Pokaran

History

* Seat of Chief of the Champawats, a sub-clan of Rathores of the state of Marwar-Jodhpur. * Bhawani Singh of Pokhran (b. 1911) was the last jagirdar of Pokhran before Indian independence. He was Sessions Judge and was elected to the 1st Lok Sabha, the Lower house of Indian parliament from Barmer-Jalore constituency, after getting elected as an Independent candidate in the 1952 Indian general election.

Geography

Pokhran is located 112 km east of Jaisalmer city, 172 km northwest of Jodhpur and 225 km south of Bikaner by road. It lies on Jaisalmer to Jodhpur railway line. It is situated at and has an average elevation of 233 metres (764 feet). It has an arid climate as it lies in the Thar Desert and receives little rain in the monsoon months July to September. Pokhran has an extreme climate. It has extremely hot and dry summers from April to June though monsoon months are also very hot. The temperature in the summer can reach 46°C during the day. The night temperature in the summer is more than 30°C. Pokhran has very cold winters with temperatures dropping to as low as 1°C.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  125
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  85
• White-eared Bulbul

  Pycnonotus leucotis (Gould, 1836) · Aves
  84
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  78
• Common Babbler

  Turdoides caudata (Dumont, 1823) · Aves
  62
• Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse

  Pterocles exustus Temminck, 1825 · Aves
  56
• Laughing Dove

  Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  53
• Red-wattled Lapwing

  Vanellus indicus (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  50