Balambha is a village in

Jodiya Jodia (also spelled Jodiya) is a town in Jamnagar district, Gujarat, India. Jodia was the well-known port of India before 1947. The activity of jodiya Port was at peak in 1980 era. Jodiya Port had railway connectivity till 1978.It has a sainik sc ...

taluka of

Jamnagar District Jamnagar District is a district of Gujarat in Western India. Its headquarters are located in the eponymous city of Jamnagar. It hosts the production facilities of large Indian companies such as Reliance. Among its attractions are several palac ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The taluka headquarters of

is at a distance of 20 km and

Jamnagar Jamnagar () is a city and the headquarters of Jamnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The city lies just to the south of the Gulf of Kutch, some west of the state capital, Gandhinagar. The city was the capital of Nawanagar State, Na ...

city at a distance of 60 km. The Dadhiari Dam on Aji river is at a distance of only 1 km. After 6th January 2001earthquake Balambha village peoples live in three different parts of village 1) old balambha, 2) Shanti Nagar and 3) Binadhar.

History

Balambha has a strong inner citadel. This is said in the ''Tarikh-i-Sorath'' by

Ranchhodji Diwan Raṇchoḍjī Amarjī (1768—1841) was an author and the chief minister (diwan) of Junagadh state under the Babi dynasty. Life Ranchhodji was a son of Amarji Diwan, the chief minister of Junagadh state. Upon death of his father, he was appoint ...

to have been built by Rao

Deshalji I Rao Deshalji I was the Raja, Rao of Cutch State, Cutch belonging to Jadeja Rajput dynasty, who ruled Princely State of Cutch as a regent from 1718 1752. His son Lakhpatji confined him in 1741 and ruled as a regent until death of Deshalji in 175 ...

Cutch State Cutch State, 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 ...

in 1714, but its construction is popularly ascribed to Meraman Khavas. Probably the Rao first built a small citadel in 1714, afterward strengthened and enlarged by Meraman Khavas in 1784. The river Aji, which flows by Rajkot, falls into the

Little Rann of Kutch The Little Rann of Kutch is a salt marsh which is part of the Rann of Kutch in Kutch district, Gujarat, India. Attractions Indian wild ass sanctuary The Little Rann of Kutch is home to the Indian wild ass (khur). To conserve this species, ...

about six miles from Balambha. There is a hillock in the lands of Balambha called Bina where there is a Chapter spring of fresh water called the Navghan Kui. It is said that when Ra Navghan of

Junagadh Junagadh () is the city and headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (the state capital), it is the seventh largest city in the state. It i ...

was marching to Cutch to avenge Jaasal, he halted here and was athirst and the men that were with him. In his distress he called on his tutelary goddess to aid him. She directed him to plunge his spear into the hillock ; he did so and water flowed forth and he appeased his thirst and that of his army. In the rains of 1881, Balambha was at the centre of the cyclone which visited the north-west of the peninsula ; forty-five inches of rain fell in the three days the cyclone lasted, hundreds of mud-houses were washed down, and it is said that only forty houses in the whole town were uninjured. This storm did much damage, and many cattle died from the damp and exposure.

Education

The village has a aanganvadi pre primary school, a government primary school, and a government secondary and higher secondary school.

Demographics

The population is of Gurjar Kshatriya Kadia, Sathvara,

Lohana Lohana are a Hindu ''jāti, caste'', a trading or mercantile community mostly residing in India and some also in Pakistan. The Lohanas are divided into many separate cultural groups as a result of centuries apart in different regions. Thus th ...

, Bharvad,

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

Koli Koli may refer to: People * Koli people, Indian caste group * Koli Christians, a Christian subgroup * Muslim Kolis, Muslim community * Koli (surname), Indian surname * Koli Sewabu (born 1975), Fijian rugby union footballer Places * Koli, Fin ...

Khoja The Khoja are a caste of Muslims mainly members of the Nizari Ismaʿiliyyah sect of Islam with a minority of followers of Shia Islam originating the western Indian subcontinent, and converted to Islam from Hinduism by the 14th century by the Pe ...

, Muslim, etc.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the

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: Villages in Jamnagar district {{Jamnagar-geo-stub