The first people to settle the lands north of Jaipur, Muslims of the Khaimkani clan, established two small states based at Jhunjhunu and Fatehpur in 1450. Their hold on the region was broken in 1730, when the Rajput Sardul Singh of the Shekawat clan took over Jhunjhunu. Two years later he consolidated Shekhawati rule by helping his brother (already ruler of Sikar) to seize Fatehpur from its Muslim Nawab.

 

Although the area is known as Shekhawati, the Shekawat Rajputs were only responsible for the construction of the forts in each town. The caravan route known as the "spice road" passed through the region on its way between China and the coast of Gujarat, and it was the local merchants - the Marwaris, Hindus of the vaisya caste, and Jains - who funded the building and painting of family houses, temples, wells and rest houses. The Marwaris were often rivals in influence to the local Rajputs, and it was this that led the Shekawats to turn a blind eye to, and even sponsor, brigandry against them. In response, the merchants formed an alliance with the British, ever eager for means to get a foothold in this fiercely independent region. In 1835, and with funding from the maharajas of Jaipur and Bikaner (to whom the Marwaris had also applied for help), a small force of cavalry called the Shekhawati Brigade was set up under the command of Henry Forster and based in Jhunjhunu to control the brigands. This gave the Marwaris the security they needed to build their magnificent havelis , and though many of them moved, encouraged by the British, to Bombay, Madras and especially Calcutta, they continued to send their profits back to Shekhawati, erecting elaborate buildings either to prove their worth as prospective bridegrooms, or simply as aid projects during times of famine.

When the British left India a number of Marwaris bought British industries, and such names as Birla and Poddar remain prominent in business today. However, many merchant families have now left Shekhawati and settled more permanently in the major urban centres, which is why so many of their buildings have been allowed to deteriorate. The region's current inhabitants continue to rear goats and sheep for their wool, and coax crops of winter wheat, mustard and millet from the dry earth, while maintaining traditional crafts: tie-dyeing, screen printing, lacquer working, woodcarving and silverwork