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Rājputana (Hindi:[ɾaːdʒpʊt̪aːnaː]), meaningLand of theRajputs,[1] was a region in theIndian subcontinent that included mainly the entire present-dayIndian state ofRajasthan, parts of the neighboring states ofMadhya Pradesh andGujarat,[1] and adjoining areas ofSindh in modern-day southern Pakistan.[2]
The main settlements to the west of theAravalli Hills came to be known asRajputana, early in theMedieval Period.[3] The name was later adopted byEast India Company as theRajputana Agency for its dependencies in the region of the present-dayIndian state of Rājasthān.[4] The Rajputana Agency included 26 Rajput and 2 Jat princely states and two chiefships. This official term remained until its replacement by "Rajasthan" in the constitution of 1949.[4]
George Thomas (Military Memories) was the first in 1800, to term this region theRajputana Agency.[5] The historianJohn Keay in his book,India: A History, stated that theRajputana name was coined by theBritish, but that the word achieved a retrospective authenticity: in an 1829 translation of Ferishta's history of early Islamic India, John Briggs discarded the phrase "Indian princes", as rendered in Dow's earlier version, and substituted "Rajpoot princes".
The region was previously long known as Gujratra (an early form of "Gujarat"), before it came to be called Rajputana during the medieval period, although the name "Gujratra" itself originated from theGurjara-Pratiharas.[6][7]
The area of Rajputana is estimated to be 343,328 square km (132,559 square miles) and breaks down into two geographic divisions:[8]
The whole area forms the hill and plateau country between the north Indian plains and the main plateau of peninsular India.[9]
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The territory consisted of 23 states, one Sardari, one Jagir and the British district ofAjmer-Mewar. Most of the ruling princes were Rajputs. These were Rajput Kshatriyas from the historical region of Rajputana, who started entering the region in the seventh century.Jodhpur,Jaisalmer,Bikaner,Jaipur andUdaipur were the largest states. In 1947, integration of these states took place in various stages, as a result of which the State of Rajasthan came into existence. Some old areas of south-east Rajputana are now a part ofMadhya Pradesh and some areas in the south-west are now part ofGujarat.
ColonelJames Tod, who as the first British official to visit Rajasthan spent most of the 1820s exploring its political potential, formed a very different idea of "Rashboots".....and the whole region thenceforth became, for the British, 'Rajputana'. HistorianR. C. Majumdar explained that the region was long known asGurjaratra early form of Gujarat, before it came to be called Rajputana, early in theMuslim period.