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A Minor Research Project

On

‘The History Derived from the Songs of the Rulers of

Saurashtra’

Submitted to

University Grants Commission Western Regional Office,

Ganeshkhind, PUNE

Submitted by

Dr.Praduman B. Khachar

Associate Professor & Head

Dr. Subhash Mahila Arts, Commerce & Home Science College

Manoranjan Compound,

Junagadh-362 001 (Gujarat)

File No.23-262/12(WRO)

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DECLARATION

I, the undersigned hereby declare that the research entitled ‘The

History Derived from the Songs of the Rulers of Saurashtra’

submitted by me as Minor Research Project is original.

Date : 20-10-2016 Dr. Praduman B. Khachar

Junagadh (Gujarat) (Principal Investigator)

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Contents

No Chapter Title Page No

Declaration

Contents

1 Origin and development of songs in Indian literature

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2 Caste, Vocation and Objectives of their jobs of

the author of songs

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3 Songs written about Babi Rulers. 23

4 Songs written about Jadeja and Zala Rulers. 29

5 Songs written about Gohil and Jethawa Rulers. 34

6 Songs written about Kathi Rulers. 38

7 Conclusion 48

8 Bibliography 51

9 Menu Script of Songs and Photographs 54-71

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Chapter 1

Origin and development of songs in Indian literature

1.1 Introduction of Saurashtra

In India Saurashtra is a reign in Gujarat at the west, the reign is very old and very important and having the social, cultural and geographical identity of its own. This reign is known as the land of Saints, bravery,’Satis’, and donors. During the

Maurya dynasty and age of British Rule the region was known as ‘Kathiawar’. The jewel of Gir ‘The Indian Lion and Kesar Mango, Somnath and Dwaraka , and the father of two nations Mahatma Gandhi and Mohamad Ali Zina are from Saurastra. Not only this, Saurashtra has given famous cricketer Jam Ranaji and many religious figures like Swami Dayanand sarsvati, Prannath and Sahajanand Swami were from Saurashtra.

The word Saurashtra is the Sanskrit word and linguists has derived two meanings from its linguistic roots: 1) The land where The heirs of Sun or the worshiper of Sun lived and 2) Very good and fertile land which is capable to give nutritious grains and having great resources of minerals and other natural valuable things.

We can find the word ‘Saurashtra’ in the ancient Indian Epic ‘Valmiki

Ramayana’ in its Sarg-13 (Chapter) named Bal-Kand. In another big Epic ‘Mahabharata’s chapter named ‘Sabhaparva’ we can find the word Saurastra. The

word was also used in the “Arthshashtra’ by Kautilya(Adhyay-11), Baudhdhayan Dharmashashtra(1-2-3). The word Surashtra was used in Panini’s ‘Ashtdhytayi’,

Patanjali’s ‘Mahabhashaya’, and on the stone inscription of Girnar. This way

‘Saurashtra’ is known as very old, famous and best land of Gods.

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The peninsula of Saurashtra is situated between 20 degree- 40 degree latitude to 23 degree- 25 degree north latitude and from 69 degree-5 degree to 72 degree- 20 degree east longitude. The area is 64,000 Kilometers. Its north – south length is 257 k.m. & east-west width is 364 k.m. In 1881, the population of Gujarat was 25 lac, which increased in 1941 to 35 lac, 7 in 2001 it was 100 lac. The Saurashtra has 1200 kilometer coastal area.

There are many mountains and hills in Saurashtra. Brado, Mandav, Thanga, Chotilo, Dalasl, Lalpur, Kothariya and Kotada Sangani have small mountains. There are others too like: AAbhapara, Gop Alech, Osam, Girnar, Moridhar, Shetrunjay, Nandivelly, Talaja, Sanodar, Mitiyala etc. These grassy mountains are having great resources of wood, herbs and medicines. It leaves great effect on people and their lives.

Saurashtra, which has such mountains with resources, nine big rivers and 350 other rivers including other small and big rivers. The atmosphere of Saurashtra is pleasant. The nearby areas of Arabian Sea, the bay of Kutch, the bay of Khambhat has lesser heat. Over there the atmosphere remains pleasant and healthy. Mostly Saurashtra faced the draught of rain every three years.

In this wide and ancient region there were 222 Kingdoms before the freedom. In 1863, Colonel Kittings has divided them into seven classes. The classes are mentioned below.

1. Of 1st class – 08

2. Of 2nd Class -06

3. Of 3rd Class – 08

4. Of 4th Class – 09

5. Of 5th Class – 14

6. Of 6th Class – 29

7. Of 7th Class – 07

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In this research project we get some songs about some of the above mentioned kingdoms, from offices, Barots, Charanas (these two are special castes who had the occupation to create and sing praise of the King & get gifts for it from Kings). From the compilation of these songs, here we research about the information we can get about historical aspects of Kingdoms & whether the information could be considered in the current history books or not. This research creates the possibilities about the missing connections from the history and unknown circumstances regarding some of the Royal Families which is hidden in this songs. I future any archeologist or historian can use utilize these facts and figures in their works.

Review of Research and Development in the Subject:

International status:

The Britishers ruled over India for about 200 years. This study will be helpful for

the research scholars of Britishers to know about India, their ruling period- before

and after.

National Status:

The songs found under the study will be having a national importance because the

large princely state had a good relationships with the other princely states. For

example, Junagadh had a relation with Bhopal, Jamnagar had a good relation with

Jodhpur, Rajkot had a connection with Chhota Udaipur, Chanprajpur and Nepal.

The songs had written on all these states which it self states the national

importance of the study. Moreover, these types of songs may have written for

other kinds of Princely states. This may pave the way for others to think about it.

Significance of the study:

Literary traditions of the Rushis of India were followed for ages. In ancient India,

the literary activities were done by Rushis only. Then this literary and educational

tradition spread to other communities as well. After that this tradition came into

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the hands of Rulers. Each king encourages the singers, poets, etc. In this

connection, the rulers of Saurashtra had also appointed poets as poet of the state

(Rajkavi). They had helped the men of letters especially the poets. As a result,

they had written songs in praise of the rulers which also contain historical

elements. Undiscovered history is hidden in these songs. This hidden history will

be taken out through this study which is the prime importance of this research

study.

Objectives:

To find out the songs written on the Rulers of Saurashtra for various

occasions and study them.

To find out castes/communities by whom these historical songs are written.

To find out the reasons why these types of songs are written.

To study the historical elements in these songs and elaborate them by

supplementing the necessary details, it needed.

To study comparatively the intelligence, reasoning and ability to sustain

history of that period with that of the current.

To study the relationship of the rulers-public relationships through these

historical songs.

To find out the characteristics of the authors of these songs after studying

their individual/social/community background.

To find out intonation of these songs and to revitalize the lost ones, if

needed.

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Methodology:

Generally, the researcher uses one methodology, but the historian uses more than

one method for his research work. In his research work, there are many tools such

as:

1. Literary ---- (1) Archeological

2. Written ---- (2) Oral

3. Authentic ---- (3) Unauthentic

4. Primary Resource ---- (4) Secondary Resources

Among the above stated tools, the researcher here will use literary, written and

primary resources as tools for the research. In the beginning, the researcher will

visit the Gujarat State Archives and will find out songs related to the topic under

the study. After checking the authenticity and credibility of the primary and

secondary resources, the selected songs will be studied critically. In addition to

these, the researcher will visit the people of different caste like Charan, Barrot,

Mir, Langha etc and collect perishable and rare songs from them. Thus both the

important methods for the research study will be used.

One question that arises before conducting such a study is: what was the

beginning of a song and rass? They might have developed and would have got

their kinds with the passage of time. They covered a very large part and

ultimately they became the part of human life. We should examine all these

stages. So let us here examine the origin of a song, raas and other poems. The

song must have originated ever since the man learned the language of words and

expression. However, there have been small and big improvements in it. It is said

that the man had learned reading personally or as a part of the community before

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20,000 or 25,000 years BC which was the end of first stage of primitive life for

human beings. ‘Nrutya’ i.e. Dancing was a natural phenomenon but later he (i.e.

the primitive man) learned singing. The word ‘Nrutya’ is mentioned in the

Rigveda. In the same way the word ‘Nat’ or the main protagonist came from

‘Nrut’. The word ‘Natya’ or drama to came from that word.

These songs came into existence at a particular point of time in this world and were scattered or forgotten. It didn’t come to anyone’s mind for a long time to

collect and edit the songs that were composed during the first stage. Later, however, man realised that we are losing the heritage in the form of songs and he started editing them. This kind of awareness can be seen throughout the world. The poets of these ancient remain unknown. Sometimes we have to just guess the composers. The songs were written or rewritten from other songs or from the memory and understanding and intellectual power of the editors. Some of the composers were well-versed in singing and composed songs of their own. Those who were illiterate could not give written form to their songs. Such songs just passed on to the next generations through oral tradition.

One more question was which composition should be categorized as a song and how many kinds of songs there are. However, it should kept in mind that there are two types of songs: 1) ‘Yantra and 2) ‘Gatra. The song that is composed with the

help of a lute (i.e a musical instrument with strings, like a guitar) or a flute is called ‘Yantra’ and the song composed through oral rendition is called ‘Gatra’.

This is the simplest meaning or definition of a song. The song means singing, a poem, ‘dhol’ or a devotional song, or a garbi (i.e. a chorus song for women).

Whichever composition that has rhythm, grumbled, any type or tune or note can be called a song. A song is a composition that has a perfect form and word-formation which can be expressed or recited with pleasing sound.

According to Bhagavadgomandal, the song is a composition that can be recited that is composed with the regular rhythm and with the seven notes set in prosody. The origin of a song is as old as the times of the Vedas in Indian subcontinent. The dramas and songs came into existence to soothe the tired mind during the small or big Yagnas.

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A song is a type of lyric poetry. Like a lyric poetry, the song describes an emotion, an idea or an incident. Comparatively, a song is a supple form of lyric poetry. The body of a song is composed through the word-tune, rhythm and the interest. The current poets have blended ideas and small or big events with the emotions which has made this art form free in the areas of subject selection and its narration.

There are different types of songs: 1) Marriage songs 2) Swayamvar songs (songs sung during the occasion when the girl herself choose her husband) 3) Invitation songs 4) Duty-sermon songs 5) Love songs 6) Farewell songs 7) Family songs 8) Children songs 9) Season songs 10) Separation songs 11) Boatman songs 12) Mourning songs and 13) Historical songs

These songs, after they were composed, were scattered here and there because of lack of printing facilities. The experts got them written with the help of people whose job was to write. Some of the songs were preserved through oral tradition of the preacher of drama artists. After that when the cultured and educated society came into existence, these songs were collected in the foreign countries.

First of all, let’s study how we started collecting these songs in foreign lands. It

was a writer named Bishop Percy who, very hesitatingly and apologetically, collected the songs on which were saved through oral tradition, wrote them on papers and published them for the people in 1765 AD. The name given to the book was: Relics. He had collected not only the song-story but also several songs. Folk songs and marriage songs were composed in the ancient times in Greece, a country famous for her love of culture. These songs were called Epithalamiums which means nuptial songs. These songs were sung while the bride and the bridegroom would move towards their sleeping room. The same tradition was in vogue in Iran. Zarathustra himself, on the marriage ceremony of his daughter, had composed the entire story of Zand-Avasta in the form of marriage songs.

Such songs were known as ‘Bylina’ in Russia. The treasure of such songs was in possession of a farmer in Russia. A collection of folksongs named ‘Ossian’ was

published by an English man named Macpherson. Richard James got six bylinas from the oral tradition during his visit of Moscow city in 1916 AD.

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Cambridge University Press had published a book named ‘Russian Heroic Poetry’

written by Miss Chadwick. This book possessed around one thousand story songs along with their prose translation. All these songs were composed in the last millennium.

There is one song edited by a Negro man which narrates the crucifixion of Christ and was sung with the same title.

The folk song of Finland was published in 1835 AD and when the book completed its hundred years, its centenary was celebrated too.

Boarder Minstrelchi published Scottish collection in 1801 which created a good impression. The collection of James Child named ‘The English and Scottish

popular ballads’ was published in ten volumes during 1882 to 1898.

The folk songs of English were collected by Cecil Sharp who conducted his research from 1899 AD to 1924 and collected around 5000 songs. The editor of ‘Countrylife’ has admired his service and his love for the culture by stating that if

Mr Sharp or his diaries didn’t exist, we would have missed much of our culture, art and history and in the later years we would have expressed our regrets.

The credit for presenting the folk songs for the first time goes to Fisk University. As Zaverchand Meghani writes the world famous academic institute named Fisk Jubilee Singers roamed entire Europe and did a lot of hard work to spread literature. The same types of works were conducted by other universities like Hampton University or Atlanta University.

Professor Child had attempted to find out the origin of the ballads. After studying the ancient ballads, the English poets like Scott, Coleridge and Kipling created modern ballads. There was a time in western world when the ballads were not considered a part of literature. In the glorious days of Queen Elizabeth, the folk songs were openly considered below the standard. Those who sang ballads could never think that ballads can be considered a part of literature. Despite this scenario, there were many lovers of culture and researchers who roamed far and wide and collected several folk songs. Poets started writing new songs after reading the folk songs.

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In India and in Gujarat, the development and the collection of the folk songs happened in the same way. Those who engaged themselves in this noble task came out with some valuable antique items which tell us about the culture, the traditions, the manners, the life-experiences and the emotions of the bygone era.

Ramnaresh Tripathi had published his famous ‘Kavita Kaumudi’ in four volumes

in which he had published best of all the poems he had collected in hundreds from rural songs of north India. In the similar fashion, Narottamdas Swami had collected Rajasthani folk songs.

Parsi were the first to realise the importance of such songs and naturally they started collecting them earlier than the others. Sorabji Horamjji had published a book of funny garaba songs in 1857.

Poet Narmad had published a collection of songs sung among women in 1877. Smt. Bababahen of Ahmedabad had published a collection of songs sung among Nagar women (i.e. women belonging to Nagar community) in 1872. More songs were added describing the religious ritual of among the Nagars like janoi, marriage and simant (i.e. baby shower ceremony) in the second edition of the book. Atilakshmi had published the collection of songs sung among Audichya Brahmins in Surat district. The songs and the recitation of the songs in Sathodara Nagar community are famous all across Gujarat.

Poet Dalpatram had published the collection of songs named ‘Manglik

Geetawali’. He had written these songs for the women who could sing them on the marriage ceremony of Thakor saheb Dajeeraj of Vadhvan. These songs were original and didactic in nature.

Putalibai Kabaraji of Parasi community, who was the first to evaluate the Gurjar folk songs, had worked for the magazine called ‘Indian Antiquary’ and had

written Abhijat poem.

The poet of Bagasara named Khimji Vasanji had published a book named ‘Kathiyawadi Jawahira’ in 1917 in which he had published Duha, Sortha and

other songs. Kahan Dharmsinh of Rajkot had published a collection named ‘Kathiyawadi literature’ in 1912 in which he had given Duha, Dodhiya,

Sorathiya, Kundaliya, nursery rhymes and riddles. In the same year, a teacher in

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Bhavnagar named Hargovind Premshanar had published a book in which he had given the old stories of Kathiyawad.

The poet Botadkar had a collection of raas (i.e. a chorus song) named ‘Raastarangini’ in 1923 which had become quite popular at that time. Zaverchand

Meghani published a collection of raas garaba named ‘Radhiyali Raat’ in three

volumes, published back to back, which comprised songs sung among women. He had worked very hard roaming enite Kathiyawad and meeting naath bavas (i.e priests), Charans (anciet bards), Barots (record keepers of a particular lineage) and Meers. He had edited those songs which he got from Dhelibahen of Bagvadar.

These kind of ancient poems were collected by Smt Bababen, Harilal Harshadray, Dolatram Kruparam and Mr Kenkeid, Mr Ware, Mr Forbs, Sukhlala Shah, Zaverchand Meghani, bhagwandas Patel and many more. These ancient songs were being forgotten with the passage of times. The changing fortunes of the country, changes in language and changes in governments, all these increase the loss of our ancient songs. People nearly lost their fondness for singing. The composers of these songs belonging the communities like Ravaliya, Bhat and charans moved towards other professors as the number of people who could appreciate their poetry dwindled.

The editors of the ancient songs have done a wonderful job in preserving the culture by putting the songs in the arena of modern literature and giving them a new life in such bleak years when the antiquity was on the verge of being lost. Despite these Herculean efforts by these editors, there still remains a vast bulk of other songs to be identified or discovered. However, there is no cause to worry for the time being. There are still many people who are working in this quest and are never going to stop. So we can be sure that we would get more of such able and hardworking editors.

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Chapter 2

Caste, Vocation and Objectives of their jobs of the author of songs

When we want to conduct a deep research, we have to carefully examine all the aspect of such a research. Following the same rule, an effort has been made here to identify the castes and the professions of the composers of old songs. This kind of knowledge will help us to know the history or the circumstances under which the songs were composed or the reason behind their composition or to know whether the songs were composed just to praise any particular person or as a effort to preserve the history. After the research and perusal of the songs, one can see that the objectives for composing the songs were diverse. There are songs which were written professionally. There are songs which were composed out of love for a particular ruler. There are songs which were composed just for the joy of composing them. Most of these composers belong to the following five communities.

2.1 Charan:

Charan means one who preserves the fame and glory. Theirs is an ancient community. They are mentioned in Vedas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and Shrimad Bhagwat and Puranas. According to Shyamaldas they have existed right from the ancient times. They spread into the areas like Kacchh, Kathiyawad, Rajasthn and Malva from the area called Telang. Their largest presence is in Marwad in Rajasthan. Apart from this, there are other 23 branches of Charans: 1) Nara 2) chuva 3) Chorada 4) Avsura 5) Bati 6) Maru 7) Tumbel 8) Vacha 9) Thakriya 10) Naiya 11) Godhaniya 12) Bhachliya 13) Misan 14) Rohdiya 15) Tapriya 16) Shial 17) Jakhala 18) Mahedu 19) Ratnu 20) Fanada 21) Leela 22) Asaniya 23) Mada

Charans believed they fall outside the four major divisions in Hindus. According to them they belong to the community of Dev. They belong to Shktpanth and

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worship the goddess Jogmaya. It is believed that the goddesses have taken birth intheir community. The customs, clothing pattern, food and way of life are nearly similar to those of the Rajput community. According to Dr. Motilal Menariya there was a time when Charans never accepted monetary favours from anyone except the Rajputs who had given them several villages for the maintenance of their family.

Charans have been staying at the royal courts of the kings and earned their livelihood by composing songs and other poems. Theirs is a community that has always remained loyal to the king and devoted to their kingdom. Their energetic speech could change the coward person into a brave one and filled the heart of an utterly disappointed person.

Compared to all others communities, Charans have given the largest number of songs as it is believed that they have got the blessing of the goddess Saraswati. They had wholeheartedly accepted this profession and that’s the reason why they

have still continued to compose the songs.

2.2 Bhat

According to Dr. Motilal Menariya the word ‘Bhat’ comes from the Sanskrit

word ‘Bhatt’. They kept the genealogy of the communities like Brahmin,

Kshatriya and others. They are also called ‘Vahivancha’ or ‘Bhat’ (i.e.

genealogists). There are some classes or sub-classes in this community. Their

chief duty is to record and maintain the family tree of their patrons. However,

there other classes in this community that compose songs and other poems. The

books of family tree preserved by this community are highly considered genuine.

They are accepted as a proof even in the courts. The customs of this community

are similar to those of Brahmins and Kshatriyas or traders.

Some of the songs that are available for this study were composed by the Bhats.

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2.3 Motisar

A genuine history of this community is not available but it is said that a royal bard of Kacchh-Bhuj named Maulji had married off one of his daughters to a Rajput named Manakji. The children born to this couple were called Motisar. The total number of this community is very small. The number is gradually dwindling. The eight branches of this community is as follows:

Balan, Khila, Bijmala, Ramhiya, Padihar

Mangliya, Chandga and Kakvana sardar

Motisars live comfortably from the monetary help they receive from the Charans. They don’t depend on anyone else except Charans for their livelihood as the Charans don’t depend on anyone else except the Rajput for their livelihood. They

leave their home on the day of Vijayadashmi (Dashera) and roam around the villages of Charans and earn their livelihood for the entire year. When any member of Motisar visits a Charan family, he is dully welcomed and honoured.

Motisars are not much educated. They are well-versed in composing songs in Dingal language. The songs composed by them are more effective than those of the Charans. Some affluent charan families keep the able Motisars as a family servant and as a part of tradition sing the songs composed by them in the royal courts.

2.4 Dhadhi

Oral tradition of history says that this community - Dhadhi - existed in the days of Lord Rama. They are shown among the groups that first informed the birth of Lord Rama. There is stanza describing this incident that goes like this:

“Dasrath re ghar Ram Janamiya, Hans Dhadhin mukh boli Athara karod le chauk meliya, kar karne ko Chhori” There is a tradition in India which is observed at several places in which the

members of Dhadhi community, in the role of mendicants, dance in front of the

idol of Lord Krishna in Vaishnav temples on the day of Janmashtami (i.e the birth

anniversary of Lord Krishna). They danced and in return received alms as prizes.

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This shows that they belonged to ancient community that existed in the days of

Lord Krishna. In those times they could enter the temple but with the passage of

times their prestige deteriorated. They are also mentioned in “Ain-I-Akbari”.

Abul Fazal writes that several Dhadhis eulogize the brave acts of the fighters on

the battlefield and encourage them to fight vigorously. Dr. Motilal Menariya

writes that this tradition is called ‘Encouraging the brave men’ in the form of

song which the Dhadhis sang while walking in front of the drummers.

Dhadhis are a famous community which can be seen among Hindus and Muslims

as well. A Muslim Dhadhi is called ‘Malanoor’. According to one opinion they

were converted into Islam in the days of Aurangzeb. They memorize the

genealogy of their patrons and compose and sing the songs in their praise. The

Dhadhi women sing and play musical instrument on the occasions like marriage

or birth in the families of their patrons.

2.5 Brahmin

There are various types of Brahmins which are termed as ‘Tada’ (i.e faction) or

‘Samavay’ (i.e. a group). There are 84 types of Brahmins. Of these 84 types, the

chief and most predomnant class in terms of number is that of Audichya. They are

term ‘Audichya’ as they have come from the north. The King Mulraj of Solanky

dynasty in Gujarat had called them from places like Kurukshetra, Naimisharanya,

Kanauj and others for the foundation ceremony of Rudradaman temple and for

the Yagna to be performed. Those who came to Siddhapur and settled there

permanently were called Siddhapuriya; those who were given lands in Shihor as

alms were called Shihoriya and there were others who didn’t accept the alms in

the biginning but later they were persuaded to accept Khambhat and other 12

villages and were called Tolkiya. The Rajgor Brahmin worked as Brahmins for

the Kathis. Shrimali Brahmins, like Audichya Brahmins, are the descendant of

Gautama Rishi. Other types like Girnara, Pokrana, Sompura, Gugali, Saraswat,

Aboti, Kodaliya, Modh etc have different legends as their history. The Brahmins

have different surnames dependent on the villages or places where they lived.

Those who lived in Mandal were called Mandaliya, for example.

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2.6 Nagar

There are many sub-types among the Nagar Brahmins whose contribution in the political and cultural history of Suarashtra tremendous. There is a legend describing the origin of the Nagars in Nagar section in Skandpuran. People belonging to Nag community had settled around the forest near Vadnagar in earlier days. They were called Nagars from the word ‘Nagar’. They were given

155 villages from the ruler of Vadnagar. Another legend informs that these Nagars were famous for three matters: the pen, the spoon and the spear. As said earlier there are sub-classes among Nagars like Visnagara, Sathodara, Vadnagara, Chitrora, Prashnora and others. There is another sub-class among them which married outside their caste and was called Barad. Their number in Saurashtra is quite predominant. There were 1263 Nagar families in areas like Junagadh, Bhavnagar and Navanagar in 1842. They were honoured and given highest positions in the royal families of Kathiyawad. They have been statesmen, intelligent adventurous and lover of their rights. Amarji, the prime minister of Junagadh state, Gaurishankar Oza of Bhavnagar and Prabhashankar Pattani were considered expert in the art of statesmanship. There was a family that had reached the position as a justice too. This family came to Kathiyawad in the days of Maratha and got the lands from the Kathis and became Darbar. They used the word ‘Darbar’ before their names. There are two types of Nagar: Nagar Gruhasth

and Nagar Brahmin.

2.7 Barot

If there is any community that has preserved the culture, literature or the heritage, it is, no doubt, Barot community. This community, from the old days, has taught people to the value of the self-respect and culture and to die for them. Their records for history are considered qualified in the government offices and modern courts of justice as a proof. If their promises or the agreements are not accepted as true account of any incident to which they have been witness, they sacrifice their life by committing hara-kiri by stabbing the dagger in their stomach. Their chief task is to preserve the origin books or things that tell the history and to maintain the records of every dynasty.

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Barot means those Brahmins who accepted to sing eulogies at the time of battle or some good occasions for the rulers in the ancient times. They are called Bhatt in Sanskrit and in Gujarati they are called Bhat, a corrupt form of ‘Bhatt’. Bhat is a

sub class of the Brahmins and that’s why there were called Brahmbhatt. Dr. K.C.

Barot notes that we yet to know the genuine history to tell us which word ‘Barot’

has come from. There are people who think this word has come from ‘Barhatth’

which is less likely. From its form, this word appears to be belonging to the Pakrut language. ‘Dwar Bhat’ may be its origin. We can identify two words in it

like ‘Bar’ and ‘Vat’ which becomes ‘Bar-ut’ when spoken or put together. The

modern form of ‘Bar-ut’ is ‘Barot’. This word may have been used to honour or

as a title for the Brahmbhats or geneaolists as they were determined and a bit stubborn by nature. One more opinion is prevalent which says that Barot means a person who has the power of articulation equal to ‘Bar hoth’ which means twelve

lips. In short, it is quite possible that the word ‘Barot’ comes from the ‘Bar hatho’

(i.e. twelve insistences) which later became Bharath and Barat and in the end it was called Barat. Often the word ‘Dashandi’ or ‘Dashodi’ is used for the Barots

as they got the tenth part of the total income of their royal rulers.

Barot, sometimes, wrote bravery songs or sang such songs at the battlefield. Their original history can be traced in the Puranas, Smruti books, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, dramas and in ancient legends.

The Barots have been the caretakers of the historical and cultural life right from the ancient times.

The songs that are available for this study were composed by all the communities whose history and traditions we just traced. There were only two or three communities whose job was to compose songs, eulogistic songs and other poems. There were some communities which were totally dependent for their livelihood on this activities; as a result they had to compulsorily compose such songs. It seems they, in their songs, showered heaps of praises upon the rulers. Even their descendants too followed the same practice and kept in contact with the rulers till monarchy lasted. As the monarchy came to its, the Charans, The Bhats, The Meers, The Motisars, and others had suffer and find other professions to maintain their families. Those whose job was to compose songs for centuries, did so when

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they were in a perfect mood. They poured their heart into the songs they composed. The rulers honoured their songs after a perfect examination in the hands of the learned people and gave money or gold as a prize. One can come across many such incidents in the state of Junagadh.

After examining all the composers of the songs available for this study, it becomes clear that these communities had different professions. The Charans, the Bhat and the Meer et al falls under those communities which have composed less number of songs. On the other hand, those who belonged to other communities have composed songs out of their love for a particular ruling family or as part of their hobby. These communities include postmen, teachers, clerk, bank officials or a priest. In the states like Junagadh and Bhavnagar, the songs have been composed by professionals.

Objective:

1. The sole purpose of the composers was self-enjoyment and received monetary returns and blessing after showering praises for the ruler. One can never find the negative feelings like deceit, pompous, jealousy, religious caste-based discrimination or any type of inequality.

2. The composers of these songs never tried to prove that they were great learned souls nor they were interest to call themselves poets. They penned the songs just to preserve and admire what they saw and what they liked. There were composers who never longed for any high position or honor or fame.

3. There are composers who were not well-versed in the art of composing the songs; they were not aware of the rules of prosody. Their language is quite simple. Some of them, who were not completely aware of the history, have given poor songs. It seems their sole purpose was to show their gratitude for the rulers.

4. The composers have not composed the songs with any clear objective. It seems they used to write about whatever that came to their mind. They wrote the songs for the betterment of the social and cultural life of the people. No poet has ever shown his desire to be called a great learned man. Their chief aim was to present anything that they have found best at the feet of the people in the form of songs.

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They knew that the next generations would surely get the benefits from their songs and would live a more cultured life.

5. There must have been some reasons to compose the songs, but it cannot be seen in a direct way. For example, when the military officer named Colonel Joravarsinh Gohil went to fight in the Second World War, one poet had composed a song:

Lidha dhusa ne lidha dhabla lidha chhe koi ladai na dares re

Jorubha Saheb Jarmar,

Kidha chandala ne chodya chokhla didha chhe kai sarifal na maan re

Jorubha saheb Jarmar

(Joravarsinh is leaving for the war with blankets and his uniform. On his forehead there is a red dot smeared with rice and in his hand there is a coconut)

There is another songs composed which describes how a Darbar named Madhubha had killed a leopard.

Vare Madhubha Vankaladi fojwala

Mata naniba poochhe Madhubha

Kem kari dipadane maryo Madhuba

Gendani Dhalene sonani chharie

(Bravo, Madhubha who has a curved dagger. His mother, Naniba, asks him how he killed the leopard. Madhubha replies, he killed the leopard with the help of a shield made of the skin of a rhino and the knife made of gold.)

6. The aim of the composers rather to praise a particular than to preserve a particular event. There are very few poets who have composed the songs on flood, fierce fire, cruel slaughter or other accidents. There has been not a single song on the cruel slaughter that happened at the mountain called Kanada.

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7. The aim of the poet is not to tell the history but to please the rulers and the people. They don’t aspire to employ new words or maintain history in the exact

way. There are some who don’t have the knowledge of the history but they have composed songs describing the history. Such songs are not of much use or value.

8. Some of the poets composed the songs just to garner money and so failed to do justice to the songs.

9. Some of the composers have taken liberties with the forms of the poetry as their chief aim was just to entertain. Their songs express the diction and emotions of the circumstances of that era. There are songs which give the firsthand account of any event or express the feelings and emotions of the composers.

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Chapter 3

Songs written about Babi Rulers

Junagadh is the biggest state among Saurashtra 222 states. The annual income of the state was about 1.5 lac & the state was owned total 861 villages. The Pathans called Babies were the Rulers of Junagadh, Bantava, Manavadar, Sardargadh etc. After conquering the territory of Gujarat Akabar has appointed his Sargent. Among them the last Sargent was Sherkhan Babi. As Mughals had weakened hold on Delhi, he had emancipated himself and became the Deewan & changed his name from Sherkhan to Bahadurkhan. He has established the free Babi rule over Junagadh. His two brothers Diler Khan & Sher Khan had established rule over Manavadar & Bantava respectively. The descendants of Bahadurkhan were known as ‘Navab’ (the King) than and the descendants of the younger brothers

were known as ‘Khan.

The Babi Rulers of Muslim Royal family was mainly from Afghanistan and their forefathers were ‘Babi’ so they had adopted Babi as their family name. The

meaning of ‘Babi’ is ‘trustworthy’. They were coming from Afghanistan with

Mughal King & they were their most trustworthy army men.

More than 400 songs about these four Navab: i) Navab Mahabat Khan the second; ii) Navab Bahadur Khan the third iii) Nawab Rasul Khan & iv) Nawab Mahabat Khanji the third; were available from the cultural & ethnic state of Junagadh. Most of the songs have been founded from archives. The songs are about following events or situations.

a) Songs of Coronation ceremony

b) Songs of Marriage ceremony

c) Songs of grief and departure due to Death

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d) Songs of Circumcision of Princes

e) Songs of Silver Jubilee

f) Songs of Merge of Junagadh with Pakistan

g) Songs about various events

The songs which were founded during this project are in four languages: Gujarati, English, Hindi& Urdu, shows that people who knew many languages and multi-talented were inhabitants of Junagadh during those days. They were awake, intelligent, patriot and preservers of the culture. They had tried to preserve the culture through woven every events into the form of songs. Following are the events, founded in the recovered songs.

3.1 Religious Tolerance:

Junagadh was Muslim state. But they never imposed their practices and beliefs on the people. Nawab Rasul Khan had owned his own statue but in the place there were statues of different animals and birds like elephants, peacocks & lions. The state had celebrated the Hindu festivals like Holi, Diwali &Rakshabandhan. Most of the Hindu temples of the state were provided annual amount in the form of castoroil, to lighten the temples. The emblem of the state has some symbols like rising Sun, the mountain of Girnar, & lion which is quite adorable in the Hindu religion. The state had different beads for cows& killing the cow was banned in Prabhas Patan, allocated by his highness Mahabat Khan the third. The pets of religious places were f3eded by states. The tax was not recovered for it. The state spent money for the food at fair of Shivratri & state also having permanent & separate mess for both religions i.e. Hindu & Muslims.

The descendants & children of the Nawab had Hindu astronomers & Hindus were given half day leave on every Monday of the Hindu month of Shhravan.

Thus, the religious secularism is preserved in the songs of Junagadh.

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3.2 The Special Marriage Ceremony of the Mahabat Khan the third:

The marriage ceremony of the last Nawab of Junagadh – Mahabat Khanji was celebrated in 1920 A.D. some songs related to it was available. From the songs we came to know that the ceremony was held in Sardarbag. The porch was there and the place was decorated & 33 different casts were given separate parties. During this marriage ceremony people from Barots, Meer & Other castes have created songs for praising the ceremony were gifted golden Bengals& rings. The marriage procession of His Highness Mahabatkhan the third went to Bhopal through special train. Each & every social & cultural programs were woven into songs. The history is preserved into the form of the songs with every minute details & facts. The songs of this marriage ceremony were never been used any archeologist or historian.

So by composing these songs we can add new chapters about the Nawab culture & social heritage. We can have some best samples of these songs here.

3.3 Songs Created during the time of Death

In Saurashtra there is practice to create the songs for the death of near & dear ones from very ancient time. In Guajarati it is known as ‘Marasiyas’. This types

of ‘Marasiyas’ related to the Babi family have been also founded. For instance we

can have the songs composed in ‘Mahabat Virah’ for the death of Mahabat Khan

the second. We also have such type of songs for the death of Lalbkhate, the sister of Mahabatkhan the third.

From these two songs, we come to know about the date of their death, rituals & practices after their death the nature of lately Nawab & Princess, their praiseworthy values and the medical practices for curing their health. The songs are as follows.

3.4 The songs for Circumcision of Princes

Each 7 every Muslim, may he be poor or rich, follows the ritual of circumcision. The son, at the age of six or seven years has to go through this ritual. Approximately 30 to 35 songs, we have founded for the occasion of Circumcision

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of the Princes of the Nawab. These songs indicate the King’s love for his people,

love for poor & respect for Brahmins & other religious –spiritual dignitaries. The songs were written for Mahabat khan the third, Sakhavat khan&Yusuf khan. It is quite natural that the Royal family has celebrated all these functions gloriously.

For this ceremony the razor was specially made from silver. The doctors & nurses were present during the operation. The envoys from the other states were also present. The celebration was of three days with different parties & events. In the events Plays, Cinema and Sports were mainly included. We can get these information from the sample songs given below.

3.5 Songs of Silver Jubilee

Indian Kings were blended with Britishers in such a way that they followed British Celebrations in many ways. They have also celebrated their own silver Golden &Diamond Jubilees of the time of their governance as Britishers had celebrated for Queen Elizabeth & Queen Victoria.

In Saurashtra, Jamnagar’s King Jam Ranjitsinh, King of Gondal Bhagvatsinhji,

Maharaja Natvarsinhji from Porbandar, Amar a wala from Amarnagar & Bahadursinhji of Palitana had celebrated their Silver Jubilee. The same way Mahabat khan the third had completed 25 years in 1945 A.D., had celebrated the Silver Jubilee. The celebration was for four days. There were some Charity was also announced to please the populace.

People had expressed their happiness in various forms. Among them many intellectuals and spontaneous poets had presented their happiness in the form of songs. They had woven the rituals of the state & culture of the state in the songs.

The creator of the song Nayansukhray Madhavray Ghoda had written that the Nawab was veryempathetic& the life giver for the poor. Considering the importance of education of the state & health care, he had established many schools & charity hospitals. Hospital had provided free services to the people& scholarships were announced for students. Nawab Mahabat khan had freed the primary education which is seen I the following song.

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Another poet was the Poet Laureate, i.e. ‘Rajkavi’, named Laxman Ramji had

discovered in his poem. That the rule of the Saurashtra was suffering from the effects of World War but the state had not seen the price high. In the state sorghum, Millet was available at lower cost i.e. 27 pound only in 57 rupees. The cost was reduced to 27 rupees in 1940s that is also mentioned in the song.

Another poet, Karsan Premji, who was by caste Kanabi (Patel), had created the song, describing Mahabat Khan as the donor of millions of rupees.

In his song, Vrajlal Kanji, showed that Nawab believes his people and governed people as a sentinel. Mahabat Khan the third had developed agriculture, business& education. Nawab was praised as compassionate and supportive as he had helped many poor people. Nawab had shelteredMani Shankar Bhatt, the establisher of drama company, as the whole set was catch a fire and burnt. He had allotted monthly pension & gifted the house. This kindness of the King is shown in the song given below.

Nawab’s love for animals was captured exactly in the song by Surendra Das N

Vaishnav.

On the occasion of Silver Jubilee of this Nawab, approximately 60 to 70 songs were created by public. Among the poets we can mention the names of two female poets too. They are:

1. Jayshreeben

2. Urmilaben Naradas Shukla

Both of them were the unknown poet of that time.

From these songs we come to know about the wealthy economic condition of the state. We can get the information about some unknown historical facts from these songs.

3.6 Songs Created during different occasions:

In Junagadh city , the opening of Bahadurkhan Highschool & Bahudin College, the arrival of Junagadh Railway & the construction of the Circle chowk and other

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.events were also woven into the texture of language in the form of poetry. These songs provide live commentary about the historical facts, The song is given below for example.

3.7 The Merging of Junagadh State with Pakistan:-

On Date 15/08/1947, Nawab had declared the merging of Junagadh state with Pakistan & there was chaos in the state. Public loosed the rag & it was difficult to control them. At that time the wise men from Junagadh had established Arzi Rule at Mumbai, on 24/09/1947. The Arzi Rule had done many things for Junagadh. Songs are also available for these chaos & political upheaval. From those songs we come to know about the freedom of Junagadh.

We came to know about the condition of Junagadh during the merging time & communal riots. The role playing of newspapers during these days, Dula Bhaya Kaag, the poet has written a very good poem to pursue the Nawab & about changing his decision related the merging. He had expressed the history of the Royal Progeny of Nawab in very emotional language describing along with his royal Past. He had written that

“He had lost his conscience in the love of dogs, so he had made such unexpected & weird decision.”

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Chapter 4

Songs written about Jadeja and Zala rulers

The princly states of the Jadejas existed in parts of Saurashtra like Navanagar, Dhrol, Gondal, Rajkot, Kotda Sangani, Virpur and others. The number of songs written on the rulers of Jamnagar, Virpur and Gondal is more compared to others. These songs were composed on some auspicious occasions by some bards, Charans, Barots, Mirs or by someone else. The greatest number of songs, one hundred, has been written for the state of Morbi which are available. These songs were composed on the following occasions:

1. Songs composed at the swearing-in ceremony of the king Lakhdhirji

2. Songs composed on the birthday of the king Lakhdhirji

3. Songs composed on the birthday of the prince Mahendrasinhji

4 Songs composed on the engagement day of the prince Mahendrasinhji

5. Songs composed on the engagement day of Kalikakumar

6. Songs composed on the anniversary of the swearing-in ceremony of

the king Lakhdhirji

7. Songs composed on the inauguration of Bajiravba Girls’ school, Morbi

8. Songs composed on the inauguration of Maharani Nandkunvarba

Women’s Hospital

9. Songs composed on the marriage ceremony of prince Mahendrasinhji

and Kalikakumar.

10. Songs composed on the occasion when king Lakhdhirji went on a

foreign tour with the family

One hundred songs written about the Jadeja dynasty of Morbi on the above mentioned occasions have been available. They have mentioned the old names for Morbi which were ‘Mayurpuri’ and ‘Indrapuri’. The songs also provides much

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information onother things like free education in the state, public aminities along with electricity, grand palaces, ideal market place or how the labour-work and taxes were given up by the generous rulers. Every village was provided with the facilities like; a pasture, linkage to railways, ayurvedic dispensary, improvement in education, vireless telegraph, new vegetable market, girls’ school, new

residential areas like Lakhdhirvas and Panjalapol, activities for the service of the cows, the confernment of the traditional title of a Maharaja on 3rd July,1926, renouncement of land-revenue worth Rs one lac twenty-five thousand, facilities for the poor and handicapped, tape water in town of Morbi, free fodder worth one hundred twenty-five quintal from the state, loan withour any interest, scholarships, the medical facilities for the personal servants, renounciation of tax on ghee, the establishment of Lakhdhirvas and establishment of special courts for the protection of the farmers. These songs also tell the history of the two rulers of Morbi state named Vaghji Thakor and Maharaja Lakhdharji along with prince Mahendrasinhji. These songs informs us of history and the improvements and the pure love of the rulers towards the people which have never been informed in any current history books, articles or researches so far. The songs found for this research have been of great value to know the history they have mentioned in them. Rajkot was a princely state under the rule of the Jadejas. There are some songs composed on Thakor saheb Lakhajiraj who was generous and loved his people. He possessed a modern thinking and would like to spread the same thinking amidst the people. The songs gives us information’s us of all his deeds and his social relations. Maharaja Bhagvatsinhji of Gondal was famous not only in the nation but also abroad. He ruled the state of Gondal for a long time. His noble deeds include: railway facilities, roads, electricity, water facility, lexicon named Bhagvadgomandal, compulsory education for girls, the pro-farmers laws, similar building structures for schools in all the villages, gates and many others. All of these noble deeds by the generous ruler and his love for the people have been noted in the songs composed by people the pundit in his court named Popat

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Jagannath, Rana Jeram, the farmer, Odhad Bhoora, Mavdanji Ratnu, Kanji Gagu Leela, Karandan Gadhvi and Tribhuvandas Gaurishankar Vyas. The songs also informs of how he was weighed in golden scales during the golden jubilee festivities of the state or about the functions held during that time and all the awards and prizes the state had conferred to its people. The marble stone inscriptions describing the policies of the state were fixed in 175 villages during these festivities. Besides, we also come to know about other things from these songs likeBhagvatsinhji had never awarded capital punishment to any criminal; he had travelled far and wide in the world; he never caged the birds or hunted any animal; he always wore simple clothes. Jamnagar was called Navanagar. It was under the rule of Jadeja dynasty. It was one of the four biggest states of Saurashtra. There are many songs available written about the rulers of Jamnagar state. Most of these songs have been collected in the two books that tell the history of Jamnagar named ‘Vibha Vilas’

and ‘Yaduvansh Prakash’. Of these two books, ‘Vibha Vilas’ has some songs

describing the battle of Bhuchrmori with the army of Akbar at the outskirt of Dhrol in 1591. These songs, it seems, indulges in too much self-praise. If we exclude this self-praise, we come to know the history of the battle of Bhuchamori. However the songs in ‘Yaduvansh Prakash’ gives the information of Yaduvans,

the dohas of Lakha Fulani, the songs and dohas of Jam Raval which tell the history of how Jamraval won Jamnagar and established his rule, information of geography and history along with all other minute details of the state. There is a song which informs us that Ajaji’s wife had chose to become a sati by ending her

life on husband’s pyre. Other songs give information about the warriors of the Jamnagar state, its army, the war-horses and the artillery. One song narrates how the newly engaged prince Ajaji died fighting bravely during the battle of Bhuchr mori; one song is on how the Bhetali villages were destroyed; one songs is on the victory of Jodiya village; one songs talks of the help in the form of grains to the people by the state during the famine.

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The fondness for cricket of Jam Ranjitsinh of Janmagar state is much admired and famous the world over. He had scored 3000 runs in 1897 AD and he was the first to do it in England. There is one song that describes his love for cricket as a game. It says when Jam Ranji is batting, all the fielders develops knots in their stomach; no one find the way to clean bold him. His love for this game had been admired in Russian, China, Japan, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Iran, Turkstan and other countries. All this have been mentioned in that song. One more song on Jamnagar is available which was composed on the silver jubilee of the state of Jam Ranji. There is elegy which was composed after the death of Jam Ranji. This elegy gives information about the date on which he died, his relations with other rulers of India, his acts of amelioration in the Rajput community, his life as celibate and his untimely death. After the death of Jam Ranji, Digvijaysinhji became the ruler of Jamnagar. There are some songs available on him too. The Zalas ruled over the states in Saurashtra like Dhrangadhra, Limbadi, Vadhvan, Chuda, Sayala, Vankaner and Lakhtar.One anonymous writer called B.S. has composed a song titled ‘The rule of Dhrangadhra’. In this song he writes

that if the ruler himself is not well educated, he cannot give justice to people. Such ruler takes to drinking liquor and damages his own role as a ruler. But if, the poet writes further, the ruler is well educated, his people can live peacefully. In a way the song asks all the rulers to get well educated. The song tells that the rulers, in older times, were taught by the private teachers who came to the palaces. In the end, the song informs that the person will never get any respect if he hasn’t got

the necessary education. On the death of Amarsinhji, the ruler of Wankaner, the elegies were composed by the poets like Krishnadan Shankardan, Harisinh Ratansinh, Gangadan Avaddan Gadhvi and Tharandan Mahedu. The song gives information about the date on which he died his nature and his love for the people. It also informs that he had participated in the First World War which had him famous in foreign land too. The song also describes his plans for the Macchhu dam.

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The Thakor Saheb Dolatsinhji, the ruler of Limbadi died in the Vikram samvant of 1996 in the Bhadrava month on the 14 of the vad (i.e moonless days). Sankardanji Detha has composed some songs and dohas at that time which tells the life history of the ruler. They describe his relations with the rulers of states outside Gujarat like Ratlam, Jepur, Jopdhpur, Malva, Dhumdhad and others. The song informs that he held a position in military beofore he was sworn in as a ruler. They also describe his love for learning and the establishments and other services like the schools, high-schools, libraries, Lady Wiligdon Girls’ school,

shri Rajput Boarding, facility of electricity and tap water, facility of a city, Dolat pond, Dolat bridge, Baluba Dharmshalas (free-inns for the pilgrimagers), Karna chowk and the idol of Maharaja Jasvantsinhji. The song describes the political and cultural history of the times of the rulers. One more song is composed by the bard named Idan Pathabhai. These song mentions the guidelines on how to govern the state of Limbadi after the death of its rulers Digvijaysinhji and Dolatsinhji. Third song is composed by the bard of Porbandar named Yashkaranji Achaldanji Ratnu which describes the grief that everyone felt after the death of Maharaja Dolatsinhji. Other songs have been composed by Jivanlal Dosabhai Ziba, the bard of Dhrangadhra, Ramdanji Kesarbhai Tapriya, the bard in Palitana, Kavi Dula Bhaya Kag of Majadar and Kavindra Harnathji Panditji, the bard of Zalawad of Rajasthan. Besides these, there are several songs have been collected in the bulky book named ‘Zalavansh Varidhi’ edited by Nathuram Shukla. Other songs written

about the Zalas are also available in other books. For example, the book written on Dolatsinhji and in the biography of Dajiraj of Vadhvan. Apart from ‘Zalavansh Varidhi’, the number of songs written about the Zalas is

far less in number Compared to other royal dynasties or maybe the songs have not been found by anyone.

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Chapter 5

Songs written about Jethwa & Gohil Rulars

There is only one state in the Saurashtra under the rule of Jethwa and that is Porbandar. It is believed that the Jethwas were the descendent of the son of Hanuman, Makardhwaj. Earlier the Jethwa s were the rulers of Morbi afterwards they had took over Dhumali, Chaaya & Porbandar. Jethwa was one of the ancient Royal Progeny of Saurashtra.

During the Project, we only had about 10 songs about this royal family. But those are very important. Any historians haven’t used them for their work. The first

song we can get was written in 1978 by Nathuram Sundarji Shukla, titled with ‘Bhavvirah Bavani’. The reason of writing this song is the death of the King

Bhavsinhji. The grief was expressed through the memories of his good work &governance. Bhavsinhji was the literature lover & encouraged the intellectuals. There are 552 stanzas in the poem. The condition of state, geography, a class of the state & the reason of the death etc. expressed/ presented through this poem. The reason of death was tuberculosis. The song is merely the play of words. In this song of departure we cannotfind any information about the bloodline of Jethwa family, Culture, Social history or social Upheavals. It is the song for merely the means of earning by expressing grief & departure.

The second song created by Ramdan Kesarbhai Gadhavi, titled with ‘Natvar

Gunmala’, about the Jethwa. The song contains many historical facts. In the songs

the poet had described about the last King of Porbandar, Maharaja Natvarlaji; his virtues, his administration of the State, improvisation, his relations with people, as an ambassador, Cultured etc.

The third song about the Jethwas was created by Keshavlal Shyamji Barot with the title ‘Bhavvirah Shodashi’ from the song we had come to know about his love for public & kindness & charity. Moreover we get some more songs &

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Duhas about Jethwa’s Royal family.In Saurashtra, Bhavnagar, Vallabhipur, Lathi,

Palitana- these for states were under rule of Gohil. Among them Bhavnagar is one of the Saurashtra’s biggest four states. Their policies & love for people & ruling

techniques was quite different so we can get many songs related to the state.

‘Vakhat Baland’; the song about the King Vakhat Singhji contains information about3 for 4 Rulars of Bhavnagar, war of Chital and other practices of the state. In addition we have many songs about the people – loving King Krishnakumarsinhji among the Gohil family.

When Diwan Gaurishankar Udayshankar Oza got retirement after doing wonderful job; poet Bhavanishankar V. Narottam Dwiwedi had created a song & the song was published in ‘Vgyanvilas” magazine in 1886 from which we can get information about the Diwan of Bhavnagar. In this song his virtues; nature & speech and beheviour can be seen. He was so kind that never hurt anyone’s heart

& become saint.

When Bhavnagar’s Maharaja Takhtsinhji has got shield of K.C.S.I. & G .C. S. T,

Bhatt Kanji Madhavji had created a song & it was published in ‘Vigyanvilas’

magazine in 1887. From the song we are informed about the history of Bhavnagar state that- Takhtsinhji was crowned in his childhood, he had studied in the Raj Kumar Collage Rajkot & had established many schools in the state & the state had earned the Flag from Prince of Vells, earned the honor, improved in the legal policies, established hospital, started railway for transport & so he was earned favor of the British Rulers.

When Maharaja Vakhatsinhji was at 5, Charan Sangaji, from Varsoda village, had created song after reading the marks on the King. In the song there was prophecy about the heroism of the King.

Hiralal Jadavray Butch, the poet of the song, created for the death of the princess Manharkuvarba. In the song he had described her parents, her childhood, education & establishment of the hospital by the name of Manharkuvarba.

Poet Ambashankar had created song about temples situated in Bhavnagar in 1910. In the song temples like Ruvapari, Chanchba, Mahakali, Kashi Vishvanath, Ambaji, Bhavnath, Jaseshvar, Fulnath, Thainath, Khodiyar, etc. described in

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detail. Details of each and every minuteare available in the song for instance when and how these temples were built and what kind of religious rituals were performed during the dynasty of Gohil Rule.

When the people of Bhavnagar had believed Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji as Godly, a poet from Savarkundla Mahargiri Vaidya had written a song in which he expressed Maharaja’s virtues as a good human being & his bonding with his

public. When Maharaja had accepted the post of the Governor of Madras at that time people had celebrated him a grand ceremony & wished him bon voyage. He was very much loved by people of Bhavnagar. Maharaja had relinquished his Kingdom & had only 1 Rs. as token. The song writer had described all these things in his poem & requested Maharaja not to forget the people of Bhavnagar.

While inauguration ceremony of Shihor Electricity, Shihor in the district of Bhavnagar, poet Devkrishna Pitamber Joshi had written a song in which he had described the geographical place of Shihor, description of Shihor village & superiority of Brahmins.

Every year Bhavnagar had celebrated Olympic festival of games. Poet ‘Dula

Bhaya Kaag had described that there was not any unhappy or dissatisfied in Bhavnagar State, the King was so people loving and agriculture was very good condition.

In Bhavnagar State during the dynasty of Krishnakumarsinhji, the activity of adult education was being started in the villages like Shihor, Umarala, Gadhada, Savarkundla etc. on broad level. All people were being educated very well. Revashankar Lalji had shown the management & organization in his poem with the facilities of the adult education & affliction of uneducated people. From this poem we have come to know about the slate, pen books, & teachers were available in free and Harijans(untouchables) were also sitting together during the classes of adult education from this song.

In Gadhada when there is inauguration ceremony of the ‘ county school

by Queen Vijiyaba , Lalji Mastar had created the song describing the whole event from the song. We come to know about the love for education, policy of education and history of Gadhada.

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The poet Laureate of Bhavnagar – Hardanbhai Pingalshibhai-- had created a rejoicing song on the occasion of new year celebration in 1993 of Indian Calendar. In it he had written about the Deewan Prabhashankar Pattani, his works and virtues.

One of the State under Gohil rule was Lathi in Kathiyawad , Trivedi Maganllal Shyamj had created song about fight between Prince Hamirsinh Gohil & Muslims, when Muslims expedited on Somnath.

Among all royal families of Saurashtra, we are able to find most of the songs about Junagadh Royal families & Gohil Royal families. Most of the songs are unknown and never been used by any historians. It is needed to use these songs as the means of information so that we can get missing links and also get some social & cultural history, provided by these songs.

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Chapter 6

Songs written about Kathi rulers

A province in Saurashtra area of the state of Gujarat was known as Kathiyawad before the independence. It was this province where The Kathis lived. It is believed that the Marathas changed the ancient name of Saurashtra and called it Kathiyawad. When the armies of Marathas cane the fertile land of Saurashtra for ransom, they had to face the armies of the Kathis. The Marathas called this area Kathiyawad which popularly became Kathiyawad with the passage of time. This coinage continued till 1947 AD. When the state of Kathiyawad was founded in Rajkot after the independence, the name Kathiyawad was dropped and ancient name Saurashtra was established. As per the gazette the areas covering the five districts of Kathiyawad was given the name Saurashtra and Rajkot became the main centre.

The Kathis have been living in this area of Saurashtra or Kathiyawad for the last 1000 years. There are different opinions available on their first arrival in this part. The new researches in this quest have found that the Kathis are not the descendants of the foreign tribes like Shakas, Sithiyans or Huns, but are original Indians. It was a pure mistake on the part of British historians to think them as the descendants of the above mentioned foreign tribes. Maybe the similar qualities of the Kathis with reference to the horses, the sun and their fighting ability led them to believed so.

These Kathis had five major princely states: 1) Jasdan 2) Jetpur 3) Amarnagar 4) Vadiya 5) Bilkha. They could not create bigger states because of the custom of dividing the inheritance amongs the sons. Besides these, there are other 72 states belonging to the category of 4 to7 in Saurashtra till 1947. There were 25 large talukas and 47 small talukas which belonged to the Kathis. The total area was one thousand square miles. The revenue they received was around 40 lac. They ruled over three lakh people.

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There are two classes of Kathis: 1) Shakhayat and 2) Avatariya. The Shakhayat branch of Kathis includes Khachar, Khuman, Vala and others. They were the rulers. The Avatariya branch of Kathis includes Dhadhal, Basiya, Jebaliya, Pattagir, Manjariya and others. They possessed big villages or vast stretches of land and so they were known as Ghardhani Kathis. (i.e. landed gentry)

The lifestyle and mannerism of the Kathis have been unique. They are considered incomparable when it comes to minding the horse in entire world. They have made great sacrifices in establishing the Swaminarayan cult. Their language is unique with its special intonation and mix of Kacchhi words. This tribe had many outlaws (people who went against the government as a result of some injustice) who followed the tradition of fulfilling a given promise and who led a carefree life of true man. Such outlaws include people like Jogidas Khuman, Bavavala, Ramvala and others. Zaverchand Meghani, known as the poet of the nation, has admired the wonderful qualities of these outlaws in an able way.

Though the Kathis, who were lover of culture and knew the art of ruling people, could not create big states because of their custom, the Charans and Barots (i.e. the bards of the states) have admired their charity and bravery. The Kathis have provided the Charans and Barots with great amount of alms and vast stretches of land and in return they have composed great songs and duhas (i.e couplets) for them. However, one finds they have exaggerated the matters some times while admiring the Kathis in their songs. The big problem that one faces while reading these songs is that they (i.e. the songs) are written in Charani language and in words which are beyond the capacity of an average man to decipher. There are few experts who can decipher these writings. There is a vast bulk of 400 or 500 songs in the manuscripts of charani literature waiting for the experts to find meaning from them. Whatever songs taken in this research have been written in chaste Gujarati and are easier to grasp the meaning. These songs have been categorized into sections. Apart from the 400 songs in Charani literature, 200 more songs have been found which inform us of their history and culture and social life of the Kathis.

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6.1 The songs written about the Vala dynasty:

The states that The Valas ruled include Jetpur, Amarnagar, Bilkha, Vadiya and Bagsara. The Valas, especially who ruled Amarnagar are well-known for their generous donations and administration. There are plenty of songs composed on them.

Jayshankar Popotlal Joshi had composed a song for the royar Darbar called Amarawala. This song informs that Purushottam Chhaganlal started his job from the state of Amarnagar and he was given six positions. He came into contact with many princely states and worked for the betterment of people through able administration. Amarawala, honouring his able service, had bestowed him with many gifts. In short, the poet in his song has described the love and consideration of Amarawala towards his state and the officials. Thought the song is not directly admiring Amarawala, it gives a account of his complete administration.

Another Darbar of Amarnagar called Bhanawala was famous for his hospitality in entire Kathiyawad. One of the songs describes such qualities of this noble ruler. However, the song remains anonymous.

One of the songs gives an account of the administration and other qualities of the ruler called Kalawala of Luni taluka. He ruled for 10 years and during these years he performed many deeds for the betterment of the taluka. He died of a fever in 1915 after the gangrine in his finger. The Darbar of Amarnagar called Lakshmanwala honoured the poets, so the poets from Marwad, Rajasthan would also come to him and composed the songs for him. These poets had composed a set of 52 songs called “Lakshman Bavani” for this ruler. These songs were turned

into a book from the manuscript and were published in 1936 AD by Amarawala. These songs provide much of the history of the time. For example, we come to know through these songs that the Walas comes from the Jaitani dynasty and that their administration was for the welfare of the people. However, the aforementioned book is not available today in its original version so much of the information is not available.

A song has been composed on Amarawala of Amarnagar by the royal bard of Bhavnagar named Pingalshi Patabhai in which he has mentioned the young prince

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Amarawala’s fascination towards learning, his concerns and his generous

donations. He has mentioned that the people of the state were cheered when Darbar Kalawala adopted him as an heir. More songs on this ruler of Amarnagar had been composed by the poets like Kanji Alrajbhai of Bilkha, Odhavdas Mahant of Amreli, Mekranbhai Leela Sanali, Jusa Jumma, the royal bard of Amarnagar, Mahanat shri Trikamdasji Surajdeval, Gigabhai Anganka, Gadhvi Ratandan Rohishala, Merambhai Jethsurbhai Dasaudi of Amarnagar, Hardangadhvi of Bhavnagar, Hamirdan Lakhabhai, the royal bard, Haribhai Abhani of Madevadi and Pithas Mandavad. A perusal of the songs composed by these poets gives the information on political and cultural history of the state of Amarnagar.

The songs talk about Darbar Amarawala’s generosity, magnanimity for donations,

his fondness of hunting and his love for the people. They also describes the times when the ruler was sworn in, the occasion when the state got the status of second rank, the marriage ceremony of Amarawala, the ceremony of birth, or the occasion when the name of Thana Devali was changed into Amarnagar.

Babra was a small state where the Kathis ruled. The poet named Raningbhai Raval has composed a song on its Darbar Raningbhai Jivabhai Vala which admires the education, intellectual power and the administration of the ruler. The song also mentions the lawyers and successful court trials. For example, the case of the prince of Kalu Ravat.

A poet named Kesardanji had composed a song on the 45th birthday of Darbar Bhayawala, the last ruler of the state of Bagsara. The song describes his generosity and his magnanimity. However no further history is described in this song.

Vadiya was an important state of the Kathis. The last ruler of this state named Darbar Suragwala who is famous for his love for his people, had provided the municipality to his people following the ideals of democracy. To commemorate this occasion, Kanjibhai Gagubhai Leela, the royal bard, had composed a song which tells us that the municipality was established to urge the people to take interest in the governance and handle small or big responsibilities. He was of the opinion that such a step would develop in people the qualities of governance.

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There are other songs available composed for this ruler on his birthdays or on his restoration. However, these songs don’t provide much historical or cultural

information.

Some of the poets have composed songs on the birthday of the prince Ramwala of the state of Amarnagar. One of these songs is a lengthy one composed by Landha Vali Mahmad Sidhibhai Shekh which gives ample information about his generous donations and his love for the people.

The poet named Gagubhai Rambhai Leela has composed a song on Darbar Bavawala of the state of Vadiya who was lost during his voyage in a steamer. The song gives us knowledge of the travels that this ruler had undertaken. The song is an elegy which describes how he was lost during one of his voyages. It also describes his love for the people of his state.

Darbar Najawala was a very strict and respectable ruler of the state Bilkha. He never hesitated to take law in his hand while taking any decision for the welfare of the people. During his time there was an antisocial man named Jasa belonging to Rabari community in the town of Jetpur. Darbar Najawala shot him in broad daylight at the market place. The repercussions of the incident were felt in Delhi. The entire incident has been described in a song edited by Bholashankar Premji Vyas. Apart from this song, there are other songs available composed for Vala rulers which don’t provide much of the history. The songs remain anonymous.

The songs are written to describe the better qualities and praise for the rulers.

These songs include raas (i.e. a kind of choric narrative song) of Darbar Bavawala, the Santhali raas of Darbar Ebhalwala, the raas of dabar Bhayawala of Bagsara, the raas of Darbar Valerawala of Khijadiya and other songs which praises the Kathis for their bravery and qualities of Kathi women and other branches of the Kathis.

6.2 The songs written about the Khuman rulers

The Khumans ruled in the areas of Saurashtra like Gohilwad, Gayakwad and Savarkundala . They had ruled here for a long time with due respect and prestige. Among the Khumans, there was a famous outlaw named Jogidas Khuman who fought against the state of Bhavnagar for many years. The areas that were under

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the rules of the Khumans include: Kundala, Dhoba, Bhamodara, Thavi, Kankach et al.

The Khumans of Bhamodar were noted for their fame and generous donations. The Bhoj Khumans of this area had much of the funding and alms during the famine. These fundings were at par with any big princely state. A few songs are available composed on this occasion by Raval Giga of Doliya. From the relief work during the famine, one can say The Khumans can be compared with none vis-à-vis providing donation. Their generous donation provided much need food and water to the people of that time.

Another song on the Khumans was composed by Raning Raval Lakheni which informs us that The Khumans had opened their bars for the people during the famine of 1900 AD, famous in the history as a Chhapaniyo dushkar (l.e. the famine the occurred during the 1956 of Vikram Samvant). The people were provided with lapsi (i.e. a sweet food item) with sugar and buttermilk. This song describes the full horror of the famine. The mothers had to leave their child in the jungle and men and women had to shed all their inhibitions and do all types of odd chores. The hunger had made the people mad. There were piles of the bones of the dead animals. Thrown in the lake, these bones had filled entire lake.

One more song depicting these famine days was composed by Bhagat Gigabhai Daliya which describes the condition the poet had seen with his own eyes. The third song was composed on Bapubhai Khuman of Dhoba by Chanran (i.e. the bard of the ruler) named Devidanbhai Valukad Vala. The poet has eulogized the rulers with so many qualities. This song doesn’t provide any other historical

incidents.

A song on Bhan Khuman of Agariya is composed by mendicate Vali Mahamad Selana. It talks about a robber named Sadul in the Khuntvada village of Bhavnagar state who oppressed the villagers. The police of the state was not able to arrest him. Later the state assigned the duty to arrest him to Bhan Khuman and Uga Khuman. Though these two brothers were not having friendly relation with the state, they found out the robber and drove him out of the area. The song was composed to shower praise for the adventure shown by the two brothers.

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A marriage song had been composed for the Chaprajbhai Khuman of Dhoba by the mendicant Tapubhai. The song describes the guests and all the arrangements during the marriage and the joy that the people were feeling on the occasion.

A raas had been composed for Hada Khuman, the father of Jogidas Khuman. It describes of the battle that Hada Khuman had with the army of Bhavnagar state. He had died in this battle. The songs also talks about the strategies of robberies that were undertaken by Hada Khuman. He carried seven camels to carry the booty.

6.3 The songs written about Khachar dynasty

The areas in Saurashtra that Khachar dynasty ruled include: Jasdan, Anandpur, Chotila, Bhimora, Mevasa, Sanosara, Bamanbor, Paliyad, Vankiya, Itariya, Kariyana, Khambhana and Nilvala. Many famous rulers like Ala Khachar, the first, of Jasdan, Bhan Khachar of Bhadli and Odha Khachar of Bhimorahave been born in Khachar dynasty. The saints like Dada Khachar and Dan Maharaj have also been born in this dynasty. There are some songs available on this dynasty. It is quite possible that more songs on this dynasty can be made available. They have not been so obscure that even this research could not make them available. There may be other reasons for their inaccessibility. I give below the account of the songs that have been found.

There is one song mimicking the Chela Khachar, the ruler of Jasdan who had taken the responsibility of capturing Jogidas Khachar with the hope of getting the prize but he had to suffer the failure and run away from the place. As the song was composed by Ganga Raval, he was asked by Chela Khachar to leave the state of Jasdan.

Jilubhai Khachar, the prince of Jadsan state, was fond of driving his car fast. He also organised the competitions for fast car-driving. He was killed in a car accident during one of such competitions. An elegy was written on this occasion titled ‘We won’t find another Jilubha’. The song describes the grief over the loss

of the prince.

A song was composed by Kesardan Poojabhai of Dedadara title ‘Chela Suyas Prakash’ on Chelabhai Jivabhai, the talukdar of twelve villages near Chotila. The

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song informs us that he was a real donator to the Panchayat of the village and did everything he could to maintain the Kathi culture. The song also informs us about his ancestors, their language and behavior and their personality. No beggar or a needy person would ever return from him without getting anything or without a smile.

Paliiyad was an important kingdom of the Kathis. When its Darbar Nagbhai Jivabhai Khachar died, an elegy Sanor? was written by the genealogist named Dhabhai Nagajanbhai. The song tells us about his history, culture and the governance of the time. The song also describes the good relations that Nagbhai Khachar shared with the king of Udepur.

Another Darbar Danabhai Khachar was well learned and educated man. He was a perfect statesman. A song had been composed on this ruler by the genealogist Raningbhai. It tells us about the building of a temple and its foundation ceremony. It also talks about his generosity and his hoby or horse-riding.

6.4 Songs written for Avaratiya Kathis

As we saw earlier there were two classes of Kathis: 1) Shakhayat and 2) Avaratiya. There are half a dozen songs available on Avaratiya Kathis who didn’t

possess any vast stretches of land. These songs appreciate their notable works and incidence of their bravery, providing the history of the times. It seems that the poets of that era were chiefly interested in appreciating the Kathis who were rulers. Why hadn’t the poets written songs on common people? Was it that the

ordinary people were not able to remunerate these poets fairly in terms of money or respect? One cannot rule out the possibility that the poets of the era had paid little attention on writing songs for the ordinary people.

There is a place in Paliyad of a great saint named Apa Visaman. The chief priest of this place is a Kathi of Boricha branch. Two songs are available composed by Devidan Narandanji of Valovad on the occasion of the marriage of Chief priest Unadbapu. These songs describe the history of the place of Apa Visaman and its traditions. These songs tell us the widespread glory of the place in entire Kathiyawad. It also describes the glory, the lightening arrangements, the arbor,

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the community meal, the procession of marriage, the miracles attached to the place and the faith of the people.

6.5 The songs written for the outlaws and sati

Of several outlaws among the Kathis, the songs on two famous outlaws named Jogidas Khuman and Ramwala are available. The songs describe the incidents with dates and years. Even one Gohil ruler had asked the poets to compose songs on his enemy, Jogidas Khuman.

Though Kathis don’t follow the tradition of Satipratha (The traditional burning of

the wife on the pyre of her husband), there are a few incidence where the cases of satipratha was followed.

One of the incidence happened at the village called Matra near Vinchhiya on 7th of dark fortnight of the third month of Posh according to the Vikram Samvant (1930 AD). The name of the wife was Jilubhai and was married off in her own village. His husband had committed suicide by shooting himself with his gun because of some unknown reason and the wife had committed suicide by setting herself ablaze. The song which remains anonymous describes the high and lows of the married life of the couple. She didn’t just set her ablaze because of concerns for her husband, but she had fired the hearth and sat on it while chanting the name of Rama. She was just 18 years old at the time. Later a stone commemorating the incident was raised at the place.

The population of the Kathis was 28500 in 1881 AD which increased upto around one lakh in 1947 AD. It is no small matter that so many songs had been written for the community which had population just around one lakh at that time. It shows their qualities like good relationship with the people, their donatory spirit and their governance. The great lack that one would feel in this study is that it has depended on only those songs that have been written in Gujarati. There are several songs available in Charani literature but there are hardly half a dozen experts available who can wrest meaning from these songs. If ever all these songs in Charani literature are deciphered, one will have to write a new political and cultural history of the Kathis.

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It is also a regrettable fact that while writing the history, historians have not taken recourse to all songs which are already available. Let’s hope that after this effort,

the writers and the historians will make use of these new songs which have been researched.

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Chapter 7

Conclusion:

Under this project, the songs we have gotten more than 500 songs; studied in detail, a good system is uncovered. Most of indian ‘Rajwadas’ have appointed the ‘Poet

Laureate’. Those days had provided enthusiasm & inspiration to literary writers, poets,

Charans, Barots, Meer, Langha etc. the poetic sense of these writers were fully flourished. They had tried to cover almost every aspect of the society of that time like tradition , culture of Saurashtra, Virtues of kings , Kings’ love for people and social

reforms, cultural history etc. the effort was notable and adorable. Most of the songs were composed during the good or unhappy events in the Royal families.

For example,

a) Songs of Coronation ceremony

b) Songs of Marriage ceremony

c) Songs of grief and departure due to Death

d) Songs in memories of various events

e) The songs to praise the Bravery

The practice to preserve the history into songs, come to an end as the imperialism come to an end. the realization of certain thing which we missed and needed to reestablished among then one is the practice to mold history in to form of poetry and songs.. while researching about the creators of these songs , we come across the fact that most of the songs had created by Meer, Barots, and Charans ; but some songs were created by other people too like Brahmins, Sadhu, Bhils & Kolis.

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At the end of this research we can conclude that-

1. To preserve the history, there was very good tradition in the society of Saurashtra.

And the intellects of the states convert any events happened in the state like

political upheavals, social reforms into the form of poetry & preserve fact.

2. People from different casts were so genius& having very enriched language &

vocabulary. They were instant poets that create poetryimmediately in different form

of poetry like Duha, Soratha. The meter& rhyme was so perfect that the songs

become easy to adopt . people used to sing it during different programmes like

Bhavai, dayaroand different places like ‘ chora’ , streets , midways etc. that’s how

culture was spread and preserved and passed on from one generation to another.

3. While collecting the songs & researching upon songs about 10 Royal families of

Saurashtra, we clearly find that through derivation of meanings that whatever

histories writes up till now, these kinds of songs were used very less as the means

of the base of the history. So that we have to add some events, reforms in Rajwadas

& their love for public. Whenever in future any historian rewrite the history at that

time, so many things & facts should be added about Saurashtra with the help of the

songs founded at the end of those project. There are possibilities to get the missing

links.

4. At the end of this project , we have found more than 500 songs, those songs are

only as the samples we have got from different cities . but it is believed that there

would be more songs well-kept in the hearts and hoses of the people.

5. Under his research work, the songs we founded can be inspirational for today’s

writers, poets & other literary artists, because from these songs one can get inspired

to create some literary work about current events of social reforms. The literary

writers can preserve the history in the songs by creating it about such events like

the attach on Taj Hotel, Kargil-war or Earthquake on 26 Jan, 2000 etc. one notable

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thing is that in our time poets are failed to created songs on such an event. This is

the reality must be accepted the literary writers & poets.

6. During this project we heartily felt that such songs , related to social & cultural

events; must be given for printing either to Sahitya Academy, Social Academic

organization or Universities.

7. Indian people should know about their beloved empire and how people sang their

praiseworthy songs about any events& the emperor himself. Those emperors who

ruled over people as a guardian & give them important social reforms, people gave

them place into their heart and songs.

8. We come to know through this research hat not only prizing is woven in the songs

but the creators like Charan, Barot& Mir had criticized the King when needed.

9. This research warns us about the future that we only get 50% songs about the

Royal families of Saurashtra. Other 50% are believed to be in the houses, offices. If

could not able to get it then it must be in vain & we will lose the cultural heritage of

Saurashtra. We have to complete this work. For this Govt. or any organization

should step forward for support.

10. At the end this project , the songs which were founded, if not published by Sahitya

Acadamy or any publishers then the researcher himself will publish them on his

own pay with hope that the songs created by common people , would be song.

11. The lineage of the castes of the creator of song like Dhadhi, Mir, Charan, Barot

etc. needs to provide education & enough inspiration about creating more songs. I

appeal for that to the Government & Sahitya Academy.

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Bibliography

Gujarat State Archives, Junagadh 1. Sadi Daftar

2. Gadi Daftar

3. Poshak Daftar

4. Sunnat Shadi Daftar

5. Mangani Daftar

6. Shahjaada Daftar

7. Arzi Hakumat Daftar

8. Silver Jubilee Daftar

Gujarat State Archives, Bhavnagar 1. File No. 1115627, Rack .No. 7/1

2. File No. 1116868, Rack .No. 7/1

3. File No. 1117954, Rack .No. 7/1

4. File No. 1118092, Rack .No. 7/1

5. File No. 1118093, Rack .No. 7/1

6. File No. 1119711, Rack .No. 7/1

7. File No. 1126383, Rack .No. 5/1

8. File No. 1127916, Rack .No. 10/1

9. File No. 1117269, Rack .No. 7/1

10. File No. 1116018, Rack .No. 7/1

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English Reference Books

1. Bell, (Capt.) H.willberforce, “The History of Kathiawad”,

New Delhi, 1980 A.D.

2. Burges Jemes, “Report on the Antiquities of Kathiawar and

kachha” Varanasi, 1971 A.D.

3. Edwards S.M.& Fraser L.G. “The Ruling Princes of Junagadh”,

Junagadh, 1907 A.D.

4. Rajyagor S.B.(Editor), “Gujarat state GAZTTEERS Junagadh

district”, Ahmadabad, 1975 A.D.

5. Shaikh G.A.”Mahabat Album”, Surat, First edition, 1936A.D.

6. State publication, “The Babi Rulers of Sorath.” Junagadh, 1903 A.D.

7. Viraji Krishnakumari, “Ancient History of Saurashtra”,

Baroda, First edition, 1961 A.D.

Gujarati Reference Books

1. Chhatrapati Bhagavanlal Sampatram, “Saurashtra Desh No

Itihas” Mumbai, First edition,1868 A.D.

2. Deshai Shambhuprasad H. “Junagadh ane Girnar”, Rajkot,

First edition, 1990 A.D.

3. Deshai Shambhuprasad H. “Saurashtra No Itihas”, Rajkot,

Third edition, 1990 A.D.

4. Deshai Shambhuprasad H. “Tarikha- e- Sorath- v- Halar”,

Junagadh, Second edition,2003 A.D.

5. Deshai Shambhuprasad H. “Itihas Darshan” - Bhag 1to 6,

Junagadh, First edition,1979-95 A.D.

6. Jani S.V. “Saurashtra No Itihas”, Ahmadabad, First edition,

2003

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7. Jani S.V. “Junagadh Na Nawabi Shasan No Ant”, Rajkot,

First edition, 2010 A.D.

8. Khachar Praduman B. “Saurashtra No Gauravvanto Itihas”,

Rajkot, First edition,2010 A.D.

9. Khachar Praduman B. “Gir Girnar Na Mandiro”, Junagadh,

First edition, 2013 A.D.

10. Khachar Praduman B. “Girnar No Itihas”, Junagadh,

First edition,2009 A.D.

11. Khachar Praduman B. “Kathiawad Sarvasangraha: by

J.W.Watson” Junagadh, Reprinted edition,2005 A.D.

12 Khachar Praduman B. “Itihas Manjusa”, Junagadh,

First edition,2008A.D.

13. Khachar Praduman B. “Sorath Sarkar Nawab

Mahabatkhanji”, Junagadh, First edition,2012A.D.

14. Khachar Praduman B. “Saurashtra-Gujarat Na Shasako Ni

Vanshavalio” Junagadh, First edition,2002 A.D.

15. Khachar Praduman B., Vala Dhirubhai P. “Tasviro man

Junagadh” Rajkot, First edition,2011A.D.

Personal Interview

1. Shri Nauttambhai K. Dave, Historian, Junagadh.

2 Shri Maheswarbhai Pancholi, Junagadh.

3. Dr. Praffullaben J.Raval, H.O.D., Department of History,

Saurashtra University, Rajkot.

4.. Dr. J.P.Sodha Junagadh.

5. Shri Ablubhai S. Saiyad, Junagadh

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Menu Script of Songs and Photographs

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Ravat wala, Bilkha Devkunvarba, Bilkha

Mahabatkhanji, 3rd, Junagadh Munvarjahan, Junagadh

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Krishnakumarsinji, Bhavanagar Vijayaba, Bhavnagar

Amara wala, Amarnagar Vaghaji Thakor, Morbi

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Dilavarkhanji, Junagadh Natvarsinhji, Porbandar

Rupaliba, Porbandar Premilaba, Jetpur

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Kamalaba, Jasadan Ala Khachar, Jasdan

Lakhajiraj, Rakot Bhagavatsinhji, Gondal

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Ramba Ranisaheb, Porbandar Bhavsinhji, Porbandar

Mahendra Sinhji, Morbi Lakhadhirji, Morbi

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Pradyumansinhji and Rani saheba, Rajkot

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