AJMERE, the ancient appellation of the whole of Rajpootana, but more recently restricted to the limits of a British district in the centre of that province. It is bounded on the N.W. by the Rajpoot state of Joudpore; on the east by the Rajpoot states of Kishenghur and Jeypore; on the south by that of Odeypore; and on the S.W. by the British district of Mhairwarra. It extends from Lat. 43. to Lat. 42, and from Long. 22. to Long. 33, and has an area of 2029 square miles. In the north and north-west portions of the district, the mountains attain considerable elevation. Taraghur, immediately overlooking the town of Ajmere, rises a thousand feet from the plain below, and three thousand above the level of the sea. Its principal summit sustains the celebrated fort of Ajmere. The Mudar range, east of the city, is little inferior in elevation. In their geological character, the rocks composing these ridges bear a near resemblance to each other, all being of primitive formation, and generally schistose.
Copper mines have been worked on Taraghur, and lead, manganese, and iron, are discovered in abundance. The soil is, for the most part, light and sandy, and in many localities impregnated with mineral salts. The only stream which has any pretension to be styled a river is the Kharee Nuddie. This river skirts the district to the south, separating it from the native state of Odeypore, and subsequently intersects the territory of Ajmere in a north-easterly direction to its confluence with the Banas; but its waters
are unpalatable, except during the rains, in consequence of the quantity of carbonate of soda which they hold in solution. The other streams of Ajmere, including even the Looni, which derives its source from the Ana Sagur Lake, may be characterised rather as rain torrents, their channels being completely devoid of water during the dry season. Nor is the dearth of running water compensated by any abundant supply from springs; no natural lakes exist in the province; and as the wet season is of brief duration, there are no means by which an adequate supply of water can be secured to the inhabitants, but by the aid of tanks, which are filled by the mountain torrents during the rains. These abound in every village. Some of these reservoirs are of considerable magnitude, and one, indeed, the Ana Sagur, is deserving of special notice from its enormous dimensions. This artificial lake is in the immediate vicinity of the town, and owes its construction to Ana Rao, who ruled in Ajmere prior to the invasion of Mahmood of Ghuzni at the commencement of the eleventh century. The excavation is, however, rather the work of nature than of art, and required nothing for its completion as a reservoir but the erection of a dam across a valley bounded on all other sides by steep ridges. The waters of several rain torrents are thus collected into this vast basin; the extent of which, after the rains, exceeds six miles in circumference. It furnishes the means of irrigation to a large district on its banks, is full of fish, and affords excellent water to the inhabitants of the town.
The climate of Ajmere, though characterised by great aridity, is considered salubrious. During the season of the hot winds which prevail from March to June, the temperature is high and the heat oppressive. In the month of May in the year 1838, the thermometer marked during the night 110 degrees. The temperature might be diminished by encouraging the growth of trees. The hills are now bare of timber. Formerly extensive tracts were covered by forests and brushwood, but these were destroyed during Mahratra rule. Refreshing breezes set in with the rains, which continue from June till the end of September; but the showers are lighter and far less continuous than in tracts further to the south and east. After the rains, the climate becomes agreeable and invigorating, and in the clear nights of December, January, and February, the thermometer sinks below the freezing point, and ice is abundantly formed.
Ajmere is scarcely mentioned in history prior to the establishment of the dynasty of Ghuzni in Cabul. It appears, however, to have enjoyed an early independence, as the eighth prince in succession from its founder is represented as having reigned in the year 695. The earliest incursion of the Mahometans into India took place in 664; it was followed from time to time by successive irruptions; until in 997 the Hindu Rajah of Lahore became in his turn the assailant, and led an army through Peshawur into Cabul. He was met by Sebektegin, the father of Mahmood of Ghuzni; but before any encounter had taken place, the Hindu became disheartened, acceded to humiliating conditions, and withdrew. In the following year, Sebektegin advanced to Lahore to enforce the fulfilment of the treaty; and among the princes who united their forces to resist the Mussulman, was the Rajah of Ajmere. The confederated forces were totally routed. Three years later, in Mahmood's first expedition to India, the sultan encountered the old Rajah of Lahore, whom he defeated and took prisoner. After this, Mahmood allowed little repose to himself, or respite to his neighbours. In the tenth year of his reign, he undertook his fourth expedition against India. The princes of Hindustan, instigated by Anang Pal, the Rajah of Lahore, combined their forces, and advanced to the Punjab, to resist the progress of the Mahometan arms. The Rajah of Ajmere had again joined the confederacy, but their re-
Ajmere. newed efforts were ineffectual, and Mahmood was again victorious. The part taken by the Rajah of Ajmere was not, however, forgotten by Mahmood; and in his last irruption into Hindustan, which was directed against the temple of Somnath, he marched his troops through the province of Ajmere, ravaged the country, and plundered the city. The Rajah took refuge in his fortress, and Mahmood pursued his course to Somnath. Thenceforward the power and resources of the Rajahs of Ajmere rapidly increased, and half a century later, their possessions constituted one of the four kingdoms into which Hindustan was then distributed. The three remaining kingdoms were those of Delhi, Canouj, and Guzerat; but the king of Delhi dying without male issue, his dominions lapsed to Pritwi Rao, the chief of Ajmere, who thus held sway over the half of India. Pritwi Rao, however, had no sooner gained this accession of power, than a new competitor presented himself for the imperial sceptre. This was Shahabudin, afterwards Mohammed Ghooory. In 1191 he had conquered the Punjab, and threatened an advance upon Delhi. Pritwi Rao was not unprepared for the struggle. The two armies met at Tirouri, near Thanesur in Northern India, where a decisive battle was fought, in which the Hindu potentate prevailed, and the rout of Mohammed was complete. Pritwi Rao derived from this victory but a brief interval of repose. Mohammed reunited his army, and two years after reappeared at Thanesur, to try once again the chances of battle. Upon this occasion, fortune favoured Mohammed, and Pritwi Rao, being taken prisoner, was put to death. The conquest of Ajmere followed. Mohammed left his new possessions in charge of his general Kootb-ood-deen, who, upon the dissolution of the Ghorian empire, raised himself to the throne of Delhi, and established the line of SLAVE KINGS of India; so called from their founder having risen from the condition of a Turkistan slave to sovereignty. From this time Ajmere appears to have remained for a considerable period in various degrees of dependence upon the Mahometans. It was wrested in 1527 by Baber from Rajah Sanga, who had aspired to independence. Achar, in recovering the dominions of which his father had been stripped by Shir Shah, obtained Ajmere without a battle, and under this emperor it became the principal place of an extensive province. On the decline of the Mogul empire, Ajmere fell into the hands of the Mahrattas, who retained it from the middle of the last century until the year 1818, when it was formally ceded to the British government by Scindia. The district of Ajmere has been distributed into ten subdivisions, and has a population of 224,891 inhabitants. The principal places are Ajmere, Kekree, Poshkur, Pesangun, Shapoora, Sawur, and the military cantonment of Nusseerabad.