History of Bikaner
He was the son of Rao Jodha of the Rathor Rajput clan, the founder of Jodhpur and conquered the largely arid area in the north of Rajasthan.
[citation needed] Though it was in the Thar Desert, Bikaner was considered an oasis on the trade route between Central Asia and the Gujarat coast as it had adequate spring water.
Rai Singh's successful military exploits, which involved winning half of Mewar kingdom for the Empire, won him accolades and rewards from the Mughal emperors.
He was an expert in arts and architecture, and the knowledge he acquired during his visits abroad is amply reflected in the numerous monuments he built at the Junagarh fort.
Anup Singh, who ruled from 1669 to 1698, made substantial additions to the fort complex, with new palaces and the Zenana quarter, a royal dwelling for women and children.
[6] Dungar Singh, who reigned from 1872 to 1887, built the Badal Mahal, the 'weather palace', so named in view of a painting of clouds and falling rain, a rare event in arid Bikaner.
He was accompanied by his uncle, Rawat Kandhal, his brother Rao Bida and his chief advisor Vikramji Rajpurohit, who provided politico-strategic advice.
Encouraged by the mystic Karni Mata, whom he had met early in his travels, he took advantage of the internal rivalries of the Jat clans so that by 1485 he was able to establish his own territory and build a small fort called Rati Ghati at the city which still bears his name.
The royal family of Bikaner lived there, till Raja Rai Singh Ji built a new fort called "Chintamani" (now Junagarh) between 1589 and 1594 AD.
He was succeeded by his son Kalyan Mal (1541–74) who under pressure from the Marwar forces retreated to the Punjab where he joined with Sher Shah Suri who expelled the Mughal ruler Humayun in 1540.
With Sher Shah Suri's support, Kalyan Mal was able by 1545 to recover his lost territories from Rao Maldev, causing death of Kishandas Ji Rajpurohit in action, whose son has been provided with jagiri of Kishnasar in Nokha Tehsil in Bikaner, which has given rise to Kanot Rajpurohit clan as a major warlords in upcoming battles, and winning 12 villages as a gift jagiri from the state including Hiyadesar, Desalsar, Rasisar,[12] Dheerdesar, Aadsar, Kalyanpura, Sawai bari, Kotri,[13] Hirajsar, Saajansar, Deha, Kuntalsar.
As a result, during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar the rulers of Bikaner were esteemed among the most loyal adherents of the empire and held high ranks as Mansabdars of special order in the imperial court.
A sharp turnaround in the fortunes of the kingdom occurred in 1842 when Maharaja Ratan Singh took advantage of a shortage of pack animals to supply Bikaner's renowned camels at considerable profit to the British for their Afghan expedition.
The reign of Maharaja Ganga Singh was notable for great socio-political and economic development in every sphere of life, namely, education, health, sanitation, water supply, power generation and electricity, irrigation, post and telegraph, roads and railways, trade and commerce, etc.
With the departure of the British in 1947, the subsidiary alliance of 1818 came to an end and Bikaner was left as an independent state, with the choice falling to Maharaja Sadul Singh of acceding to one of the new dominions, India or Pakistan.
