BIKANER, an Indian state in the Rajputana agency, with an area of 23,317 sq.m., a desolate tract, without a single per manently running stream. It is overspread with undulating sand hills, 20 to 10o ft. above the average level, and so loose that men and quadrupeds stepping off the beaten track sink as if in snow. Two streams, the Katli and Ghaggar, attempt to flow through this dismal region, but are lost in its sands. Water is very scarce, and is raised from wells of from 150 to 34o ft. in depth. A few shallow salt lakes are filled by rain water, but they dry up on the setting in of hot weather, leaving a thick crust of salt on their beds, which is used for commercial and domestic purposes. The Ghaggar canal from the Punjab irrigates s,000 acres on the northern border; and a magnificent new canal, connected with the Sutlej Valley scheme, has just been opened, which is intended to protect about 1,1 oo sq.m. of the state. The inhabitants live chiefly by pasturage, rearing camels, horses and sheep. The other industries are leather work, sugar-refining, goldsmith's work, ivory carving, iron, brass, copper, stone masonry, tanning, weaving, dyeing and carpentry. The principal towns are Bikaner, the capital, Churu, Rajgarh, Ratangarh and Reni. In 1931 the population was 936, 218. The military force includes a famous Camel Corps, which distinguished itself in China in 1900, and in Egypt during 1914-18. The educational institutions embrace the Dungar Memorial col lege, a school for the soils of nobles, and a girls' school called after Lady Elgin. The city of Bikaner is surrounded by a stone wall, 6 ft. thick, 15 to 3o ft. high and 33- m. in circuit, with five gates and three sally-ports. The citadel half a mile north-east of the city, is surrounded by a rampart with bastions. The population in 1931 was 85,927. The Bikaner carpets are famous, and there are also manufactures of fine blankets and sugar-candy. The wealth of the towns in this state is due to their being the ancestral homes of Marwari merchants, who trade all over India and amass great riches, with which they retire to the abodes of their fore fathers.
In the 15th century the territory which now forms the state of Bikaner was occupied by Rajput clans, partly Jats, partly Mo hammedans. About 465 Bika, a Rathor Rajput, sixth son of Rao Jodha, chief of Marwar, started out to conquer the country. By taking advantage of the rivalries of the clans he succeeded; in 1485 he built the small fort at the capital which still bears his name, and in 1488 began the building of the city itself. He died in 1504, and his successors gradually extended their possessions. In the reign of Akbar the chiefs of Bikaner were most loyal ad herents of the Delhi empire, and in 157o Akbar married a daughter of Kalyan Singh. Kalyan's son, Rai Singh, who succeeded him in 1571, was one of Akbar's most distinguished generals and the first raja of Bikaner; his daughter married Selim, afterwards the emperor Jahangir. Two other distinguished chiefs of the house were Karan Singh (1631-1669), who in the struggle of the sons of Shah Jahan for the throne threw in his lot with Aurangzeb, and his eldest son, Anup Singh (1669-1698), who fought with distinction in the Deccan, was conspicuous in the capture of Golconda, and earned the title of maharaja. Wars of Bikaner with Jodhpur raged intermittently through the 18th century. On May 9, 1818 a treaty was concluded, and order was restored in the country by British troops. Ratan Singh, who succeeded his father in 1828, applied in vain in 1830 to the British government for aid against his thakurs; but during the next five years dacoity became so rife on the borders that the government raised a special force to deal with it (the Shakhawati brigade), and of this for seven years Bikaner contributed part of the cost. In 1842 Ratan Singh supplied camels for the Afghan expedition ; in 1844 he reduced the dues on goods passing through his country, and he gave assistance in both Sikh campaigns. His son, Sardar Singh (1851-1872), was rewarded for help given during the Mutiny by an increase of territory. Sardar Singh had no son, and on his death in 1872 his widow and principal ministers selected Dungar Singh as his successor, with British approval. The rebellion of the tltakurs in 1883, owing to an attempt to increase the dues payable in lieu of military service, led to the permanent location at Bikaner of a British political agent. Dungar Singh died in 1887 without a son ; but he had adopted his brother, Ganga Singh (b. 188o), who succeeded as 21st chief of Bikaner with the approval of the government, and under whose enlightened rule the State has made striking progress.