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GUJARAT

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 709 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GUJARAT or GUZERAT, a region of See also:

India, in the Bombay See also:Presidency. In the widest sense of the name it includes the whole of the See also:country where the See also:Gujarati See also:language is spoken, i.e. the See also:northern districts and states of the Presidency from See also:Palanpur to See also:Damaun, with See also:Kathiawar and See also:Cutch. But it is more properly confined to the country See also:north of the See also:Nerbudda and See also:east of the Rann of Cutch and Kathiawar. In this sense it has an See also:area of 29,071 sq. m., with a See also:population in 1901 of 4,798,504. It includes the states distributed among the agencies of Palanpur, See also:Mahi Kantha, See also:Rewa Kantha and See also:Cambay, with most of See also:Baroda and the See also:British districts of See also:Ahmedabad, See also:Kaira, Panch Mahals and See also:Broach. Less than one-See also:fourth is British territory. The region takes its name from the Gujars, a tribe who passed into India from the north-See also:west, established a See also:kingdom in See also:Rajputana, and spread See also:south in A.D. 400–600. The See also:ancient See also:Hindu See also:capital was Anhilvada; the See also:Mahommedan See also:dynasty, which ruled from 1396 to 1572, founded Ahmedabad, which is still the largest See also:city; but Gujarat owed much of its See also:historical importance to the seaports of Broach, Cambay and See also:Surat. Its fertile See also:plain, with a See also:regular rainfall and numerous See also:rivers, has caused it to be styled the " See also:garden of India." It suffered, however, severely from the See also:famine of 1899–1901. For an See also:account of the See also:history, See also:geography, &c., of Gujarat see the articles on the various states and districts. Gujarat gives its name to the See also:vernacular of northern Bombay, viz.

Gujarati, one of the three See also:

great See also:languages of that Presidency, spoken by more than 9 millions. It has an ancient literature and a See also:peculiar See also:character. As the language of the Parsis it is prominent in the Bombay See also:press; and it is also the commercial language of Bombay city, which lies outside the territorial area of Gujarat. See J. See also:Campbell, History of Gujarat (Bombay, 1896) ; See also:Sir E. C. Bayley, The Muhammedan Kingdom of Gujarat (1886); A. K. See also:Forbes, See also:Ras Melia (1856).

End of Article: GUJARAT

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