Patan, Gujarat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the municipality in India. For its namesake district, see Patan district.
For other uses, see Patan (disambiguation).
Patan
city
Patan
Location in u!arat, India
"oordinates# $%.&%'( )$.*$'+ "oordinates #
$%.&%'( )$.*$'+
Country India
State u!arat
District Patan
Elevation ), m ($-. ft)
Population ($/**)
Total *%%,)%)
Languages
Official u!arati, 0indi
Time zone I1T (2T"34#%/)
P! %&-$,4
"e#icle registration 5 $-c6d
Patan pronunciation (help7info) 8as a capital of u!arat in medie9al times. It is the
administrati9e seat of Patan :istrict in the Indian state of u!arat and administered by
municipality. The city contains many 0indu and 5ain temples as 8ell as fe8 mos;ues,
dargahs and ro!as. The city has many historical places also.
Contents
* 0istory
$ <ani ki 9a9
% The modern city
- Tourist attractions
4 eography
, :emographics
) *$ dar8a!as in patan
& 1ee also
. <eferences
*/ Further reading
** +=ternal links
$istory
The assassination of >kbar?s regent @airam Ahan in Patan.
Patan, an ancient fortified to8n, 8as founded in )-4 >: by Banra! "ha9da, the most
prominent king of the "ha9da Aingdom. 0e named the city %n#ilpur Patan or
C>nhil8ad PatanC after his close friend and Prime Dinister >nhil shepherd. It is
9ariously referre to any ocean.
These "halukya ra!puts, 8ith Paramaras of Dal8a, the "hauhans of 1akambhari and
"handellas of Aalan!ar and Dahoba, 8ere serious contestants for supremacy in northern
India. >t the Eenith of their imperial greatness the bounds of u!arat 8ere e=tended to
co9er 1aurashtra and Autch in the West, Lata in the 1outh, Dal8a in the +ast and
1outhern <a!asthan in the (orth. 0istorian Tertius "handler estimates that >nhil8ara
8as the tenth6largest city in the 8orld in the year *///, 8ith a population of
appro=imately *//,///.
F*G
When Duhammad hori had attempted to con;uer u!arat, the forces of Dulara!a II,
then the king of Patan, a mere boy6ruler, led by his heroic mother (aikide9i, inflicted
such a crushing and conclusi9e defeat on him that the foreigner did not dare again during
his lifetime to cast his greedy eye upon Patan. 0e ne9er again entered India through
u!arat. The battle 8as fought at Aayadra, a 9illage near Dount >bu. horiHs army 8as
completely routed in the conflict, but someho8 he escaped 8ith his defeated army from
u!arat.
Duhammed?s general and later 1ultan of :elhi Iutb6ud6din >ybak sacked the city
bet8een *$// and *$*/, and it 8as destroyed by the >lladin Ahil!i in *$.&.
The modern to8n of Patan later sprung up near the ruins of >nhil8ara. :uring *%/- to
*-**, First Patan 8as the u!arat 1tate or Suba 0ead;uarter of :elhi 1ultanate and then
"apital "ity of u!arat 1ultanate after the collapse of the :elhi 1ultanate at the end of the
fourteenth century. > ne8 Fort 8as built by these 1ubas, a large portion of 8hich along
8ith a fe8 of the gates is still intact. The old Fort of 0indu kingdom is nearly 9an;uished
and only a 8all can be seen on the 8ay from Aalka to <ani ki 9a9. In *-**, 1ultan
>hmed 1hah mo9ed the capital to >hmedabad.
Patan 8as part of the Daratha state of @aroda from the mid6eighteenth century until
India?s independence in *.-), 8hen @aroda became part of @ombay state, 8hich in *.,/
8as separated into u!arat and Daharashtra.
&ani 'i vav
<ani ki 9a9.
:uring the period of the 1olanki dynasty, the step8ell called the Rani ki vav, or Ran-ki
vav (IueenHs step 8ell) 8as constructed. It is a richly6sculptured monument, built by
2daymati in memory of her husband, @himde9 I (*/$$6*/,%).
F$G
It 8as probably completed by 2dayamati and Aarande9 I after his death. > reference to
2daymati building the monument is in the ?Prabandha "hintamani? composed by
Derutunga 1uri in *%/- >:..
It 8as one of the largest and the most sumptuous structures of its type. It became silted up
and much of it is not 9isible no8, e=cept for some ro8s of sculptured panels in the
circular part of the 8ell. >mong its ruins one pillar still stands 8hich is the proof not only
of the elegance of its design, but also e=cellent e=ample of this period. > part only of the
8est 8ell is e=tant from 8hich it appears that the 8all had been built of brick and faced
8ith stone. From this 8all pro!ect 9ertical bracket in pairs, this supported the different
galleries of the 8ell shaft proper. This bracketing is arranged in tiers and is richly car9ed.
There is also a small ate belo8 the last step of the step 8ell 8hich has a %/ kilometre
tunnel built ((o8 it has been blocked by stones and mud) 8hich leads to the to8n of
1idhpur near Patan. It 8as used as an escape gate8ay for king 8ho built the step 8ell in
the times of defeat.
Dost of the sculpture is in de9otion to Bishnu, in the forms of his >9atars (Arishna,
<ama and others), representing their return to the 8orld.
>round 4/J,/ years back there used to be ayur9edic plants around this areas 8hich
causes the 8ater accumulated in <ani ni 9a9 helpful for 9iral disease, fe9er.
It 8as included in the list of 2(+1"K World 0eritage 1ites on $$ 5une $/*-.
F%G
T#e mo(ern city
Presently, Patan is home to the 0emchandracharya (orth u!arat 2ni9ersity
F-G
named
after the famous polymath >charya 0emachandra. It 8as pre9iously kno8n as (orth
u!arat 2ni9ersity. Patan is a prominent medical centre in the (orth u!arat 8ith almost
$// practicing medical professionals. It also has Dedical "ollege on the 8ay to @alisana.
Patan ser9es as a central market place for local farmers.
There are many schools and colleges in Patan. @. : 0igh 1chool, p.p.g e=perimental
higher se=ondary school and 5unior "ollege is the oldest amongst all. @esides, other
famous schools are# P.P.. +=perimentle 0igh 1chool and >darsha Bidhyalaya.
The patola saree is one of the finest hand68o9en sarees produced today. This is a
specialty of Patan, and is famous for e=tremely delicate patterns 8o9en 8ith great
precision and clarity. > patola sari takes - to , months to make, depending on ho8
complicated the designs is and if the length is 4 or , metre. This saris are totally colored
8ith the 9egetable color. It costs starts from <s. $/,/// 8hich may go up to <s.
$/,//,/// e9en depending on the difficulty of 8ork as many times gold threads are also
included during its 8ea9ing process.
Tourist attractions
<emains of the 8alls of ne8 fort.
1ahastra Linga Tank
There are many Toursist >ttractions including Forts, Ba9s (1tep Wells), Tala9s (Lakes)
and places of 8orship and unity of u!ar9ada youth club and also patan patola.
The only remains of Kld "ity of Patan in the form of a 9ery small portion of Kld Fort
near Aalka on the outskirts of the (e8 "ity is of historical and archeological importance.
1o is the case 8ith the remains of the 8alls of ne8 fort and the :ar8a!as (ates) of the
ne8 fort 8hich are fast disappearing. 2nfortunately, administration as 8ell as a ma!ority
of local people sho8 little interest in preser9ing these heritage places 8hich are shrinking
at a rapid pace. Fortunately, the inner fort of @hadra 8ith its :ar8a!as (ates) is
preser9ed 8ell. 0o8e9er, 8ith the transfer of all o9ernment and >dministrati9e
machinery from @hadra ho8 long it 8ill be preser9ed is unclear.
1tep 8ells include <ani6ki6Ba9 and Trikam @arot ni Ba9. Lakes include historically and
archeologically important 1ahstraling 1aro9ar, >nand 1aro9ar (ungadi Tala9) and
A0>( 1aro9ar. There are many a <eligious places of significance on religious, historical
or architerctural grounds. These include Kld Aalka Dandir, Panchmukhi 0anuman,
5asma Kdan ni :eri, Kld Dahala=mi Dandir, 1indha9ai Data nu Dandir, 0ingara!
Dandir, Panchasar :erasar and 1heikh Farid no <o!o.
1al9i9ad, a place 8here Patolas are 8o9en along 8ith places 8here traditional clay toys
are made are also 8orth 9isiting. Dany annual religious fairs also act as tourist
destination.
Geograp#y
Patan is located at $%.&%'( )$.*$'+. Patan <ail8ay 1tation is */& km a8ay from
>hemdabad <ail8ay 1tation. It can be reached by a bus, train or a pri9ate ta=i from
>hmedabad or "hansama or 2n!ha.
F4G
It has an a9erage ele9ation of ), metres ($-. feet).
Demograp#ics
>s of $//* India census,
F,G
Patan had a population of **$,/%&. Dales constitute 4%L of
the population and females -)L. Patan has an a9erage literacy rate of )$L, higher than
the national a9erage of 4..4L# male literacy is )&L, and female literacy is ,4L. In Patan,
**L of the population is under , years of age.
)* (ar+ajas in patan
@ag8ado, "hhidiya, Dira, >ghar, Aothakooe, Phatipaal (fatipal), hoonghdi, Aanasda
( also kno8n as Aalika), Ahansaro9ar, Dotishah, @hathi, *$th is a 8indo8 ( unkno8n
name).