Area: 8,179 km2 
State: Rajasthan
Dynasty: Kachhwaha Rajputs (Naruka branch)
The erstwhile state of Alwar, in north-eastern
Rajasthan, is possibly the oldest kingdom in kingdom-studded
Rajasthan. In 1500 BC it formed part of the Matsya territories
of Viratnagar (present-day Bairat), which also encompassed Bharatpur,
Dholpur and Karauli.History becomes inextricably bound with mythology,
as it was here in the ancient kingdom of Matsya that the Kauravas
embarked on the cattle-rustling mission which precipitated the
war between and their kinsfolk, the Pandavas. This battle forms
the basis of the Mahabharat. The city of Alwar is believed to
have founded by a member of the Kachhawa family who hailed from
Amber, but control was wrested from the Kachhwahas of Nikumbhas.
They in turn lost the city to Bada Gurjar Rajputs of Machari.
It passed to the Khanzadas, under Bah Nahara of Mewat, who converted
from Hinduism to Islam to win the favour of Emperor Tughlaq of
Delhi. At this time,Alwarand were part of the kingdom of Mewat.
 Descendants of Bahadura Nahara bravely defended the Alwar fort against the
Muslims in 1427. Alwar's fortunes were inextric bound with those of Mewat,
which was contiguous with Delhi. Although the leader professed the Muslim faith,
he could not ally himself with the Rajputs as up to the Muslims in Delhi. As
Alwar located on the strategic south-western tier of Delhi, this of course
rankled with Mughals, who mounted numerous miliitary forays into the region,
only conquering after great difficulty. Alwar was later granted to Sawai Jai
Singh of Jaipur by Aurangzeb only to be retaken when the emperor visited the
city and noted the great strategical virtue of its fortress.The Jats of Bharatpur
then threw their hat into the ring, briefly overrunning the region, and installing
themselves in the Alwar fort. They were evicted by the Lalawat Narukas (descendants
of the Kachhwaha Rajput prince of Amber, Naru) between 1775 and 1782 under
the leadership of the Naruka thakur (noble) Pratap Singh. His descendants
were great patrons of the arts , commissioning the transcription of numerous
sacred and scholarly texts and encouraging painters and artisans to visit the
Alwar court. In 1803, the British invested the Alwar thakur with the title
of maharaja as thanks for their support in a battle against the Marathas. This
friendly alliance was short-lived, however, with the maharaja of Alwar strongly
resenting British interference in governance when a British Resident was installed
in the city. Following Independence, Alwar was merged with the other princely
states of Bharatpur, Karauli and Dholpur, forming the United State of Matsya,
a name which reflected the fact that those states all comprised the ancient
Matsya kingdom. In 1949, Matsya was merged with the state of Rajasthan.
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