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 Jaisalmer
is one of the India's most precious jewels.
Fortified in golden stone, it rises like a mirage
from the barren Thar desert of Rajasthan, its 99
bastions silhouetted against the sky, this remote
settlement was renowned for the valour of its
rulers, the ferocity of its warriors - during
British rule it was the last to sign a treaty with
the British - and for the aesthetic sense
represented by the architecture of the palaces and
havelis of its successful merchants.
Founded in 1156 A.D. by the Rajput ruler Rawal
Jaisal a Bhatti Rajput, and located on the western
edge of the barren Thar Desert, Jaisalmer was
India's gateway to the silk and spice routes and a
flourishing trading outpost for 700 years. Camel
caravans heading towards Arabia, Persia, and
Central Asia, laden with silks and spices, would
have seen Jaisalmer, shimmering in the desert haze
much as it appears today.
Jaisalmer grew in strength (with territories
annexed from the bordering districts of Bikaner
and Jodhpur) and riches (by levying taxes on
caravans passing through Jaisalmer to Delhi). Its
location on the main trade route linking India to
Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Africa and the West assured
its prosperity, reflected in the magnificent
havelis the townspeople built. Wood and sandstone
mansions with intricate carvings can be seen
elsewhere in Rajasthan, but nowhere are they quite
as breathtaking.
With the downfall of the Mughal Empire in the mid
1700s, commerce shifted to the sea ports, and the
age of camel caravans drew to a close. Isolated, a
five-day journey on camel from the nearest city,
Jaisalmer, having grown wealthy on the proceeds of
the trade routes, slipped into obscurity, frozen
in its medieval history.
Today, walking through the narrow cobbled streets,
evidence of the city's rich trading past is
everywhere. The ancient fort, the oldest in
Rajasthan, and perhaps the oldest still-inhabited
citadel in the world, soars 300 meters above a
maze of streets, squares, palaces, and clusters of
dwellings, all in the local golden yellow
sandstone. Atop the Trikuta (triple-peaked) hill,
where, as legend has it, a Brahmin hermit related
to Jaisal the prophesy that Krishna and
Arjunaruler would one day build a fort, life goes
on, almost as it has for centuries.
Tragically by the late 20th Centure, Jaisalmer was
on the verge of collapse. Within the fort's
monumental walls, alongside the intricately carved
temples, palaces and havelis of the former rich
and powerful merchants live more than 2,000
people, descendents of Maharawal Rawal Jaisal's
entourage.
Built around courtyards, their dwellings display
architectural features designed to keep out heat
and dust, let in breezes, and conserve scarce
water supplies.
Paradoxically increased consumption (and therefore
waste), due to growing tourism and population, put
unbearable pressure on the city’s aged
infrastructure with with water being piped in at a
daily rate of some 120 liters per head - at least
12 times the amount originally used meant that the
old drainage system, – open galleys at the sides
of streets intended for a time when waste water
was minimal was no longer adequate– water become
the enamy.
What resulted was similar to what happens when you
tip a bucket of water over a sandcastle?
Jaisalmer, built of dry sandstone on foundations
of clay, sand and rock, began to crumble.
Water, seeping through the decaying drains and
penetrating the hillside, saturated the
foundations of the fortress city, resulting in
subsidence and cracks in buildings. Palaces and
havelis came tumbling down! In places the
retaining wall at the base of the hillside burst
apart, while some of the bastions became unstable.
After the devastating monsoon of 1993, some 250
historic buildings fully or partially collapsed,
including the oldest existing Rajput palace, the
Rani-ka Mahal, or Maharani’s Palace. Further
damage resulted from the after effects of the
Gujarati earthquake in 2001, when several more
buildings suffered substantial damage.
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