Powerhouse of Rajasthan

Being a city that has a homophone in its name, Kota was initially founded in the 12th century. Kota, which is a homophone of the word ‘quota’, was founded by Rao Deva. Rao Deva was a Rajput chief who belonged to the Hada troops.

The beautiful city of Kota. Source; rajRAS

Kota wasn’t Kota when it was founded, be it land wise or name wise. When it was discovered, it was divided into two parts, Hadoti and Bundi. Unfortunately, Hadoti could not see much light of the day as Bundi took over the majority of what is known as Kota today.

Coming to a later century where Kota was getting the recognition it deserved as well as desired, it was in the 17th century. That is when Kota was not in the hands of the Rajput but the Mughals. It was ruled by the Mughal ruler Jahangir in the 17th century. A chief officer of Kota, Rao Ratan Singh, gave a small province, that was Kota, to his son. That is what marked the involvement of Kota in the Rajput and the Hindu community.

Rao Ratan was made the king of that small province until his son could take over properly. Managing the region very well, Kota started taking over a lot of space and became a larger area than its parent state of Bundi.

Post that period, Kota was ruled by many other Rajput and Hindu kings. It was later in the 18th century that the British captured the district and held it under them.

The mid 19th century saw Kota get its independence from the British. This time was also the town that had completely outgrown the Bundi district of Hadoti. The parent state had fallen off the track and got its knees weak. Being the biggest in the territory, it got the recognition to be the Kota district along with Baran.

Comparing what Kota was back then as to the 20th century and the present, Kota has turned out to be the third biggest district after Jaipur and Jodhpur in the state of Rajasthan. Not just in size but in things like textiles and education, Kota is turning some big unturned stones and soaring to heights. The textile that is called as Kota Doria is one of the finest woven fabrics in the whole of India.

Kota is an astounding combination of illustrious archaic age culture and cutting edge industrialization. Kota brings a lot to the table with its notable Rajput legacy and customs. This desert abiding is a city with a distinction.