SHAHPURA

town, south-central Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It is a major road junction and agricultural mart. A walled town, Shahpura was founded about 1629 and was named after the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who reigned from 1628 to 1658. The town was the seat of the Ramsanehi (Lovers of Rama), a medieval sect of mendicants, and was the capital of the former princely state of Shahpura, which became part of the state of Rajasthan in 1949. Shahpura's industries include cotton ginning, handicraft cloth weaving and dyeing, and lacquered woodwork manufacture. The town has a college affiliated with the University of Rajasthan. Pop. (1981) 19,329.