Siwana is a

Municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

in Balotra district in Indian state of

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 ...

, located 151 km from Barmer. The place is known for its fort which is locally known as Gadh Siwana, Gadh means Fort. Siwana contains 130 villages and has a total population of 213,648, 111,155 male and 102,493 female. The closest large city to Siwana is Balotra, 35 km from Siwana.

Fort

The ruined Siwana fort (''Gadh Siwana'') is situated on a hilltop. According to bardic tradition, Siwana was established by Vira-narayana, a son of the 11th century Paramara king

Bhoja Bhoja was the Paramara dynasty, Paramara king of Malwa from 1010 until his death in 1055. He ruled from Dhara (city), Dhara (modern Dhar), and Military career of Bhoja, fought wars with nearly all his neighbours in attempts to extend his king ...

. In 1308,

Alauddin Khalji Alauddin Khalji (; ), born Ali Gurshasp, was a ruler from the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrative changes in the Delhi Sultanate, related to revenue ...

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

defeated Sitala Deva, the local ruler. To commemorate Sitala Deva's heroic defence of the fort, an annual fair called the Kalyan Singh Ka Mela is still held within the precincts of the fort in the month of Shraavana (July-Aug). Later, in 1318–20, Luntiga Chauhan stormed the fort of Siwana and slaughtered its Muslim garrison. It was later captured by the Rathors of Marwar and remained a part of Marwar until the independence of India. Siwana was the capital of Rao

Chandrasen Rathore Rao Chandrasen (30 July 1541 – 11 January 1581) was a Rathore Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Marwar. He was a younger son of Rao Maldev Rathore. He followed his father's policy and stayed hostile to the ruling foreign powers in north Indi ...

when he had opposed the Mughal emperor. Siwana was captured by

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 ...

in 1576, but was later restored to Raja Udai Singh of Marwar. File:Fort view from below.jpg, Fort view from below File:Upstairs to Fort.jpg, View of fort during Upstairs File:Down View from Fort - Gadh Siwana.jpg, Down View of the village from the fort. File:Lake - Gadh Siwana ( Fort).jpg, Lake - Gadh Siwana ( Fort) File:Inside broken portion Gadh Siwana - Fort.jpg, Inside broken portion Gadh Siwana - Fort File:Entry of Fort from the top of Fort - Gadh Siwana.jpg, Entry of Fort from the top of Fort - Gadh Siwana File:Down Stairs from the Fort - Gadh Siwana.JPG, Down Stairs from the Fort - Gadh Siwana

Temple

Haldeshwar Mahadev Temple, popularly known as Mini Mount, is situated in Siwana amidst the Aravali mountain ranges.

Notable people

The present MLA of Siwana is Hameer Singh Bhayal from BJP who defeated Sunil parihar from indefedent.. Motilal Oswal, an entrepreneur in the financial services space, was born in the small village of Padru in the Siwana tehsil.

References

{{Balotara district Tehsils of Barmer district Cities and towns in Balotara district