My Town

Nawalgarh (Hindi: नवलगढ़ ) is a town in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan state, India. It is part of the Shekhawati region. It is midway between Jhunjhunu and Sikar. It is 30 km far from Sikar and 39 km far from Jhunjhunu. Nawalgarh is located at 27°51' North, 75°18' East. Nawalgarh is famous for grand havelis with frescos, which is specialty of the Shekhawati region. It has some of the best-preserved havelis and finest frescoes in Shekhawati.

History

Thakur Nawal Singh Ji Bahadur (Shekhawat) founded Nawalgarh in 1737 AD at the village site of Rohili. Before abolition of Jagirs in Rajasthan Nawalgarh was a tazimi thikana of Bhojraj Ji Ka sept of Shekhawat in Shekhawati. Nawalgarh was encircled all around by the high Parkota (walls) comprising of four Pols (gates) in different directions, namely Agoona Darwaja, Bawadi Darwaja (in north), Mandi Darwaja and Nansa Darwaja, each gate has iron doors. Bala Kila Fort situated in the center of the Thikana and Fatehgarh Fort situated out side of the Parkota as an Out Post. The market place of the town and layout of the havelis indicates that the city was well planned before construction. Nawalgarh was considered to be the most modern towns of Shekhawati.The Rulers of Nawalgarh belongs to Shekhawat sub-clan (Bhojraj Ji Ka sept) of Kachwaha Dynasty of Jaipur Princely State.

Shekhawati region is known for education in Rajasthan. Sikar and Jhunjhunu are education hubs in the region. Pilani, Laxmangarh, and to a small extent, Nawalgarh are important education centers.Seth GB Poddar College (commonly known as Poddar College)and Shri Nawalgarh (P.G.) Mahila Mahavidyalaya(Commonly known as SN Girls College) are the most important educational institutions in Nawalgarh . There are science and Arts faculty in S N Girls college. This year S N Girls College started B.Ed. College also. Nawalgarh has some well known schools like Shri Nawalgarh senior secondary School, Shri Nawalgarh Primary School Prerana Senior Secondary School, Shekhawati Public School and Dundlod Public school CBSE (in Dundlod), New Indian Senior Secondary School, Kariwala Public School , Poddar Matushri Senior Secondary School, Gyanodya School, Gautam Balika Senior Secondary School(exclusively for girls), New Indian Senior Secondary School, Mother Terasa School, Sheksariya School (exclusively for girls), . It also has New Indian Polytechnic College. Shekhawati Engineering College [2] is located in Dundlod, not very far from Nawalgarh.

Nawalgarh is connected through Metre gauge railway line, it has its own railway station, which is situated in the western corner of it.Nawalgarh railway station is situtated on the Jaipur-Loharu railway track. Nawalgarh has very well bus facility for major cities like Jaipur, Delhi, Ajmer, Kota, Bikaner, Jodhpur. All the buses operated from Sikar and Jhunjhunu depot passes through Nawalgarh as well as other depot buses also operated. Recently ministry of Railway has been surved Jaipur-Loharu railway track and it will be expected that this railway track soon be converted in Broad gauge

Places to see ...

There are more than 200 havelis, mostly in private possession in Shekhawati region. Some of these date back to the 17th century. They range between one storey to five and a number of them have as many as 10 courtyards displaying brilliant architectural techniques. There are a few prominent havelis like Anandilal Poddar Haveli, Aath Haveli, Hodh Raj Patodia Haveli,Bhagwandas Lokenath Patodia Haveli etc., which are to be visited, and so are the two forts Bala Kila Fort, Fatehgarh Fort and the palace hotel Roop Niwas Palace that is a beautiful heritage property and is renovated with modern facilities. The Palace offers spacious painted rooms, Luxurious interiors, graceful hospitality and great thematic evenings with sumptuous cuisine. The registered painting in their Art Gallery is a treat to the visuals.
On the west of the fort are a group of havelis know numerically as Aath havelis, aath meaning eight. The frescoes on these havelis are not the best examples but they show the transition in painting styles through the periods. One of the paintings depicts a steam locomotive while other show mammoth images of elephants, horses and camels. Opposite these havelis is situated the Muraraka Haveli, which shows off some very fine painting including the miniature paintings from the Krishna legends. To the north is Hem Raj Kulwal Haveli. Built in 1931 the haveli depicts at the entrance portraits of the Kulwal family and also that Indian leaders like Gandhi and Nehru. The windows are bordered by very colourful architraves. An ornate silver gate leads to the inner courtyard, which has some fine paintings mostly of religious themes. Quite close to it is the Khedwal Bhawan, which features some striking mirror and blue tile work at the entrance to the inner courtyard. Some frescos depicting a locomotive engine crossing a bridge and a woman on a swing in festivities of Teej Festival are seen on some of the walls. Also seen is the story of legendary lovers Dhola Maru on an outside wall. Morarka Haveli displays some very well preserved paintings of Ramayana legends. Other notable havelis are Bhagton ki choti Haveli, Parusrampuria Haveli, Dharni Dhakra Haveli, Chhauchharia Haveli, Hira Lal Sarowgi Haveli and Geevrajka Haveli.

My History

Shekhawat is a sub-clan of Kachwaha Rajputs found mainly in Rajasthan, India. The Shekhawat clan claims descent from the great rajput warrior Maharao Shekha Ji. The Shekhawats were the most prominent among all sub clans of Kachwahas of Jaipur. Shekhawats were the rulers of Shekhawati.

Shekhawat are the most prominent of the all the Kachawahas. They are offsprings of the great Kachawaha Rajput warrior Rao Shekha ( 1443 - 1488). He ruled over the region called 'Shekhawati' , comprising of the districts of Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Churu. He was son of Thakur of Nan Mokal Kachawaha and Nirwan Queen. He was born on 24 sept. 1433, at Amra Dhabai ki Dhani. Later in the memory Amra Rao shekh founded Amarsar.On death of his old father Rao Mokal, Rao Shekha took over the reigns in 1459, at that time he was only 12. Shekhawt's and Shekhawati (area in which they reside) has given maximum number of soldiers to the country. And about 30,000 of this regions soldiers have died in first and second world war. Maximum causalities of soldiers in Kargil conflict were of Shekhawati region. This area is also recipient of the first Param veer chakra in India, which was won by Piru Singh Shekhawat of village Rampura beri (district- Churu). He was from 6th Rajputana Rifles. Most of the Rajput troops from shekhawati are enrolled in Rajputana Rifles, rajput regiment and grenadiers regiment.

Main article: Thikanas of Shekhawati
The Shekhawat Rajputs ruled over the Shekhawati region for over 500 years. The Shekhawats are the most prominent among all the sub-clans of the Kachwaha Dynasty of Jaipur. Sir Yadunath Sarkar in his book Fall of The Mughal Empire, wrote that Shekhawats were the bravest among the sub-clans of Kachawaha Dynasty of Jaipur. This is clear from the following poetry on Shekhawats in Rajasthani language -
"आम ज उमदा नीपजे गेंहू अर गुड़ ताड़।",
"नर नाहर तो नीपजे शेखा घर ढ़ूंढ़ाड़।।".
Another couplet on the bravery of the Shekhawats is famous throughout Rajasthan :-
Raj Karbo Rajani Khabo Peebo Khangani Pan ladba Karba Shekhani The couplet means that while the Rajawat's are the best to rule, the Khangarots are the best for built and eatery habbits but for bravery and warfare, noone stand better than Shekhawats.
History also states that during a war between Jaipur and the Marathas, when a Maratha soldier executed a Shekhawat warrior for not giving him his horse, the Shekhawat's, without the kings permission attacked the Marathas and killed more than 6000 of them, a Rajasthhani couplet explains the same:-
Maratho Shekhe ne maariyo,je natyo ghodo deba soon Lal bhai jaipar ki dharti, Shekha na dabya keba soon
The Shekhawat rulers constructed more than 50 forts and palaces in their Thikanas in Shekhawati and other thikanas. The Shekhawati region has many beautiful kaleidoscopic forts and magnificent Castles. The walls of the palaces and castles are richly painted. Frescoes were introduced first of all by the Shekhawat Rajputs in their Forts in Shekhawati. They were the first patrons of the wall painting tradition in Shekhawati.
Shekhawati was established by the Shekhawat Rajputs and it was ruled by them till India’s Independence.

Maharao Shekha Ji from Dhundhar or Amer established his own independent kingdom with the capital at Amarsar; he was the first independent Ruler in Dhundhar after ruler of Amer. After him Rao Raimal, Rao Suja and Rao Lunkaran become the rulers of Amarsar. Rao Manohar succeeded his father Rao Lunkaran and founded Manoharpur later renamed Shahpura [The present ruler of Shahpura(Rao Rajendra Singh Saheb of Shahpura) is the Tikai of Shekhawat sub clan]. The Shekhawats conquered the Jhunjhunu, Fatehpur, Narhar of Kaimkhanis and established their rule on them.
Rao Suja’s younger son Raja Raisal was a brave king; he conquered Khandela from Nirbans and succeeded as the Raja Sahib of Khandela. He had 12 sons among them 5 were died in battle. His seventh son Raja Girdhar succeeded as the Raja of Khandela and his descendents are known as Girdhar Ji Ka Shekhawats. Raja Raisal’s elder son was Thakur Lal Singh, he was granted Khachariawas Thikana and his son Kesari Singh founded Khatu. As Akbar called Lal Singh Lad Khan, this name become famous, and his descendents are known as Ladkhani. Raja Raisal’s third son Rao Tirmal was the ancestor of “Rao Ji Ka” Sept of Shekhawats. He was granted the parganas of Nagore and Kasli (with 84 villages). Rao Daulat Singh son of Rao Jaswant Singh of Kasli, founded Sikar in 1687. Raja Raisal’s fifth son Thakur Bhojraj was brave and a generous person; he received the Udaipurwati as his Jagir by his father. He was the ruler of Udaipurwati (The group of 45 villages of Udaipurwati was known as Pentalisa) and he was ancestor of the Bhojraj Ji Ka sept of Shekhawats. Descendents of Thakur Bhojraj founded many Thikanas and ruled over them. Bhojraj Ji Ka Shekhawats ruled over two territories; one was Pentalisa and another was Panch Pana. Pentalisa comprised Jhajhar, Gudhagorji, Khirod, Chirana etc. and Panch Pana comprised the Thikanas of Khetri, Bissau, Mukandgarh, Nawalgarh, Dundlod,Mandawa, Mehansar, Alsisar, Inderpura, Malsisar, Mandrella, Arooka, Chowkari, Hirwa, Sigra, Surajgarh, etc. Thakur Shardul Singh, a descendent of Rao Bhojraj Ji, conquered Jhunjhunu in 1730 from the Kayamkhani Nawabs. Thakur Shardul Singh had six sons, namely, Thakur Jorawar Singh, Thakur Kishan Singh, Kunwar Bahadur Singh (died in his Kunwarpadi), Thakur Akhe Singh, Thakur Nawal Singh Bahadur and Thakur Kesari Singh. Unfortunately, Bahadur Singh had expired in an early age. Later on Thakur Shardul Singh’s estate was divided into five equal shares among his five sons. These five shares were known as Panchpana. It was a second territory, ruled by Bhojraj Ji Ka. Panchpana comprised the Thikanas of Khetri, Bissau, Mukandgarh, Nawalgarh, Dundlod, Mandawa,Mehansar, Alsisar, Malsisar,Tain, Mandrella, Arooka, Chowkari, Hirwa, Sigra, Surajgarh, etc. Akhe Singh died without issue, so his share was given to the other brothers. Thakur Shardul Singh’s sons and their descendents founded many new well planned and prosperous Thikanas.[1] Many Thikanas had their own flags and emblems. The Shekhawats ruled over the highest number of Thikanas in Jaipur Rajwara.
In 19th century Sikar was the largest & wealthiest Thikana and the Khetri was the second wealthiest Thikana of the Jaipur State.
Shekhawati was the largest Nizamat of the Jaipur State, almost the whole of which is occupied by Shekhawats. The Shekhawat chieftains of the region retained a nominal loyalty to the Kachwaha Rajput’s capital state of Jaipur, who in turn honoured them with the hereditary title known as Tazimi Sirdars. The Rulers of the Shekhawati’s Thikanas were the Shekhawat sub clan of Kachwaha Dynasty of Jaipur Princely State. Shekhawats was the most prominent among all the Kachawas of Jaipur. Col. J.C. Brooke in his book Political History of India wrote that for the recruitment of Horse-army there is no region in India at par with Shekhawati.