History of Gujarat

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Gujarat History

The history of Gujarat is an illustrious one. The history of Gujarat state comprises an importantpart of Indian historical texts.

Gujarat finds mention in ancient historical artifacts. The history of Gujarat encompasses theIndus Valley civilization. The history of Gujarat is replete with the mementos and associatedartifacts of the ancient civilization. About 50 Harappan settlement ruins were discovered inGujarat.

The Dravidian tribes were the original inhabitants of the region. The ancient history of Gujaratwas enriched by their commercial activities. There is a clear historical evidence of trade andcommerce ties with Sumer in the Persian Gulf during the time period of 1000 to 750 BC.

The history of Gujarat saw an Aryan invasion followed by a brief period of Greek rule. Therewere a succession of Hindu kingdoms including the era of the Guptas and culminating in thereign of the Solankis.

The 9th century history of Gujarat saw the emergence of the Muslims in the political arena of thestate. The first Muslim conqueror was Mohammad of Ghazni whose conquer of Somnatheffectively ended the rule of the Solankis. The Mughals established and consolidated their rulefrom Delhi The rule of the Mughals lasted for two centuries before it was ended by the Marathasin the 18th century.

Ancient


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Ancient Gujarat marks one of the glorious chapters in Indian history. It started from thebeginning of the Indus civilization and culminated with the conquest by the Muslim rulers fromcentral Asia.

The earliest archaeological traces of ancient Gujarat can be found in the historical relics of theIndus Valley civilization. The Indus Valley civilization is also known as the Harappancivilization. The Harappan civilization existed during the historical time-period from 3300 to1700 BC.

Gujarat was always an important trading post from times immemorial. Bharuch-a port in ancientGujarat had strategic importance during the Maurya and Gupta periods. Bharuch was also animportant naval trading port. After the decline of the Gupta empire in the 6th century,ancientGujarat was ruled by successive Hindu kings.

Ancient Gujarat is full of the imperial grandeur of Chandragupta Maurya. Emperor Ashoka, thegrandson of Chandragupta Maurya ordered the engraving of his famous edicts on a rock atpresent day Junagadh. Emperor Ashoka also commissioned the task of an irrigation network inancient Gujarat.

Ancient Gujarat also saw its first foreign conquest-a Greek incursion led by Demetrius.

The decline of the Gupta empire saw Senapati Bhatarka- a Gupta general splitting away Gujaratfrom the Gupta empire and establish his own kingdom in 470 AD. The resulting administrationcame to be known in ancient Gujarat history as the Maitrak kingdom. It was during the rule ofDhruvasena Maitrak that the great Chinese traveler and philosopher Huien Tsang visited India in640AD.

The Pratihara dynasty succeeded the Maitrak kingdom. They in turn was succeeded by theChavada kings.

The last Hindu rulers of ancient Gujarat was the Solanki clan of Rajputs from 960 AD to 1243AD.

In 1026 the first of the many Muslim conquests of Gujarat-and India has begun.

Medieval

Medieval Gujarat saw the entry of the Muslim conquerors into India. The first of the Muslimconquerors were Mohammad of Ghazni.

Before the conquest,medieval Gujarat had a smattering of Muslims. They were mostly scatteredalong the Gujarat coastline. There were two small Muslim settlements in Cambay and Broach.The present name of Cambay and Broach is Khambhat and Bharuch respectively. MedievalGujarat also saw Abdulla-a missionary from Egypt establish the formation of the Bohra


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community among the native Muslims.

After the defeat of Karandev Vaghela against the military force of Allauddin Khilji,medievalGujarat saw Muslim rule continuing for 400 years. The Muslim rule finally ended when theMughal Viceroy Momin Khan was defeated by the Marathas in 1758. The Marathas establishedtheir supremacy by snatching Ahmedabad from the Mughals in the same year.

The Muslim period in medieval Gujarat is an interesting slice of history. Zafar Shah establishedthe first Muslim sultanate in Gujarat. He took advantage of the prevailing weak rulers of Delhi-Zafar Shah declared independence and became the first Sultan. Zafar Shah assumed the title ofMuzaffar Shah. His successor Ahmed Shah founded Ahmedabad city on the banks of theSabarmati river.

Mahmud Shah succeeded Ahmed Shah. Mahmud Shah was an able administrator. Hesuccessfully repulsed a Portuguese naval attack and constructed a port on Diu.

The Muslim rule in medieval Gujarat was ended by Chhatrapati Shivaji-the great Maratha rulerwho conquered Gujarat with his military skill.The Maratha rule was ended by the European colonial powers who made their contact with Indiaat that time. The Portuguese were the first European power to arrive in medieval Gujarat.

Modern

The history of modern Gujarat started with the advent of the Europeans in 1614 AD.

The era of modern Gujarat first started when the Portuguese established several enclaves alongthe Gujarat coastline. The Portuguese built naval ports in present day Daman and Diu, Dadra andNagar Haveli.

The British East India company founded their first base in India at Surat in 1614. This seeminglysmall commercial event eventually led the company to a dominant presence in India. Many ofthe local Maratha rulers of Gujarat acknowledged British sovereignty in return for retaining localindependent rule. The rule of the British officials paved one of the first of many paths to modernGujarat.

The Indian independence movement was very active in Gujarat during the administration of theBritish Raj. The greatest of all Gujarati Indian freedom fighters was great Mahatma Gandhi. Hewas joined in his noble task by other Gujarati Indian freedom fighters like Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel, Morarji Desai, KM Munshi, Narhari Parikh, Mahadev Desai, Mohanlal Pandya and RaviShankar Vyas.

Mahatma Gandhi led the salt satyagraha in Gujarat. It was one of the most visible images ofGujarat during pre-independence days. Modern Gujarat still shows the grit of such single mindeddedication which has helped contemporary Gujarat to grow into an industrial powerhouse.


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Gujarat saw large post independence turmoil. After independence, Gujarat was included underthe old Bombay state. Bombay state had a Gujarati speaking north and a Marathi speaking south.Bombay state was finally demarcated into Gujarat and Maharashtra states. Modern Gujarat wasthus formed with Ahmedabad as its capital.

The capital was shifted from Ahmedabad to Gandhinagar. Gandhinagar is the present capital ofmodern Gujarat.

Last Updated on : 09 January 2013

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