Rajasthan Mukundra Hill Tiger Reserve in Kota. The state was formed on 30 March 1949 when Rajputanathe name adopted by the British Raj for its dependencies in the regionwas merged into the Dominion of India. Its capital and largest city is Jaipur. Other important cities are Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner, Ajmer and Udaipur. Rajasthan literally means "Land of Kings" or "King's Abode" (from "raja" "king" and "-sthan" "land, abode" from Sanskrit "sthā́na"). The first mention of the name "Rajasthan" appears in the 1829 publication "Annals and Antiquities of Rajast'han or the Central and Western Rajpoot States of India", while the earliest known
City Palace, Jaipur Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber. He planned and built the outer walls, and later additions were made by successive rulers continuing up to the 20th century. The credit for the urban layout of the city and its structures is attributed to two architects namely, Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, the chief architect in the royal court and Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, apart from the Sawai himself who was a keen architectural enthusiast. The architects achieved a fusion of the Shilpa Shastra of Indian architecture with Rajput, and Mughal. The palace complex lies in the heart of Jaipur city, to the