‘Battlefield tourism’ might likely be the next big thing in Rajasthan

Rajasthan might soon add ‘battlefield tourism’ into its portfolio to boost tourism in the region. This might be a golden opportunity for travellers to relive the battles of past as if they are a part of history.
The Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) will be exploring places that could be promoted as battlefield tourism as part of new tourism strategy in the state. And as Rajasthan stood witness to many historical wars and has many interesting war sites, the state has huge potential in terms of such special kind of tourism.

Talking of battles fought in Rajasthan, some of the important ones are—the Battle of Jalore (1310-11), which was fought between Alauddin Khalji and Kanhad Deo. And after a long war, khilji defeated Deo. Then the Battle of Sammel was fought here when Sher Shah Suri gained victory against the army of Jaita and Kumpa. The other significant battles fought were the two Mughal invasions of Marwar by Akbar from 1562 – 1583 and by Aurangzeb from 1679 to 1707.
Lieutenant General Cherish Mathson, general officer commanding-in-chief of South Western Command of Indian Army, will be introducing this concept to the hoteliers, which is already popular in the United States and South Africa. To start with, the abovementioned battlefields are expected to be used to boost battlefield tourism.
The IHHA president Gaj Singh further mentioned that to arrive at a road map for the resurrection of this region, there is still a long way to go and overcome hurdles by debating, deliberating and exploring.

Though this plan is still in its nascent stage, it is expected that when the portfolio of Rajasthan Tourism is beamed with ‘battlefield tourism’, it will definitely attract tourists in huge numbers.