Its major features include the ruins of the Indus Valley civilisation at Kalibangan and Balathal, the Dilwara Temples, a Jain pilgrimage site at Rajasthan's only hill station, Mount Abu, in the ancient Aravalli mountain range and eastern Rajasthan, the Keoladeo National Park of Bharatpur, a World Heritage Site[16] known for its bird life.

[22] An archaeological excavation at the Balathal site in Udaipur district shows a settlement contemporary with the Harrapan civilisation dating back to 3000–1500 BCE.

[23] The Matsya kingdom of the Vedic civilisation of India is said to roughly corresponded to the former state of Jaipur in Rajasthan and included the whole of Alwar with portions of Bharatpur.

The chief accomplishment of the Gurjara-Pratihara Empire lies in its successful resistance to foreign invasions from the west, starting in the days of Junaid.

Now there seems little doubt that it was the power of the Pratihara army that effectively barred the progress of the Arabs beyond the confines of Sindh, their only conquest for nearly 300 years.

[34] The Ghurids had made an attempt to invade India through southern Rajasthan, however they were defeated in the Battle of Kasahrada on 1178 by a confederacy of Rajputs under Mularaja II of the Kingdom of Gujarat.

[37] Prithviraj Chauhan led a confederacy of Rajput clans and defeated the invading Ghruids under Muhammad Ghori in the First Battle of Tarain in 1191.

The indomitable Rana Kumbha defeated the Sultans of Malwa, Nagaur and Gujarat and made Mewar the most powerful Rajput Kingdom in India.

The ambitious Rana Sanga united the various Rajput clans, including the Muslim Khanzadas of Mewat under Raja Hasan Khan Mewati, and fought against the foreign powers in India.

Rana Sanga defeated the Afghan Lodi Empire of Delhi and crushed the Turkic Sultanates of Malwa and Gujarat.

He conquered Jaisalmer, parts of Gujarat, Jalore, Nagaur, Ajmer, Sanchore, Bhinmal, Radhanpur, Bayana, Tonk, Toda and Nabhara.

Many temples were destroyed, several villages were put on fire and women and children were captured and tortured to make Amar Singh accept surrender.

[49][50] After Aurangzeb's death Bahadur Shah I tried to subjugate Rajasthan like his ancestors but his plan backfired when the three Rajput Rajas of Amber, Udaipur, and Jodhpur made a joint resistance to the Mughals.

[53] In the 19th century, the Rajput kingdoms were exhausted, they had been drained financially and in manpower after continuous wars and due to heavy tributes exacted by the Maratha Empire.

Modern Rajasthan includes most of Rajputana, which comprises the erstwhile nineteen princely states, three chiefships, and the British district of Ajmer-Merwara.

[58] Jaisalmer, Marwar (Jodhpur), Bikaner, Mewar (Chittorgarh), Alwar and Dhundhar (Jaipur) were some of the main Rajput princely states.

[59] The geographic features of Rajasthan are the Thar Desert and the Aravalli Range, which runs through the state from southwest to northeast, almost from one end to the other, for more than 850 kilometres (530 mi).

The Aravalli Range runs across the state from the southwest peak Guru Shikhar (Mount Abu), which is 1,722 metres (5,650 ft) in height, to Khetri in the northeast.

Farther north the country levels out; the flat plains of the northeastern Bharatpur district are part of an alluvial basin.

The hilly Vagad region, home to the cities of Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, and Banswara lies in southernmost Rajasthan, on the border with Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Data Infosys was the first ISP to bring the internet to Rajasthan in April 1999[79] and OASIS was the first private mobile telephone company.

Luxury tourist train Maharajas' Express runs across North-West and Central India, mainly centered on Rajasthan.

The state is served by a substantial road network, providing links between urban centers, agricultural market-places and rural areas.

[citation needed] The languages taught under the three-language formula are:[100] Rajasthan's residents are mainly Hindus, who account for 88.49% of the population.

Religion in Rajasthan (2011)[101] Rajasthani cooking was influenced by both the war-like lifestyles of its inhabitants and the availability of ingredients in this arid region.

The Panchkuta delicacy is also a famous one – meaning 5 vegetables – a dish that lasts for several days, and is made out of certain weed plants that only grow in the wild desert.

Kathputli, Bhopa, Chang, Teratali, Ghindr, Gair dance, Kachchhi Ghori, and Tejaji are examples of traditional Rajasthani culture.

[110][111] Kota, is renowned for being a hub for training students in various national-level competitive exams that are necessary for securing admission to engineering and medical colleges across the country.

This has been debated across all the party levels, when the governor of Rajasthan set a minimum educational qualification for the village panchayat elections.

[120] Rajasthan is home to many attractions for domestic and foreign travellers, including the forts and palaces of Jaipur, the lakes of Udaipur, the temples of Rajsamand and Pali, sand dunes of Jaisalmer and Bikaner, Havelis of Mandawa and Fatehpur, the wildlife of Sawai Madhopur, the scenery of Mount Abu, the tribes of Dungarpur and Banswara, and the cattle fair of Pushkar.