Porbandar State was a princely state during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

ruled by Jethwa dynasty. It was one of the few princely states with a coastline.It was a first class Princely State with 13 Gun Slaute, standing fourth in rank among the Principalities in the

Kathiawar Agency The Kathiawar Agency, on the Kathiawar peninsula in the western part of the Indian subcontinent, was a political unit of some 200 small princely states under the suzerainty of the Bombay Presidency of British Raj. The agency's headquarters we ...

. The capital of state was the harbour town of

Porbandar Porbandar is a city and the headquarters of Porbandar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It was the former capital of the Porbandar State, Porbandar princely state. Porbandar and Chhaya, ...

. Some other important towns of this state were

Bhanvad Bhanvad is a city and a municipality in Devbhoomi Dwarka district in the state of Gujarat, India. History Bhanvad is named after Jethwa ruler Rana Bhanji Jetva of Ghumli, who founded this place, when the Ghumli was sacked in 1313 AD. It was m ...

Chhaya Chhaya or Chaya (), also known as Savarna, is the Hindu personification and goddess of shadow, and a consort of Surya, the Hindu sun god. She is the shadow-image or reflection of Saranyu (Sanjna), the first wife of Surya. Chhaya was born from th ...

, Ranpar, and Shrinagar. Earlier Shrinagar served as the capital of Jethwas, then Ghumli served as the capital, but was lost to the

Jadeja Jadeja ( Gujarati, Sindhi: , or ''Jāṛejā'') is a Samma Rajput clan that inhabits the Indian state of Gujarat and the Tharparkar district of Sindh, Pakistan. They originated from Sammas of Sindh, a pastoral group, and laid a claim on the ...

s, however, architectural heritage built by them still stands at Ghumli.

History

On 5 December 1809 it became a

British protectorate British protectorates were protectorates under the jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status wh ...

and between 1886 and 15 September 1900 the state was administered by the Bombay Presidency. It was later made part of the

In 1888, during the reign of

Vikramatji Khimojiraj Maharaja RanaShri Vikramatji Khimojiraj Sahib (1 April 1819 – 21 April 1900) was the ruler of Princely State of Porbandar belonging to Jethwa Rajput dynasty. He was born at the Darbargadh, Porbandar in 1819 as Bhojirajji and was the only s ...

, the State started metre-gauge railway called Porbandar State Railway, which after independence was merged in to

Saurashtra Railway Saurashtra Railway came into being in April, 1948 with the amalgamation of state railways like Bhavnagar State Railway, Gondal Railway, Porbandar Railway, Jamnagar & Dwarka Railway, Morvi Railway, Dhrangadhra Railway, Okhamandal State Rai ...

. During reign of Maharaja

Bhavsinhji Madhavsinhji Maharaja Rana Shri Bhavsinhji Madhavsinhji Sahib Bahadur (26 December 1867 – 10 December 1908) was the Maharaja of Porbandar belonging to Jethwa dynasty, who ascended the throne of princely state of Porbandar on 15 September 1900 and ruled ...

(1900-1908) the state was restored its position as a First Class with full judicial and administrative powers. Under his able successor and last ruler Maharaja Sir Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji, KCSI (1908-1948) the State progressed further. Upon the

Independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

in 1947, the state acceded unto the

dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India, * * was an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations existing between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. Until its Indian independence movement, independence, India had be ...

. It was merged with the ' United State of Kathiawar', effective from 15 February 1948 and eventually came to form part of the present-day state of

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 ...

. The grandfather of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, the leader of

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

, Uttamchand Gandhi and later his father –

Karamchand Gandhi Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi (1822 — 16 November 1885) was a court official in Porbandar. He served as Diwan of Porbandar and Rajkot and was the father of Mahatma Gandhi. Life The Gandhi family originated from the village of Kutiana in wha ...

and uncle – Tulsidas Gandhi, served as

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

to Rana of Porbandar state.
Encyclopaedia of Eminent Thinkers: The political thought of Mahatma Gandhi By K. S. Bharathi

References

External links

* {{coord, 21, 37, 48, N, 69, 36, 00, E, region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki, display=title States and territories disestablished in 1948 States under the Kathiawar Agency Porbandar district Princely states of Gujarat Former countries in South Asia Former protectorates Former monarchies of South Asia Rajput history 1948 disestablishments in India 7th-century establishments in India Gun salute princely states