In 120 AD, during the
Kushana Age, King
Kanishka conquered the
Rohat and
Jaitaran areas, parts of today's Pali district. Until the end of the seventh century, the
Pushyabhuti king
Harshavardhana ruled the area, along with other parts of what would be Rajasthan. From the 10th to the 15th century, the boundaries of Pali extended to
Mewar,
Gorwar, and
Marwar.
Nadol was the capital of the Chauhan clan. All
Rajput rulers resisted foreign invaders, but individually fought each other for land and leadership. After the defeat of
Prithviraj Chauhan by
Muhammad Ghori, the Rajput power in the area was removed. The Godwad area became subject to the then-ruler of
Mewar,
Maharana Kumbha; however, Pali, which was ruled by Rajputs with the patronage of neighbouring Rajput rulers, remained peaceful and progressive. There were a number of battles in the surrounding areas of Pali in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Shershah Suri defeated Rajput rulers in the
Battle of Sammel near Jaitaran, and the
Mughal emperor,
Akbar, constantly battled with
Maharana Pratap in the Gorwar area. After the Mughals had conquered almost all of
Rajputana, Veer
Durgadas Rathore of Marwar made organised efforts to take back Marwar from
Aurangzeb, the last Mughal emperor. By then, Pali had become subservient to the
Rathores of Marwar, and was reclaimed by Maharaja
Vijay Singh before becoming a commercial centre. During the British era in 1857, various
Thakurs of Pali under the stewardship of the Thakur of
Auwa fought against
British rule. The British army surrounded Auwa Fort and the conflict lasted several days. Geologists trace the settlement at Pali back to prehistory and maintain that Pali emerged from the vast western sea, which was spread over a large part of present-day Rajasthan. In the
Vedic period, Maharshi Javali stayed in the area to meditate and interpret the
Vedas. In the
Mahabharata age, the
Pandavas made this area (near
Bali) their resting place during exile. As a part of ancient Arbuda Province, the area was known as Balla-Desh. ==Geography==