Bayana

Bayana is a historical town and the headquarters of Bayana tehsil in the Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, India. Hindaun City is the nearest city to Bayana at just away. Bayana is also known as the "City of Bansasur". It was the site of the Battle of Bayana in 1527 between Rajput ruler Rana Sanga, the ruler of Mewar, and Mughal emperor Babur.

History

Although Bayana fort was chiefly regalities as ruling Headquarters of Bharatpur Kingdom since the prehistorical era, but due to the constant raiding, the fort of Bayana was subjugated by the Maharaja Suraj Mal, this leaded into the end of confederative territory which supposed to be bestowed by the Bana clan of Jats. Between 1195 AD and 1196 AD, Mohammad Ghori attacked Bayana, during which the ruler Raja Kumarpala faced the defeat.

It is called the "City of Banasura" because of the premonition of Usha, the daughter of Banasura and Aniruddha and the great-grandson of Lord Krishna, which is described in Srimad Bhagwat 10.62 and Puranas. The Usha Mandir temple is proof of this. In 322 AD, the Gupta dynasty was ruled by Chandragupta Maurya. At that time Pushpa Gupta was appointed as its governor in the area of Sripath. From 371 AD to 372 AD, the feudatory warlord Kshatriya of Emperor Samudragupta erected the Yajna Pillar. Its remains are still present today. There is also evidence that there was a fort here at that time too. In 960 AD, the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty ruled. Queen Chitralekha of the Fakka dynasty and King Laxman San built the Usha Mandir temple under the rule of Emperor Mahipal. Maharaja Vijayapala ruled from 999 AD to 1043 AD. Apart from this, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal Empire and Bharatpur ruled. The remains and inscriptions of dozens of buildings exist that date back to this period.

Bhimalat

The Bhimalat was built in 371 AD. It is also called Vijay Pillar. The pillar was built by King Vishnu Vardhan at the conclusion of the Pundarik Yajna. This pillar is a monolithic pillar made of red sandstone. The pillar stands on a platform that is 13.6 feet long and 9.2 feet wide. The length of the pillar is 26.3 feet. The first 22.7-foot section is octagonal. It is clear from the metal on the top of the pillar that there must have been something on top of it as well.

Geography

Bayana is located in a small plain, between two hill ranges running more or less parallel to each other near the left bank of the Gambhir river, at a distance of from Bharatpur. Bayana is located at . It has an average elevation of 196 metres (643 feet).

Bayana is home to the Usha Mandir temple, which further establishes its link with Banasur. The city is also home to the Usha Mosque, which serves the large Muslim population of the city. An interesting aspect of both structures is that the temple and mosque are located adjacent to each other and share a common wall.

Bayana junction is a major railway station situated on Delhi Mumbai Railway network. As an junction it serves people to major cities like Delhi, Mathura, Kota and Agra etc. Daily passenger trains also originate from and terminate to bayana jn. Bayana has a large industrial area known as riico Bayana, which mainly consist of stone industries.

Monuments and architecture

ʿīdgāh, c. 1195

The ʿīdgāh of Bayana is located about one kilometre north-west of the old town. It is likely to have been constructed during the tenure of Bahā al-Dīn Tughrul, the first Muslim governor of Bayana between 1195 and 1210. The oldest surviving example of its kind, it is built in the form of a freestanding wall, about 60 metres long, with a central miḥrāb flanked by four smaller niches on each side, and a circular tower on the two ends and an open paved platform in front. It has a central mihrab that is built as a square chamber projecting behind the qibla wall and roofed by a corbelled dome, in emulation of the arcaded iwāns of Iran and Afghanistan. Traces of the original minbar can be seen on the right of the central mihrab.

References

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Cities and towns in Bharatpur district

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