.2 sq.km. from Merta tehsil. Deedwana sub division is located in the northern most part of Nagaur district. It is made up of Ladnu and Deedwana tehsils the former occupying almost the upper half part of the sub division. Likewise Merta sub-division is situated on the south-western portion of the district and contains Degana and Merta tehsils. The third subdivision viz. Nagaur falls on the north- western side of the district .It is also composed of two tehsils known as Jayal and Nagaur the later covering the whole western part of the district. Parbatsar sub division occupies the south-eastern part of the district. It is also made up of two tehsils viz. Nawa and Parbatsar the former covering the entire eastern boundary of the district.

After independence, Nagaur had the honour of being selected as the place in the country from where the Democratic Decentralisation process was launched by the late Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India on the 2nd October 1959.

The town of Ladnu in the district has gained its place on the map of the country being the headquarters of the famous 'Jain Vishwa Bharti' which has become a centre of spiritual learnings & knowledge under the leadership of Acharya Tulsi, a great Jain saint, who has propagated the philosophy of "ANUVRAT" in order to enlighten people in this area of the country.