Khambhat: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox settlement

| name                           = Khambhat

| native_name                     =  

| native_name_lang               =  

| other_name                     = Cambay

| settlement_type                 = City

| image_skyline                   = City of Khambaht(Tower Area).jpg

| image_alt                       =  

| image_caption                   = Tower Road, Khambhat

| nickname                       = Trambavati Nagari

| image_map                       =  

| map_alt                         =  

| map_caption                     =  

| pushpin_map                     = India Gujarat

| pushpin_label_position         = right

| pushpin_map_alt                 =  

| pushpin_map_caption             =  

| coordinates                     = {{coord|22.3|N|72.62|E|display=inline,title}}

| subdivision_type               = Country

| subdivision_name               = India

| subdivision_type1               = [[States and territories of India|State]]

| subdivision_type2               = [[List of districts of India|District]]

| subdivision_name1               = [[Gujarat]]

| subdivision_name2               = [[Anand district|Anand]]

| established_title               = <!-- Established -->

| established_date               =  

| founder                         =  

| named_for                       =  

| government_type                 = [[Nagar Palika]]

| governing_body                 =  

| unit_pref                       = Metric

| area_footnotes                 =  

| area_total_km2                 = 2932.9

| area_rank                       =  

| population_total               = 99,164 (M+OG)

| population_as_of               = 2011

| population_footnotes           =  

| population_density_km2         = 620

| population_rank                 =  

| population_demonym             =  

| demographics_type1             = Languages

| demographics1_title1           = Official

| timezone1                       = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]

| utc_offset1                     = +5:30

| postal_code_type               = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]

| postal_code                     = 388620,388625,388630,388540

| area_code                       = 02698

| area_code_type                 = Telephone code

| registration_plate             = GJ 23

| website                         = {{URL|www.khambhatnagarpalika.in}}

| footnotes                       =  

| demographics1_info1             = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]

| official_name                   =  

'''Khambhat''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɑː|m|ˈ|b|ɑː|t}}, {{IPA-gu|kʰəmbʱɑt|lang|Khambat.ogg}}) ([[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]: ખંભાત), also known as '''Khambat''', '''Khambaj'''{{Citation needed|reason=Source needed|date=October 2020}}, and '''Cambay''', is a town and the surrounding [[urban agglomeration]] in Khambhat [[Tehsil|Taluka]], [[Anand district]] in the [[India]]n [[States and territories of India|state]] of [[Gujarat]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alphabetical List of Towns and their Population: Gujarat |work= Census of India 2010|publisher=Office of The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |url=http://censusindia.gov.in/towns/guj_towns.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124151904/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/towns/guj_towns.pdf |archive-date=24 November 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> It was once an important trading center, but its harbour gradually silted up, and the maritime trade moved to [[Surat]].{{Citation needed|reason=Source needed|date=October 2020}} Khambat lies on an [[alluvial plain]] at the north end of the [[Gulf of Khambhat]], noted for the extreme rise and fall of its [[tide]]s, which can vary as much as thirty feet in the vicinity of Khambat. Khambat is known for its halvasan, [[sutarfeni]] and [[kite]]s (patang), and for sources of oil and gas.

Khambat is perhaps the only place in India where the [[Harappa]]n craft agate bead making is found in the living tradition. Surprisingly Khambat has no stone deposits; the craft has survived mainly through acquiring stones from the [[Rajpipla]] hills, about 200&nbsp;km away from the city. In the folklore of Khambat, the beginning of the craft is attributed to Baba Ghor, a 1500 AD saint from Ethiopia who had led a large contingent of Muslims to settle in the city. However, in the archaeological record the origin of the craft can be traced to nearby [[Lothal]], a Harappan outpost that flourished about 4000 years ago.

==Variants of name==

===Historical===

* Cambaet of [[Marco Polo]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Travels of Marco Polo|last=Polo|first=Marco|last2=Pisa|first2=Rustichello|year=c. 1300|author-link1=Marco Polo|author-link2=Rustichello da Pisa}}</ref>

* Cambaia of [[Duarte Barbosa]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books/?id=cAgkDwAAQBAJ|title=The Book of Duarte Barbosa: An Account of the Countries bordering on the Indian Ocean and their Inhabitants: Written by Duarte Barbosa, and Completed about the year 1518 A.D, Volume 2|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781317040149|authors=Duarte Barbosa; Mansel Longworth Dames|date=15 May 2017}}</ref>

 

Cambay was formerly a flourishing city, the seat of an extensive trade, and celebrated for its manufactures of [[silk]], [[chintz]] and gold stuffs.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Cambay |volume=5 |page=81 |inline=1}}</ref> The Arab traveler [[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 exported through Cambay. In the early 1340s, the Moroccan traveller [[Ibn Battuta]] remarked on its impressive architecture and cosmopolitan population.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rehla of Ibn Battuta (India, Maldive Islands and Ceylon)|last=Baṭṭūṭa|first=Ibn|last2=Husain|first2=Mahdi|publisher=Oriental Institute|year=1976|location=Baroda|pages=172}}</ref> <blockquote>"Cambay is one of the most beautiful cities as regards the artistic architecture of its houses and the construction of its mosques. The reason is that the majority of its inhabitants are foreign merchants, who continually build there beautiful houses and wonderful mosques -- an achievement in which they endeavour to surpass each other."</blockquote>An Italian traveler, [[Marino Sanuto the Elder|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 Kothi gateway traditioally believed to be constructed by an English factory is in fact a 14th-century gate, probably dating to the 1330s, of [[Tughlaq dynasty|Tughluq]] era.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lambourn|first=Elizabeth|date=2002-10-01|title=The English factory or Kothī gateway at Cambay: an unpublished Tughluq structure from Gujarat|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/div-classtitlethe-english-factory-or-span-classitalickothspan-gateway-at-cambay-an-unpublished-tughluq-structure-from-gujarat-div/4801B76D11B55E561B18C7DE2A2EC2AC|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|volume=65|issue=3|pages=495–517|doi=10.1017/S0041977X02000307|issn=1474-0699}}</ref>

The traders and the merchants reached here from across the world. Cambay was known for its cotton and silk cloths. Cambay was one of India's most active [[trade]] center since the 14th century (Source: [[Ibn Battuta]]). After 200 years, [[Duarte Barbosa]] described Cambay as an important commercial center with [[Mughal carpets|carpets]], and other textile goods in Mughal established [[Mughal Karkhanas|industries]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Walker|first=Daniel|url=http://archive.org/details/FlowersUnderfootIndianCarpetsoftheMughalEra00|title=Flowers Underfoot: Indian Carpets of the Mughal Era|date=1997|publisher=|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=5|language=English}}</ref>

Cambay was famous for its cloth manufacturing and trading activities. There were certain coarse cotton cloths which were called Cambay cloth.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Indian Trade Cloths|url=http://asiantextileart.com/tradecloths.html|access-date=2021-01-11|website=asiantextileart.com}}</ref> For instance, the checked cloths.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Peck|first=Amelia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BYjh82N63IQC&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq&hl=en|title=Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800|date=2013|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|year=|isbn=978-1-58839-496-5|location=|pages=305|language=en}}</ref> There are records of extensive trading of Gujarati Cambay cloth.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kumar|first=Raj|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e8o5HyC0-FUC&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq&hl=en|title=Encyclopaedia of Untouchables Ancient, Medieval and Modern|date=2008|publisher=Gyan Publishing House|year=|isbn=978-81-7835-664-8|location=|pages=231|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XhcIAQAAIAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq&hl=en|title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Rewa Kántha, Nárukot, Cambay, and Surat states|date=1880|publisher=Government Central Press|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=191|language=en}}</ref>

==Additional information==

In May 2001, India's Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Science and Technology division, [[Murli Manohar Joshi]], announced that the ruins of an ancient civilization had been discovered off the coast of Gujarat, in the [[Gulf of Khambhat]]. The site was discovered by [[National Institute of Ocean Technology|NIOT]] while they performed routine pollution studies using [[Sonar|SONAR]], and was described as an area of regularly spaced geometric structures. It is located 20&nbsp;km from the Gujarat coast, spans 9&nbsp;km, and can be found at a depth of 30–40 meters. In his announcement, Joshi represented the site as an urban settlement that pre-dates the [[Indus Valley Civilization]]. However, these claims were made without the backing of any experts and have since been debunked by prominent archaeologists.<ref name="Bavadam 2002a">Bavadam, Lyla. "Questionable claims: Archaeologists debunk the claim that underwater structures in the Gulf of Khambhat point to the existence of a pre-Harappan civilisation." ''Frontline'' 2–15 March 2002. [http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1905/19050670.htm].</ref>