 Before the present Junagarh Fort was built , an old stone fort existed in the city . This fort was built in 1478 by Rao Bika who established the city of Bikaner in 1472 . Rao Bika was the second son of Maharaja Rao Jodha of the Rathor clan , the founder of Jodhpur city . He conquered the large arid lands to the northern region of Rajasthan to set up his domain . As the second son of Jodha he had no chance of inheriting his father ’ s territory of Jodhpur or to the title of Maharaja . He , therefore , reconciled and decided to build his own kingdom at Bikaner at the place then called " Jungladesh " . Bikaner , though a partly of the Thar Desert , was considered an oasis on the trade route between Central Asia and the Gujarat coast since it had adequate spring water sources . Bika ’ s name was thus tagged to the Bikaner city as well as to the then state of Bikaner ( “ the settlement of Bika ” ) that he established . The history of Bikaner and the fort within it thus start with Bika . It was only about 100 years later that Bikaner ’ s fortunes flourished under Raja Rai Singhji , the sixth ruler of Bikaner , who ruled from 1571 to 1611 . During the Mughal Empire ’ s rule in the country , he accepted the suzerainty of the Mughals and held a high position of an army general in the court of Emperor Akbar and his son Emperor Jahangir . His successful war exploits by way of winning half of Mewar kingdom won him accolades and rewards from the Mughal emperors . He was gifted the jagirs ( lands ) of Gujarat and Burhanpur . With the large revenue earned from these jagirs , he built the Junagarh fort on a plain land , which has an average elevation of 760 feet ( 230 m ) . The formal foundation ceremony for the fort was held on 17 February 1589 and the fort was completed on 17 January 1594 . Raja Rai Singhji , was an expert in arts and architecture and the knowledge that he acquired during his several sojourns to several countries are amply reflected in the numerous monuments he built in the Junagarh fort . Thus the fort , a composite structure , became an outstanding example of architecture and a unique centre of art , amidst the Thar desert . 
