Published:
January 11, 2025
Occupying an area of 28,387 sq km, Barmer is among the larger districts in Rajasthan. Being in the Western part of the state, it includes a part of the Thar Desert. Jaisalmer is to the north of this district and it shares a border with Pakistan in the West.
In 12th century this region was known as Mallani. It’s present name was give by its founder Bahada Rao, popularly known as Bar Rao, Parmar Ruler (Juna Barmer). He build a small town which is presently known as “Juna” which is 25 kms from present city of Barmer. Rawat Bhima, who was a great warrior, established the present city of Barmer in 1552 AD and shifted his capital to Barmer from Juna. Once a camel trade route, This area is rich in craft that include wood carving, pottery, embroidery work and ajrak prints.
Due to its strategic location, it has been the springboard for launch of offensives by Indian Army in both the 1965 and 71 Wars with Pakistan.
The Chachro Raid of 1971.
At 0700 hours, December 5, 1971, men of the Desert Scorpions (10 Para Commandos) come under intense medium machine gun (MMG) fire from gun positions on top of sand dunes at Kita about 70 km into enemy territory. The Jeep/Jonga-borne commandos take defence positions in the shadow of the night. This was the start to one of the most audacious commando missions in the world undertaken by the Indian Army’s Para Commandos. Inspired by the British SAS raid behind enemy lines at a German airfield in Fuka, Lybia during the Second World War, this successful operation established the Indian Army’s dominance in the desert during the 1971 war.
This operation was led by Lt Col Bhawani Singh who was awarded the Mahavir Chakra for his leadership and courage. He was also the Maharaja of the erstwhile state of Jaipur.
A young commando battalion was entrusted with the crucial mission just five years after its formation in 1967. The objectives were to strike enemy positions 80 km inside their territory, hit their supply lines and create confusion. To complete their mission, the teams travelled over 500 km inside enemy territory, hitting various enemy positions despite having little knowledge of the terrain and the challenges that lay ahead.
Such was the planning that the raiding team suffered no casualties. For the first raid on Chachro, the team moved only at night to stay undetected, but during the Virawah raid, they moved by day because of paucity of time and was taken on December 8. The commandos then moved into Nagarparkar and the tehsil headquarter was taken over without much difficulty.
Another team attacked an ammunition dump in Islamkot, deep in Pakistani territory on December 16. The audacious raid is deeply etched as a perfectly executed raid deep into enemy territory.
Jodhpur → Agolai (50 Km) → Pachpadra (120 Km) → Baytu (171 Km) → Barmer (218 Km)
