(Bhalgam) Baldhoi is a village and former non-salute princely state in

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 ...

, western India.

Village

Modern Baldhoi lies in Jasdan Taluka of

Rajkot district Rajkot district is one of the 33 districts of the Indian state of Gujarat. Located in Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra peninsula, Rajkot city is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is the third-most advanced and the fourth-most po ...

, on Saurasthra peninsula. It includes the site of a deserted village called Bhalgam close to the foot of the Baldhua hill.

Etymology

There is a hill nearby known as the Baldhua hill. According to a legend, a laden bullock belonging to a Brinjari ascended this steep hill nearly 900 feet high, and died on the summit. A temple has been built on the spot and the hill was hereafter called Baldhua from ''baladh'' - a bullock. For the same reason the village is called Baldhoi.

History

Bhalgam Baldhoi was a petty princely state, comprising solely the village, in the

Halar Halar (Haalaar) is a historical region of western India, located by the Gulf of Kutch coast on the northwestern area of Nawanagar, now Jamnagar, in Gujarat State, on Saurashtra peninsula, roughly corresponding to the present Jamnagar District ...

prant A prant is a historical district in India, and a native British Raj age term for a colonial district. The same name can thus have different meanings depending on the period. Pre-colonial Some prants are traditional names for parts of historical ...

'' of

Kathiawar Kathiawar (), also known as Saurashtra, is a peninsula in the south-western Gujarat state in India, bordering the Arabian Sea and covering about . It is bounded by the Kutch district in the north, the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest, and by the ...

. Bhalgam Baldhoi had a population of 617 in 1901, yielding a state revenue of 9,168 Rupees (1903–4, mostly from land) and a paying a tribute of 262 Rupees, to the British an

Junagadh State The State of Junagadh or Junagarh was a princely state located in Gujarat, It was ruled by the Muslim Babi dynasty since 1654 by first Nawab of Junagarh, Nawab of Junagadh even within the Maratha Confederacy and later British India. which, aft ...

. It was held by

Vala Vala or VALA may refer to: Religion and mythology * Vala (Vedic), a demon or a stone cavern in the Hindu scriptures * Völva, also spelled Vala, a priestess in Norse mythology and Norse paganism Fiction * Vala (Middle-earth), an angelic being in ...

Kathi Chieftains, also during British period. It was subject to the Lodhika ''thana''.

References

External links and Sources

History
Imperial Gazetteer, on dsal.uchicago.edu
*

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

: Princely states of Gujarat Villages in Rajkot district {{Rajkot-geo-stub