Rajasthan, the largest State in India in terms of area, prior to independence, was known as Rajputana or the home of Rajputs—a martial community who ruled over this area for centuries.

The history of Rajasthan dates back to the pre-historic times. Around 3,000 and 1,000 BC, it had a culture akin to that of the Indus Valley Civilisation. It was the Chauhans who dominated Rajput affairs from seventh century and by 12th century, they had become an imperial power. After the Chauhans, it was the Guhilots of Mewar who controlled the destiny of the warring tribes. Besides Mewar, the other historically prominent states were Marwar, Jaipur, Bundi, Kota, Bharatpur and Alwar, while the other states were only offshoots of these. All these states accepted the British Treaty of Subordinate Alliance in 1818, protecting the interest of the princes. This naturally left the people discontented.

After the revolt of 1857, the people united themselves under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi to contribute to the freedom movement. With the introduction of provincial autonomy in1935 in British India, agitation for civil liberties and political rights became stronger in Rajasthan. The process of uniting the scattered states commenced from 1948 to 1956, when the States Reorganisation Act was promulgated. First came Matsya Union (1948), consisting of a fraction of states. Slowly and gradually, other states merged with this Union. By 1949, major states like Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaislmer joined this Union, making it the United State of Greater Rajasthan. Ultimately in 1958, the present state of Rajasthan formally came into being, with Ajmer state, the Abu Road Taluka, and Sunel Tappa joining it.

The entire western flank of the state borders with Pakistan, while Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh bind Rajasthan in north, north-east, south-east and Gujarat in south-west.

Total cultivable area in the State is 210.62 lakh hectares (2005-2006). The estimated food grain production is 118.26 lakh tonnes. Principal crops cultivated in the State are rice, barley, jowar, millet, maize ,gram, wheat, oilseeds, pulses, cotton and tobacco. Cultivation of vegetable and citrus fruits such as orange and malta has also picked up over last few years. Other crops are red chillies, mustard, cumin seeds, methi and hing.

By the end of March 2005 irrigation potential of 32.07 lakh hectares was created in the state through various major, medium and minor irrigation projects. during the year 2005-06 and additional irrigation potential of 69,673 hectares ( excluding IGNP & CAD)has been created upto December 2005. The installes power capacity in the State has become 5385Mw upto March 2006 of
which 2885 Mw is produced from State own projects, 973 Mw from collaboration project and 1527 Mw from the allocation from Central power generating stations.

Roads: The total length of roads in the State is around 1,58,250 km.

Railways: Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kota, Sawai Madhopur and Bharatpur are some of the main railway junctions.

Aviation: Regular air services connect Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur with Delhi and Mumbai.

Fairs and Festivals Besides festivals of Dussehra, Diwali, Holi, other important festivals/fairs/melas are Maghi Mela at Mukatsar, Rural Sports at Kila Raipur, Basant at Patiala, Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib, Baisakhi at Talwandi Saboo, Urs at Rauza Sharif at Sirhind, Chappar Mela at Chappar, Sheikh Farid Agam Purb at Faridkot, Ram Tirath at Village Ram Tirath, Shaheedi Jor Mela at Sirhind, Harballah Sangeet Sammelan at Jalandhar and Baba Sodal at Jalandhar. In addition to above fairs and festivals, 3 heritage festivals at Amritsar, Patiala, Kapurthalla are also celebrated every year and are very popular among the tourists

Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Mount Abu, Sariska Tiger Sanctuary in Alwar, Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur, Ajmer, Jaisalmer, Pali and Chittorgarh are important places of tourist interest in the state.