Patan, Gujarat

This article is about the municipality in India. For its namesake district, see Patan district.

For other uses, see Patan (disambiguation).

Patan પાટણ
city
Patan Location in Gujarat, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Gujarat
District	Patan
Elevation	76 m (249 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	133,737
Languages
• Official	Gujarati, Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	384265

Patan, an ancient fortified town, was founded in 745 AD by Vanraj Chavda, the most prominent king of the Chavda Kingdom. He named the city Anhilpur Patan or "Anhilwad Patan" after his close friend and Prime Minister Anhil shepherd. It is variously referred to any ocean.

These Chalukya rajputs, with Paramaras of Malwa, the Chauhans of Sakambhari and Chandellas of Kalanjar and Mahoba, were serious contestants for supremacy in northern India.

Later Mulraj, the adopted son of last Chavda king, established Solanki dynasty. He successfully expanded kingdom to west. His successor Siddhraj Jaisinh added Malwa. Kumarpal was also major ruler who patroned Jainism. Solanki rule cover Saurashtra and Kutch in the West, Lata in the South, Malwa in the East and Southern Rajasthan in the North at its greatest period. Historian Tertius Chandler estimates that Anhilwara was the tenth-largest city in the world in the year 1000, with a population of approximately 100,000.

Muhammed's general and later Sultan of Delhi Qutb-ud-din Aybak sacked the city between 1200 and 1210, and it was destroyed by the Alladin Khilji in 1298.

The modern town of Patan later sprung up near the ruins of Anhilwara. During 1304 to 1411, first Patan was the Suba headquarter of Delhi Sultanate and then capital city of Gujarat Sultanate after the collapse of the Delhi Sultanate at the end of the fourteenth century. A new Fort was built by these Subas, a large portion of which along with a few of the gates is still intact. The old Fort of Hindu kingdom is nearly vanquished and only a wall can be seen on the way from Kalka to Rani ki vav. In 1411, Sultan Ahmed Shah moved the capital to Ahmedabad.

Patan was part of the Baroda state from the mid-eighteenth century until India's independence in 1947, when Baroda became part of Bombay state, which in 1960 was separated into Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Rani ki vav

Rani ki vav.

During the period of the Solanki dynasty, the stepwell called the Rani ki vav, or Ran-ki vav (Queen’s step well) was constructed. It is a richly-sculptured monument, built by Udaymati in memory of her husband, Bhimdev I (1022-1063).

It was probably completed by Udayamati and Karandev I after his death. A reference to Udaymati building the monument is in the 'Prabandha Chintamani' composed by Merutunga Suri in 1304 AD..

It was one of the largest and the most sumptuous structures of its type. It became silted up and much of it is not visible now, except for some rows of sculptured panels in the circular part of the well. Among its ruins one pillar still stands which is the proof not only of the elegance of its design, but also excellent example of this period. A part only of the west well is extant from which it appears that the wall had been built of brick and faced with stone. From this wall project vertical bracket in pairs, this supported the different galleries of the well shaft proper. This bracketing is arranged in tiers and is richly carved.

There is also a small Gate below the last step of the step well which has a 30 kilometre tunnel built (Now it has been blocked by stones and mud) which leads to the town of Sidhpur near Patan. It was used as an escape gateway for king who built the step well in the times of defeat.

Most of the sculpture is in devotion to Vishnu, in the forms of his Avatars (Krishna, Rama and others), representing their return to the world.

Around 50–60 years back there used to be ayurvedic plants around this areas which causes the water accumulated in Rani ni vav helpful for viral disease, fever.

It was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites on 22 June 2014.

The modern city

Presently, Patan is home to the Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University named after the famous polymath Acharya Hemachandra. It was previously known as North Gujarat University. Patan is a prominent medical centre in the North Gujarat with almost 200 practicing medical professionals. It also has Medical College on the way to Balisana. Patan serves as a central market place for local farmers.

There are many schools and colleges in Patan. B. D High School, p.p.g experimental higher secondary school and Junior College is the oldest amongst all. Besides, other famous schools are: P.P.G. Experimentle High School, Adarsha Vidhyalaya, Sheth B.M. School, Pioneer school of Science, Lord Krishna School of Science, Sheth B.D. High School and Eklavya School of science. There are K.D.polytechnic college for Diploma in Engineering and Government Engineering College Also. Patan is the Education Hub in North Gujarat.

The patola saree is one of the finest hand-woven sarees produced today. This is a specialty of Patan, and is famous for extremely delicate patterns woven with great precision and clarity. A patola sari takes 4 to 6 months to make, depending on how complicated the designs is and if the length is 5 or 6 metre. This saris are totally colored with the vegetable color. It costs starts from Rs. 20,000 which may go up to Rs. 20,00,000 even depending on the difficulty of work as many times gold threads are also included during its weaving process.There are only two families who making Patola Saris and Those people don't teach this art to their other family member even their daughters also.Only their sons are eligible to learn.

Tourist attractions

File:Walls of Patan.jpg

Sahastralinga Tank

There are many Toursist Attractions including Forts, Vavs (Step Wells), Talavs (Lakes) and places of worship. The main Tourist Attraction are Ran ki Vav (the world Heritage) and Patola of Patan.

The only remains of Old City of Patan in the form of a very small portion of Old Fort near Kalka on the outskirts of the New City is of historical and archeological importance. So is the case with the remains of the walls of new fort and the Darwajas (Gates) of the new fort which are fast disappearing. Unfortunately, administration as well as a majority of local people show little interest in preserving these heritage places which are shrinking at a rapid pace. Fortunately, the inner fort of Bhadra with its Darwajas (Gates) is preserved well. However, with the transfer of all Government and Administrative machinery from Bhadra how long it will be preserved is unclear.

Step wells include Rani-ki-Vav and Trikam Barot ni Vav. Lakes include historically and archeologically important Sahastralinga Tank, Anand Sarovar (Gungadi Talav) and Khan Sarovar. There are many places of significance on religious, historical or architerctural grounds. These include Old Kalka Mandir, Panchmukhi Hanuman, Jasma Odan ni Deri, Old Mahalaxmi Mandir, Sindhavai Mata nu Mandir, Hingaraj Mandir, Panchasar Derasar and Sheikh Farid no Rojo.

Salvivad, a place where Patolas are woven along with places where traditional clay toys are made are also worth visiting. Many annual religious fairs also act as tourist destination.

Geography

Patan is located at . Patan Railway Station is 108 km away from Ahemdabad Railway Station. It can be reached by a bus, train or a private taxi from Ahmedabad or Chansama or Unjha. It has an average elevation of 76 metres (249 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Patan had a population of 112,038. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Patan has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 65%. In Patan, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

12 darwajas in patan

Bagwada, Chhidiya, Mira, Aghara, Kothakooe, Phatipaal (fatipal), Ghoonghdi, Kanasda ( also known as Kalika), Khansarovar, Motishah, Bhathi, Lal, 12th is door and 1 window. (in middle of city unknown name).

See also

• Kumarpal
• Hemachandra

Further reading

• Prof. K.A. Nizami, ‘Foundation of the Delhi Sultanat’ in A Comprehensive History of India-Vol-V part one.
• Chandler, Tertius. 1987. Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: An Historical Census. St. David's University Press.