Kathiawar
Kathiawar is a
peninsula in western
India. It is part of
Gujarat state, bounded on the north by the great
wetland of the
Rann of Kutch, on the northwest by the Gulf of
Kutch, on the west and south by the
Arabian Sea, and on the southeast and east by the
Gulf of Cambay. A person from Kathiawar is called a "Kathiawadi". The major cities of Kathiawar are
Rajkot in the center of the peninsula,
Jamnagar on the Gulf of Kutch,
Bhavnagar on the Gulf of Cambay,
Porbandar on the west coast, historic city of
Junagadh on the South.
Diu, an island town formerly part of
Portuguese India and now part of the Indian
union territory of
Daman and Diu, lies off the south coast of Kathiawar. The city of
Somnath and its famous temple are also located on the south coast.
The natural vegetation on most of the peninsula is
xeric scrub, part of the
Northwestern thorn scrub forests ecoregion. A range of low hills, known as the Gir Hills, occupy the south-central portion of the peninsula, the highest of which is
Girnar. The hills are home to an enclave of
tropical dry broadleaf forest, part of the
Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion.
Gir National Park, which includes the forested hills around Girnar, is home to the last remaining Asiatic
lions left in the wild. Other national parks on Kathiawar are
Blackbuck National Park (Velavadar) on the Gulf of Cambay and
Marine National Park, on the Gulf of Kutch near Jamnagar.
Before Indian independence in 1947, most of Kathiawar was divided into numerous
princely states, ruled by local potentates who acknowledged British sovereignty in return for local autonomy. These states comprised the
Kathiawar Agency. The rest of the peninsula, chiefly in the east along the Gulf of Cambay, were districts ruled directly by the British. The entire peninsula was part of British India's
Bombay Presidency.
The agency had an area of 20,882 square miles. In 1901 the population was 2,329,196. The estimated gross revenue of the several states was 1,278,000 rupees in 1911; total tribute (payable to the British, the
Gaekwar of Baroda and the nawab of Junagarh), was 70,000 rupees. There were altogether 193 states of varying size and importance, of which 14 exercised independent jurisdiction, while the rest were more or less under British administration. The eight states of the first class were
Junagadh,
Nawanagar,
Bhavnagar,
Porbandar,
Dhrangadhra,
Morvi,
Gondal, and
Jafarabad. The headquarters of the political agent was at
Rajkot, in the centre of the peninsula, where also was the Rajkumar college, for the education of the sons of the rulers. There was a similar school for girasias, or chiefs of lower rank, at Gondal. An excellent system of metre-gauge railways was built at the cost of the leading states. Maritime trade was also very active, the chief ports being Porbandar, Mangrol and Verawal. In 1903-1904 the total sea-borne exports were valued at 1,300,000 rupees, and the imports at 1,120,000. The progressive prosperity of Kathiawar received a shock from the famine of 1899-1900, which was felt everywhere with extreme severity; the population of the agency decreased 15% in the decade 1891-1901 due to the results of famine.
Upon independence, Kathiawar became part of India, although the Muslim ruler of
Junagadh sought to become part of
Pakistan; India intervened, and Junagadh acceded to India, although Pakistan still maintains a claim to it. The former princely states of Kathiawar were grouped into the new province of
Saurashtra, which became a
state in 1950. In 1956, Saurashtra was merged into
Bombay State, and in 1960, Bombay state was divided along linguistic lines into the new states of Gujarat and
Maharashtra. Diu remained in Portuguese hands until 1961, when it was occupied by Indian troops, and was integrated into India as part of the union territory of in 1962.
