Rewari

c. 1910s portrayal of Hemu Vikramaditya

Hem Chandra Vikramaditya was educated and brought up in what is now Rewari. Hem Chandra had developed a cannon foundry in Rewari, laying the foundation of a metalwork industry in brass, copper sheets. He had supplied cannons and gunpowder to Sher Shah Suri from 1535 onwards and was an adviser to the last ruler of Sur dynasty till 1553, Adil Shah Suri, when he became Prime Minister and Chief of Army. Hem Chandra had won 22 battles from Punjab to Delhi during 1553–56. He defeated Mughal king Akbar's forces at Agra and Delhi. Hem Chandra was crowned as a Vikramaditya king at Purana Quila in Delhi on 7 October 1556, reigned as king of Delhi for one month but lost to Akbar on 5 November 1556 at Panipat where he died.[8] His haveli (house) still stands in the Qutubpur area of the city, which in his day was a village in its own right.[9] His two-story haveli, with carved sandstone doorway, is made of local stone from Aravalli range, brunt-mud lakhori bricks and lime mortar. Walls are plastered with lime and painted with limewash. Roof has lakhouri bricks and stone slabs rested on timer beams. Doors and niches have stone lintels or brick arches in the local regional architecture. Over-hanging roof chhajja has stone brackets to anchor the stones.[7] Akbar made Rewari a sarkar under Delhi Suba. Aurangzeb attacked and recovered it from the rebels. Mughhals granted the local rule to Nand Ram, Ahir leader of Bolni village in 17th century which lasted up to 19th century.[10] A small Ahir principality was established there in the early century and ruled over the surrounding Ahirwal area.[11][12][13]

Delhi Gate, one of the four historic British period gates in Rewari

Rewari came under the control of Maratha Empire in 19th century before passing on to East India Company and later British Raj.[7] Rao Tula Ram, the ruler of Rewari, played a significant role in India's First War of Independence in 1857. His estate was confiscated by the British Raj and made a part of Gurgaon district of Punjab province.

It remained a part of Gurgaon district until reorganisation in 1972 saw it transferred to Mahendragarh district. Further changes in 1989 led to the creation of the eponymous Rewari district.[14]

Rewari is well known for the high proportion of soldiers and officers it contributes to the Indian army and other armed forces of India. Rezang La near Chushul in Ladakh was the site of the last stand of C Company of the 13 Kumaon battalion, during the Sino-Indian War on 18 November 1962.[15] The C Company was composed almost entirely of Ahirs and was led by Major Shaitan Singh, who won a posthumous Param Vir Chakra for his actions.

In this action 120 men of the C Company fought until their bullets finished and then fought hand-to-hand. Of the 120 men, 114 died and only six seriously injured men remained alive. Of these, five were captured POW and only one came down to inform others.[16] A memorial was constructed in Rewari city for them.

The soul-stirring inscription on the War Memorial at Chushul, Ladakh raised by Indian Army in the memory of the fallen brave Ahirs in the Battle of Rezang La reads:

How can a man die better,
Than facing fearful odds, 
For the ashes of his fathers, 
And temples of his gods.

Rewari is adjacent to Rajasthan and, therefore, has dust storms in summer. Rugged hilly terrain of Aravali ranges as well as sandy dunes in the district affect the city's climate.[17] Rewari forms a part of the National Capital Region.[18]

Rewari is located at 28.18°N 76.62°E / 28.18; 76.62.[19] It has an average elevation of 245 metres (803 feet). Rewari is 85 km away from Delhi.

The mean minimum and maximum temperature range from 0 °C to 46 °C during January (winter) and May–June (summer) respectively. The summer temperature can go up to 46 °C from May to July. Winter is from November to February and the temperature can fall to 2 °C in December and January.[5][17] The temperature was recorded as 0 °C on 12 January 2012 and 31 January 2012[20] and below zero (−0.5 °C) on 4 January 2018.[21]

Rain falls from July to September. A little rain is experienced during winter also. Average annual rainfall in Rewari city is 553 millimetres (21.8 in).[17]

The nearest airport is Indira Gandhi International Airport at Palam, New Delhi, 75 km away, for all domestic and international flights.

Rewari Railway Station

Rewari was first connected by a railway line in 1873 when the first metre gauge railway track in India became operational. This track was laid between Delhi and Ajmer.[25] The gauge was converted to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge in 1995 for one of the tracks.[26] This allowed metre gauge trains from Rajasthan to continue up to Delhi Sarai Rohilla on the remaining track. The second track from Rewari to Delhi was converted to broad gauge in 2007[27][28] as all the metre gauge tracks from Rewari to cities in Rajasthan had been converted to broad gauge by then. Thus all the railway tracks from Rewari have been converted to broad gauge obviating the need for change of trains at gauge-change stations such as Delhi and Ahmedabad.[29]

Rewari is a major junction on the Indian railway network and is connected to the major cities of India by direct trains. Six railway lines branch out from it to Delhi, Ajmer via Narnaul and Ringas, Ajmer via Alwar, Loharu, Hisar and Jhajjar-Rohtak. The latest sixth line to Jhajjar and Rohtak was constructed in 2008–12 and commissioned in January 2013. A seventh line was planned from Khori near Rewari to Asaoti near Palwal for facilitating carriage of goods on Western Dedicated Freight Corridor but the plan was abandoned as the farmers resisted acquisition of their land. This dedicated freight railway line is now being laid from Alwar to Asaoti near Palwal. A separate double track has been laid from Khori station just before Rewari for goods trains to bypass Rewari junction by going over Rewari-Narnaul and Rewari-Mahendragarh tracks and joining Rewari-Bhiwani track two km after Rewari. This will obviate the need for goods trains on Western Dedicated Freight Corridor to pass through Rewari junction.

Rewari-Delhi double railway track was electrified in 2018. Rewari has electrified tracks on the Alwar-Rewari-Hisar and Rewari-Narnaul-Ringas-Phulera routes. These tracks have a high catenary with 7.45 m high OHE for double-stack containers. The electrical locomotives on these tracks will have a special pantograph for the high catenary. Electric trains (EMU) may run between Delhi and Rewari in 2020. Rewari-Alwar-Bandikui and Rewari-Bhiwani routes became double tracks in 2019.

The alignment of a new railway line of Rapid Regional Transit System (RRTS) from existing Nizamuddin station in New Delhi to Gurgaon-Manesar-Dharuhera-Rewari-Bawal-Shahjanpur-Alwar has been finalised. It will have a railway station east of Rewari at village Majra Gurdas.[30]

Rewari is connected by four national highways: NH 11 (starting from Delhi-Jaipur NH 48 and going to Narnaul-Jhunjhunu-Bikaner)-Jaisalmer, NH 48 (former name NH 8 before renumbering of all national highways) (Delhi-Jaipur-Bombay-Pune-Bangalore), NH 352 (former name NH 71) (Narwana-Jind-Rohtak-Jhajjar-Rewari) and NH 919 (former name NH 71B) (Rewari-Dharuhera-Sohna-Palwal). While NH 48 has existed for five decades, NH 919 was a state highway declared NH a decade ago, NH 352 was newly constructed in 2011–13 and NH 11 was declared to start from Rewari only three years ago. A new bypass on NH 11 from east of Rewari city (starting at NH 352 off NH 48) to west of Rewari city (at Khori railway station) is being constructed to bypass the city.

State highways connect Rewari to all major towns in Haryana and adjacent districts of Rajasthan.

• SH-24 Rewari-Dahina-Kanina-Mahendragarh-Satnali-Loharu 92 km.
• SH-26 Gurgaon-Pataudi-Rewari 52 km.
• SH-15 Shahjahanpur-Rewari 21 km.

The central government has decided to convert the two-lane SH-26 (Gurgaon-Pataudi-Rewari) to a four-lane national highway and the work on the upgradation may start in 2020 after acquisition of land.[31]

There are frequent bus services between Rewari and Delhi, as well as other towns of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Rewari is famous for its traditional metalwork, particularly brass work. The brass industry began around 1535, with the help of Portuguese. During the time of Hemu, cannons were cast in Rewari for the army of Sher Shah Suri.[9]