Longewala War Museum Jaisalmer

The Battle of Longewala (4–7 December 1971) was one of the first major engagements in the western sector during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, fought between assaulting Pakistani forces and Indian defenders at the Indian border post of Longewala, in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan state in India.The battle was fought between 120 Indian soldiers accompanied by 4 Hunter fighter aircraft and 2000-3000 Pakistani soldiers accompanied by 40-45 tanks.

A (reinforced) Company of the Indian Army's 23rd Battalion, Punjab Regiment, commanded by Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, was left with the choice of either attempting to hold out until reinforced, or fleeing on foot from a Pakistani mechanised infantry force. Choosing the former, Chandpuri ensured that all his assets were correctly deployed, and made the most use of his strong defensive position, as well as weaknesses created by errors in enemy tactics. He was also fortunate in that an Indian Air Force forward air controller was able to secure and direct aircraft in support of the post's defence until reinforcements arrived six hours later.

The Pakistani commanders made several questionable decisions, including a failure of their strategic intelligence to foresee availability of Indian strike aircraft in the Longewala area, exercising operational mobility with little or no route reconnaissance, and conducting a tactical frontal assault with no engineer reconnaissance. This led to the Pakistani brigade group being left extremely vulnerable to air attack, vehicles becoming bogged in terrain not suitable for the movement of armoured vehicles as they tried to deploy off a single track, these being more susceptible to enemy fire by using external fuel storage in tactical combat, attempting to execute a night attack over unfamiliar terrain, and infantry being surprised by obstacles to troop movement causing confusion and stalling the attack during the crucial hours of darkness, when the assaulting infantry still had a measure of concealment from Indian small arms and infantry support weapon fire.

Museums in Rajasthan

Rajasthan is the home of royals having a golden history. Like its forts and palaces, Rajasthan museums known to displays historic marvels and murals. "Museums of Rajasthan" details the origin, history and theimportance of seventeen government museums of the state. Themuseums covered include those of Ahar, Ajmer, Alwar, Amber, Bharatpur, Bikaner, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Jaisalmer, Jhalawar,Jodhpur, Kota, Mount Abu, Pali, Sikar, Udaipur and Virat Nagar.This book provides a different section on each museum, cataloguingsignificant archaeological findings, sculptures, paintings, armsand weapons, musical instruments, textiles and carpets, crafts anddecorative arts, jewellery, terracotta, wood, stone, leather andmetal work, ceramics and pottery. This selection of the archivalcollections explores the rich artistic tradition of Rajasthan, describes their significance and how they figure into the overalldevelopmental pattern of Indian art. "Museums of Rajasthan" surveysthe character of Rajasthani art and the influences arising from itsreligious and cultural milieu. The major themes of the collectionsas well as the style, history, and iconography of individual piecesare succinctly explained. This book combines concise overviews withcaptivating detail and includes an appendix that providesinformation about the museum sites, full addresses of all themuseums and brief details of opening hours. It is also an engagingvisual record and presents superb artworks in stunning, well chosencolour photographs. It will be of immense interest to scholars, andwill prove to be an invaluable reference tool and guide forvisitors to Rajasthan.

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