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Introduction
Lying in the north of the desert state, the city is dotted with
scores of sand dunes. Bikaner retains the medieval grandeur that
permeates the city's lifestyle. More readily called the camel
country, the city is distinguished for the best riding camels in the
world and hence boasts of having one of the largest Camel research
and breeading farm in the world. The ship of the desert is an
inseparable part of life here. A camel besides doing transportation
duties, also works on wells. These are built on high plinths with
slender minarets on each of the four corners and can be noticed even
from a distance.
 The
history of Bikaner dates back to 1488 when a Rathore prince, Rao
Bikaji founded his kingdom. Bikaji was one the five sons of Rao
Jodhaji the illustrious founder of Jodhpur. But Rao Bikaji was the
most adventurous of them. It is said that an insensitive remark from
his father about his whispering in the Durbar provoked Bikaji to set
up his own kingdom towards the north of Jodhpur. The barren
wilderness called Jangladesh became his focus point and he
transformed it to an impressive city. He accomplished his task with
100 cavalry horses and 500 soldiers, and established his kingdom on
84 villages abandoned by the 'Shankhlas'. When Bikaji died in 1504
his rule had extended to over 3000 villages.
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