Taragarh Fort is a fortress built upon a steep hillside in 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 ...

in the 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 ...

. It was constructed by Maharaja of

Parmar Parmar may refer to: * Parmar (clan) * Parmar (surname), an Indian surname See also * Panwar (disambiguation) * Parihar (disambiguation) * Pawar (disambiguation) *Paramara dynasty The Paramara Dynasty (IAST: Paramāra) was an Indian dynasty ...

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

s, and repaired by Ajayaraja Chauhan and it was originally called Ajaymeru Durg.

History

This fort was known for its strength and strategic importance. First Islamic attack on the fort was made in 724, during reign of Chauhan King Durlabhraj I, who bravely fought Muslim armies under caliph

Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...

. In this war, King Durlabhraj I did not receive support from fellow rajput kings. This war witnessed India's second

Jauhar Jauhar, sometimes spelled Jowhar or Juhar, was a Hindu Rajput practice of mass self-immolation by women and girls in the Indian subcontinent to avoid capture, sex slavery, enslavement, and rape when facing certain defeat during a war. Some repo ...

conducted by queens of King Durlabhraj I, along with other females in Taragarh Fort. The war is also known for sacrifice of 7-year old Chauhan Prince Lot, who bravely fought the invading armies, and laid down his life.

s assisted in capturing Taragarh fort of Ajmer and rejected Islam, Islamic conversions, Islamic Beliefs. Prithviraj, son of

Rana Raimal Rana Raimal Singh, also known as Rana Raimal, (r. 1473–1509) was a Hindu, Sisodia Rajput ruler of the Mewar, Kingdom of Mewar. Rana Raimal was the younger son of Kumbha of Mewar, Rana Kumbha and younger brother of his predecessor Udai Singh ...

of Mewar and elder brother of

Rana Sanga Sangram Singh I (12 April 1482 – 30 January 1528), most commonly known as Rana Sanga, was the Rana of Mewar, Maharana of Mewar from 1509 to 1528. A member of the List of Ranas of Mewar, Sisodia dynasty, he controlled parts of present-day Ra ...

, captured Taragarh fort of Ajmer during the end of 15th century, after slaying Governor Mallu Khan. The fort is also called Taragarh, named after Prithviraj's wife Tarabai. It remained under control of Mewar and later

granted it to Karamchand Panwar The fort later was conquered by the victorious Mughal armies in the aftermath of

Battle of Khanwa The Battle of Khanwa was fought at Khanwa in modern-day Rajasthan on 16 March 1527, between the Mughal Empire, led by Babur, and the Kingdom of Mewar, led by Rana Sanga for supremacy of Northern India. The battle, which ended in a Mughal vic ...

in Rana Sanga of Mewar faced a crushing defeat at the hands of

Emperor Babur The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

, the Founder of the Mughal Dynasty . The fort served as the administrative center of the Mughal province of Ajmer and was an important military foothold for the Mughal Expansion into Rajputana. The fort remained under the nominal sovereignty of the Mughal Emperor though it was de facto in the hands of the Rajputs of Amber . With its strategic prominence lost, the fort fell into disuse and neglect.

Architecture

There are three gateways to the fort known as Lakshmi Pol, Phuta Darwaza, and Gagudi ki Phatak. There were 14 bastions in the wall of this fort. Most parts of these gateways are now in ruins. The largest of its battlements is the 16th-century bastion known as the Bhim Burj, on which was once mounted a large cannon called Garbh Gunjam, or 'Thunder from the Womb'. In the fort are water reservoirs. The fort also holds a shrine dedicated to Miran Saheb ki Dargah, who lost his life in 1202 CE during a

attack. He was slain in a perfidious Rajput attack that took place while he and his men were conducting their prostration (namaaz). After conquering the fort of Kandahar, Emperor Jahangir built this Marble Cage (Kathera) in the dargah of Meera Syed Hussain in 1615. #Author:R. Nath, History of Mughal architecture, pp
259
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History

Architecture

References

Further reading