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History of Jodhpur
The land area which is called Jodhpur today was only
a small segment of the grand marwar state before independence.
Hundreds of years later and after having undergone
the ravages of several Kings and their battles, under
the ruling of king Rao Jodha of the Vikram Era (1510),
a city was slowly established around the fort constructed
by King Rao Jodha. This fort was situated 6 miles
south of Mandore on a mountain called Chidiyanath
ki Tonk. This city came to be known as Jodhpur
or Jodhana or Jodhaji Ki Dhani and was the capital
of the Marwar state for five centuries. When Rao Jodha
established the walled city, it had four gates. As
time passed, the city became congested with increasing
population and the boundaries continued to expand.
Today that area is called Old City and has a 3 to
8 ft. wide and 15 to 30 ft. high wall around it in
the shape of a horseshoe. This wall has six big gates
called Chand Pol, Nagauri Gate, Merti Gate, Sojati
Gate, Siwanchi Gate and Jalori Gate. These gates earlier
had iron sheets fixed with nails.
The foundation of a beautiful palace
on the Chittar Hills, now called Umed Palace, was
laid by the then Raja Umed Singh on 18 November, 1929.
During his reign the biggest hospital in Marwar was
made in Jodhpur, with expenditure of 15 lacs, 80 thousand
rupees, which is now known as Mahatma Gandhi hospital.
On 10th May 1933, Marwar was officially renamed as
Jodhpur state.
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