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Bikaner is one of the three main
destinations on the Desert circuit. The other two being
Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. In AD 1488, Rao Bika, the son of
Rao
Jodha of Jodhpur founded the city of Bikaner. It is said that a
random comment made by his father, expressing his displeasure at
the son's whispering talk during a Durbar, so much offended Bika
tha he resolved to set up his own kingdom in the desert to the
north of Jodhpur. In order to accomplish his mission, he soon
left with an expenditionary force comprising of a cavalry of 100
horse and an infantry of 500 Soldiers. Reaching the desert tract
of Janglu, he took possession of 84 villages abandoned by the
Sankhlas and started consolidating his position and estending
his domination. When Bika died in AD 1504, his rule is said to
have extended over 3,000 villages.
In the 16th century it was Mughal
emperor Akbar's diplomacy which brought the rulers of Bikaner
closer to the Mughal Empire. Later, many of the successive
rulers of Bikaner had the distinction of being Mansabdars and
Imperial commanders in the Mughal armies and they were granted
some of the most productive provinces of the Mughal Empire as
fiefs. In 1818 AD Maharaja Surat Singh negotiated a treaty with
the British East India Company and Bikaner became a protectorate
of the British. Maharaja Sadul Singh (1943-1950) was the first
Indian Prince to sign the Instrument of Accession, by virtue of
which the Princely State of Bikaner merged into the Union of
India.
Bikaner is especially known for
its school of miniature paintings which are an admixture of the
Rajput and Mughal styles. |
