Balasinor
Encyclopedia
Balasinor is a town located in the Kheda district
, in Gujarat, India
. Formerly a princely state
of the Babi
(Yusufzai Pathan) dynasty, it was created in 28 Sep 1758 out of the Junagadh Babis (famously related to Parveen Babi
of Bollywood fame). The current nawab is HH Nawab Babi Shri Muhammed Salabat Khanji II (who happened to be the only Babi gone to Mumbai to claim Parveen Babi's body on her death). The Heir and son of Nawab Saheb is Nawabzada Sultan Salauddinkhan Babi, born 1979 and educated at the Rajkumar College, Rajkot
. The Royal family run their residence "the Garden Palace" as a warm homestays heritage hotel! They can be contacted for staying at this palace. Also a luxury camp " Camp Dinosaur" a unit of Kasbah Camps is being run there in the palace premises.
Another famous Princess of the Kingdom is Nawabzadi Aaliya Sultana Babi, who in 2009 travelled to Ingatestone
in the UK to find a husband. Her trip was recorded in BBC Three's Undercover Princesses
. The scion of this family, (Prince)Nawabzada Sultan Salauddinkhan Babi participated in a similar show in the Netherlands in 2010 in which he was trying to find a wife.He lived and worked in Amsterdam.The show is currently on air on SBS6 in the Netherlands. Its called "Coming to Holland"
, Balasinor had a population of 33,704.
It had a literacy rate of 70.5% and a ratio of 940 women for every 1000 men. 12.6% of the population was between the age of 0 to 6. A large section of the population has migrated to cities since India's independence. For example a recent telephone directory of the migrated Dashanima Vanik people (a trader caste of Vaishnava sect) shows some 3,000 households in Mumbai comprising 120+ pages and some 15,000 people, where there are only five pages for Balasinor proper in the directory.. As witnessed by his sister, even the son of the Nawab of this former princely state has migrated to Mumbai to "pursue his career". In fact when one visits Balasinor one is struck by the large sections of the town that have buildings sitting empty especially along the main Vhora trader street.
According to Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World from 1914, the population of Balasinor town was approximately 9,000 at the time.
Piecing together the evidence in Balasinor, researchers now believe that Gujarat is home to one of the largest clutch of dinosaur hatcheries in the world. At least 13 species of dinosaurs lived here, possibly for more than 100 million years until their extinction some 65 million years ago. The soft soil made hatching and protecting eggs easier for the animals. So well-protected are the fossilised eggs found here that many researchers call them the best-preserved eggs in the world after the ones found in Aix-en-Provence in France.
These fossilised dinosaur remains have begun triggering off what tourism officials of the Gujarat state call "dinosaur tourism".
Kheda district
Kheda district is one of the 26 districts of Gujarat state in western India. Kheda city is the administrative headquarters of the district.-History:...
, in Gujarat, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Formerly a princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...
of the Babi
Pathans of Gujarat
Gujarati Pathans are a group of Pathans. At various times in history, large number of Pashtuns have settled in the region of Gujarat in western India. They now form a distinct community of Gujarati speaking Muslims...
(Yusufzai Pathan) dynasty, it was created in 28 Sep 1758 out of the Junagadh Babis (famously related to Parveen Babi
Parveen Babi
Parveen Babi was an Indian actress, who is most remembered for her glamorous roles alongside top heroes of the 1970s and early 1980s in blockbusters like Deewar, Namak Halaal, Amar Akbar Anthony and Shaan...
of Bollywood fame). The current nawab is HH Nawab Babi Shri Muhammed Salabat Khanji II (who happened to be the only Babi gone to Mumbai to claim Parveen Babi's body on her death). The Heir and son of Nawab Saheb is Nawabzada Sultan Salauddinkhan Babi, born 1979 and educated at the Rajkumar College, Rajkot
Rajkumar College, Rajkot
The Rajkumar College in Rajkot is one of the oldest K-12 institutions in India. RKC has a 26 acre campus located in the heart of Rajkot city.-History:...
. The Royal family run their residence "the Garden Palace" as a warm homestays heritage hotel! They can be contacted for staying at this palace. Also a luxury camp " Camp Dinosaur" a unit of Kasbah Camps is being run there in the palace premises.
Another famous Princess of the Kingdom is Nawabzadi Aaliya Sultana Babi, who in 2009 travelled to Ingatestone
Ingatestone
Ingatestone is a small town in Essex, England, with a population of about 4500 people. To the immediate north lies the village of Fryerning, and the two form the civil parish of Ingatestone and Fryerning....
in the UK to find a husband. Her trip was recorded in BBC Three's Undercover Princesses
Undercover Princesses
Undercover Princesses is a BBC Three reality TV show which took three royal claimants from foreign cultures and placed them in Ingatestone where they had to 'live and date' like normal people. The idea for the programme came from the 1988 Eddie Murphy film Coming to America...
. The scion of this family, (Prince)Nawabzada Sultan Salauddinkhan Babi participated in a similar show in the Netherlands in 2010 in which he was trying to find a wife.He lived and worked in Amsterdam.The show is currently on air on SBS6 in the Netherlands. Its called "Coming to Holland"
Rulers
- Muhammad Khanji Bahadur Khanji 28 Sep 1758 - 17..
- Jamiyat Khanji Muhammad Khanji 17.. - ...
- Salabat Khanji Jamiyat Khanji (b. ... - d. 1820) ... - May 1820
- Abid Khanji May 1820 - 1822
- Jalal Khanji = Edal Khanji (b. ... - d. 1831) 1822 - 2 Dec 1831
- Zorawar Khanji (b. 1828 - d. 1882) 2 Dec 1831 - 30 Nov 1882
- Munawar Khanji Zorawar Khanji (b. 1846 - d. 1899) 30 Nov 1882 - 24 Mar 1899
- Jamiyat Khanji Munawar Khanji (b. 1894 - d. 1945) 24 Mar 1899 - 2 Feb 1945
- Muhammad Salabat Khan (b. 1944) 2 Feb 1945 - 15 Aug 1947
Geography
Balasinor is located at 22.95°N 73.33°E, on the Gujarat State Highway Number 2.Demographics
As of the 2001 Indian censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Balasinor had a population of 33,704.
It had a literacy rate of 70.5% and a ratio of 940 women for every 1000 men. 12.6% of the population was between the age of 0 to 6. A large section of the population has migrated to cities since India's independence. For example a recent telephone directory of the migrated Dashanima Vanik people (a trader caste of Vaishnava sect) shows some 3,000 households in Mumbai comprising 120+ pages and some 15,000 people, where there are only five pages for Balasinor proper in the directory.. As witnessed by his sister, even the son of the Nawab of this former princely state has migrated to Mumbai to "pursue his career". In fact when one visits Balasinor one is struck by the large sections of the town that have buildings sitting empty especially along the main Vhora trader street.
According to Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World from 1914, the population of Balasinor town was approximately 9,000 at the time.
India's Jurassic Park
In the early 1980s, palaeontologists stumbled upon dinosaur bones and fossils during a regular geological survey of this mineral-rich area. The find sent ripples of excitement through neighbouring villages and many residents picked up fossilised eggs, brought them home and worshipped them. Since then excavations have thrown up a veritable trove of dinosaur remains - eggs, bones, a skeleton which is now kept in a Calcutta (Kolkata) museum - bringing hordes of scientists and tourists to the place.Piecing together the evidence in Balasinor, researchers now believe that Gujarat is home to one of the largest clutch of dinosaur hatcheries in the world. At least 13 species of dinosaurs lived here, possibly for more than 100 million years until their extinction some 65 million years ago. The soft soil made hatching and protecting eggs easier for the animals. So well-protected are the fossilised eggs found here that many researchers call them the best-preserved eggs in the world after the ones found in Aix-en-Provence in France.
These fossilised dinosaur remains have begun triggering off what tourism officials of the Gujarat state call "dinosaur tourism".