Lal Suhanra Biosphere Reserve and National Park is a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
declared biosphere reserve, which covers the
Cholistan region of the Greater Thar Desert.
Biodiversity
Fauna
Some
wildlife
Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...
species that are fast vanishing in other parts of India are found in the desert in large numbers, including the
blackbuck
The blackbuck (''Antilope cervicapra''), also known as the Indian antelope, is an antelope native to India and Nepal. It inhabits grassy plains and lightly forested areas with perennial water sources.
It stands up to high at the shoulder. Ma ...
(''Antilope cervicapra''),
chinkara
The chinkara (''Gazella bennettii''), also known as the Indian gazelle, is a gazelle species native to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Taxonomy
The following six subspecies are considered valid:
* Deccan chinkara (''G. b. bennettii ...
(''Gazella bennettii''),and
Indian wild ass
The Indian wild ass (''Equus hemionus khur''), also called the Indian onager or, in the local Gujarati language, Ghudkhur and Khur, is a subspecies of the onager native to South Asia.
It is currently listed as Near Threatened by IUCN. The prev ...
(''Equus hemionus khur'') in the
Rann of Kutch
The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located in Gujarat (primarily the Kutch district), India, and in Sindh, Pakistan. It is divided into ...
. This may be partly because they are well adapted to this environment: they are smaller than similar animals that live in other environments, and they are mainly nocturnal. It may also be because
grasslands
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur nat ...
in this region have not been transformed into cropland as fast as in other regions, and because a local community, the
Bishnoi
Bishnoi (also known as Vishnoi) is a community found in the Western Thar Desert and northern states of India. They follow a set of 29 principles/commandments given by Guru Jambheshwar (also known as Guru Jambhoji, Guru Jambha Ji) (1451-1536) ...
s, has made special efforts to protect them.
Other mammals in the Thar Desert include a subspecies of
red fox
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...
(''
Vulpes vulpes pusilla'') and the
caracal
The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ...
, and a number of reptiles dwell there too.
The region is a haven for 141 species of
migratory and resident desert birds, including
harriers,
falcon
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene.
Adult falcons ...
s,
buzzard
Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey.
''Buteo'' species
* Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'')
* Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'')
* Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'')
* Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'')
* Eastern ...
s,
kestrel
The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviou ...
s,
vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
s,
short-toed eagle
The short-toed snake eagle (''Circaetus gallicus''), also known as the short-toed eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. The genus ...
s (''Circaetus gallicus''),
tawny eagle
The tawny eagle (''Aquila rapax'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family ''Accipitridae''. Its heavily feathered legs mark it as a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as booted eagles.Helbig, A. J., Kocum, ...
s (''Aquila rapax''),
greater spotted eagle
The greater spotted eagle (''Clanga clanga''), occasionally called the spotted eagle, is a large bird of prey. Like all typical eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Its feathered legs indicate it is a member of the subfamily Aquil ...
s (''Aquila clanga''), and
laggar falcons (''Falco jugger'').
The
Indian peafowl
The Indian peafowl (''Pavo cristatus''), also known as the common peafowl, and blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been introduced to many other countries. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and ...
is a resident breeder in the Thar region. The peacock is designated as the national bird of India and the provincial bird of the
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...
. It can be seen sitting on khejri or
pipal trees in villages or Deblina.
Flora
The natural vegetation of this dry area is classified as
northwestern thorn scrub forest
The Northwestern thorn scrub forests, presently known as Aravalli west thorn scrub forests, is a Deserts and xeric shrublands, xeric shrubland ecoregion of Pakistan and Northern India, stretching along the border lowlands and hills between the ...
occurring in small clumps scattered more or less openly. Density and size of patches increase from west to east following the increase in rainfall. The natural vegetation of the Thar Desert is composed of these tree,
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...
, and herb species:
*Trees and shrubs: ''
Vachellia jacquemontii
''Vachellia jacquemontii'' is a species of plant native to the Thar Desert of India and Pakistan. The species name refers to French botanist Victor Jacquemont.Allen J. Coombes It grows as an erect shrub or small tree, usually to high, with m ...
'', ''
Balanites roxburghii
''Balanites roxburghii'' is a spiny, evergreen tree. It is common in open sandy plains of the Indian peninsula, western Rajasthan, west Bengal, Maharashtra , Gujarat and drier parts of India. The specific epithet ''roxburghii'' refers to the S ...
'', ''
Ziziphus zizyphus'', ''
Ziziphus nummularia
''Ziziphus nummularia'', commonly known as wild jujube or jhahrberi in Hindi, is a species of ''Ziziphus'' native to the Thar Desert of western India and southeastern Pakistan, south Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Zimbabwe. ''Ziziphus nummular ...
'', ''
Calotropis procera
''Calotropis procera'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae that is native to North Africa, Pakistan, tropical Africa, Western Asia, South Asia, and Indochina. The green fruits contain a toxic milky sap that is extremely b ...
'', ''
Suaeda fruticosa
''Suaeda fruticosa'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae (formerly placed in the family Chenopodiaceae). It is a small shrub, with very variable appearance over its wide range. It is a halophyte, and occurs in arid and sem ...
'', ''
Crotalaria burhia
''Crotalaria burhia'' (Hindi: ) is a plant found in north-west India, mainly in the Thar desert
The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Subcontinent that covers an area ...
'', ''
Aerva javanica
''Aerva javanica'', the kapok bush or desert cotton, is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It has a native distribution incorporating much of Africa (including Madagascar), and the south-west and south of Asia, and it has become adve ...
'', ''
Clerodendrum multiflorum
''Clerodendrum phlomidis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. The plant has been used in Ayurvedic medicine, and some Ayurvedic sources refer to it by the synonym ''Clerodendrum multiflorum''.
In India, the plant is known a ...
'', ''
Leptadenia pyrotechnica
''Leptadenia pyrotechnica'' ( hi, खींप; pa, ਖਿੱਪ) is the botanical name of a desert herb of the family Apocynaceae. It is widespread from Senegal to India. It is known as in Hindi and Urdu, and in Punjabi.L. R. Burdak (1982): R ...
'', ''
Lycium barbarum
''Lycium barbarum'' is a shrub native to China, with present-day range across Asia and southeast Europe. It is one of two species of boxthorn in the family Solanaceae from which the goji berry or wolfberry is harvested, the other being ''Lycium ...
'', ''
Grewia tenax'', ''
Commiphora mukul'', ''
Euphorbia caducifolia'', ''
Euphorbia neriifolia'', ''
Cordia sinensis
''Cordia sinensis '' is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae. The species’ range extend from South Africa, through East Africa, Madagascar, West Africa and the Middle East to the Indian Subcontinent and Eastern ...
'', ''
Maytenus emarginata'', ''
Capparis decidua
''Capparis decidua'', commonly known as karira, is a useful plant in its marginal habitat.
Description
It is a small much-branched tree or shrub. It bears a mass of slender, gray-green leafless branches, the small caducous leaves being found ...
'', ''
Mimosa hamata''
*Herbs and grasses: ''
Ochthochloa
''Ochthochloa'' is a genus of desert plants in the grass family native to the Sahara and Arabian Deserts. The only known species is ''Ochthochloa compressa'', whose native range extends from Algeria to Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ) ...
compressa'', ''
Dactyloctenium scindicum'', ''
Cenchrus biflorus
''Cenchrus biflorus'' is a species of annual grass in the family Poaceae. Common names include Indian sandbur, ''Bhurat'' or ''Bhurut'' in India, ''Haskaneet'' in Sudan, ''Aneeti'' in the Arabic dialect of Mauritania, ''K 'arangiya'' in the Haus ...
'', ''
Cenchrus setiger'', ''
Lasiurus scindicus'', ''
Cynodon dactylon
''Cynodon dactylon'', commonly known as Bermuda grass, is a grass found worldwide. It is native to Europe, Africa, Australia and much of Asia. It has been introduced to the Americas. Although it is not native to Bermuda, it is an abundant invasiv ...
'', ''
Panicum turgidum
''Panicum turgidum'' is an old world clumping desert bunchgrass of the genus '' Panicum''. It is a plant of arid regions across Africa and Asia, and has been introduced to other parts of the world.
Description
''Panicum turgidum'' is a perennia ...
'', ''
Panicum antidotale
''Panicum antidotale'' Retz. ( Punjabi: ਘਮੂਰ ghamur, English: blue panicgrass) is a tall (up to 3 metres), coarse, woody perennial grass throughout the Himalaya and the Upper Gangetic Plain and specifically in various regions of the Ind ...
'', ''
Dichanthium annulatum'', ''
Sporobolus marginatus'', ''
Saccharum spontaneum'', ''
Cenchrus ciliaris
''Cenchrus ciliaris'' (buffel-grass or African foxtail grass; syn. ''Pennisetum ciliare'' (L.) Link) is a species of grass native to most of Africa, southern Asia (east to India), southern Iran, and the extreme south of Europe (Sicily). Other na ...
'', ''
Desmostachya bipinnata
''Desmostachya bipinnata'', commonly known as halfa grass, big cordgrass, and salt reed-grass, is an Old World perennial grass, long known and used in human history. The grass is tall, tufted, leafy, perennial grass, branching from the base, erec ...
'', ''
Eragrostis
''Eragrostis'' is a large and widespread genus of plants in the grass family, found in many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands.
''Eragrostis'' is commonly known as lovegrass or canegrass. The name of the genus is derived fr ...
'' species, ''
Ergamopagan'' species, ''
Phragmites
''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial reed grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world.
Taxonomy
The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by Kew Garden in L ...
'' species, ''
Tribulus terrestris
''Tribulus terrestris'' is an annual plant in the caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae) widely distributed around the world. It is adapted to thrive in dry climate locations in which few other plants can survive.
It is native to warm temperate and t ...
'', ''
Typha
''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in ...
'' species, ''
Sorghum halepense
Johnson grass or Johnsongrass, ''Sorghum halepense'', is a plant in the grass family, Poaceae, native to Asia and northern Africa. The plant has been introduced to all continents except Antarctica, and most larger islands and archipelagos. It re ...
'', ''
Citrullus colocynthis
''Citrullus colocynthis'', with many common names including Abu Jahl's melon, (native name in Turkey) colocynth, bitter apple, bitter cucumber, egusi, vine of Sodom, or wild gourd, is a desert viny plant native to the Mediterranean Basin and ...
''
The
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
floral species include ''
Calligonum polygonoides
''Calligonum polygonoides'', locally known as ''phog'' ( hi, फोग), is a small shrub found in Thar desert areas, usually 4 feet to 6 feet high but occasionally may reach even 10 feet in height with a girth of 1 to 2 ft.L R Burdak (1982 ...
'', ''
Prosopis cineraria
''Prosopis cineraria'', also known as ghaf, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is native to arid portions of Western Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, India, Oman, Pakistan, Sau ...
'', ''
Acacia nilotica'', ''
Tamarix aphylla'', and ''
Cenchrus biflorus
''Cenchrus biflorus'' is a species of annual grass in the family Poaceae. Common names include Indian sandbur, ''Bhurat'' or ''Bhurut'' in India, ''Haskaneet'' in Sudan, ''Aneeti'' in the Arabic dialect of Mauritania, ''K 'arangiya'' in the Haus ...
''.
People
The
Thar people are the natives of the area. The Thar Desert is the most widely populated desert in the world, with a population density of 83 people per km
2.
[Singh, P. (ed.) (2007)]
"Report of the Task Force on Grasslands and Deserts"
. Government of India Planning Commission, New Delhi. In India, the inhabitants comprise
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
s,
Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an 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 time cycle being ...
s,
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
s, and
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s. In Pakistan, inhabitants include both Muslims and Hindus.
About 40% of the total population 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 ...
lives in the Thar Desert.
[Gupta, M. L. (2008). ''Rajasthan Gyan Kosh''. 3rd Edition. Jojo Granthagar, Jodhpur. ] The main occupations of the inhabitants are agriculture and
animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...
. A colourful culture, rich in tradition, prevails in this desert. The people have a great passion for folk music and folk poetry.
Jodhpur
Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...
, the largest city in the region, lies in the scrub forest zone at the desert's perimeter.
Bikaner
Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division.
Formerly the capital o ...
and
Jaisalmer
Jaisalmer , nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the ancient Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a ...
are the largest cities located entirely in the desert.
Water and housing in the desert
In the true desert areas, the only sources of water for animals or humans are small, scattered ponds - some that are natural (''tobas'') and some that are human-made (''
johads''). The persistence of
water scarcity
Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is whe ...
heavily influences life in all areas of the Thar, prompting many inhabitants to adopt a
nomadic
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
lifestyle. Most of the permanent human settlements are located near the two seasonal streams of the Karon-Jhar hills. Potable groundwater is also rare in the Thar Desert. Much of it tastes sour due to dissolved minerals. Potable water is mostly available only deep underground. When wells are dug that happen to yield sweet tasting water, people tend to settle near them, but such wells are difficult and dangerous to dig, sometimes claiming the lives of the well-diggers.
Crowded housing conditions are common in some areas.
Recreation
Economy
Agriculture
The Thar is one of the most heavily populated desert areas in the world with the main occupations of its inhabitants being agriculture and animal husbandry.
Agricultural production is mainly from
kharif crops
Kharif crops, also known as monsoon crops or autumn crops, are domesticated plants that are cultivated and harvested in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh during the Indian subcontinent's monsoon season, which lasts from June to November depending on ...
, which are grown in the summer season and seeded in June and July. These are then harvested in September and October and include
bajra,
pulses
In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...
such as
guar
The guar or cluster bean, with the botanical name ''Cyamopsis tetragonoloba'', is an annual legume and the source of guar gum. It is also known as gavar, gawar, or guvar bean.
The origin of ''Cyamopsis tetragonoloba'' is unknown, since it has ...
,
jowar
''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a grass species cultivated for its grain, which is used for food for humans, animal feed, and ethanol produ ...
(''
Sorghum vulgare''), maize (''
zea mays
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
''),
sesame
Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cul ...
and
groundnuts.
The Thar region of Rajasthan is a major opium production and consumption area.
Livestock
Agroforestry
''P. cineraria'' wood is reported to contain high calorific value and provide high-quality fuel wood. The lopped branches are good as fencing material. Its roots also encourage
nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
fixation, which produces higher crop yields.
Ecotourism
Desert safaris on camels have become increasingly popular around Jaisalmer. Domestic and international tourists frequent the desert seeking adventure on camels for one to several days. This
ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...
industry ranges from cheaper backpacker treks to plush Arabian night-style campsites replete with banquets and cultural performances. During the treks, tourists are able to view the fragile and beautiful ecosystem of the Thar Desert. This form of tourism provides income to many operators and camel owners in Jaisalmer, as well as employment for many camel trekkers in the desert villages nearby. People from various parts of the world come to see the Pushkar ka Mela (Pushkar Fair) and oases.
Industry
The government of India initiated departmental exploration for oil in 1955 and 1956 in the Jaisalmer area, Oil India Limited discovered natural gas in 1988 in the
Jaisalmer basin.
History
The
Desert National Park
Desert National Park is a national park situated in the Indian state of Rajasthan, near the towns of Jaisalmer and Barmer. This is one of the largest national parks, covering an area of 3162 km². The Desert National Park is an excellent ...
in
Jaisalmer district
Jaisalmer is the largest district in the Indian state of Rajasthan, and the third largest district in India. Located in Marwar (Jodhpur Division), the city of Jaisalmer is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is around from the ...
has a collection of 180-million-year- old animal and plant fossils.
Jaisalmer State’s historical foundations are in the large empire ruled by the Bhati dynasty. The empire stretched from what is now
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
in modern-day Afghanistan to what is
Sialkot
Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...
,
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...
and
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...
in modern-day Pakistan
to the region that is
Bhatinda
Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fift ...
and
Hanumangarh
Hanumangarh is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, situated on the banks of the river Ghaggar also identified as Ancient Sarasvati river, located about 400 km from Delhi. It is the administrative seat of Hanumangarh District. The c ...
in modern-day India.
The empire crumbled over time because of continuous invasions from central Asia. According to Satish Chandra, the Hindu Shahis of Afghanistan made an alliance with the Bhatti rulers of Multhan because they wanted to end the slave raids that were made by the Turkic ruler of Ghazni, but the alliance was broken apart by Alp Tigin in 977 CE. Bhati dominions continued to shift southwards: they ruled Multan, then finally got pushed into Cholistan and Jaisalmer, where Rawal Devaraja built
Dera Rawal / Derawar.
Jaisalmer was founded as the new capital in 1156 by
Maharawal Jaisal Singh and the state took its name from the capital. On 11 December 1818 Jaisalmer became a
British protectorate through the
Rajputana Agency
The Rajputana Agency was a political office of the British Indian Empire dealing with a collection of native states in Rajputana (now in Rajasthan, northwestern India), under the political charge of an Agent reporting directly to the Governor ...
.
Because the kingdom’s main source of income had long been levies on
caravan
Caravan or caravans may refer to:
Transport and travel
*Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together
**Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop
*Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals
*Convoy, a group of veh ...
s, its economy suffered after
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
became a major port, and sea trade largely replaced trade along the traditional land routes. Maharawals Ranjit Singh and Bairi Sal Singh tried to reverse the economic decline, but the kingdom nevertheless became impoverished. To make matters worse, there was a severe
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
and a resulting
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompan ...
from 1895 to 1900, during the reign of Maharawal Salivahan Singh, which caused the widespread loss of the livestock upon which the increasingly agriculturally based kingdom had come to rely.
In 1965 and 1971, population exchanges took place in the Thar between India and Pakistan; 3,500 Muslims shifted from the Indian section of the Thar to Pakistani Thar, whilst thousands of Hindu families also migrated from Pakistani Thar to the Indian section.
Thar in ancient literature
See also
*
Arid Forest Research Institute
Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI) is a research institute situated in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The institute conducts scientific research in forestry in order to provide technologies to increase the vegetative cover and to conserve biod ...
*
Arid Lands Information Network
Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) is a Kenya-based non-governmental organisation that seeks to exchange ideas and experiences among "grassroots change agents". It sees its goal as enabling such grassroot change agents to learn from one another, ...
*
Aridification
Aridification is the process of a region becoming increasingly arid, or dry. It refers to long term change, rather than seasonal variation.
It is often measured as the reduction of average soil moisture content.
It can be caused by reduced precip ...
*
Cholistan Desert
The Cholistan Desert ( ur, ; Punjabi: ), also locally known as Rohi (), is a desert in the southern part of Punjab, Pakistan that forms part of the Greater Thar Desert, which extends to Sindh province and the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is on ...
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Cyclone Phet
Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Phet was a powerful tropical cyclone that made landfall on Oman, Western India, and Pakistan. The third named cyclone of the 2010 cyclone season, Phet developed in the Arabian Sea on May 31 to the west of India. ...
– tracked directly over the desert
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Deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
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Geography of India
India is situated north of the equator between 8°4' north (the mainland) to 37°6' north latitude and 68°7' east to 97°25' east longitude. India Yearbook, p. 1 It is the seventh-largest country in the world, with a total area of . Total a ...
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History of Thar
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List of deserts by area
This is a list of the largest deserts in the world by area. It includes all deserts above .
Notes
See also
* Desert
* Desertification
* List of deserts by continent
* Polar desert
Polar deserts are the regions of Earth that fall un ...
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Marwar
Marwar (also called Jodhpur region) is a region of western Rajasthan state in North Western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. The word 'maru' is Sanskrit for desert. In Rajasthani languages, "wad" means a particular area. English tra ...
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Pokhran
Pokhran is a village and a municipality located, outside of Jaisalmer city in the Jaisalmer district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is a remote location in the Thar Desert region and served as the site for India's first underground nucle ...
References
Further reading
* Bhandari M. M. ''Flora of The Indian Desert'', MPS Repros, 39, BGKT Extension, New Pali Road, Jodhpur, India.
* Zaigham, N. A. (2003)
"Strategic sustainable development of groundwater in Thar Desert of Pakistan" Water Resources in the South: Present Scenario and Future Prospects, Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South, Islamabad.
* Govt. of India. Ministry of Food & Agriculture booklet (1965)—"Soil conservation in the Rajasthan Desert"—Work of the Desert Afforestation Research station, Jodhpur.
* Gupta, R. K. & Prakash Ishwar (1975). ''Environmental analysis of the Thar Desert''. English Book Depot., Dehra Dun.
* Kaul, R. N. (1967). "Trees or grass lands in the Rajasthan: Old problems and New approaches". ''Indian Forester'', 93: 434–435.
* Burdak, L. R. (1982). "Recent Advances in Desert Afforestation". Dissertation submitted to Shri R. N. Kaul, Director, Forestry Research, F.R.I., Dehra Dun.
* Yashpal, Sahai Baldev, Sood, R.K., and Agarwal, D.P. (1980). "Remote sensing of the 'lost' Saraswati river". ''Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences'' (Earth and Planet Science), V. 89, No. 3, pp. 317–331.
* Bakliwal, P. C. and Sharma, S. B. (1980). "On the migration of the river Yamuna". ''Journal of the Geological Society of India'', Vol. 21, Sept. 1980, pp. 461–463.
* Bakliwal, P. C. and Grover, A. K. (1988). "Signature and migration of Sarasvati river in Thar desert, Western India". ''Record of the Geological Survey of India'' V 116, Pts. 3–8, pp. 77–86.
* Rajawat, A. S., Sastry, C. V. S. and Narain, A. (1999-a). "Application of pyramidal processing on high resolution IRS-1C data for tracing the migration of the Saraswati river in parts of the Thar desert". in "Vedic Sarasvati, Evolutionary History of a Lost River of Northwestern India", ''Memoir Geological Society of India'', Bangalore, No. 42, pp. 259–272.
* Ramasamy, S. M. (1999). "Neotectonic controls on the migration of Sarasvati river of the Great Indian desert". in "Vedic Sarasvati, Evolutionary History of a Lost River of Northwestern India", ''Memoir Geological Society of India'', Bangalore, No. 42, pp. 153–162.
* Rajesh Kumar, M., Rajawat, A. S. and Singh, T. N. (2005). "Applications of remote sensing for educidate the Palaeochannels in an extended Thar desert, Western Rajasthan", 8th annual International conference, Map India 2005, New Delhi.
External links
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Rajasthan Tourism*
Photos of the Thar Desert
Avgustin.net Photos of the Thar Desert in Pakistan side
आपणो राजस्थान
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Deserts of India
Deserts of Pakistan
Deserts and xeric shrublands
Ecoregions of India
Ecoregions of Pakistan
Ergs
Geography of Punjab, Pakistan
Geography of Rajasthan
Geography of Sindh
Tharparkar District
Environment of Rajasthan
Environment of Sindh
Indomalayan ecoregions