Gujarat: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Geography and Location

Aerial map

Gujarat is the most industrialized state in India after Maharashtra. It is located in western India near the border with Pakistan and its capital is Gandhinagar.

Gujarat has a reputation for people with shrewd business acumen and considerable financial talent. But apart from this stereotype, there have been Gujaratis with various other talents. Gujarat has given to India two of its biggest leaders in the Indian Independence Movement, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Gujaratis have also made their mark in the arts and the sciences, although they are comparatively few in number when compared to the number of businessmen and entrepreneurs.

Cities

The major cities in Gujarat are Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, and Rajkot. Ahmedabad is the largest city in the state and the sixth largest in India. Other important cities in the south of Gujarat are Nadiad, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Navsari, Vapi, and Valsad; in the north are Bhuj and Dwarka.

Pre-Colonial History

Gujarat has always known for its coastline. Its cities served as ports and trading centres in the Maurya and Gupta empires. Gujarat continue to flourish as an independent state until the Muslims arrived. The Sultanate of Gujarat was founded in the 13th century and it continued to exist till the 1576, when the Mughal emperor Akbar conquered it and annexed it to the Mughal empire. It continued to be a part of the Mughal empire until the Marathas conquered it in the 18th century.

Colonial Gujarat

Portugal was the first European power to arrive in Gujarat, acquiring several enclaves along the Gujarati coast, including Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Britain wrested control of Gujarat from the Marathas, and incorporated it into British India. Portions were administered directly by Britain as part of Bombay Presidency, but most of what is now Gujarat was divided into dozens of princely states, ruled by local rulers who acknowledged British rule.

Gujarat after Indian Independence

After Indian independence and the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, The new Indian government grouped the former princely states of Gujarat into three larger units; Kutch, Saurashtra, which united many of the princely states on the Kathiawar peninsula, and Bombay state, which included much of western and central India, including many former princely states in what is now eastern Gujarat. In 1956, Bombay state was enlarged to include Kutch, Saurashtra, and parts of Hyderabad state and Madhya Pradesh in central India. The northern part of the newly-enlarged Bombay state spoke Gujarati, while the rest of the state was mostly Marathi-speaking. Agitation by Marathi nationalists led to the split of Bombay state on linguistic lines; on May 1, 1960, it became the new states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The first capital of Gujarat was Ahmedabad; the capital was moved to Gandhinagar in 1970.

The relief is low in the most part of the state. The climate is mostly dry, and even desertic in the north-west.

Gujarat is home to several National Parks, including Gir National Park, near Junagadh, Velavadar National Park in Bhavnagar District, Vandsa National Park in Bulser District, and Marine National Park on the Gulf of Kutch in Jamnagar District.

There are also a number of wildlife sanctuaries and nature preserves, including Balaram-Ambaji, Barda, Gir, Jambughoda, Jessore, Kachchh Desert, Marine (Gulf of Kutch), Nal Sarovar, Narayan Sarovar, Paniya, Purna, Rampura, Ratanmahal, Schoolpaneshwar, and Wild Ass.

Gujarat is traditional stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Since Independence in 1947, The Congress Party ruled the United Gujarat and Maharashtra as Bombay State. After its creation in 1960, Congress continued to maintain its rule. During emergency and after its aftermath, the Congress lost the public support in the late 1970s. However, it continued to rule it till 1995. In the 1995 Assembly Polls, the Congress lost to the BJP and Keshubhai Patel came to power. His Government lasted only 2 years following a split in the BJP caused by Shankersinh Vaghela. It came back to power in 1998 polls and has won most of the subsequent polls. In 2001, following the loss of 2 assembly seats in the bypolls, Keshubhai Patel resigned and handed over power to Narendra Modi, a hard line pro-hindutva person. In 2002 when riots broke out between hindus and muslims, Modi resigned only to be reelected by a huge margin in December 2002. Narendra Modi is since the Chief Minister. After the BJP loss in 2004 Lok Sabha Polls, Modi is increasingly blamed for his inability to stop the Gujarat riots. In 2004 Lok Sabha Polls, The BJP was curtailed from 21 to 14. The Congress gained from 5 to 12.

• See 2002 Gujarat violence

It is one of India's most prosperous states, having a per-capita GDP significantly above India's average. Major resources produced by the state include cotton, peanuts, dates, sugarcane, and petrol.

Surat, a city by the Gulf of Khambat, is hub of global diamond trade. Much of its diamond trade is controlled by a handful of families professing the Jain faith.

Also on the Gulf of Khambat, 50 kilometers southeast of Bhavnagar, is the Alang Ship Recycling Yard, the world's largest.

Anand is host to Amul dairy, one of the largest milk product producers of the world. Gujarat is the largest producer of milk in India.

Educational institutions

Gujarat is home to an Indian Institute of Management, located in the city of Ahmedabad. The institute has been rated as the best in Asia by Asiaweek and one of the best in the world. Its graduates work in high positions for Fortune 500 companies and other major companies throughout the world.

Its primary language is Gujarati. The majority of its residents are Hindus, with significant percentage following Islam, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity.

As Gujarat is a heavily industrialized state of India, it invites lots of outsiders, Residents mostly from North India, Bihar, and South India. Thousands of non-gujarati workers live in Gujarat.

Its main tourist sites include Palitana, Diu, Kutch, Jamnagar, Junagadh, and Rajkot.

The last remaining Asian lions live in a game reserve in Gujarat called Girnar.

Indian States and Territories
Andhra Pradesh | Arunachal Pradesh | Assam | Bihar | Chhattisgarh | Goa | Gujarat | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu and Kashmir | Jharkhand | Karnataka | Kerala | Madhya Pradesh | Maharashtra | Manipur | Meghalaya | Mizoram | Nagaland | Orissa | Punjab | Rajasthan | Sikkim | Tamil Nadu | Tripura | Uttaranchal | Uttar Pradesh | West Bengal
Union Territories: Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Chandigarh | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | Daman and Diu | Lakshadweep | Pondicherry
National Capital Territory: Delhi