MUSALMÁN GUJARÁT.
a.d. 1297–1760.
INTRODUCTION.
Introduction.
Musalmán Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760. Muhammadan rule in Gujarát lasted from the conquest of the province by the Dehli emperor Alá-ud-dín Khilji (a.d. 1295–1315), shortly before the close of the thirteenth century a.d., to the final defeat of the Mughal viceroy Momín Khán by the Maráthás and the loss of the city of Áhmedábád at the end of February 1758.
This whole term of Musalmán ascendancy, stretching over slightly more than four and a half centuries, may conveniently be divided into three parts. The First, the rule of the early sovereigns of Dehli, lasting a few years more than a century, or, more strictly from a.d. 1297 to a.d. 1403; the Second, the rule of the Áhmedábád kings, a term of nearly a century and three-quarters, from a.d. 1403 to a.d. 1573; the Third, the rule of the Mughal Emperors, when, for little less than two hundred years, a.d. 1573–1760, Gujarát was administered by viceroys of the court of Dehli.
Territorial Limits.In the course of these 450 years the limits of Gujarát varied greatly. In the fourteenth century the territory nominally under the control of the Musalmán governors of Pátan (Aṇahilaváḍa) extended southwards from Jhálor, about fifty miles north of Mount Abu, to the neighbourhood of Bombay, and in breadth from the line of the Málwa and Khándesh hills to the western shores of peninsular Gujarát.[1] The earlier kings of Áhmedábád (a.d. 1403–1450), content with establishing their power on a firm footing, did not greatly extend the limits of their kingdom. Afterwards, during the latter part of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries (a.d. 1450–1530), the dominions of the Áhmedábád kings gradually spread till they included large tracts to the east and north-east formerly in the possession of the rulers of Khándesh and Málwa. Still later, during the years of misrule between a.d. 1530 and a.d. 1573, the west of Khándesh and the north of the Konkan ceased to form part of the kingdom of Gujarát. Finally, under the arrangements introduced by the emperor Akbar in a.d. 1583, more lands were restored to Málwa and Khándesh. With the exception of Jhálor and Sirohi on the north, Dungarpur and Bánsváda on the north-east, and Alirájpur on
Introduction.
Musalmán Gujarát, a.d. 1297–1760. the east, since handed to Rájputána and Central India, the limits of Gujarát remain almost as they were laid down by Akbar.
Sorath.Though, under the Musalmáns, peninsular Gujarát did not bear the name of Káthiáváḍa, it was then, as at present, considered part of the province of Gujarát. During the early years of Musalmán rule, the peninsula, together with a small portion of the adjoining mainland, was known as Sorath, a shortened form of Saurâshṭra, the name originally applied by the Hindus to a long stretch of sea-coast between the banks of the Indus and Daman.[2] Towards the close of the sixteenth century the official use of the word Sorath was confined to a portion, though by much the largest part, of the peninsula. At the same time, the name Sorath seems then, and for long after, to have been commonly applied to the whole peninsula. For the author of the Mirăt-i-Áhmedi, writing as late as the middle of the eighteenth century (a.d. 1756: a.h. 1170), speaks of Sorath as divided into five districts or zilláhs, Hálár, Káthiáváḍa, Gohilváḍa, Bábriáváḍa, and Jetváḍa, and notices that though Navánagar was considered a separate district, its tribute was included in the revenue derived from Sorath.[3] In another passage the same writer thus defines Sauráshṭra:
Sauráshṭra or Sorath comprehends the Sarkár of Sorath the Sarkár of Islámnagar or Navánagar and the Sarkár of Kachh or Bhujnagar. It also includes several zillahs or districts, Naiyad which they call Jatwár, Hálár or Navánagar and its vicinity, Káthiáváḍa, Gohilváḍa, Bábriáváḍa, Chorvár, Panchál, Okhágir in the neighbourhood of Jagat otherwise called Dwárka, Prabhás Khetr or Pátan Somnáth and its neighbourhood, Nághír also called Sálgogha, and the Nalkántha.[4]