Jodhpur lies on the strategic Delhi-Gujarat trading route and the people benefited from the traffic of opium, copper, silk sandalwood, dates and coffee. The trade boosted an economy scarred by military conquests.

The Mughals wanted a share of the riches and control of Jodhpur. The least bloody way was the marriage between Emperor Akbar and Rao Udai Singh's sister. The alliance ensured that the Rathores received military aid from the Mughals for their campaigns in Gujarat.

But the Mughal alliance ran into problems after Emperor Akbar's death. In the mid-17th century, Jaswant Singh joined Emperor Shah Jahan's forces against Aurangzeb's. The victorious Aurangzeb pillaged Jodhpur and its citizens were forcibly converted to Islam. Jaswant Singh's son Ajit Singh who was then the Maharaja, was murdered and the Mughals staked their claim to the throne. His infant son Ajit Singh II went underground and after 30 years in hiding in a tiny Himalayan village, returned to Jodhpur after Aurangzeb's death (1707) and recaptured it. Ajit Singh also drove the Mughals out of Ajmer and added to Meherangarh fort (most of the parts that exist now).

The eighteenth century saw many bloody battles between Jodhpur and the other princely states in Rajasthan, Jaipur and Udaipur. Ajit Singh's successor Maharaja Abhai Singh captured Ahmedabad and later in 1818, Jodhpur signed a treaty with the British. The Rathores lost some of their honour, but the treaty ensured the kingdom relative peace and prosperity.

The last Maharaja before Independence - Umaid Singh after whom the Umaid Bhavan is named - is the grandfather of the present Maharaja Gaj Singh.

Jodhpur is in west Rajasthan and isn't as well laid out as Jaipur. Winding narrow streets without street signs make navigation and getting to your destination a feat. The walled city or old Jodhpur has eight gates, of which Jalori Gate and Sojati Gate on the south, are the most important - the busiest commercial centres surround them. The new city expands to the south and east of the old city.

Jodhpur Railway station lies to the southwest of Sojati Gate along Station Road. Outside the station three main roads fan out from a statue of a horseman. Olympic Cinema Road to the far left, leads to the telegraph office. The road directly in front of the state leads to the Jalori Gate, which is the best way into the old city. Station Road, leading off to the right towards Sojati Gate, is lined with cheap hotels and restaurants. High Court Road is the main east-west avenue, running from Sojati Gate past the Umaid Gardens and the Tourist Reception Centre to the distant Raika Bagh Railway Station, just opposite the bus stand, where it bends north towards Paota Circle. Trains from the east stop at the Raika Bagh station, which is before the main station.

Nai Sarak, or New Road, leads through Sojati Gate to the biggest shopping thoroughfare and then to the market area, Sadar Bazaar, at the base of the deck tower that marks the centre of Jodhpur. The magnificent Meherangarh Fort (above the city) and Jaswant Thada can be see from almost everywhere.