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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 19, p. 360.

360 P21T,ITfl NA STATI' bay, lying between 21° 23' and 21° 42' N. and 71° 3r' and 72° I:., with an area of 289 square miles. It is bounded on the south by Baroda territory, and on the north, east, and west by Bhaunagar territory, The Shetrunji river, with its tributaries the Rajaval and Khari, passes through the State. The climate is hot, and fever is prevalent. The annual rainfall averages about 25 inches. The family of the chief is descended from Shahj3, second son of Sejakji, the chief of Bhaunagar being descended from the eldest son, and the chief of Lathi from the third. The ruler executed the usual engagements in 1807. The family was for many years engaged in a dispute with the Jains concerning the control of Shetrunja hill (see PALITANA TowN). This hill, which rises above the town of Palitana, is covered with Jain temples, and is the resort of innumerable pilgrims. Inquiry seems to show that, many years before the Gohel chiefs established themselves in Surashtra, the Jains worshipped in Shetrunja. They produce an imposing array of deeds from the Mughal emperors and viceroys, ending with one from prince Murad Baksh (1650), which confers the whole district of Palitana on Santidas the jeweller and his heirs. The firm of Santidas supplied Murad Baksh with money for war when he went with Aurangzeb (1658) to fight Dare at Agra and assume the throne. On the decay of the Mughal power jurisdiction over Palitana fell into the hands of the Gohel chief, a tributary of the Gaikwar. While, therefore, the whole mountain is regarded as a religious trust, it is under the jurisdiction of the chief, for whose protection the Shrawaks have long paid a yearly subsidy. Under a decision of Major Keatinge's in 1863, the representatives of the Jain community had to pay a lump sum of Rs. ro,ooo per annum for ten years to the chief, in lieu of his levying a direct tax of Rs. 2 a head on all pilgrims visiting the shrines, with the proviso that a scrutiny lasting two years, or longer if necessary, might be demanded by either side at the termination of that period, with a view to ascertain whether the yearly sum of Rs, ro,ooo was more or less than the right amount. The chief demanded such a scrutiny in 1879, and, due arrangements having been made, the count of pilgrims commenced on April 23, r88o. The claims of the chief were settled for forty years by an annual payment of Rs. 15,000, commencing from. 1886. A decision of the British Government, given in March, 1877, while it upholds the chief's legiti- mate authority, secures to the sect its established possessions, and maintains the sacred isolation of the hill. The chief is a Hindu of the Gohel clan of Rajputs, and is entitled to a salute of 9 guns. The family hold a sanad authorizing adop- tion ; in matters of succession the rule of primogeniture is followed. Since the death of the last Thakur Sahib in r905, the State has