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Kathiyawar Saurashtra | |
|---|---|
 Kathiawar peninsula as seen from theNASA Earth Observatory | |
 Location of Saurashtra in India | |
| Coordinates:22°N71°E / 22°N 71°E /22; 71 | |
| Country | India |
| State | Gujarat |
| Area | |
• Total | 60,000 km2 (20,000 sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • official | Gujarati |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
Kathiawar ([kɑʈʰijɑʋɑɽ]), also known asSaurashtra, is apeninsula in the south-westernGujarat state in India, bordering theArabian Sea and covering about 61,000 km2 (23,500 sq mi). It is bounded by theKutch district in the north, theGulf of Kutch in the northwest, and by theGulf of Khambhat in the east. In the northeast, it is connected to the rest of the state and borders on the low, fertile hinterland ofAhmedabad. It is crossed by two belts of hill country and is drained radially by nine rivers which have little natural flow aside from in monsoon months, thus dams have been built on some of these. Kathiawar ports have been flourishing centres of trade and commerce since at least the 16th century.[1] It was formerly astate of India.
The name Kathiawad seems to have been derived from the early settlements of Kathikas orKathis who enteredGujarat fromSindh in early centuries of theCommon Era.[2][3]
The name "Saurashtra" itself is fromSanskritसौराष्ट्र (saurāṣṭra,transl. from Saurashtra), thevṛddhi form ofसुराष्ट्र (surāṣṭra,transl. Saurashtra), derived fromसु (su,transl. good) +राष्ट्र (rāṣṭra,transl. nation). Thus the name literally means "good nation."[4][5]
Referred to as Saurashtra and as some other names as well over a period of time, since theMahabharata andVedic period, this region is mentioned again as Surastrene, orSaraostus in the first century CEPeriplus of the Erythraean Sea:
"Beyond thegulf of Baraca is that ofBarygaza and the coast of the country of Ariaca, which is the beginning of the Kingdom ofNambanus and of all India. That part of it lying inland and adjoiningScythia is calledAbiria, but the coast is called Syrastrene. It is a fertile country, yielding wheat and rice and sesame oil and clarified butter, cotton and the Indian cloths made therefrom, of the coarser sorts. Very many cattle are pastured there, and the men are of great stature and black in colour. The metropolis of this country isMinnagara, from which much cotton cloth is brought down toBarygaza.
— Periplus, Chap. 41
In earliest foreign mention, Egyptian mathematician, geographer, astrologerClaudius Ptolemy and Greek manuscriptPeriplus both call this region "Surastrene"
The region is mentioned in the Junagadh Rock inscription dating 150 CE, attributed toRudradaman I. Prior to this, during the rule ofAshoka (268–232 BCE), the region was under Yavana Tushaspa, and governed by Pushyagupta duringChandragupta Maurya's reign (322BC – 298BC).[6] From the 8th to 11th century,Brahminmerchants from Saurashtra region started migrating towardsSouthern India due to the frequentMuslim invasions, these merchants upon the invitation ofChola,Pandya,Vijayanagara,Nayak andThanjavur Maratha Kings set up mercantile silk-weavingguilds throughoutSouthern India and were involved in thetrade of silkclothes anddiamonds to the royal families of ancient South India, as thesilk became the attire ofroyal families after the period ofGupta dynasty. These Brahmins who trace their ancestry to the historical region of Saurashtra are now known as theSaurashtra people.[7] Several historians believe that it was Saurashtriantextile merchants who introducedidly toSouth India during the 10th and 12th centuries. There are even claims that a mix ofrice andurad dal ground together and later steamed to form cakes had its origins inGujarat. This was calledIddada.[8]
For a long time, the nameSorath referred to this region. From the 9th to 14th centuryChudasamaRajput ruled Sorath with their capitalsVanthali andJunagadh alternatively. The Chudasama Rajputs ruled Sorath longer than any others, until the Sorath area came under Muslim rule. Sorath, a Muslim name of Saurashtra, was initially one of tenprants, but by the colonial age it was one of only four surviving ones, the others being absorbed. Thesalute stateJunagadh (alias "Junagarh" or the "Old Fort"), founded during British rule, and its neighbouring states were controlled by theWestern India States Agency (WISA). In 1947, Junagadh's Muslim ruler desired to accede his territory to Pakistan, but the predominantly Hindu population rebelled.[citation needed]
After India's independence in 1947, 217princely states of Kathiawar, including the former Junagadh State, were merged to form the state of Saurashtra on 15 February 1948. Initially, it was namedUnited State of Kathiawar, which was renamed toSaurashtra State in November 1948. The exercise took up a lot of Shri Vallabhbhai Patel's time to convince the local princes and petty subas (totalling 222 in Saurashtra alone). However, MaharajaKrishnakumar Sinhji ofBhavnagar State readily extended to offer his large and royal empire of Bhavnagar / Gohilwar to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Bhavnagar became the first in the country to be merged into the union of India.
The capital of Saurashtra wasRajkot. Uchharangray Navalshankar Dhebar, who later went on to become President of the Indian National Congress between 1955 and 1959, became Saurashtra's first Chief Minister. He was succeeded by Rasiklal Umedchand Parikh on 19 December 1954.
On 1 November 1956, Saurashtra was merged intoBombay state. In 1960 Bombay state was divided along linguistic lines into the new states ofGujarat andMaharashtra. The territory of Saurashtra, including Junagadh and all of Sorath, became part of the state ofGujarat.[citation needed]
The state of the region in the early nineteenth century is shown inLetitia Elizabeth Landon's poetical illustration, "Scene in Kattiawar", to an engraving of a painting byClarkson Frederick Stanfield.[9]
Saurashtra peninsula is bound on the south and south-west by the Arabian Sea, on the north-west by theGulf of Kutch and on the east by theGulf of Khambhat. From the apex of these two gulfs, theLittle Rann of Kutch andKhambhat, waste tracts half salt morass half sandy desert, stretch inland towards each other and complete the isolation of Kathiawar, except one narrow neck which connects it on the north-east with the mainland of Gujarat.[10][11]
Saurashtra was also called Sorath.[12] The peninsula is sometimes referred to as Kathiawar after theKathi Darbar, which once ruled most of the region. However, Saurashtra is not entirely synonymous with Kathiawar, since a small portion of the historical Saurashtra region extends beyond the Kathiawar peninsula. "Sau" means 100 and "rasthra" means languages and Sourasthra is made up with 100 languages so there isn't one original word. According to few experts, the name Saurashtra is derived from Saura Rashtra. In Sanskrit, Saura means Sun and Rashtra means country. It means, country of Sun, and there were 12 sun temples in ancient times in this region. Due to continued Islamic invasions, the idols of deities of these temples were moved to other places, one of those is located atKanakaditya Temple at Kasheli nearPawas inRatnagiri district ofMaharashtra. The location of other 11 idols are currently unknown.[citation needed]
The Saurashtra region comprises the south western part of modern Gujarat state and the districts included in this region are:
The region also historically encompassed theDiu district of theDadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu union territory.[13]
The natural vegetation on most of the peninsula isxeric scrub. A range of low hills known as the Gir Hills occupies the south-central portion of the peninsula. The highest of these isGirnar. The hills are home to an enclave oftropical dry broadleaf forest.[14]
Gir National Park and its surroundings host the last remainingAsiatic lion population.[15][16] Other national parks in Kathiawar areBlackbuck National Park, Velavadar on the Gulf of Cambay, andMarine National Park, Gulf of Kutch, near Jamnagar.[citation needed]
The first postage stamps of the state were issued forPrincely State of Junagadh in 1864. They consisted of three lines of Hindi script in colourless letters on black, and were produced by hand-stamping withwatercolor ink. A second issue in 1868 used coloured letters, printed in black or red on several colours of paper.
The issue of 1877 was the first to include Latin letters; the circular design included the inscription "SORUTH POSTAGE" at the top, and "ONE ANNA OF A RUPEE" (or "FOUR ANNAS...") at the bottom. Some of these weresurcharged in 1913–14, followed by redesigned stamps in 1914.
A set of eight stamps in 1929 included pictures of Junagadh, theGir lion, and theKathi horse in addition to the nawab. In 1937 the oneanna value was reissued reading "POSTAGE AND REVENUE".
The Indian province of Saurashtra did not design any of its own stamps, but before adopting the stamps of India, Saurashtra issued a court feestamp overprinted for postal use, then created more oneanna stamps by surcharging three stamps of the 1929 issue.
Saurashtra has been a flourishing region and rich in natural resources since ancient times, while having gone through several droughts especially during the 20th century. Water resources and its related dynamics have influenced the region and its agro-economy to a certain extent. It is found that water was easily available in the region 10 to 15 years ago. Ashvin A. Shah, a US-based engineering consultant who conducted a survey in 1998 on water availability in the region, says, "The presence of 700,000 dugwells in Saurashtra region indicates the presence of extensive groundwater aquifers throughout the region. This means there is one well for fewer than 20 people or one well every 300 metres".
Amri Saurashtra went through severe droughts over the years to the extent that people could no longer grow crops, nor did they have drinking water available. There has been in recent times a campaign to take up rain water harvesting.[17]
Significantly, theCheck dam campaign from the late 1990s brought almost a drastic change resulting in raising water tables in Saurashtra.[18] However, in 2019, the region was hit with a severe drought, affecting 20 districts in Gujarat, and water had to be brought in by tanker from theSardar Sarovar Dam on theNarmada River.[19]
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| Regions of Gujarat | ||
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