Amber (India)
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 India
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| State : | Rajasthan | ||
| District : | Jaipur | ||
| Location : | 26 ° 59 ′ N , 75 ° 51 ′ E | ||
| Height : | 410 m | ||
| Residents : | 25,000 | ||
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Amber ( Hindi : आमेर, Āmer) is located in the Indian state of Rajasthan . Formerly an independent place, it now belongs to the city of Jaipur . Amber has about 25,000 residents. Along with Jaipur, it is one of the most visited sites in Rajasthan.
location
The small town of Amber is located in a valley of the Aravalli Mountains approx. 11 km (driving distance) northeast of the megacity Jaipur .
Population development
There are no exact details. The administrative district (tehsil) has approx. 452,000 inhabitants; 94.5% of them are Hindus and a good 5% Muslims ; the rest is made up of Jains , Sikhs , Christians and Buddhists .
economy
In the past, smallholder agriculture dominated, but day laborers and artisans gradually settled here. Today the place lives primarily from tourism.
history
The fort of Amber, the former capital of the Kachchwaha dynasty , was built or expanded around 1590 by order of Raja Man Singh I (r. 1589-1614), a general of the Mughal emperor Akbars , and later by his grandson Jai Singh I. (ruled 1621–1667) further expanded. Both are also considered to be the builders of the royal palace.
The beginnings of the city are much older and go back to the Minas, the original inhabitants of the area. Even before it was taken over by the Kachchwaha Rajputs, it was a flourishing city in the 10th century.
The Kachchwaha dynasty kept the capital in Amber until Sawai Jai Singh II (ruled 1699–1743) founded a new city around 1730 and gave it the name Jainagar , which soon became "Jaipur".
Attractions
- The Amber Fort was the Prince's Palace of Kachchwaha Dynasty before Jaipur became the residence. In many buildings there are clear echoes or takeovers from the Mughal architecture . The hall of mirrors, a part of the Diwan-i-Khas , is particularly worth seeing, the interior of which is decorated with a multitude of small mirrors that also cover the Bengali-style ceiling. The walls and pillars of the palace are completely covered with white marble slabs; the columns are made of solid marble.
- The fortress of Jaigarh Fort is a good 100 m above Amber Fort, which is only visited by a few tourists .
- In the village there are several Hindu temples (mandira) from the 17th to 19th centuries and two step wells (baoris) , one of which is the Panna Meena ka Kund .
Web links
- Amber Fort (eng.) ( Memento from December 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Amber Fort - photos + information