Faith and history inarguably define Ajmer. At the tomb chamber of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, the air is thick with not just the scent of roses and incense but also the fervour of prayer. Outside, even in the dingy lanes of the modest town, it's possible to glimpse the layers of the past that bestow upon Ajmer a unique charm.

Once a stronghold of the Chauhan Rajputs, the legendary Prithviraj Chauhan lost Ajmer (then called Ajayameru) when he was defeated by Muhammad Ghori in 1193. Akbar annexed it to the Mughal empire in the 16th century. It became, for the Mughals, first a centre of operations against the kingdoms of Rajasthan and Gujarat, and later, a pilgrimage site.
The Mughal empresses and princesses spent time here, and invested this region with their trademark preferences. Nur Jahan, for instance, had roses cultivated for the making of her favourite attar.

It was at Ajmer that the English ambassador Sir Thomas Roe presented his credentials to Jehangir. Roe was granted trading concessions that allowed the British to usurp power and establish themselves as a colony in India, and in the early 19th century, Ajmer came under the domain of the British empire. Like the Mughals, the British used it as a centre for exercising control over the kingdoms of the region, but they also provided it with educational institutions including the Mayo College, initially set up for boys from India's princely families. It?s with such glorious glimpses of its past, and with the promise of answered prayers, that Ajmer beckons us to drop by.