Beginning Of Royalty: Jodhpur

Bhavik Bamania
Sep 1, 2018 · 3 min read

This is my very first attempt of writing an article on Medium and like we always starts with A in alphabet series (ie., always from the root) here I am starting my journey with my root, the Cultural Capital of Rajasthan and pride of Marwar, my Blue City — Jodhpur.

Bird Eye view of Jodhpur City and Mehrangarh Fort

Brief History

Before we move to the core of this article. I feel I should do briefing on Jodhpur. Jodhpur is one of the oldest cities in India. The city is known for its hospitality and cuisines and of course for blue havelis the city which is as blue as the sky and as sweet as its mithais, and a reason of pride for its citizens.

Jodhpur, unarguably the cultural city of India was founded by Rao Jodha Ji on 12th May 1459, however, Jodhpur has history beyond 1459 but I will enlighten that part sometime later. Jodhpur itself folds many stories of heroics, bravery, loyalty, mystic etc. Once you been there and you will never gonna forget the sweet experience you have experienced by gesture of Jodhpurites. I will surely write on all of the aspects of Jodhpur gradually to present my native in front of you also my personal experiences of Jodhpur. But, let’s stick to the original topic and here I present you one of the famous tale related with the foundation of this magnificent city. But, before I proceed to the story I feel that I should provide brief insight of Rao Jodha Ji’s life just to make you familiar and feel more comfortable.

Who was Rao Jodha Ji?

Rao Jodha Ji (28th March 1415–6th April 1489) was the son of Rao Ranmal Ji who secured the throne in 1427,he was the administrator and the assistance of Maharana Mokal Singh (King of Mewar and father of Rana Kumbha). When Maharana Mokal Singh was assassinated by his two brothers Chaha and Mera in 1433. He was too assassinated by Rana Kumbha and thus Rao Jodha escaped with his 700 men. Upon reaching his capital, he was left with just 7 horsemen along with him and he fought valiantly against pursuers at Someshwar Pass. However, later he managed to collect whatever force he could and in 1453, he captured his capital, Mandore.


Legend of Rao Jodha Ji and about the Capturing of Mandore

Once, at late night, Rao Jodha Ji who had been relentlessly fighting and attempting to capture Mandore for 15 years, stopped at a farmer’s house. There, he asked for some food as he had been starving for days. The farmer’s wife served him a hot bowl of Kheech (“Kheech” or “Bajre ro Kheech”– a Marwari dish made from Pearl Millet flour). Hungrily, he put his fingers in the middle of the hot bowl and thus burnt his hands. Seeing this, the wife of the farmer scolded him and compared this act of his with that of King Rao Jodha Ji’s mistake of attacking Mandore rather than capturing outlying small forts. She was unaware of the fact that he is the King himself. This incident prompted him to reconsider his strategies and to stop worrying about Mandore and shift his focus to adjacent forts. He won the outlying forts with ease. Thus, by 1453, he was able to conquer the kingdom’s capital Mandore and soon after, he conquered adjacent territories like Sojat, Merta, Koshana, etc. This enabled him to establish the Jodhpur State which then came to be known as Marwar.

Rao Jodha Ji Ka Falsa, in Mehrangarh Fort

In 1459 he shifted his capital from Mandore to a more secure place at the hilltop of “Panchetia Hill”, however, he had wished to built it on “Masuria Hill” but shortage of Water forced him to shift it to “Panchetia Hill”. Like I said Jodhpur is full of stories as there is another story behind the above mentioned incident but let’s leave it for another time.


This article was original written for my blog which is on floor right now. If you liked my effort you can applaud, if you like to suggest something for improvement then comment section is all yours!

Bhavik Bamania

Written by

Poet . Aspiring Writer . Boring Philosopher . Extreme Thinker . Web Designer . Web Developer . https://www.bhavikji.com/

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