Amber, India

Amber or Amer, is a city near Jaipur in Jaipur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is now a part of the Jaipur Municipal Corporation.

For Fort in the city, see Amber Fort.
Not to be confused with Ajmer.

Amber
Amer
city
Aerial view of Amber
Aerial view of Amber
Amber is located in Jaipur
Amber
Amber
Location within Rajasthan
Amber is located in Rajasthan
Amber
Amber
Amber (Rajasthan)
Amber is located in India
Amber
Amber
Amber (India)
Coordinates: 26°59′N 75°52′E
CountryIndia
StateRajasthan
District(s)Jaipur
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)

The picturesque situation of Amber at the mouth of a rocky mountain gorge, in which nestles a lake, has attracted the admiration of travellers, including Victor Jacquemont and Reginald Heber.[1] It is seen to be a remarkable example for its combined Rajput-Mughal architecture. The Amber Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the top tourist attraction in the Jaipur area.

History

Amber region also known as Amer or Dhundhar and was controlled by Meena chiefs of five different tribes who were under suzerainty of the Bargurjar Rajput Raja of Deoti. Later a Kachhwaha prince Dulha Rai destroyed the sovereignty of Meenas and also defeated Bargurjars of Deoli and took Dhundhar fully under Kachwaha rule.[2]

It replaced Khoh as the capital of Dhundhar after Kakil Deo, the son of Dulha Rai, defeated the Meenas here. [3][4] Kachhwaha capital was later shifted to Jaipur, a new city built by Sawai Jai Singh[5][6]

Much of the present structure known as Amber Fort is actually the palace built by Mughal Emperor Akbar's Navaratnas Raja Man Singh I who ruled from 1590 to 1614 AD. The palace includes several spectacular buildings, such as the Diwan-i-Khas, and the elaborately painted Ganesh Pole built by the renowned warlord Mirza Raja Jai Singh I (Man Singh I's grandson). The old and original fort of Amber, dating from earlier Rajas or the Mair or Maidh period, is what is known in the present day as Jaigarh Fort, which was actually the main defensive structure rather than the palace itself. The two structures are interconnected by a series of encompassing fortifications.

Amber was capital of the Kachwaha until 1727 when the ruler of Amber, Sawai Jai Singh II founded a capital Jainagara (Jaipur), named after him, about nine kilometers south of Amber. After the founding of this new town, the royal palace and houses of prominent persons were shifted to Jaipur. The priests of Shila Devi temple, who were Bengali Brahmins, continued to live in the fort (to this date), while the Jaigarh fort above the palace also remained heavily garrisoned. The capital of Kachwaha was supplanted by the modern city of Jaipur, which is the capital of the Rajasthan state in India.

Controversy over renovation practices

Poor site management and development pressures have dramatically altered the historical integrity of Amber. The building that rings around the Jaleb Chwok courtyard "has been converted to a market place with shops selling showpieces and dresses. They have cafeterias, cyber cafés, etc.", according to the Times of India.[7] In the summer of 2009, the Rajasthan High Court launched a three-member panel charged with investigating the controversial renovations and determining to what extent the cultural heritage of the site was compromised.[8]

Visitor attractions

Nahargarh Biological Park

This park is home to species whose numbers have declined over the years, such as the Indian leopard. The flora is representative of the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion.[9][10]

In media

Various scenes were produced for the 2011 British film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in and around Amber.[11][12]

Amber Fort
Amber Fort
Interior of one of the palaces in Amber Fort
The fort in 1985
Panna Meena ka Kund stepwell

See also

References
  1. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Amber". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 792.
  2. Sarkar, Jadunath (1994) [1984]. A History of Jaipur: C. 1503–1938. Orient Longman Limited. pp. 23, 24. ISBN 81-250-0333-9.
  3. Jaigarh, the Invincible Fort of Amber. RBSA Publishers, 1990. 1990. p. 18. ISBN 9788185176482.
  4. Jaipur: Gem of India. IntegralDMS, 2016. 7 July 2016. p. 24. ISBN 9781942322054.
  5. Sen, Sailendra Nath (2007). Textbook of Indian History and Culture. New Delhi: MACMILLAN. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-4039-3200-6.
  6. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Jaipur" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 128–129.
  7. The Times of India (21 February 2009). "Barbarians at Work in Amer?". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
  8. The Times of India (5 May 2009). "Three-member Panel to Probe Amer Fort Restoration". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
  9. "Nahargarh Fort of Jaipur in Rajasthan, India". Travel India. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  10. "Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  11. "Filming Locations for the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), in India".
  12. "Experience the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel". 11 February 2017.

Further reading

Media related to Amber, India at Wikimedia Commons

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