The North Western Indian State of
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 ...
has over one hundred fortifications on hills and mountainous terrain. Six Hill Forts of Rajasthan, spread across
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 northern
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 ...
, have been clustered as a series and designated
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. The ‘Hill Forts of Rajasthan’ was initially submitted to the UNESCO as a serial property formed by five Rajput forts in 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. ...
,
and were built and enhanced between the 5th and 18th centuries CE by several
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
kings of different
kingdoms
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
. The UNESCO series has been increased to six forts. They consist of:
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Chittor Fort
The Chittorgarh (literally Chittor Fort), also known as Chittod Fort, is one of the largest forts in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fort was the capital of Mewar and is located in the present-day city of Chittorgarh. It sprawls o ...
at
Chittorgarh city
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Kumbhalgarh Fort
Kumbhalgarh (literally "Kumbhal fort") also known as the Great Wall of India is a Mewar fortress on the westerly range of Aravalli Hills, just about 48 km from Rajsamand city in the Rajsamand district of the Rajasthan state in western India. ...
at
Rajsamand city
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Ranthambore Fort
Ranthambore Fort lies within the Ranthambore National Park, near the city of Sawai Madhopur in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan, India. the park being the former hunting grounds of the Maharajahs of Jaipur until the time of India's Indepen ...
at
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 ...
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Gagron Fort
Gagron Fort (Hindi/ Rajasthani: गागरोन का किला) is a hill and water fort and is situated in Jhalawar district of Rajasthan, in the Hadoti region of India. It is an example of a hill and water fort. The fort was built by B ...
at
Jhalawar city
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Amer Fort
Amer Fort or Amber Fort is a fort located in Amer, Rajasthan, India. Amer is a town with an area of located from Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. Amber city and Amber fort were founded by ruler Alan Singh of Chanda dynasty of Meenas. Located ...
at
Jaipur city
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Jaisalmer Fort
Jaisalmer Fort is situated in the city of Jaisalmer, in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is believed to be one of the very few "living forts" in the world (such as Carcassonne, France), as nearly one fourth of the old city's population still re ...
at
Jaisalmer city
Some of these forts have defensive fortification wall up to 20 km long, still surviving urban centers and still in use water harvesting mechanism.
[UNESCO Hill Forts of Rajasthan, UNESCO website]
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Selection
A series was to be selected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site to highlight the culture and architecture of hilltop Rajput forts.
The State party of Rajasthan presented an overview of the process for the selection of component sites for the series of Hill Forts and the criteria selected. The criteria set resulting in the selection process followed the four following perimeters: The forts adapted to the ''Geography of the Hilltops'', the fortifications were ''power'' ''centers'', they included ''sacred grounds'', and the fort was designed with ''urban'' ''settlements.''
Rajputs adhered to architectural texts that categorized different typologies of fortifications based on their geography. The earliest literary references differentiated four types of forts; Hilltop Forts, Water Forts, Forest Forts, and Desert Forts. This series of world heritage sites was created solely on the Hilltop Forts of Rajasthan. This and excluded many forts solely based on typology such as Junagarh Fort
Junagarh Fort is a fort in the city of Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. The fort was originally called Chintamani and was renamed Junagarh or "Old Fort" in the early 20th century when the ruling family moved to Lalgarh Palace outside the fort limits. ...
which is a ground fort. Furthermore forts that were not designed for urban settlement were excluded. Mehrangarh
Mehrangarh Fort covers an area of 1,200 acres (486 hectares) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The complex is located on a hilltop around 122 metres above the surrounding plain, and was constructed by Rajput ruler Rao Jodha, though most of the exi ...
, although situated on a hilltop, was a fortified citadel
A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
In ...
for the court which lacked an urban settlement for the civilians.
An initial list ''Forts of Rajasthan'' was created based on all forts recorded by the Archaeological Survey of India
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...
. Of the hundreds of fortifications, 54 forts were further examined as they shared integral characteristics of Rajput military architecture. The State party explained how from this initial listing, a smaller group was selected made of 24 of the most significant forts of Rajasthan which all shared key aspects of Rajput Fortifications. This number was soon shortlisted to 13. From this list five forts were initially selected, all of which were located on the Aravalli Range, and belonged to different clans. The sixth fort, Jaisalmer was later added into the series.
Gallery
References
External links
The Hill Forts of Rajasthan
{{Forts in Rajasthan
Hill forts
R
F
Rajasthan-related lists
World Heritage Sites in India