Wankaner is a city and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

in Morbi district in the

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

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 nin ...

. Until 2013, Wankaner was part of the

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

Etymology

The city was named after its location on the

Machhu River Machchhu River ( gu, મચ્છુ નદી, translit=Machchhu nadi) is a river in Gujarat, India, with its origin in the Madla hills. Its basin has a maximum length of . The total catchment area of the basin is . The river is also occasional ...

, "Wankaner" translating to "riverbend" ("Wanka" - bend, " -ner" - river) in Gujarati.

Geography

Wankaner is located at . It has an average elevation of 81 metres (265 feet) and is about from Rajkot.

History

Wankaner was legendarily founded by four friends, and two were saints i.e. Shahbava and Nagabava. Nagabava was the Rajyguru of state. Shahbava in an event cursed the state, that the place would fall due to either fire or water. The temple of Nagabava and dargah of Shahbava survive in the old city, and thousands of people go for worship each day to get blessings. Wankaner has many other Hindu and Muslim places of worship. Wankaner State was an 11-gun

salute state A salute state was a princely state under the British Raj that had been granted a gun salute by the British Crown (as paramount ruler); i.e., the protocolary privilege for its ruler to be greeted—originally by Royal Navy ships, later also ...

during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

era, when it was governed by members of the senior branch of the Jhala rajput dynasty.

References

{{reflist Cities and towns in Morbi district Former capital cities in India