Gujarat

Gujarat

At a Glance
Population
62.7 million
Area
196,024 km²
Geo Location
North-East
Average Climate
12°C - 29°C
Best time to visit
November to February

Gujarat has been a prominent centre of trade and religious tourism. With Rajasthan on the north, Madhya Pradesh on the east, Maharashtra on the south and Pakistan on the north-west, Gujarat is the seventh biggest state in India in area (1,95,984 sq. km} and tenth in regard to population (about 2,66,97,50(0). Gujarat, before India achieved independence and the principalities were abolished, was the State with the maximum number of princely territories beginning from the large Baroda to tiny estates some of them no bigger than a few villages. The very name of the western part of Gujarat, Saurashtra, means a hundred states! These princes patronized art and various strains of culture.

Although Gujarat as it is today is a new State, its various regions were ruled by historic dynasties: the Gurjaras in the north, the Chalukyas in the south and the Maitrakas in Saurashtra—the last named followed by the Pratiharas and the Rashtrakutas. Civilization had flourished in Gujarat at a very early time as excavations (at Lothal in particular) indicate. Later the land's proximity to the sea and her famous ports—Broach, Cambay, Surat, Somnath and Dwaraka became highly prosperous trading centres, with large number of Arabs and Europeans thronging their streets. Gujarat's coastline, extending to 1,290 km, constitutes one-third of the country's total coastline.

Surat is the city where the British traders first founded their settlement—to claim the whole of India as empire in the course of time. The term Gujarat comes most probably from Gurjaras, a tribe that settled down there in the beginning of the fifth century A .D. and maintained its identity for long. Among the places of hoary antiquity in Gujarat is Dwaraka, the kingdom that Lord Krishna had established, though the original Dwaraka is said to have gone under the sea. The present Dwaraka, which could not have been far from the original site, nurses memories galore of the Lord. Excavations at Lothal show the existence of civilization that thrived at the time of great days of Mohenjodaro, at least 5,000 years old.

Gujarat has named its capital Gandhinagar in honour of Mahatma Gandhi, a son of Gujarat, born at Porbandar. It is situated 23 km from Ahmedabad, the previous capital. The people of Gujarat, who speak Gujarati are known for their culture and refined commercial acumen. Ahmedabad is a famous centre of the Ladian textile industry. A large number of Gujaratis have become successful traders abroad.

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