24
PA TAN Tfl L UKA
north the soil is black, while to the east it is light and sandy. In
1904-5 the land revenue was Rs. 3,26,ooo.
PELtan Town (i).--Head-quarters of the tdluka of the same name,
Kadi prdnt, Baroda State, situated in 23° 51' N. and 72° io' E., on
the Gaikwar's State line from Mehsana on the Rajputana-Malwa
Railway. Population (1901), 31,402. In former times it was known
as ANHILVADA or Anhilpur, and was founded about A.D. 746, or,
according to some accounts, in 765, by Vanaraja, the forest-born son
of the beautiful Ran!, Rap Sundri. He was the first of a line of kings,
named Chavada, a dynasty which was succeeded by the Solankis, and
afterwards by the Vaghelas. The town, afterwards known as Nahrwara
or Nahrwala, was celebrated for its size and magnificence, and yielded
much plunder to Mahmud of Ghazni. The last of the Vaghelas,
Karan Ghelo (`the insane'), was overpowered in 1298 by Ulugh Khan;
and the Muhammadans afterwards levelled the walls of the town,
buried the temples in their foundations, and ploughed up the ground
on which they stood. The modern Patan has sprung up on the ruins
left by the ancient conquerors, but does not possess the magnificent
palaces, parks, tanks, schools, libraries, markets, and offices which are
said to have adorned the old town. Some remains, however, are still
to be seen which indicate the former greatness of Anhilvada. One
of these is the Ran! Vav, or large well built by Udayamati, the queen
of Raja Bhlma, in the eleventh century, of which a few battered
fragments remain. The water is said to possess the power of curing
infantile cough. The Sahasra Ling Talav, or I tank with the thousand
shrines,' was dedicated to Siva by the famous Jay Singh Siddha Raja
of the Solanki line (1093-1143), when he set out on his expedition
against Yasovarma, king of Malwa. But of this nothing now remains,
save a large field with the ruins of a Muhammadan building in the
centre, constructed on the site of a temple. Bairam, the minister of
Humayun and Akbar, was assassinated on the bank of this lake in
1561, while on his way to Mecca. A marble statue of Vanaraja, the
founder of the place, in one of the Jain temples, bears an inscription
dated 1467. Another tank worthy of notice is the large reservoir to
the south of the town, known as the Khan Sarovar, which, however,
is of Muhammadan origin. The modern town of Patan, together with
the citadel, is the result of Maratha efforts. It is situated to the south
east of old Anhilvada, nearly a mile from the Saraswat! river. A lofty
wall, most of which is of great thickness, entirely surrounds it, and
there are numerous gateways. The public buildings, of which the chief
are the offices in the citadel, the high school, and the civil hospital, are
of no great interest; and the general aspect of the streets and houses,
with the exception of a few which display profuse and elaborate wood-
carving, is depressing. The Jain temples in the town are said to
|
![[Digital South Asia Library]](/graphics/thirdlevel.gif)
