The Ajmer Subah () was one of the original 12

subah A ''Subah'' is a term for a province or state in several South Asian languages. It was introduced by the Mughal Empire to refer to its subdivisions or provinces; and was also adopted by other polities of the Indian subcontinent. The word is derive ...

s (provinces) that comprised the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

after the administrative reform under the rule of

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

. Its borders roughly corresponded to modern-day

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, and the capital was the city of

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

History

Mughal patronage of the city of

in the 16th century through the support of local

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

shrines (such as one dedicated to

Moinuddin Chishti Mu'in al-Din Hasan Chishti Sijzi (; February 1143 – March 1236), known reverentially as Khawaja Gharib Nawaz (), was a Persians, Persian Islamic scholar and Sufism, mystic from Sistan, who eventually ended up settling in the Indian subcontin ...

) through ''

waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

s'', culminating in

's pilgrimage to the city itself in 1562.

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

continued the legacy of pilgrimage and imperial patronage.

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

visited the shrine as well in 1628, 1636, 1643, and 1654.

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

visited once, prior to his Deccan campaigns. For a brief period in the 1720, Ajit Singh of Marwar occupied Ajmer and declared independence from Mughal rule until the Barha Sayyids reconquered the province. In March 1752, the

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

''peshwas'' demanded the governorship of Ajmer from the Mughals, and Jayappaji Rao Scindia went to war supporting Ram Singh of Marwar when the request was denied, sacking the city of Ajmer.

Geography

Ajmer Subah was bordered to the north by

Multan Subah Multan is the fifth-most populous city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the sixth-largest city in the country; and serves as the administrative headquarters of its eponymous divi ...

and Delhi Subah, to the west by Thatta Subah, to the South by

Gujarat Subah The Gujarat Subah () was a province (subah) of the Mughal Empire, encompassing the Gujarat region. The region first fell under Mughal control in 1573, when the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605) defeated the Gujarat Sultanate under Muzaffa ...

and Malwa Subah and to the east by the Agra Subah.

Government

Subahdars

Administrative divisions

Ajmer was divided into 7 '' sarkars'' under Akbar's reign.Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). ''Ain-i-Akbari'', Vol.II (English tr. by H. S. Jarrett, rev. by J. N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, pp.101-2 {, class="wikitable" , - ! Sarkar !! Parganas , - ,

(capital) , , 24 , - ,

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

, , 21 , - , Chittor , , 28 , - , Ranthambore , , 36 , - , Nagaur , , 30 , - ,

Sirohi Sirohi is a town, located in Sirohi district in southern Rajasthan state in western India. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirohi District and was formerly the capital of the princely state of Sirohi ruled by Deora Chauhan Rajput ...

, , , - ,

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Fo ...

, ,

References

Mughal subahs History of Ajmer History of Rajasthan