Nasasakupan ng estado ang mga pangunahing pook ng sinaunangKabihasnan ng Lambak ng Indus, gaya ngLothal atDholavira. Pinaniniwalaang isa sa unang pantalan sa buong daigdig ang Lothal. Ang mga lungsod sa baybayin ng Gujarat, lalo na ang Bharuch at Khambhat, ay nagsilbing pantalan at sentro ng kalakalan noong imperyo ngMaurya atGupta, at noong paghalili ng dinastiyangSaka noong simula ng panahon ngWestern Satraps, kung saan sakop ng teritoryo nito ang Saurashtra at Malwa: na ngayo'y mga estado na ng Gujarat, South Sindh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra at Madhya Pradesh.
Kilalá ang Gujarat ng mgaSinaunang Griyego, ang iba't-ibangImperyong Persiano,Republikang Romano at pamilyar dito ang ibang sentro ng Kanluraning kabihasnan hanggang sa pagtatapos ngGitnang Panahon saEuropa. Ang pinakamatandang talâ ng panunulat patungkol sa 2,000 taong kasaysayang pandagat ng Gujarat ay dokumentado sa Griyegong aklat na 'The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century'.[7][8]
SiMahatma Gandhi, na nanguna sa kilusan para sa kalayaan ng India laban sa pananakop ng mgaBriton, ay taga-Gujarat.[9] SiMuhammad Ali Jinnah, na ipinagpipitagan sa Pakistan bilangQuaid-i-Azam (Dakilang Pinuno),Baba-i-Qaum (Ama ng Bayan), at unang gobernador-heneral ng Pakistan ay mula sa Muslim na pamilya sa Rajikot sa Gujarat. Si Sardar Vallabhbhai Pate, ang tinaguriang "Iron Man ng India", na unang diputadong Punong Ministro ng malayang India ay mula sa Karamsad, Gujarat. Nagmula rin sa Gujarat ang dalawang naging punong ministro ng IndiaMorarji Desai (1977–1979) at ang kasalukuyang siNarendra Modi.
↑Vashi, Ashish (Oct 21, 2010)."Saga of Barygaza". The Times of India. Inarkibo mula saorihinal noong 2012-01-21. Nakuha noong30 September 2013.The book describes an episode of a foreigner bringing costly gifts for kings, saying, "And for the King there are very costly vessels of silver, singing boys, beautiful maidens for the harem, fine wines, thin clothing of the finest weaves, and the choicest ointments.
↑William H. Schoff (1912)."The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century"(digitalized). New York. Nakuha noong1 October 2013.As a sign of these places to those approaching from the sea there are serpents, very large and black; for at the other places on this coast and around Barygaza, they are smaller, and in color bright green, running into gold...Now the whole country of India has very many rivers, and very great ebb and flow of the tides; increasing at the new moon, and at the full moon for three days, and falling off during the intervening days of the moon. But about Barygaza it is much greater, so that the bottom is suddenly seen, and now parts of the dry land are sea, and now it is dry where ships were sailing just before; and the rivers, under the inrush of the flood tide, when the whole force of the sea is directed against them, are driven upwards more strongly against their natural current, for many stadia.
↑"Modern Gujarat". Mapsofindia.com. Inarkibo mula saorihinal noong 28 Mayo 2010. Nakuha noong16 July 2010.
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