Rājasthān (Rajasthani: राजसथान, pronounced [raːdʒəsˈtʰaːn] ( listen)) is the largest

state of the Republic of India by area. It encompasses most of the area of the large,
inhospitable Great Indian Desert (Thar Desert), which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-
Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan. It is one of the most beautiful states of
India which attracts very large number of domestic and foreign tourist in India. The state
borders Pakistan to the west, Gujarat to the southwest, Madhya Pradesh to the southeast,
Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to the northeast and Punjab to the north. Rajasthan covers an
area of 132,150 sq mi or 342,239 km². The proportion of the state's total area to the total
area of the country is 10.41 per cent.
Jaipur is the capital and the largest city of the state. Geographical features include the
Thar Desert along north-western Rajasthan and the termination of the Ghaggar River near
the archaeological ruins at Kalibanga, which are the oldest in the subcontinent discovered
so far.
One of the world's oldest mountain ranges, the Aravalli Range, cradles the only hill
station of Rajasthan, Mount Abu, famous for Dilwara Temples, a sacred pilgrimage for
Jains. Eastern Rajasthan has the world famous Keoladeo National Park near Bharatpur,
once famous for its bird life and is a World Heritage Site and two famous national tiger
reserves, Ranthambore and Sariska Tiger Reserve. Rajasthan was formed on 30 March
1949, when all erstwhile princely states ruled by Rajputs, known as Rajputana, merged
into the Dominion of India.
It was essentially the country of the Gurjars.[1] Historian R. C. Majumdar explained that
the region was long known as Gurjaratra (Country protected by the Gurjars or Gurjar
nation), early form of Gujarat, before it came to be called Rajputana, early in the Muslim
period.[2] The historian John Keay in his book, India: A History stated that, Rajputana
name was given by Britishers and The word even achieved a retrospective authenticity, in
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.[3]
The only difference between erstwhile Rajputana and Rajasthan is that certain portions of
what had been British India, in the former province of Ajmer-Merwara, were included.
Portions lying geographically outside of Rajputana such as the Sumel-Tappa area were
included in Madhya Pradesh.[citation needed]