During the reign of the Chauhan, Ajmer became a premier city of the Northern India. From the time of Ajayraj, the Chauhan of Shakambhari started the career of aggressive campaigns against their neighbours in order to establish an empire. He defeated Narvarman, the Paramar ruler of Malwa, and captured alive his military general. The Prithvirajraso credits him also with a victory over the Muslims of Ghazni. He was succeeded by his son Arnoraj in 1132 AD. The fight against the Muslims continued. These foreign invaders reached as far as Ajmer. Arnoraj defeated them, and built the Ana Sagar Lake to purify the land, which had become impure owing to the spilling of Muslim blood in a battle fought at that place. He fought three wars against the Chalukya rulers of Gujarat, one with celebrated Siddharaja Jayasimha, and the other two with the still more powerful king Kumarpal, successor of Jayasimha. Kumarpal invaded Ajmer and forced him to accept his suzerainty.
After Arnoraj, Vishaldev Vigrahraj ascended the throne of Ajmer in about 1150 AD. His reign is a landmark not only in the history of Ajmer but also in the history of India. He was the most powerful ruler of the Chauhan dynasty, and established a vast empire by his conquests. He conquered Delhi from the Tomar. While carrying on conquest in the Punjab, he fought a number of battles with the Muslims. In the South, he plundered Pallika (Pall), burnt Jabalipura (Jalor) and sacked Nadol. Formerly, all these territories were included in the kingdom of the Chalukya ruler Kumarpal. After that Prithviraj II, Someshvara and Prithviraj III became the rulers of Ajmer one after the other. During the reign of Prithvlraj III, Muhammad Shahabuddin Ghori invaded India. First, he was defeated by Prithviraj III. At last in 1192 AD, Muhammad Shahabuddln Ghori again attacked India and became successful in defeating Prithviraj III. He was taken prisoner and killed. Muhammad Ghori took possession of Ajmer, but returned to Ghor after giving it to Govindraj, the son of Prithviraj III. Hariraj drove his nephew Govindraj from the throne and himself became the ruler. Qutub-ud-din Aibak seized this place from him and appointed the Muslim Governor of this place in 1195 AD.
After the downfall of the Chauhan, the importance of Ajmer somehow declined, still its strategic position was recognized for controlling the Rajput States. It changed hands many times after the decline of the Chauhan. For the first few years, it remained, sometimes in the possession of the Sultans of Delhi, and sometimes in the hands of the rulers of Mewar. Afterwards in 1455 A D, it was taken away by Mahmud Khilji, the Sultan of Mandu. Maharana Kumbha, the Sisodia ruler of Mewar, recaptured it. In 1533 AD, Bahadur Shah of Gujarat acquired Ajmer, but Rao Viramdev of Merta drove out the Gujarat governor, and took possession of Ajmer in 1515 AD. Maldev seized this place from Viramdev, but he had to surrender it to Sher Shah Sur. On the decline of the Sur Dynasty, Haji Khan, the slave of Multan & Sher Shah Sur, came and took possession of this place in 1556 AD. Afterward, Akbar’s General Kasim Khan Nishapuri attacked Ajmer and obtained possession of it. Akbar made it the headquarters for his operations in Rajputana and Gujarat.
Ajmer enjoyed a sort of peace during the Mughal rule up to 1720 A.D. It was also ruled by the Scindia of Gwalior. Finally, the British took over its possession in 1818 A.D.
The Chauhan rulers of Ajmer were highly devoted to Shaivism. Ajayraj was a Shaiva, so also was his son Arnoraj, who built a temple named after father on the Lake Ana Sagar. Vigraharaj was an ardent worshipper of Shiva. Prithviraj II’s queen Sudhava built the Sudhavesvara Temple at Monal in Mewar. Being a Shaiva, Somesvara erected five temples, of which one was dedicated to Tripuresh and another to Vaidyanath.
Although followers of Shaivism, the Chauhan rulers of Ajmer were liberal in their religious views. They honoured Jain teachers, granted lands to Jain temples, and took part in their religious ceremonies. Ajayraj permitted the Jain people to build temples in the newly founded city of Ajmer, and presented a golden ‘kalash’ (स्वर्ण कलश) to the temple of Parsvanath. Kshemandhara built a beautiful temple costing about 1600 drammas. Arnoraj gave to the followers of the ‘gachchha’ an extensive plot of land for the construction of a temple at Ajmer. The Shvetambar Jain scholar Dharmghosh-suri received a Jaypad from him by defeating his Digambar rival Gunchandra. Vigraharaja IV built ‘vihar’, participated in their religious ceremonies and on the representation of one of their religious teachers Dharamaghoshasuri, prohibited the slaughter of animals on the Ekadashi day. He is also said to have hoisted the flag staff of the Jain temple known as Rajvihar at Ajmer.
Prithviraj II and Somesvara granted the villages of Morajhari and Revana to meet the expenses of the temple of Parsvanath of Bijaulia. As the Chauhan rulers were great supporters of Jainism, Ajmer was frequently visited by Jain saints for its propagation. During the reign of Arnoraj, Jindattasuri came to this place to perform the installation ceremony of the Jain temple. Even after the Chauhan, Jainism was followed by the people.
There are various ‘chabutara’ and ‘chhatris’ built over the remains of Bhattarak Acharyas and Panditas. They rendered a valuable service to Jainism in medieval times. In 1795 A.D., during the reign of Daulat Rao Scindia, a grand function of the consecration ceremony of images was performed by Dharmadasa through Bhattarak Bhuvanakirti.
Ajmer remained a great centre of art and literature in early times. Several copies of the manuscripts were prepared. Vigrahraj was himself a great scholar, and wrote the Hara Kelt drama. He gave patronage to scholars. The most famous among them was Somesvara, who wrote the drama of Lalitvigraharaj. The caste and ‘gotra’ were founded after the name of Ajmer. The Ajmera caste is mentioned in a list of the Mahajana castes. The Ajmera gotra is found among the Maheshvaris and the Khandelval Jain. Probably, the natives of Ajmer migrated to other places, where they were known after the original place. Gradually, they assumed the form of caste and gotra.
In order to explore various aspects of rich heritage, Optima Travels serves as Ajmer travel guide for tourists as well as pilgrims. Ajmer Sharif, Adhai Din Ka Jhopra, Ajmer Government Museum, Taragarh Fort, Ana Sagar Lake and many ancient temples and palaces are major highlights of Ajmer.