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Based on ‘Nadiad no Itihas’ (History of Nadiad) by Shantilal Thakar. Information collected from the knowledgeable people.
What does the word Nadiad come from? What was the original name of Nadiad? Where was it originally settled? How did it grow to what is today? There is not enough information to answer all these questions. But from the following some idea of the history can be gained. Initial references are taken from the magazine ‘Janmabhoomi’ of 19-8-1925.
Kingdom of Mayabhil
Bhil kings ruled charotar before the establisment of Solanki rule here. Among the Bhil kings, the well-known Mayo Bhil ruled the Marida area. This is a story from mythology. That time Nadiad probably did not exist even. One and half thousand year’s age Nadiad may have been a small settlement.
History of Solanki Dynasty
Thakor of Gajana caused in samvat 1975 the history of solanki dynasty in Godhra.
‘On studying the authentic history of Solanki Dynasty and analyzing, coming from Raisal Gadh and taking power in Tunktoda had the last Solanki king Khengal Devji had two sons: Balkankdevji and Dalkankdevji.
The first Balkankdev’s lineage, on king Bhvanaditya as mentioned by the Sanskrit historians as one among the five great kings ‘On studying the authentic history of Solanki Dynasty and analyzing, coming from Raisal Gadh and taking power in Tunktoda had the last Solanki king Khengal Devji had two sons: Balkankdevji and Dalkankdevji.
The first Balkankdev’s lineage, on king Bhvanaditya as mentioned by the Sanskrit historians as one among the five great kings; left the kingdom as a ‘brahmchari’ (virgin) along with of his middle brother in order not to get involved in fratricidal wars and found himself on the outskirts of Anhilwar.
On seeing the king riding and beating mercilessly a pregnant female horse, the king prophesied that the baby horse in the belly of the female horse did not have the right eye, he obtained the kings sister Liladevi. Mulraj was born to Liladevi who killed all the claimants to the throne on his mother’s brother’s side and established his power in 998(samvat) at Anhilwad Patan. The second son, trying his luck, defeated the Bhil king of Mahiyad (having 2,200 villages) and established his throne in Godhara in samvat 110. From then on, in 246 Mandvi, 297 Bakrol Gadh (fort), in 512 Pumpavati(petlad), in 586 Napa, in 986 Kuna Harera, in 702 Mehlool, in 916 shili-sojitra, in 1371 Napad, in 1480 Gathmajaha, in 1480 Valuvad, in 1612 Vadodara, in 1482 Hathaj, in 1774 Mogar, in 1480 Deva, in 1770 chalier, in relation between the fate of Tunktoda and Godhara.
Arjan Bhil
Arjan bhil ruled 2200 villages in Mahiyad area from the village of ‘Bhala’. It is said that Balkandevji defeated him as related by the Solanki history. Like Arjan, Mayo Bhil may have ruled Charotar area. It is difficult to fix the dates of Bhil kings.
But it is beyond the realm of speculation that Bhils lived in this area before the arrival of Rajputs in this area. Ashopali`s Asho Bhil had fought with 600000 Bhils against Patan`s Solanki Keran. (This is a historical matter). Therefore it can be speculated that Bhils must have stayed in Charotar area in distant past.
Did Nadiad exist in 585-586 (Samvat)?
If Nadiad existed then it must have been just a village in Samvat 585-586. Second son of Rana Mahida Harbhanji`s second son Viramdevji established himself at ‘ Kuan Harera ‘ village on the banks of the river Vatrak. It is related that he had power over 166 small and large villages in the area.
Among the main villages were Bilodara, Salun, Dabhan, Vina, Ftepur, etc. It may be noted that the name of Nadiad is nowhere to be seen in this list. In this list, the names of small suburbs may have been left out. One of the small settlements may have been Nadiad or ‘Natpara ‘. No more evidence is available on the matter.
Nadiad of Samvat 802
Samvat 802 to 1364 Kheda district saw Chavda, Petan`s Solanki and Dholka`s Vaghela kings. In that time, Nadiad did not exist at the same place. Near Marida Bhagol (Marida border), in the area where Bhairav Temple is located, near where ‘ Koli’, ‘Dharara’, and ‘Bhil’ casts may have lived in a village.
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We cannot give exact name and details of the village that may have existed ten. According to mythology, the name of that village seems to have been ‘ Pilvai’. It is said that there used to be a suburb of ‘ Nat’ people near Pilvai and it was called ‘ Natparu’. As this suburb must have grown westward, this Natpur may have come into being.
Here there is a farm with two ‘hajiras’ and a tunnel from this ‘hajira’ is said to be connecting this place with Mehmadavad, though it is not confirmed with evidence. There is no doubt that a village of must have existed here by the time of Chavdas, Solankis and Vaghela rulers of Gujarat.
Kakarkhad Pati, Lakhavad Pati, Alhad Pati and Ratanji Pati, the ancestor of these by the name of Jetsi Patel must have setteled right here at Bhairav temple in Samvat (Hindu calendar date) 1212 is beyond doubt. There are enough evidences to prove that there was human settlement near the Bhairav temple in the ancient times.
Pilvai Talav ( Pilvai Lake- ‘talav’ is lake in Gujarati)
To the west of Bhairavnath temple are evidence of the Pilvai Lake even today. Long stones may be seen even now here. A jungle of ‘Baval’ is talking shape on it. (Bawal is the Gujarati name of the tree ‘Prosopis Arabica’). On excavating the area around the Bhairav temple, old foundations of houses were found.
Brickwork on the bank of the Pilvai Lake
Brickwork on the banks of the Pilvai Lake was found upon close inspection. From far these bricks look like stones. The steps of the lake boarder are 12 inches long. The length of each brick is 13 inches and broadness is 8 inches. In the last step, square bricks are used. The stonework is at least 500 years old and the lake must be older than that. The bricks are ‘patla bricks’ (a type of brick) There are old graves to the south of the lake
Settlement of the Khedawal Brahmins Samvat 999 (943 A.D.)
Ranchodlal M. Kavi of Umreth informs us that the Kedawal Brahmins had settled in the Kheda district at nine villages in samvat 999. One of these nine villages was Nadiad. It may be concluded from this that Nadiad must have become an important village by then.
Rancholdlal further states that in samvat 1116, at Dadusar village, the first gathering of the Bajkhedawal Brahmins had taken place. This ‘mela’ (a kind of gathering is the sense here) was organized by one Gangabhai Joshi.
During this gathering, Dave Ramchandraji Mota and Dave Vasanji Gangadhar and elders were welcomed with saffron waters. The ‘Dave Pol’ of Nadiad gets its name from this Dave. (‘Pol’ is a residential unit of a caste or a profession in Gujarat) This incident points at the prosperity of Nadiad in the 11th century.
History 1072 A. D. to 1295 A.D.
(This excerpt has been taken from the lecture delivered by Shri Ambalal B. Jani’s ‘Swagatgita’.)
Possessing peculiar geographical location and other natural bounties, the ‘charutar’ or ‘Charotar’ region is called the ‘Nandanvan’ of Gujarat’ (‘nadanvan’ is a reference to the prosperity of Krishna’s birth place) The chief town of the region, Nadiad has achieved historical and commercial prominence since 1906.
During the Vallabhi rule, the village of ‘Degam’, settled on the bank of the river Shedhi and four miles away from modern Nadiad, was an important settlement. Karna Solanki, the ruler of Gujarat kowtowed the Tahkors of the region by distributing land grants between AD 1072 and 1092, thereby making the route of Malva-Gujarat without the fear of dacoits. He settled the ‘Patidars’ (called the fathers of the world farmers) in the area.
Thus, charotar became the charubhumi and Nadiad became the important point of ‘panch bandari’ (having access to five ports), commercial and military routes. After Karna Solanki’s death in 1094 AD, the child-king and Gurjar Samrat Sidhraj’s mother Minal Devi, on a pilgrimage to the South of Gujarat, stopped at Nadiad from Kheda and commissioned a ‘vav’ to be built at the Dumral Bhagol (Dumral boarder of Nadiad).
‘Vav’ is an underground water structure for preserving water peculiar to Gujarat. This method of making structure underground was raised to high art by the architects and masons of Gujarat during the middle ages. Such lakes and vavs were commissioned by Minaldevi at many places in Gujarat.’ Vacheval’, ‘Udeval’, ‘Malav’ etc are the structures of that time. Vanzari Vav is also such an old monument.
1295 AD to 1707 AD
Gurjar kingdom lost power in 1295 AD. There was chaos during this time in the region. Nadiad may have fallen to the king Thakor of Dakor, Nanded and Champaner. But during khilji and Lodhi rulers made this part a ‘kasba’. Before the establishment of the Gujarat Sultanate (1403 AD) and Ahmedabad (in 1414 AD), Nadiad had already become a historic-military town.
In 1411 AD Muslim Amirs gathered around Nadiad. Jivandas Khatri rushed to Patan to attack. There was a major war at the ‘thuthi ambli’ area. There may have been other wars too. The way Wales became the center for the Prince; Nadiad became a province for the pocket expenses of the Princes. It had become one of the ‘mahals’ of the 33 ‘mahals’ of Ahmedabad.
Military men of Nadiad were captains, fort- soldiers and officers to defend treasuries of Champaner etc. These military men of Nadiad not only flew the Sultanate flags but also at times gave troubles to this flag. During the rule of Mohmmad Begda in 1503 AD, a big ‘vav’ was ordered to be built by a ‘Bania’ of Khambhat khadyata community at the Amdavadi Darvaza.
In the rule of Bahadurshah, in 1535, Humayun had attacked Gujarat by and laid a sense at Champaner. This time, as hotel by the historian the son Nadiad Kaji, Ikhtyar khan, bravely defended William Arskin that one lovely mahal. During the Mogul rule, Nadiad was a major center of doctors. Mugal kot, masjid, haveli etc are still here to see. The area that has become famous in literature, as ‘zagediopado’ was the mogul ‘zagad hobat’.
During the time of Aurangzeb this place at kakarkhed was declared reserved for mosque. That time Nadiad was a commercial center of Agate, indigo, cotton, chinz (a type of cloth), alayaya, pocha, colouring of ‘hada lugde’. Between 1403 to 1707 that is for 334 years Nadiad had become and remained an important center on the military and commercial roads.
1707 AD to 1803 AD
In 1803 AD, Nadiad came directly under the British rule from the rule of Gaekwad Mahadevrao. Till then Muslims, peshwa, scindia, gaekwad rules had put Nadiad in the position of theft, over taxation, lack of law and order, lawlessness, grass-tax, looting etc. Pilaji’s ‘pilwai’ lake and Malharrao’s ‘malhar paru’ are the legacies of that period. Railway arrived in Nadiad in 1927. till then Nadiad’s position as an important center on the highways had remained.
After the arrived of railways, money lending in Nadiad grew and the notes of Nadiad were respected as far as Kashi and Calcutta. The officers of the British company have noted Nadiad’s prosperity between 1613 and 1841. Mr. Brigs, describing the towns of Gujarat, has not forgotten Nadiad. In his book ‘Voyages and travels’ Mr. Kers praises the indigo and cotton of Nadiad. Mendloss, right rev. Refinald Haber, Major James Forbes have all positively spoken and written about Nadiad in their books.
From 1814 AD
By 1814, five or so Majmudars and Desais of Nadiad had already entered the British books as troublemakers. Khed a districts and Nadiad have been a center of education since 1826. In the age of mass awakening, people of Nadiad have whole-heartedly participated in the non-violent struggle of Mahatma Gandhi.
Religions
If we see the public-religions in not too distant past, then 1802 AD onwards saw the Swaminarayan sect (established by Sahajanand swami) was much taken to by Nadiad. Before building temples of Dabhan and Vadtal, the Narayandev temple was built here. Sahajanand swami himself had met wit Rev. Heber with all pomp of a religions leader in the middle of the town in 1824. Santaram maharaj came to Nadiad in 1828 and ever since that temple, has become famous in the land. Moreover, there are ‘gadis’ (seats) of the disciples of Kuberdas and Kabirji etc.
In literature
Nadiad’s contribution is not a small one in the field of literature. I cannot say anything about the literary activities of Nadiad in the Middle Ages in absence of research but before Premanand, Vadnagara Brahmin Vishnuji Avichaldas had composed the sixth part of ‘Bhagwat’ in samvat 1689 and Vanparv of Mahabharat in samvat 1696. after that, Premanand’s disciple Vipratna had composed Harischandrakhajan in 1774. in 1871, ‘Nadiad Duniadad’ newspaper had come out. The poet of ‘Nabhuvani’ Nabhu was a colleague of Narmad.
In contemporary times, Zaverilal Yagnik, Manshikhram Tripathi, Govardhanram Tripathi, Manilal Dwivedi, Baleshankar Dolatram Panndya, Chaganlal Pandya, R.B.Govindbhai Desai, Maganbhai Chaturbhai Patel etc. have made Nadiad the town of scholars.
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