“Mhaaro Rang Rangeelo Rajasthan” is truly blessed with vivacious cultures, royal heritages, holy traditions, communities living in harmony and enchanting nature. It is also, literally and in every sense, the “Land of Kings.” This time we are here to tell you the difference between two major regions of Rajasthan that are the Mewar Province and the Marwar Province. Mewar and Marwar are pretty much similar on the basic level, but when scrutinized, they have some contrasting features. Let’s find out more about the
‘two regions with a sole soul.’
“Territories of the “Land of Kings”
Mewar, the south-central region of the state of Rajasthan includes:
➤ Bhilwara,
➤ Rajsamand,
➤ Chittorgarh,
➤ Udaipur,
➤Tehsil Pirawa of Jhalawar District,
➤Neemuch and Mandsaur districts of Madhya Pradesh
➤and some parts of Gujarat.
Marwar region includes:
➤ Barmer
➤ Sirohi
➤Jalore
➤Nagaur
➤ Jodhpur
➤Pali
➤and parts of Sikar.
“What’s in a name they say, but then everything has a name”
The word “Mewar” is loosely extracted from the word ‘Medapata’ which is the ancient name of the region. ‘Meda’ refers to the Meda Tribe who used to reside in the region (now called Badnor) and ‘pata’ refers to the administrative unit.
The word “Marwar” comes from the word ‘Maru,’ a Sanskrit word, which means desert and from a Rajasthani slang‘wad’ which means a particular area. Marwar is basically known as ‘The Region of Desert’.
“The richest histories in the country”
History of both Mewar and Marwar is quite rich and somewhat similar as both were founded by Rajputs. On one hand, where Mewar has a history of wars, defeats, successions, and establishments, Marwar’s history is complex with no direct successions and Mughals and Rajputs ruling now and then.
After the establishment of both Mewar and Marwar, the timeline of monarchy witnessed a number of kings and Britishers as well.
Here we have a timeline of reigns of the famous monarchs of Mewar:
Kings |
Known for |
Reign- period |
| Bappa Rawal | founder of Mewar | 734-753 |
| Maharana Kumbha | ➤his reign is considered as the “golden period of Mewar”
➤Was the only Hindu king of his time in India |
1433-1468 |
| Maharana Udai Singh | ➤Murdered his own father, Rana Kumbha and turned out to be an abominated king.
➤Was struck by lightning just before his daughter’s marriage and died on the spot. |
1468-1473 |
| Maharana Udai Singh II | ➤Founder of Udaipur, the city of lakes | 1537-1572 |
| Maharana Pratap | ➤Only ruler to not give up in front of Mughals.
➤Fought the famous “Battle of Haldighati” against Akbar, the then Mughal ruler |
1572-1597 |
| Maharana Jagat Singh | ➤57th ruler of Mewar
➤The famous Jagmandir Palace and Jagdish temple in Udaipur was built during his reign. |
1628-1652 |
| Maharana Swaroop Singh | ➤Britishers started settling in India during his reign and he supported Britishers in every way possible. | 1842-1861 |
| Maharana Sajjan Singh | ➤He did everything in his power for Udaipur and its environment
➤Udaipur became the second city in the country to have a municipality, after Bombay, under his rule ➤He built a beautiful monsoon palace in Udaipur, that is Sajjangarh Fort, to complement the beauty of Udaipur in the backdrop. |
1874-1884 |
| Maharana Bhupal Singh | ➤Founded many colleges and schools, especially for girls and also worked towards the betterment of lakes and environment of Udaipur | 1930-1955 |
| Maharana Bhagwat Singh | ➤Last ruler of Mewar
➤Sold off most of his properties like Fateh Prakash, Jagmandir and other architectures on the banks of Lake Pichola so that all of them are well maintained ➤Even though the financial situation of the Royalties was depleting, he worked towards the betterment of Mewar. |
1955-1984 |
Marwar was established by the Gurjara Pratihara, a Rajput clan. They first settled their kingdom in the 6th century in Marwar with the capital at Mandore which is 9 km from Jodhpur.
Here we have the timeline mentioning famous rulers of Marwar:
Kings |
Known For |
Reign Period |
| Rao Sheoji | ➤first ruler to rule over Marwar from Rathore dynasty | 1226-1273 |
| Rao Ranmal | ➤Was helped by Sisodias of Mewar to rule over Marwar
➤Was assassinated on the orders of Rana Kumbha of Mewar. |
1427-1438 |
| Rao Jodha | ➤Founder of Jodhpur | 1438-1489 |
| Maharaja Jaswant Singh | ➤Fought the Battle of Dharmatpur against Aurangzeb | 1638-1678 |
| Maharaja Ajit Singh | ➤Became ruler of Marwar after 25 years of war against Aurangzeb. | 1679-1724 |
| Maharaja Bakhat Singh | ➤Fought the Battle of Gangwana against Mughals and Kachhawa | 1751-1752 |
| Maharaja Sir Hanwant Singh | ➤Last ruler of Marwar before independence | 9 June 1947-15 August 1947 |
During the famine of 1899-1900, Marwar suffered terribly and seeing the terrible fate Marwar underwent, Maharaja of Jodhpur decided to join the dominion of Pakistan but Lord Mountbatten warned him that majority of his subjects were Hindus and joining Pakistani dominion may create problems for him and the kingdom. In 1950, Rajputana ultimately became the state of Rajasthan.
Proud communities of Mewar and Marwar
Rajputs are a well-known warrior clan of Rajasthan. Their trenchant identity is usually described as “proud Rajput tribes of Rajputana”. Their lineage is traced from the Fire family, the Sun Family and the Moon Family.
The Sun Family includes:
➤ Sisodias of Chittaur and Udaipur
➤Rathores of Jodhpur and Bikaner and
➤Kachawas of Amber and Jaipur.
While the Moon Family includes the Bhattis of Jaisalmer.
The trading communities include Khandelwal, Agrawal, Maheshwari, Jains, and Gahoi of Marwar. Birlas, Bajajs, Goenkas Singhanias are some top business groups in India, who are famous Marwaris from Rajasthan.
The artisan’s communities like Sonar, Lohars, Bhils etc. are majorly found in Mewar.
“Reflection of valor- Mewari, and Marwari”
Mewari should not be confused with Marwari as both the languages are different. People who have been into both the regions can easily identify the boldness of Mewari and the Sweetness of Marwadi.
Mewari is inspired by Devanagari script while maximum words of Marwari are adopted from Sanskrit language and is traditionally associated with Mahajani language.
Mewari- 5 million speakers coming from Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, and Rajsamand districts of the state of Rajasthan.
Marwari- 20 million speakers (most-spoken)
“Aah, the food”
Dal Bati Churma is the signature dish that opts for both the kitchens of Mewar and Marwar. Although, very few people know that Mewar ’s cuisine includes both vegetarian and non-veg food.
Whereas, Marwari cuisine generally follows vegetarian food. Some authentic dishes like
➤Laal Maas and Khad Khargosh
are non-vegetarian delights and are relished by the people of Mewar.
Whereas, the people of Marwar enjoys vegetarian delights such as:
➤Bajre ki roti
➤Pyaaz Kachori
➤Bharwa Besan Mirch
➤Panchmel Daal
and many more fabulous recipes.
Apart from this, the richness in Mewari authentic Thali can be seen with the use of dried spices (Masalas) and dry fruits like cashews and almonds. Whereas the palette of Marwari food is a little dry reflecting the regional conditions.
Marwari Thali focuses more on ingredients like gram flour (Besan) and vegetables like Ker Sangri, Gavarfali, and more.
But, in both the culinary concepts, the common things are cooking techniques, Spicy flavor and the use of ghee.
“The Great and Glorious Festivals”
Besides the culture and region, festivals can also let anyone recognize the distinctive feature of both the heritage. Whether it’s Diwali, Holi or Bhaidooj, all the festivals are significant in Rajasthan. Mewar festival, primarily known as ‘Gangaur,’ is celebrated with lots of enthusiasm amongst women of the region.
And, considering the parts of Marwar, the festival which is widely celebrated by women of the region is “Teej.” which is celebrated in the monsoon season and determined by the cycle of the moon.
Despite these differences, a thing worth remembering is that both the regions and their cultures are blended so well that people always say, and forever say, that not Mewar or Marwar but Rajasthan is Enchanting!
Sources:
- http://www.eternalmewarblog.com/rulers-of-mewar/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodhpur_State
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajasthan
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marwar#/media/File:Marwar_Region(RAJ.)_Suresh_Godara.jpg
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marwar#Geography
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marwari_language
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mewari_language
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