A Rajasthan (northern India) reconnoitre

KTMphil

Senior member
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Location
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Bikes
2007 KTM 990 Adventure Suzuki DRZ 400
Finally found a gap in the schedule to go see my new KTM's that are assembled & sold in India. They are so cheap purchased in India, my enormous self control said it was ok.


First glimpses of my 390 virgin that had been sleeping for several months



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A little dusty from its long sleep, I hope it will wake up


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Just took an hour to upload these two photo's, lots more to come when i find some bandwidth.



My wife's new KTM 200 Duke, that we'd never seen in the flesh before, last year 60,000 Bht equiv., registered in India




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Then they pulled this beauty out and smiled "you want it"?


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Its a replica of a 1942 Royal Enfield, with a modern 350cc Enfield engine


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Whoa! what a beauty


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These couple of work horses are actually still used


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Back down into Aladdin's Cave to negotiate


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Might be a done deal


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Quite a bustling little workshop




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Great chair


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They've got their hands on some fold-up, military, motorbikes. Im told you can parachute with these on your back.




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Meals on wheels


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Finally get the bikes loaded with luggage, looks like the Wolfman Saddlebags will work with out racks


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Allys all ready to be strapped to Som, in case she falls asleep



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390 def. needs a tank protector, you are pushed against the tank, this is after 2 hours


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India, Enfields, food, KTM's, great pictures; seems Phil, Som and Ally are on the move again, be safe nah!
Can't wait to see where you three will guide us to!
 
Headed north "to find snow" (my daughter has never seen snow, so quite exciting), late start, so won't be making Shimla in one day. This place looks clean and good value so worth a try



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This is what motorcycle gear sorting for 2 ladies looks like, quite scary

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Good to see so have Ally all padded up, the two up strap will come in handy.

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So i'm guessing we will see the 42 replica sometime soon.
 
Great pics Phil, looks like another amazing experience. hairy biker
 
Its about 360km from New Delhi north to Shimla. It's slow going, getting out of Delhi is a nightmare, then there are all the bottle neck villages as you climb into the mountains




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Up into the Himalayas & a glimpse of the Shimla train headed the same way


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A real accomplishment all those years ago getting this train up the mountain





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Slowly but surely getting there
 
Up into the Himalayas & a glimpse of the Shimla train headed the same way



A real accomplishment all those years ago getting this train up the mounta



Slowly but surely getting there

Went there back in 1978 - but by bus :( The Raj feel was still quite strong in those days - 'twas embarassing to be called sahib!
Great to see a family biking holiday :)
 
So the mission was to find snow as near to Shimla as we could. My 7 year old daughter was pretty excited, never having seen snow before. Luck was on our side, we only had to go 15km north of Shimla & it was pretty snowy around Kufri


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Perfect



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This stuff isnt melting which gives you an idea how cold it was up there. Riding with the wind chill wasnt fun at all


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Something she'll never forget, first time seeing snow


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Abouit 40km north of Kufri, the road is closed, all the passes are now blocked by snow until March/ April, the only way to Leh is to fly there


Snow topped mountains to the north


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Kufri area not so bad


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Mission accomplished, time to head back down to Shimla, this place looked like it has seen some snow storm damage


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Plenty of hotels in Shimla, high season, many were full


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An hour of light left, time for a quick look around Shimla

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The governing retreat for the British in colonial times, to hide from the brutal Delhi summer heat, the British influence can be seen everywhere

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Snow capped mountains in the distance to the north


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Shimla is infested with monkeys, this guy biting through a Pepsi bottle for its contents


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A very cool mountain town for sure


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Blood red sunset reflecting off the shop houses


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Bloody freezing, cant wait to head south now that we found thge snow


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Shimla street food


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Dusk and the start of the Himalayan mountains in the backdrop


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Hopefully this will be our only freezing night of the trip


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Mission accomplished, time to head back down to Shimla, this place looked like it has seen some snow storm damage


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Plenty of hotels in Shimla, high season, many were full


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An hour of light left, time for a quick look around Shimla

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The governing retreat for the British in colonial times, to hide from the brutal Delhi summer heat, the British influence can be seen everywher


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Snow capped mountains in the distance to the north


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Shimla is infested with monkeys, this guy biting through a Pepsi bottle for its contents


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A very cool mountain town for sure


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Blood red sunset reflecting off the shop houses


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Bloody freezing, cant wait to head south now that we found thge snow


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Shimla street food


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Dusk and the start of the Himalayan mountains in the backdrop


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Hopefully this will be our only freezing night of the trip


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From Shimla, the quickest way south to Rajasthan, is to take the highway back south to Delhi, then a ring road around Delhi, then south on the highway to Agra. There, peel off and head west and you get in Rajasthan.


This didnt look much fun, so we thought we'd try something a little different.


Absolutely, bloody freezing driving through the fog, it actually felt significantly colder than Shimla. Some hot tea to try bring the hands back to life



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4km to Kaithal, lets hope there's a hotel with hot water


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Great earrings on this guy at our lunch restaurant


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This one too


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Was a bit wary of the road side restaurants at first, so far no toilet problems and everything seems very clean. Food consists of a cream and butter based gravies/ sauces, mostly veterinarian. Lots of paneer/ cottage cheese dishes. On the road, no nan bread, chipati bread is everywhere which is quick to make



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Easy to get salads everywhere


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Warming in the afternoon sun like lizards


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I thought these were nomads, but disappointingly turned out to be road workers!!


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Into Rajasthan Province, its immediatly warmer and the feel of the desert starts with sand roadside


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Camels are now everywhere replacing the cows as hauling machines which were further north


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Roads are now pretty nasty in places, especially around the high traffic villages


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His tongue was making me queezy


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Ok hotel for the night in Kaithal, next day west towards Jhunjhunu, we're now entering the the world of ancient palaces



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Our own palace for the night in Jhunjhunu


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Needed some extra blankets, still chilly


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Beautiful setting, great place for our introduction to Rajashtan


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Mandawa - This has been one of my favorite stops so far. An ancient trading town on the old silk road, oozing with history


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The City of Mandawa[SUP][1][/SUP] was made a thikana in the mid of 18th century by theBhojraj Ji Kasubsub clan of Shekhawat Rajputs. About the origin of this town there have been earlier references to Mandu Jat as founder of the Mandawa village. He first established a dhani (hamlet) and dug a well here, which was completed on savan badi 5 samvat 1797 (1740 AD) (source - Shekhawati Bodh, Mandawa special issue, July 2005)




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Fabulous forts and Royal homes


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Here a pictorial story of a wedding ceremony on one of the buildings


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Magnificent detail



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Some of the palaces are still lived in by the nobles' descendants who seem rather strapped for cash and have let the building deteriorate badly. They try sell artifacts inside, it's all very similar to some of the places in Yunnan, China


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One of the palaces has been converted into the Mandawa Hotel, it's beautiful



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Promotion


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Street food - Caramelized fruit and yogurt



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The tailor


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Mandawa

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I will spend a few days there again for sure



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Headed westwards for Bikaner for the night, now getting real desert-like



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Apart from here


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Tea stop and the usual Chaos


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Tanks on their way back from the Pakistan border


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Camel purchase prices range from 15,000 Bht to 60,000 Bht equiv. A lot of training is needed which is part of the intrinsic cost


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Into Bikaner & 1,000 KM's on the KTM's, time for an oil change



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An Enfield undergoing surgery


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Bikes everywhere


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Here we go


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No glitter thank God



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This looked unusual


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Bikaner Hotel was a bit worn but good value


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0900am start and time for a quick photo at the Bikaner Fort


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Cha-stop and the 390 is getting some curious looks


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Clay drinking water jugs

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Chayawalla


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Dusty tea stops


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Sacred cows roam freely everywhere


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The KTM's are doing us proud


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It seems more and more of Som's luggage is finding it way into the blue bag...every day lengthening the straps


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Fantastic in any aspect, enjoyed the photos and thanks for carrying us along with you with those pictures. You're daughter is a brave little angle, she must be very strong to withstand that, i doubt my son could do the same. Very well done!!! Happy New Year!
 
Was a bit wary of the road side restaurants at first, so far no toilet problems and everything seems very clean. Food consists of a cream and butter based gravies/ sauces, mostly veterinarian. Lots of paneer/ cottage cheese dishes. On the road, no nan bread, chipati bread is everywhere which is quick to make

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Beautiful pictures Phil and a big thank you for posting them but had a good laugh about the veterinarian dishes - spell checker at work?
 
Our first camel shepard


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The Rajasthan cattle festival is in Jaisalmer, Feb. 1,2 & 3, 2015 FYI, its supposed to be pretty good. A camel will cost you anywhere between 15,000 - 60,000 Bht. price depends on level of training the camel has received and its breeding


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Pretty tame considering they handnt been trained


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& the desert starts as we head west towards the Pakistan border


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..
 
For remote touring the Royal Enfield is pretty hard to argue against.


- super simple

- can be repaired anywhere

- strong

- will run on any octane fuel

- kick start back up

- parts easily sourced anywhere in India

- super cheap to buy



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A very long ride from Bikaner, westwards to Jaisalmer, now to find a hotel at super high season rates (bend over)



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Late in the day by the time we get settled, our first breathtaking views of the Jaisalmer Fort


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The intricacies were beautiful


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Most of these forts are shut at night, great to find this one stays open


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Vendors all along the tiny alley ways in the fort


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Really good quality Indian food in Jaisalmer


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more to come
 
Up early & westwards out into the desert towards the Pakistan border


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Wild camel to the right side of the road


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About 30km west of Jaisalmer, the desert dunes start and there's camels and tent camps



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Pretty easy to arrange a ride


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Looks like it might be the first 390 into the desert


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The jeeps they use for desert tours


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...more to come
 
On the way eastwards back to Jaisalmer, a stop at one of the ethnic villages



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Suzlon wind turbines popping up everywhere


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Ancient temple in the desert on the way back



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& another beauty


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Beautiful restoration


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If you're on the rag you cant go in


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Back to Jaisalmer, a bike rental shop catches my eye. You can rent an exploring bike here pretty easily


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A chance to have a look around the Jaisalmer Fort in daylight


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The 1000 year old fort named after the Bhati ruler Jaisal, has sand stone walls 2-3 meters thick and is 5km is circumference, its like a mini city. It took 7 years to complete and then there were numerous additions. There's an inner and outer wall that run parallel with a 2-4 meter gap, which was used for the movement of soldiers around the forts walls.








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Its military advantage is pretty obvious


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Some of the internal buildings look like movie sets


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Back to the hotel in the afternoon sun


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Jaisalmer Fort in the background


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Rest day in Jaisalmer, time to saddle up and head south eastwards to Jodhpur, a quick lake stop on the way


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Lunch - Chapaties and Dahl are the easy to eat staple everywhwere



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Approaching Jodhpur & the first glimpse of its breath taking fort


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& huge wall


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What a beauty


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The Mehrangarth Fort

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Mehrangarh the Fort of Jodhpur crowns a rocky hill that rises 400 feet above the surrounding plain, and appears both to command and to meld with the landscape. One of the largest forts in Rajasthan, it contains some of the finest palaces and preserves in its museum many priceless relics of Indian courtly life.
For over five centuries Mehrangarh has been the headquarters of the senior branch of Rajput clan known as the Rathores. According to their bards, the ruling dynasty of this clan had at an earlier period controlled Kanauj (in what is known as Uttar Pradesh). Like other prominent medieval Rajput rulers - including the famous Prithviraj Chauhan - they were defeated by the invaders from Afghanistan at the end of the 12th century. This catastrophe led to the disruption and migration of the early Rajput clans that they led. The Rathores came to Pali, in Marwar, in what is now central Rajasthan. It is claimed that they were to settle there to protect Brahmin villages against cattle-rustling local tribes. The story may seem somewhat fanciful, but the protection of the priestly caste in one of the traditional roles assigned to the Rajputs. Their task in Pali was the basis of their expanding power in the region.
Rao Chunda (r. 1384-1428), the twelfth Rathore to rule in Marwar, established his capital at Mandore, which he had acquired as a part of a dowry. Two generations later, Rao Jodha (r. 1438-89) began to build a fort at a new site six miles to the south, on an isolated rock with a higher elevation and better natural defences. Jodhpur, the town that sprang up at its base, was named after him. The fort was named Mehrangarh, meaning 'fort of the sun' - a reference to the clan's mythical descent from the sun god Surya. Over 500 yards long, its wall rises in places to a height of 120 feet and is 70 feet thick.
For Rao Jodha's successors, these defences were essential, though not always adequate. The centuries following the fort's foundation were marked by rivalries between the Rajput clans and by other external threats. A dominant influence over the region was asserted first by the Delhi Sultanate and later by the Mughals. As they built their empire in India, the Mughals sought to subdue Rajput states like Marwar and its neighbours in Rajasthan, but they did not wish to eradicate them. To most established Indian rulers they preferred to offer terms of subsidiary alliance: serve the empire, they said, and you can retain control over your ancestral lands. Four successive generations of rulers in Marwar, between 1581 and 1678, accepted this challenge and became loyal allies and in effect feudatory chiefs of the empire. But for decades both before and after this phase, the understanding with the Mughals broke down, the city and fort of Jodhpur were overrun, and the Rathores were reduced to guerrilla-style resistance in their own kingdom. It did not make matters easier that their relations with the bordering Rajput states such as Jaipur and Bikaner also tended to be volatile.



History - Mehrangarh Museum Trust





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Truly splendid


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Nicely preserved



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A temple devoted to the Maharajah nearby


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Thank you for taking us along with this epic family trip Phil!
 
Rode up to the Jee Ri hotel, good location near the old city market and great views from the roof


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If you want to treat yourself, try the Pal Hotel right near the old market, rooms start at 5,500 Rupees a night (2,200 Bht)


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It was the Pal family home 300 years ago, a real classy place, oozed old style



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Great roof top bar


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& what a view for dining, beat that!!


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Highly recommended


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