Gujarat

Gujarat is a coastal state situated in the western part of India. It is bounded by the Indian states of Rajasthan in the north, Maharashtra in the south and Madhya Pradesh in the east. Gujarat also shares an international border with Pakistan along its north-western boundary and has a coastline, measuring 1600 kilometers long, along its western edge.

Gujarat encompasses a total geographic area cover of 196,024 square kilometers and is the seventh largest stateof the Republic of India. Also, with a total population of 60,383,628, it is the tenth most populous state in India.Gujarat was established as a state in the Union of India on 1^st May 1960. It was established by separating seventeen districts from the former State of Bombay and giving them the status of a new state. These seventeen districts which initially formed the Indian state of Gujarat were later further divided to form a total of twenty-six different administrative districts in state. These twenty-six districts are under the control of a District Collector, who is appointed by the Central Government of India. Situated at 23.2167° N latitude and 72.6833° E longitude, Gandhinagar is the capital of Gujarat whereas Ahmedabad is the largest city in state.

Economically, Gujarat is one of the strongest states in India and has remained an economically important region throughout the history of India. It is also one of the most industrialized states in India and has the fourth fastest growing economy in the nation.

Historically, Gujarat has been a strategically important region for its connectivity with sea. It was home to several sea ports even during the ancient era in India. It is evident that excessive international trade was conducted from the ports of Gujarat even during the ancient era, especially during the reign of the Mauryan Empire and the Gupta Empire. Gujarat is also known to have hosted several principal sites, including Lothal and Dholavira, of the Indus Valley Civilization which is the earliest known urban civilization to have flourished in India. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, famously known as Mahatma Gandhi, who is considered as India’s Father of Nation for his significant contributions in the India’s independence struggle was also a soul of this region.

Current Statistics for Gujarat

Capital	Area (in square kilometers)	Area Rank	Population (as per Census 2011)	Population Rank	HDI	Height (in meter)
Gandhinagar	196,024	7	60,383,628	10	0.527	945

Religions in Gujarat

Hinduism is the principal religion in Gujarat with almost 90% of the state population having faith in it. Islam, Sikhism and Jainism form the other important religions present in a sizable proportion in Gujarat. The chart below describes the different religions present in state along with their corresponding population.

Religion	Hinduism	Islam	Sikhism	Jainism	Others
Corresponding Population	89.1%	9.1%	0.1%	1%	0.7%

History of Gujarat

Gujarat has been a historically important region throughout the history of India and was a strategically important region, not only for dynasties and empires in northern India but for the entire Indian Subcontinent. The earliest known establishments in state were those belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization, which is the earliest known urban civilization to have flourished in India. In fact, Gujarat has been host to several principal sites of the Indus Valley Civilization which includes the ancient cities of Lothal, Gola Dhoro and Dholavira. Of these, Gola Dhoro is the most recently found Indus Valley site whereas Lothal is known to have hosted India’s earliest known port. In total, almost fifth Indus Valley sites are known to have been discovered in the state of Gujarat.

Since the ancient era of the Indian History, excessive sea trade was conducted from Gujarat. During the ancient era, Gujarat has been ruled under the reign of the Mauryan Empire, the Gupta Empire, the Pala Empire, theRashtrakuta Empire, the Gurjara-Pratihara Empire, the Maitrakas and the Solankis.

In eleventh century AD, Mahmud of Ghazni, who was the first Muslim invader to have laid his feet on the soil ofGujarat, conquered Somnath and marked an end to the rule of Solankis in the region. Later, between 1297 and 1300 AD, in the reign of Allauddin Khilji, most parts of Gujarat were brought into the territory of the Delhi Sultanate. In early fifteenth century, Gujarat’s Muslim Rajput governor Zafar Khan proclaimed his independence from the Delhi Sultanate and established an empire of his own in the region now known as Gujarat. Zafar Khan was succeeded by his son Ishaan Shah who is famously known for restructuring of Ahmedabad as the capital of the Sultanate ofGujarat. In 1576, Akbar the Great of the Mughal Dynasty overthrew Sultanate of Gujarat and brought the region under the territory of the Mughal Empire. The region remained under the Mughal rule until it was annexed by the Maratha Empire in the eighteenth century.

In 1761, after the Battle of Panipat, the Maratha generals established themselves as autonomous governments while keeping the nominal authority of the Peshwas of Pune and the Chatrapati from Satara. Later, after the Second Anglo-Maratha War, most parts of present day’s Gujarat came under the rule of the British East India Company. After this war, several local rulers of the region accepted British sovereignty in return for retaining the local autonomy. Under British rule, with an exception to the state of Baroda which was under the direct control of the Governor-General of India, the region of Gujarat was amalgamated into the Bombay Presidency.

After India gained became independent in 1947, the Bombay state was enlarged to accommodate parts of Gujaratinto its constituency. However, as a result of widespread agitation by both, the Gujarati speaking and the Marathi speaking people, for their demand of a separate state on lingual basis, the Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra were established on 1^st May 1960. Initially, Ahmedabad was established as the capital to Gujarat but it was later shifted to Gandhinagar.

Geography of Gujarat

Gujarat is a state situated in the western part of country. It encompasses a total geographic area cover of 196,024 square kilometers and ranks seventh amongst all Indian states in terms of the geographic cover. Gujarat shares an international land border with the Sindh province of Pakistan along its north-western edge and has a 1600 kilometers long coastline with the Arabian Sea in the west. It is also bounded by the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh in the east, Rajasthan in the north and Maharashtra in the south. Gandhinagar, located at 23.2167° N latitude and 72.6833° E longitude, is the capital city of Gujarat whereas Ahmedabad is its largest city.

Initially, at the time of its formation, Gujarat had seventeen districts into its constituency which were later divided further to have a total of twenty-six different administrative districts in state. The twenty-six administrative districts of Gujarat includes Ahmedabad, Anand, Bharuch, Dahod, Gandhinagar, Junagadh, Kutch, Narmada, Panchmahal, Porbandar, Sabarkantha, Surendranagar, Vadodara, Amreli, Banaskantha, Bhavnagar, Dang, Jamnagar, Kheda, Mehsana, Navsari, Patan, Rajkot, Surat, Tapi and Valsad. Each of these district lie under the administrative control of the District Collector who is appointed by the Central Government.

The major rivers flowing through Gujarat includes Narmada, Tampi and Sabarmati. Amongst the other rivers flowing through state are  Aji, Banas, Bhikda, Daman Ganga, Gautami, Hathmati, Keri, Kim, Lindio, Mazum,  Purna, Shedhi, Sonpari, Vishwamitri, Ambika, Bhadar, Bhogavo, Dhadhar, Ghelo, Kalubhar, Khari, Lilka, Mahi, Meshwo, Ootavali, Rangholi, Sanosari, Shetrunji, Talaji, Vatrak and Und.

Economy of Gujarat

Gujarat is one of the fastest growing and most developed state economies in India. According to an article published in The Economist, Gujarat is one of the best places in India to establish an entrepreneurial organization or company. The State Government of Gujarat has been successful in providing a business friendly environment to the budding entrepreneurs and at the same time corruption levels in state are extremely low. One reason for the high growth rates of Gujarat economy is a well connected network of roadways.

Industries form the most important economic activity in Gujarat and provide employment to a large proportion ofstate population. Gujarat is also ranked as the second most favorable state for industrial establishments, next only to Tamil Nadu. Gujarat ranks first in India in terms of the gas-based thermal electricity generation and almost all cities and villages in state have a twenty-four hour access to electricity.

Agricultural Sector is also highly developed in Gujarat. In fact, with a growth rate of 10.97%, agriculture in Gujarathas recorded highest decadal growth rate. Major agricultural products which are produced in Gujarat include cotton, dates, groundnuts and sugarcane. Gujarat is also known as one of the highest producer of milk and milk products inIndia.

Tourism in Gujarat

Gujarat is one amongst the famous tourist destinations in India. It receives numerous tourists every year from different parts of India and abroad. Tourism in Gujarat is promoted by the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited. Amitabh Bachchan, the legendary actor from the Indian cinema, is the present brand ambassador of the Gujarattourism.

Gujarat is famously known for its wildlife and is the only place beyond Africa where Asiatic lions can still be seen in their natural habitat. Apart from lions, leopards form the other wildlife attraction of the state. Gujarat hosts four National Parks and twenty-one Wildlife Sanctuaries most visited of which are listed below:

• Gir Forest National Park
• Blackbuck National Park
• Vansda National Park
• Marine National Park
• Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary
• Porbandar Bird Sanctuary
• Kutch Bustard Sanctuary
• Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary
• Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary
• Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary
• Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary

Gujarat is also famous for several pilgrimage centers situated in state. Most famous of the various pilgrimage centers situated in state include the following listed below.

• Somnath
• Palitana Temples
• Sun Temple
• Dwarakadheesh Temple
• Jama Masjid
• Sidi Saiyyed Mosque

Along with different fairs which are organized in different parts of the state, Museums spread throughout Gujaratforms the other tourist attractions in state.