Glorious Past
Located on the northern tip of Rajasthan on the banks of river Ghaggar, Hanumangarh is a booming city and is the county seat of the same name. While no one can say with certainty who constructed the fort, few historians credit the construction of Abhay Rao Bhatti of which little is known.
Historical evidence suggests that the fortress was first settled sometime in the 12 century. The old name of the place was Bhatner. The strong Bhatner was captured in the late 13 by Jalaluddin, the Sultan of Delhi. After Jalaluddin was assassinated by his nephew, the fort passed into the hands of the Bhatti Rajputs and ruled for a very long period, apart from a brief interval after which they returned to the decision.
The short period of time in which they were expelled was when the Turkish Timur the Lame invaded India and captured Bhatner along with many other places as well. But Timur had only come only to steal and plunder, and once was is gone forever. Bhatner subsequently returned back to control Bhattis.
The Imperious Rajputs
The highest of the Bhatti rulers who reigned Bhatner over the next 2 centuries was the Bhatti chieftain Bairisal, who was king for 27 years. It was in 1527 that the 4th ruler of Bikaner Maharaja Jait Singh annexed the fort and Bhatner became region of the Bikaner Empire.
However, late 16 century, the Mughal emperor Akbar's father-in-law Nasir Khan came to stay in Bikaner and made a pass to one of the women. The Bikaneris, no one to take this insult evenly beat him, which irritated the Emperor enough to incite Annex Bhatner.
After passing hands lots of times between the Mughals and kingdom of Bikaner, Maharaja Surat Singh of Bikaner captured Bhatner in 1805, after defeating Zabta Khan. As it was a Tuesday (a day consecrated to Lord Hanuman) the name was altered from Bhatner to Hanumangarh.
