Jodhpur

The Mehrangarh Fort at Jodhpur, India, seen from the Jaswant Thada cenotaph. Situated on a hill overlooking the city of Jodhpur, the fort dominates the landscape.

Interior of the Mehrangarh Fort at Jodhpur, India. Delicately latticed balconies and elaborate panels, carved from stone, characterize the architecture of the palaces that lie within the fort.

City in Rajasthan, India, 490 km/310 mi southwest of Delhi; population (2001) 846,400. Handicraft industries such as ivory carving and lacquerware are important, and railway parts, textiles, and bicycles are manufactured here. It is a market centre. It was formerly the capital of Jodhpur princely state, founded by Rao Jodha on the edge of the Thar Desert. A style of riding breeches is named after the town.

The city contains the training college of the Indian air force, a university (1962), an 18th-century Mogul palace, and a red sandstone fort built some 120 m/400 ft above the plain and dating from the city's foundation in 1459.