Khambhat
Encyclopedia
Khambhat , formerly known as Cambay, is a city and a municipality
in Anand district
in the India
n state
of Gujarat. It was formerly an important trading center, although its harbour has gradually silted up, and the maritime trade has moved elsewhere. Khambhat lies on an alluvial plain at the north end of the Gulf of Khambhat
, which is noted for the extreme rise and fall of its tide
s, which can vary as much as thirty feet in the vicinity of Khambhat.
, and it is stated to be an apabhraṃśa form of the Sanskrit
Kamboja
. Some people believe that the town of Khambhat may be the Camanes of Ptolemy
. Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod
believes that the name comes from the Sanskrit Khambavati or 'City of the Pillar'.
One of the most accepted belief is, 'Khambhat' is made up of 2 words 'Khambh' and 'Aayat', Khambh means pole or pillar & Aayat means Import in Gujarati language. So, it is believed that, there has to be some pole, which must have been an identity for this city & as it was a glorious port, import/export trade was at the extreme.
, chintz
and gold stuffs. The Arab traveller, al-Mas'udi, visited the city in 915 AD, describing it as a very successful port; it was mentioned in 1293 by Marco Polo
, who, calling it Cambaet, noted it as a busy port. He mentions that the city had its own king. Indigo and fine buckram were particular products of the region, but much cotton and leather was also exported through Khambhat. A contemporary Italian traveller, Marino Sanud
o, said that Cambeth was one of India’s main two ocean ports. Another Italian, visiting in about 1440, Niccolò de' Conti, mentions that the walls of the city were twelve miles in circumference.
The Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa
visited the city, which he calls Cambaia, in the early sixteenth century.
His description of the city is very full, he states:
"Entering by Cuindarim, which is the internal river, there is great and beautiful city that they call Cambaia, populated by Mouros (Muslims) and Hindus (Gentios). It has many beautiful houses, very high with windows, and covered with tiles in our manner. The streets are laid out well, with pretty squares and large buildings." He describes the city as very busy and affluent, with merchants coming frequently by sea from the world around.
Khambhat was the capital of a princely state
of British India within the Gujarat division of Bombay.It has an area of 350 square miles (906 km²). As a separate state it dates only from about 1730, the time of the dismemberment of the Mughal empire
. Its Nawab
s were descended from Mumin Khan, the last of the Mughal governors of Gujarat, who in 1742 defeated his brother-in-law, Nizam Khan, governor of Khambhat, and established himself there.
Owing principally to the gradually increasing difficulty of access by water by the silting up of the gulf, its commerce has long since fallen away, and the town became poor and dilapidated. The spring tides rise upwards of 30 ft (10 m), and in a channel usually so shallow form a serious danger to shipping. By 1900, the trade was chiefly confined to the export of cotton
. The town was celebrated for its manufacture of agate
and carnelian
ornaments, of reputation, principally in China
.
The houses in many instances are built of stone (a circumstance which indicates the former wealth of the city, as the material had to be brought from a very considerable distance); and remains of a brick wall, 3 miles (5 km) in circumference, which formerly surrounded the town, enclose four large reservoirs of good water and three bazaar
s. To the southeast there are very extensive ruins of subterranean temples and other buildings half-buried in the sand by which the ancient town was overwhelmed. These temples belong to the Jains, and contain two massive statues of their deities, the one black, the other white. The principal one, as the inscription intimates, is Pariswanath, or Parswanath, carved in the reign of the emperor Akbar; the black one has the date of 1651 inscribed.
In 1780 Khambhat was taken by the army of general Goddard Richards, and was restored to the Maratha
s in 1783, and was afterwards ceded to the British by the Peshwa
under the treaty of 1803. It was provided with a railway in 1901.
Khambhat has warm & humid climate. It is located on the plains. The land on which Khambhat sits right now is the silt deposited by Mahi river, so Khambhat has got very fertile & wet soil. Soil over here is Coastal Alluvial. The area south of Khambhat is muddy wetlands and then coast line comes.Normally April to June is summer. From July, it rains until September.It has muggy climate for most part of the year except winters. Sometimes Khambhat receives heavy rain. And sometimes surrounding areas gets affected from the floods in Mahi river. October to February is winter. max. average temperature remains 25 to 30 and min. average temperature goes until 10 to 12. Summer max. average temperature remains 38 and minimum remains around 22. In summer, wind blows high. Khambhat coast's tides are the highest in the world. It goes high up to 35 feet.
, Khambhat had a population of 80,439. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Khambhat has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 67%. In Khambhat, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
mostly here the people have agate business and have shops which sells eatables and house hold products.
announced that evidence of an ancient civilisation exists in the form of a large complex of man-made structures underwater in the Gulf of Khambhat. India's archaeological community rejected the claims as baseless and politically motivated.
The name "Khambhat" is most probably the origin of the family name Khambhatta. See, for example, Persis Khambatta
.
Khambhat also appears to be the origin of the Maharashtrian surname Khambete just like the Sindhe/Shinde originates from someone who came from Sindh long ago.
The Cambyses
dynasty in Iran may have derived from the area of Khambhat/Cambay historically.
Khambhat is also recognised as the landing place for the first of the representatives from the Fatimid Caliphate era from the shores of Egypt. Maulai Ahmad and Maulai Abdullah were sent to India by Imam Mustansir Billah where they propagated the cause of Fatimid Islam and laid the foundations of the one million strong Dawoodi Bohra community who are generally regarded as the inheritors of the Fatimid legacy.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in Anand district
Anand district
Anand District is an administrative district of Gujarat state in western India. It was carved out of the Kheda district in 1997. Anand is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is bounded by Kheda District to the north, Vadodara District to the east, Ahmedabad District to the west,...
in the 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...
n state
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of Gujarat. It was formerly an important trading center, although its harbour has gradually silted up, and the maritime trade has moved elsewhere. Khambhat lies on an alluvial plain at the north end of the Gulf of Khambhat
Gulf of Khambhat
The Gulf of Khambhat is an inlet of the Arabian Sea along the west coast of India, in the state of Gujarat. It is about 80 miles in length, and divides the Kathiawar peninsula to the west from the eastern part of Gujarat state on the east. The Narmada and Tapti rivers empty into the Gulf...
, which is noted for the extreme rise and fall of its tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
s, which can vary as much as thirty feet in the vicinity of Khambhat.
Origin of name
Some scholars suggest that the name Khambhat/Khambat -the Kambaya/Kanbāya of the Arabic writers – is connected with the KambojasKambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...
, and it is stated to be an apabhraṃśa form of the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
Kamboja
Etymology of Kamboja
Kamboja or Kambuja is the name of an ancient Indo-Iranian kingdom.They are believed to have been located originally in Pamirs and Badakshan in Central Asia.The name has a long history of attestation, both in the Iranian and the Indo-Aryan spheres....
. Some people believe that the town of Khambhat may be the Camanes of Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
. Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod
James Tod
Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod was an English officer of the British East India Company and an Oriental scholar.Tod was born in London and educated in Scotland, later joining the East India Company as a military officer. He travelled to India in 1799 as a cadet in the Bengal Army where he rose...
believes that the name comes from the Sanskrit Khambavati or 'City of the Pillar'.
One of the most accepted belief is, 'Khambhat' is made up of 2 words 'Khambh' and 'Aayat', Khambh means pole or pillar & Aayat means Import in Gujarati language. So, it is believed that, there has to be some pole, which must have been an identity for this city & as it was a glorious port, import/export trade was at the extreme.
History
Khambhat was formerly a flourishing city, the seat of an extensive trade, and celebrated for its manufactures of silkSilk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
, chintz
Chintz
Chintz is glazed calico cloth printed with flowers and other patterns in different colours. Unglazed calico is called "cretonne". The word Calico is derived from the name of the Indian city Calicut to which it had a manufacturing association.-History:Chintz was originally a woodblock printed,...
and gold stuffs. The Arab traveller, al-Mas'udi, visited the city in 915 AD, describing it as a very successful port; it was mentioned in 1293 by Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
, who, calling it Cambaet, noted it as a busy port. He mentions that the city had its own king. Indigo and fine buckram were particular products of the region, but much cotton and leather was also exported through Khambhat. A contemporary Italian traveller, Marino Sanud
Marino Sanuto the Elder
Marino Sanuto or Sanudo the Elder of Torcello was a Venetian statesman and geographer.He is best known for his life-long attempts to revive the crusading spirit and movement; with this object he wrote his great work, the Secreta Fidelium Crucis, otherwise called Historia Hierosolymitana, Liber de...
o, said that Cambeth was one of India’s main two ocean ports. Another Italian, visiting in about 1440, Niccolò de' Conti, mentions that the walls of the city were twelve miles in circumference.
The Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa
Duarte Barbosa
Duarte Barbosa was a Portuguese writer and Portuguese India officer between 1500 and 1516–17, with the post of scrivener in Cannanore factory and sometimes interpreter of the local language...
visited the city, which he calls Cambaia, in the early sixteenth century.
His description of the city is very full, he states:
"Entering by Cuindarim, which is the internal river, there is great and beautiful city that they call Cambaia, populated by Mouros (Muslims) and Hindus (Gentios). It has many beautiful houses, very high with windows, and covered with tiles in our manner. The streets are laid out well, with pretty squares and large buildings." He describes the city as very busy and affluent, with merchants coming frequently by sea from the world around.
Khambhat was the capital of 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 British India within the Gujarat division of Bombay.It has an area of 350 square miles (906 km²). As a separate state it dates only from about 1730, the time of the dismemberment of the Mughal empire
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
. Its Nawab
Nawab
A Nawab or Nawaab is an honorific title given to Muslim rulers of princely states in South Asia. It is the Muslim equivalent of the term "maharaja" that was granted to Hindu rulers....
s were descended from Mumin Khan, the last of the Mughal governors of Gujarat, who in 1742 defeated his brother-in-law, Nizam Khan, governor of Khambhat, and established himself there.
Owing principally to the gradually increasing difficulty of access by water by the silting up of the gulf, its commerce has long since fallen away, and the town became poor and dilapidated. The spring tides rise upwards of 30 ft (10 m), and in a channel usually so shallow form a serious danger to shipping. By 1900, the trade was chiefly confined to the export of cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
. The town was celebrated for its manufacture of agate
Agate
Agate is a microcrystalline variety of silica, chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks and can be common in certain metamorphic rocks.-Etymology...
and carnelian
Carnelian
Carnelian is a brownish-red mineral which is commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker...
ornaments, of reputation, principally in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
The houses in many instances are built of stone (a circumstance which indicates the former wealth of the city, as the material had to be brought from a very considerable distance); and remains of a brick wall, 3 miles (5 km) in circumference, which formerly surrounded the town, enclose four large reservoirs of good water and three bazaar
Bazaar
A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...
s. To the southeast there are very extensive ruins of subterranean temples and other buildings half-buried in the sand by which the ancient town was overwhelmed. These temples belong to the Jains, and contain two massive statues of their deities, the one black, the other white. The principal one, as the inscription intimates, is Pariswanath, or Parswanath, carved in the reign of the emperor Akbar; the black one has the date of 1651 inscribed.
In 1780 Khambhat was taken by the army of general Goddard Richards, and was restored to the Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...
s in 1783, and was afterwards ceded to the British by the Peshwa
Peshwa
A Peshwa is the titular equivalent of a modern Prime Minister. Emporer Shivaji created the Peshwa designation in order to more effectively delegate administrative duties during the growth of the Maratha Empire. Prior to 1749, Peshwas held office for 8-9 years and controlled the Maratha army...
under the treaty of 1803. It was provided with a railway in 1901.
Nawabs of Cambay
| Nawab | Reign |
|---|---|
| Jafar Nizam-e-Sani, Mo'min Khan I | 1735–1742 |
| Nur-ad-Din Muftakher Khan | 1742–1743 |
| Najm-ud-Daulah, Mo'min Khan II | 1743–1784 |
| Muhammad Quli Khan | 1784–1790 |
| Fateh Ali Khan Fateh Ali Khan Fateh Ali Khan may refer to:* Bade Fateh Ali Khan * Fateh Ali Khan * Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan * Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan * Fateh Ali Khan Umrani, leader of the Umrani tribe of Pakistan... |
1790 – 28 October 1823 |
| Banda Ali Khan | 1823–1841 |
| Hussain Yawar Khan I | 1841 – April 1880 |
| Najib-ud-Daulah, Mumtaz-ul-Mulk, Ja'far Ali Khan | 1880 – 21 January 1915 |
| Nizam-ud-Daulah, Najm-ud-Daulah, Mumtaz-ul-Mulk, Hussain Yawar Khan II | 21 January 1915 – 15 August 1947 |
Geography
Khambhat is located at 22.3°N 72.62°E. It has an average elevation of 8 metres (26 feet).Khambhat has warm & humid climate. It is located on the plains. The land on which Khambhat sits right now is the silt deposited by Mahi river, so Khambhat has got very fertile & wet soil. Soil over here is Coastal Alluvial. The area south of Khambhat is muddy wetlands and then coast line comes.Normally April to June is summer. From July, it rains until September.It has muggy climate for most part of the year except winters. Sometimes Khambhat receives heavy rain. And sometimes surrounding areas gets affected from the floods in Mahi river. October to February is winter. max. average temperature remains 25 to 30 and min. average temperature goes until 10 to 12. Summer max. average temperature remains 38 and minimum remains around 22. In summer, wind blows high. Khambhat coast's tides are the highest in the world. It goes high up to 35 feet.
Demographics
As of 2001 India 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...
, Khambhat had a population of 80,439. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Khambhat has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 67%. In Khambhat, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Economy
the business has declined due to the salty water which is not feasible for the industries. the local government is stagnant and it is not doing enough to revive the business in the town. also despite of making repeated requests by the people of khambhat to the state government to restart port in khambhat, nothing has been done so far.mostly here the people have agate business and have shops which sells eatables and house hold products.
Additional information
In 2000, India's science and technology minister Murli Manohar JoshiMurli Manohar Joshi
Murli Manohar Joshi was the Union Human Resources Development minister of India in the NDA government. Joshi is a leading member of the Bharatiya Janata Party...
announced that evidence of an ancient civilisation exists in the form of a large complex of man-made structures underwater in the Gulf of Khambhat. India's archaeological community rejected the claims as baseless and politically motivated.
The name "Khambhat" is most probably the origin of the family name Khambhatta. See, for example, Persis Khambatta
Persis Khambatta
Persis Khambatta was an Indian model, actress and author. She was best known for her role as Lieutenant Ilia in the 1979 feature film Star Trek: The Motion Picture.-Early Life:...
.
Khambhat also appears to be the origin of the Maharashtrian surname Khambete just like the Sindhe/Shinde originates from someone who came from Sindh long ago.
The Cambyses
Cambyses
Cambyses can refer to two ancient rulers and two plays:-*Cambyses I, King of Anshan 600 to 559 BCE*Cambyses II, King of Persia 530 to 522 BCE*Cambyses, a tragedy by Thomas Preston...
dynasty in Iran may have derived from the area of Khambhat/Cambay historically.
Khambhat is also recognised as the landing place for the first of the representatives from the Fatimid Caliphate era from the shores of Egypt. Maulai Ahmad and Maulai Abdullah were sent to India by Imam Mustansir Billah where they propagated the cause of Fatimid Islam and laid the foundations of the one million strong Dawoodi Bohra community who are generally regarded as the inheritors of the Fatimid legacy.