Dhundhar, also known as ''Jaipur region'', is a

historical region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

state in western

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It includes the districts of

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

, parts of

Sikar Sikar is a city and municipal council in the Sikar district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Sikar district. It is part of the Shekhawati region, which consists of Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu.Sik ...

District lying to the east of the

Aravalli Range The Aravalli Range (also spelled ''Aravali'') is a mountain range in Northern-Western India, running approximately in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana, Rajasthan, and ending in Ahmedabad Gujarat. ...

Dausa Dausa is a city and administrative headquarters of Dausa district in the state of Rajasthan, India. It is 55 km from Jaipur, 240 km from Delhi and located on National Highway 21 (India), Jaipur-Agra National Highway (NH-21).Current p ...

Sawai Madhopur Sawai Madhopur is a city and Municipal Council (Nagar Parishad) in the Sawai Madhopur District in Rajasthan state, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Sawai Madhopur District of Rajasthan. Ranthambore National Park which is 7 ...

, and Tonk and the northern part of

Karauli District Karauli District is a district of Rajasthan in western India. The town of Karauli is the district headquarters. Karauli District comes under Bharatpur division, Bharatpur Divisional Commissionerate. Karauli is famous for popular red-stone. Th ...

. The region lies in east-central Rajasthan, and is bounded by the

on the northwest,

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...

to the west,

Mewar Mewar or Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasthan, Neemuch and Man ...

region to the southwest,

Hadoti Hadoti is a region of Rajasthan state in western India, which was once called the Bundi Kingdom. The biggest cities are Jhalawar and Kota. It includes the districts of Bundi, Baran, Jhalawar and Kota and is bounded on the west by the Mewar ...

region to the south, and

Alwar Alwar (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region and the administrative headquarters of Alwar district, Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. ...

, Bharatpur, and Karauli districts to the east.

Geography

In 1900, at the times of Jaipur Kingdom, region had a total area of 15,579 square miles (40,349 km²). Dhundhar Region (RAJ

The southern and central portions of the region lie in the basin of the

Banas River The Banas is a river which lies entirely within the state of Rajasthan in western India. It is a tributary of the Chambal River, itself a tributary of the Yamuna, which in turn merges into the Ganga. The Banas is approximately 512 kilometres in ...

and its

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

tributaries, including the

Dhund River Dhund may refer to: *Dhund (tribe) The Dhund Abbasi is a Punjabis, Punjabi tribe in Pakistan. Its members are mainly found in parts of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province, and the region of Azad Kashmir. The tribe speaks the Pahari dialect of Pah ...

, which gives its name to the region. The northern portion of the region is drained by the ephemeral Banhanga River, which originates in Jaipur district and flows east to join the

Yamuna The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

state.

History

The state of Jaipur was earlier known as Dhundhar and was ruled by

Meenas Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the sta ...

. Later

Kachhawaha The Kachhwaha or Kachawa is a Rajput clan found primarily in India. Sometimes families within the clan ruled a number of kingdoms and princely states, such as Jaipur, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Alwar and Maihar. Subclans Rajawat, S ...

s supplanted the

. After Dulherai, his son Kokil Deo defeated the Meenas of Amer and made Amer the capital of Dhundhar after

Khoh Khoh is a historical region of Rajasthan state in western India. Which was located just five miles to the east of Jaipur city. Colonel James Tod wrote it as Khogong in his book ''Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan Annals ( la, wikt:annales, ...

Culture

Generally liberal policies of the rulers permitted

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...

to flourish at

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

and later at Jaipur. It continues to be one of the most important centers of Jainism in India. It is here where the

Bispanth ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being ''Śvētāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing n ...

Digambar Terapanth Kanji Swami (1890–1980) was a teacher of Jainism. He was deeply influenced by the ''Samayasāra'' of Kundakunda in 1932. He lectured on these teachings for 45 years to comprehensively elaborate on the philosophy described by Kundakunda and ot ...

i divisions among the Jains emerged in the 17th century. In the 17th century the

Chittor Chittorgarh (also Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It was a major stronghol ...

seat of the

Bhattaraka A Bhaṭṭāraka ( pka, भट्टारक "holy one") heads traditional Digambara Jain institutions. He is responsible for training scholars, maintenance of libraries, managing endowments, presiding over installation ceremonies and running ...

s of

Mula Sangh ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being ''Śvētāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing n ...

Saraswati gachchha moved from Champawati to Sanganer and then to Amber and finally to Jaipur where the last Bhattarka was present until 1965. The lineage is: *Narendrakirti (

Samvat The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...

1691, Sanganer) – *Surendrakirti (

1722, Amber) – *Jagatkirti – *Devendrakirti – *Mahendrakirti – *Kshemendrakirti (

1815, Jaipur) – *Surendrakirti – *Sukhendrakirti – *Nayankirti – *Devendrakirti – *MahendrakirtiVarni, Jinendra, Jainendra Siddhanta Kosa, in 4 volumes. New Delhi, 1970-1973 – *Chandrakirti.

References

History of Jaipur Regions of Rajasthan Historical regions {{Historical regions of North India, state=expanded