Kutch Museum is located in

Bhuj Bhuj () is a Municipality and District Headquarters of Kutch District in the state of Gujarat, India. Etymology According to legend, Kutch was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to Kin ...

, Kutch district of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India. It is the oldest museum of Gujarat which was founded in 1877. It is located opposite

Hamirsar Lake Hamirsar Lake is a man made lake situated in the centre of Bhuj, the headquarters of Kutch district, Gujarat, India. History Hamirsar lake is a 450-year-old lake named after Jadeja ruler Rao Hamir (1472-1524), the founder of Bhuj. The lake wa ...

. The museum was earlier known as Fergusson Museum.

History

Kutch museum was initially established as a part of the School of Arts established by

Khengarji III Maharajadhiraj Mirza Maharao Sir Khengarji III Sawai Bahadur (23 August 1866 – 15 January 1942) was a progressive and one of the longest ruling monarchs of a dependent state and also the longest ruling king of the Princely State of Cutc ...

, the Maharao of

Cutch State Cutch, also spelled Kutch or Kachchh and also historically known as the Kingdom of Kutch, was a kingdom in the Kutch region from 1147 to 1819 and a princely state under British rule from 1819 to 1947. Its territories covered the present day K ...

. It was founded on 1 July 1877.Kutch Museum
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/ref>Kutch Museum
Kutch Museum, Bhuj
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/ref> At the time of Maharao Khengarji III's marriage on 19 February 1884 many new items were received and for exhibition of which, a need for new building was necessitated. As such, on 14 November 1884, the foundation stone for the present museum building was laid by the Governor of Bombay, Sir James Fergusson and named Fergusson Museum after him by Maharao of Cutch. The building consisting of two floors which cost Rs. 32000 to construct at that time. The museum, constructed in the Italian Gothic style, is located on the bank of

just opposite to the Nazar Bagh Garden. It was designed by the state engineer - Mc Lelland and built by local builders known as

Mistris of Kutch Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya (also known as Mistri or Mestri) are a minority Hindu and one of the Socially and Educationally Backward communities of Gujarat in India, who claim to be Kshatriyas. They are an artisan community related with Kadia w ...

under supervision of State Gaidher - Jairam Ruda Gajdhar. The museum remained the preserve of the Maharao of Cutch, till 1948, who showed it only to his personal guests. In those days, the museum was opened to the public only on important religious occasions.

Collections

The museum has the largest existing collection of

Kshatrapa A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...

inscriptions, dating to the 1st century. The oldest Kshatrapa six inscription-stones found in Andhau village in Khavda are moved here. They are originally on the hillock and called ''Lashti''. They were erected in time of Rudradaman I.Alt URL
/ref> The only Gujarati

Abhira The Abhira tribe is mentioned in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. A historical people of the same name are mentioned in the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea''. They are thought to be people who moved in from eastern Iran in the aftermath o ...

inscription of the 3rd century is also here. It also has an examples of the extinct Kutchi script (now the

Kutchi language Kutchi (; કચ્છી, , ڪڇّی) or Kachhi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Kutch region of India and Sindh region of Pakistan. The name of the language is also transliterated as Katchi, Kutchhi, Kachchi, Kachchhi, Kachhi or Cu ...

is mostly written in the

Gujarati script The Gujarati script (, transliterated: ) is an abugida for the Gujarati language, Kutchi language, and various other languages. It is a variant of the Devanagari script differentiated by the loss of the characteristic horizontal line running ...

) and a collection of coins, including the Koris - the local currency of Kutch till 1948. The museum has almost 11 sections. The archaeological section has Indus seals. Different kinds of stone tablets are available also. The painting showing the different vocations of Kutch are on the display. There is also an excellent section which covers classical and musical instruments like Nagfani,

Morchang The morsing (also mukharshanku, mourching, morching or morchang; Sanskrit: दंत वाद्यन्तरात्मसत्रस्य, Telugu: మోర్సింగ్, Kannada: ಮೋರ್ಸಿಂಗ್, Rajasthani: मोर� ...

and many others, which are put on the display of the museum. A section of the museum is devoted to tribal cultures, with many examples of ancient artifacts, folk arts and crafts and information about tribal peoples. The museum also has exhibits of embroidery, paintings, arms, musical instruments, sculpture and precious metalwork. Thus the museum broadly contains, a picture gallery, an anthropological section, an archeological section, textiles, weapons, musical instruments, a shipping section, and even stuffed animals. On the ground floor of the museum, in the center room, ‘ Airavat’ is displayed. ‘Airavat’ is a carved, wooden, snow white Indian elephant with seven tusks. ‘Airavat’ was prepared in

Mandvi Mandvi is a Beach town with municipality in the Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was once a major port of the region and summer retreat for Maharao (king) of the Cutch State. The old city was enclosed in the fort wall and remai ...

in the 18th century, in the worship of Tirthankar. The rest of its body is painted with flowers. The Indian Government issued a postal stamp in 1978, depicting this ‘Airavat’, under the postal series "Treasures of Museum".A 25 paisa stamp was issued on 27 July 1978 under the `Treasures of Museum' series on Kutch Museum.
Jainism in Philataly The oldest museum of

, Kutch Museum was also the first museum of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

to become online virtual museum in 2010.Kutch museum's virtual reality
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Gallery

File:Kutch museum 2014-01-27 13-33.jpg, Kutch Museum File:Cannon Haidari at Kutch Museum, Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat.jpg, Cannon Haidari, a cannon gifted by Tipu Sultan to Kutch administrator

Fateh Muhammad Fateh Muhammad was a regent who administered Cutch State as a leader of Bar Bhayat ni Jamat under titular kings, Prithvirajji and Rayadhan III. Career Background Fateh Muhammad, a Notiyar Muslim of Sindhi descent, born in 1752, who was a J ...

. He wanted Kutch Horses in exchange. File:Embroidered hanging, Kutch (western India.jpg, Embroidered hanging, Kutch Museum File:Tea and coffee service, Kutch, Gujarat, India, c. 1880 - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC09642.JPG, Tea and coffee service, Kutch, Gujarat, India, c. 1880 - Royal Ontario Museum

References

{{Reflist Museums in Gujarat Decorative arts museums in India Bhuj History of Kutch Museums established in 1877 1877 establishments in British India Tourist attractions in Kutch district