Jaisalmer Travel Guide — History & Tourist Information

Jaisalmer was founded in 1156 by Rawal Jaisal, a ruler of the Bhati Rajput clan, who is said to have chosen the rocky Trikuta hill on the advice of a hermit and built his fort there after abandoning the older Bhati stronghold of Lodhruva nearby. The city's golden-yellow sandstone, quarried locally, gives both the fort and much of the old town their honey-gold colour and Jaisalmer's nickname, the "Golden City."

For centuries Jaisalmer thrived as a key stop on the camel caravan trade routes linking India to Central Asia, Persia and Egypt, taxing merchants who passed through the Thar Desert with goods like silk, spices and opium. This trade wealth funded the city's elaborately carved havelis (merchant mansions), several of which — like Patwon Ki Haveli — survive as some of India's finest examples of sandstone latticework.

Jaisalmer's fortunes declined sharply after the rise of Bombay as a major port in the 19th century redirected trade away from overland desert routes, and the city faded into relative obscurity until Indian independence and, later, its rediscovery as a tourist destination. Jaisalmer Fort remains one of the very few "living forts" in the world — roughly a quarter of its old-city population still resides within its walls today.