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AJMERE, or AJMER

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 453 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AJMERE, or AJMER , a See also:city of See also:British See also:India in See also:Rajputana, which gives its name to a See also:district and also to a See also:petty See also:province called Ajmere-1VIeirwara. It is situated in 26° 27' N. See also:lat. and 740 44' E. See also:long., on the See also:lower slopes of Taragarh See also:hill, in the Aravalli mountains. To the See also:north of the city is a large artificial See also:lake called the Anasagar, whence the See also:water See also:supply of the See also:place is derived. The See also:chief See also:object of See also:interest is the darga, or See also:tomb of a famous See also:Mahommedan See also:saint named Mayud-uddin. It is situated at the See also:foot of the Taragarh See also:mountain, and consists of a See also:block of See also:white See also:marble buildings without much pretension to architectural beauty. To this place the See also:emperor See also:Akbar, with his empress, performed a See also:pilgrimage on foot from See also:Agra in accordance with the terms of a See also:vow he had made when praying for a son. The large pillars erected at intervals of two See also:miles the whole way, to See also:mark the daily halting-place of the imperial See also:pilgrim, are still extant. An See also:ancient Jain See also:temple, now converted into a Mahommedan See also:mosque, is situated on the lower slope of the Taragarh hill. With the exception of that See also:part used as a mosque, nearly the whole of the ancient temple has fallen into ruins, but the See also:relics are not excelled in beauty of See also:architecture and See also:sculpture by any remains of See also:Hindu See also:art. See also:Forty columns support the roof, but no two are alike, and See also:great fertility of invention is manifested in the See also:execution of the ornaments. The See also:summit of Taragarh hill, over-See also:hanging Ajmere, is crowned by a fort, the lofty thick battlements of which run along its brow and enclose the table-See also:land. The walls are 2 M. in circumference, and the fort can only be approached by steep and very roughly paved planes, commanded by the fort and the outworks, and by the hill to the See also:west.

On coming into the hands of the See also:

English, the fort was dismantled by See also:order of See also:Lord See also:William See also:Bentinck, and is now converted into a See also:sanatorium for the troops at See also:Nasirabad. Ajmere was founded about the See also:year 145 A.U. by Aji, a Chauhan, who established the See also:dynasty which continued to See also:rule the See also:country (with many vicissitudes of See also:fortune) while the repeated waves of Mahommedan invasion swept over India, until it eventually became an See also:appanage of the See also:crown of See also:Delhi in 1193. Its See also:internal See also:government, however, was handed over to its ancient rulers upon the See also:payment of a heavy See also:tribute to the conquerors. It then remained feudatory to Delhi till 1365, when it was captured by the ruler of Mewar. In 1509 the place became a source of contention between the chiefs of Mewar and Marwar, and was ultimately conquered in 1532 by the latter See also:prince, who in his turn in 1559 had to give way before the emperor Akbar. It continued in the hands of the Moguls, with occasional revolts, till 1770, when it was ceded to the See also:Mahrattas, from which See also:time up to 1818 the unhappy district was the See also:scene of a continual struggle, being seized at different times by the Mewar and Marwar rajas, from whom it was as often retaken by the Mahrattas. In 1818 the latter ceded it to the British in return for a payment of 5o,000 rupees. Since then the country has enjoyed unbroken See also:peace and a See also:stable government. The See also:modern city is an important station on the Rajputana railway, 615 m. from Bombay and 275 M. from Delhi, with a See also:branch See also:running due See also:south to the Great See also:Indian See also:Peninsula See also:main See also:line. The city is well laid out with wide streets and handsome houses. The city See also:trade chiefly consists of See also:salt and See also:opium. The former is imported in large quantities from the Sambar lake and Ramsur.

Oil-making is also a profitable branch of trade. See also:

Cotton cloths are manufactured to some extent, for the See also:dyeing of which the city has attained a high reputation. The educational institutions include the See also:Mayo Rajkumar See also:college, opened in 1875, foe training the sons of the nobles of Rajputana, on the lines of an English public school. See also:Population (19o1) 73,839, showing an increase of to %o.in the See also:decade. The DISTRICT OF AJMERE, which forms the largest part of the province of Ajmere-Merwara, has an See also:area of 2069 sq. m. The eastern portion of the district is generally See also:flat, broken only by See also:gentle undulations, but the western parts, from north-west to south-west, are intersected by the great Aravalli range. Many of the valleys in this region are See also:mere sandy deserts, with an occasional See also:oasis of cultivation, but there are also some very fertile tracts; among these is the See also:plain on which lies the See also:town of Ajmere. This valley, however, is not only fortunate in possessing a See also:noble artificial lake, but is protected by the massive walls of the Nagpathar range or See also:Serpent See also:rock, which forms a barrier against the See also:sand. The only hills in the district are the Aravalli range and its offshoots. Ajmere is almost totally devoid of See also:rivers, the See also:Banas being the only stream which can be dignified with that name, and it only touches the south-eastern boundary of the district so as to irrigate the pargana of Samur. Four small streams —the Sagarmati, Saraswati, Khari and Dai—also intersect the district. In the dry See also:weather they are little more than See also:brooks.

The population in 1901 was 7453, showing a decrease of 13 % in the decade. Besides the city of Ajmere, the district contains the military station of Nasirabad, with a population of 22,494. AJMERE-MERWARA, a See also:

division or petty province of British India, in Rajputana, consisting of the two districts of Ajmere and Merwara, separated from each 'other and isolated amid native states. The See also:administration is in the hands of a See also:commissioner, subordinate to the See also:governor-See also:general's See also:agent for Rajputana. The See also:capital is Ajmere city. The area is 2710 sq. m. The See also:plateau, on whose centre stands the town of Ajmere, may be considered as the highest point in the plains of Hindustan; from the circle of hills which hem it in, the country slopes away on every side—towards See also:river valleys on the See also:east, south, west and towards the See also:desert region on the north. The Aravalli range is the distinguishing feature of the district. The range of hills which runs between Ajmere and Nasirabad marks the See also:watershed of the See also:continent of India. The See also:rain which falls on one See also:side drains into the See also:Chambal, and so into the See also:Bay of See also:Bengal; that which falls on the other side into the Luni, which discharges itself into the Runn of See also:Cutch. The province is on the border of what may be called the arid " See also:zone " ; it is the debatable land between the north-eastern and south-western monsoons, and beyond the See also:influence of either. The south-west See also:monsoon sweeps up the See also:Nerbudda valley from Bombay and See also:crossing the table-land at See also:Neemuch gives copious supplies to See also:Malwa, See also:jhalawar and See also:Kotah and the countries which See also:lie in the course of the Chambal river.

The clouds which strike See also:

Kathiawar and Cutch are deprived of a great See also:deal of their moisture by the hills in those countries, and the greater part of the See also:remainder is deposited on See also:Mount See also:Abu and the higher slopes of the Aravalli mountains, leaving but little for Merwara, where the hills are lower, and still less for Ajmere. It is only when the monsoon is in considerable force that Merwara gets a plentiful supply from it. The north-eastern monsoon sweeps up the valley of the See also:Ganges from the Bay of Bengal and See also:waters the See also:northern part of Rajputana, but hardly penetrates farther west than the See also:longitude of Ajmere. On the varying strength of these two monsoons the rainfall of the district depends. The agriculturist in Ajmere-Merwara can never rely upon two See also:good harvests in See also:succession. A province subject to such conditions can hardly be See also:free from See also:famine or scarcity for any length of time; accordingly it was visited by two famines, one of unprecedented severity, and one scarcity, in the decade 1891-1901. In See also:June 1900 the number of persons in See also:receipt of See also:relief was 143,000, being more than one-See also:fourth of the See also:total population. In 19ot the population was 476,912, showing a decrease of i2% in the decade, due to the results of famine. Among See also:Hindus, the Rajputs are land-holders, and the See also:Jats and Gujars are cultivators. The See also:Jains are traders and See also:money-lenders. The aboriginal tribe of Mers are divided between Hindus and Mahommedans. The chief crops are See also:millet, See also:wheat, cotton and oil-seeds.

There are several factories for ginning and pressing cotton, the chief trading centres being See also:

Beawar and Kekri.

End of Article: AJMERE, or AJMER

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