Of the various forms which the Moslem architecture assumed, "that of Ahmedabad," Fergusson has justly remarked, "may probably be considered as the most elegant, as it certainly is the most characteristic of all. No other form is so essentially Indian, and no one tells its tale with the same unmistakable distinctness." Under the Mahommedan rule the Hindu architects employed introduced forms and ornaments into the works they constructed for their rulers, superior in elegance to any the latter knew or could have invented. Hence there arose a style combining all the beauty and finish of the previous native art with a certain magnificence of conception which is deficient in their own works. The elevations of the mosques have usually been studiously arranged with a view to express at once the structural arrangements, and to avoid monotony of outline by the varied elevation of each division. The central portion of the façade was raised by a storey over the roof of the wings, and to the front of this was attached the minarets, in the earliest mosques forming only small turrets over the façade, but soon after they became richly carved towers of considerable height. The upper storey formed a gallery under the central dome which was supported on pillars connected by open stone trellis work, admitting a subdued light, and providing perfect ventilation (see Plate III. fig. 15). At first the façades were pierced by arched entrances, but at a later date a screen of columns formed an open front and the minarets were removed to the corners, no longer for the _mu'azzin_, but simply as architectural ornaments. Entry: FIG
The tombs were pillared pavilions of varying dimensions, the central area over the grave covered by a dome standing on twelve pillars. These pillars connected by screens of stone trellis work carved in ever-varying patterns, and round this there might be a verandah with twenty pillars in the periphery, or a double aisle with thirty-two in the outer square. And as these were irregularly spaced in order to allow the inner twelve to support the lintels of a regular octagon for the dome, the monotony of equal spacing was avoided. For further details and examples of this style, however, we must refer the reader to the published volumes of the archaeological survey of Western India relating to Ahmedabad and Gujarat. Entry: FIG
Ala-ud-din died In 1316, having subjected to Islam the Deccan and Gujarat. Three successors followed him upon the throne, but their united reigns extended over only five years. In 1321 a successful revolt was headed by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlak, governor of the Punjab, who is said to have been of Turkish origin. The Tughlak dynasty lasted for about seventy years, until it was swept away by the invasion of Timur, the fourth Mahommedan conqueror of India, in 1398. Tughlak's son and successor, Mahommed b. Tughlak, who reigned from 1325 to 1351, is described by Elphinstone as "one of the most accomplished princes and one of the most furious tyrants that ever adorned or disgraced human nature." He wasted the treasure accumulated by Ala-ud-din in purchasing the retirement of the Mogul hordes, who had already made their appearance in the Punjab. When the internal circulation failed, he issued a forced currency of copper, which is said to have deranged the whole commerce of the country. At one time he raised an army for the invasion of Persia. At another he actually despatched an expedition against China, which perished miserably in the Himalayan passes. When Hindustan was thus suffering from his misgovernment, he conceived the project of transferring the seat of empire to the Deccan, and compelled the inhabitants of Delhi to remove a distance of 700 m. to Deogiri or Daulatabad. And yet during the reign of this sultan both the Tughlak dynasty and the city of Delhi are said to have attained their utmost growth. Mahommed was succeeded by his cousin Feroz, who likewise was not content without a new capital, which he placed a few miles north of Delhi, and called after his own name. He was a kind-hearted and popular, but weak, ruler. Meanwhile the remote provinces of the empire began to throw off their allegiance to the sultans of Delhi. The independence of the Afghan kings of Bengal is generally dated from 1336, when Mahommed Tughlak was yet on the throne. The commencement of the reign of Ala-ud-din, the founder of the Bahmani dynasty in the Deccan, is assigned to 1347. Zafar Khan, the first of the Ahmedabad kings, acted as an independent ruler from the time of his first appointment as governor of Gujarat in 1391. These and other revolts prepared the way for the fourth great invasion of India under Timur (Tamerlane). Entry: HISTORY
KATHIAWAR, or KATTYWAR, a peninsula of India, within the Gujarat division of Bombay, giving its name to a political agency. Total area, about 23,400 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 2,645,805. These figures include a portion of the British district of Ahmedabad, a portion of the state of Baroda, and the small Portuguese settlement of Diu. The peninsula is bounded N. by the Runn of Cutch, E. by Ahmedabad district and the Gulf of Cambay, and S. and W. by the Arabian Sea. The extreme length is 220 m.; the greatest breadth about 165 m. Generally speaking, the surface is undulating, with low ranges running in various directions. With the exception of the Tangha and Mandav hills, in the west of Jhalawar, and some unimportant hills in Hallar, the northern portion of the country is flat; but in the south, from near Gogo, the Gir range runs nearly parallel with the coast, and at a distance of about 20 m. from it, along the north of Babriawar and Sorath, to the neighbourhood of Girnar. Opposite this latter mountain is the solitary Osam hill, and then still farther west is the Barada group, between Hallar and Barada, running about 20 m. north and south from Gumli to Ranawao. The Girnar group of mountains is an important granitic mass, the highest peak of which rises to 3500 ft. The principal river is the Bhadar, which rises in the Mandav hills, and flowing S.W. falls into the sea at Navi-Bandar; it is everywhere marked by highly cultivated lands adjoining its course of about 115 m. Other rivers are the Aji, Machhu and Satrunji--the last remarkable for romantic scenery. Four of the old races, the Jaitwas, Churasamas, Solunkis and Walas still exist as proprietors of the soil who exercised sovereignty in the country prior to the immigration of the Jhalas, Jadejas, Purmars, Kathis, Gohels, Jats, Mahommedans and Mahrattas, between whom the country is now chiefly portioned out. Kathiawar has many notable antiquities, comprising a rock inscription of Asoka, Buddhist caves, and fine Jain temples on the sacred hill of Girnar and at Palitana. Entry: KATHIAWAR
BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, a province or presidency of British India, consisting partly of British districts, and partly of native states under the administration of a governor. This territory extends from 13° 53' to 28° 45' N., and from 66° 40' to 76° 30' E., and is bounded on the N. by Baluchistan, the Punjab and Rajputana; on the E. by Indore, the Central Provinces and Hyderabad; on the S. by Madras and Mysore; and on the W. by the Arabian Sea. Within these limits lie the Portuguese settlements of Diu, Damaun and Goa, and the native state of Baroda which has direct relations with the government of India; while politically Bombay includes the settlement of Aden. The total area, including Sind but excluding Aden, is 188,745 sq. m., of which 122,984 sq. m. are under British and 65,761 under native rule. The total population (1901) is 25,468,209, of which 18,515,587 are resident in British territory and 6,908,648 in native states. The province is divided into four commissionerships and twenty-six districts. The four divisions are the northern or Gujarat, the central or Deccan, the southern or Carnatic, and Sind. The twenty-six districts are: Bombay City, Ahmedabad, Broach, Kaira, Panch Mahals, Surat, Thana, Ahmednagar, Khandesh (partitioned into two districts in 1906), Nasik, Poona, Satara, Sholapur, Belgaum, Bijapur, Dharwar, Kanara, Kolaba, Ratnagiri, Karachi, Hyderabad, Shikarpur, Thar and Parkar, and Upper Sind Frontier. The native states comprise in all 353 separate units, which are administered either by political agents or by the collectors of the districts in which the smaller states are situated. The chief groups of states are North Gujarat, comprising Cutch, Kathiawar agency, Palanpur agency, Mahi Kantha agency, Rewa Kantha agency and Cambay; South Gujarat, comprising Dharampur, Bansda and Sachin; North Konkan, Nasik and Khandesh, comprising Khandesh political agency, Surgana and Jawhar; South Konkan and Dharwar, comprising Janjira, Sawantwari and Savanur; the Deccan Satara Jagirs, comprising Akalkot, Bhor, Aundh, Phaltan, Jath and Daphlapur; the southern Mahratta states, comprising Kolhapur and other states, and Khairpur in Sind. The native states under the supervision of the government of Bombay are divided, historically and geographically, into two main groups. The northern or Gujarat group includes the territories of the gaekwar of Baroda, with the smaller states which form the administrative divisions of Cutch, Palanpur, Rewa Kantha, and Mahi Kantha. These territories, with the exception of Cutch, have an historical connexion, as being the allies or tributaries of the gaekwar in 1805, when final engagements were included between that prince and the British government. The southern or Mahratta group includes Kolhapur, Akalkot, Sawantwari, and the Satara and southern Mahratta Jagirs, and has an historical bond of union in the friendship they showed to the British in their final struggle with the power of the peshwa in 1818. The remaining territories may conveniently be divided into a small cluster of independent zamin-daris, situated in the wild and hilly tracts at the northern extremity of the Sahyadri range, and certain principalities which, from their history or geographical position, are to some extent isolated from the rest of the presidency. Entry: BOMBAY
In 1803 the Bombay presidency included only Salsette, the islands of the harbour (since 1774), Surat and Bankot (since 1756); but between this date and 1827 the framework of the presidency took its present shape. The Gujarat districts were taken over by the Bombay government in 1805 and enlarged in 1818; and the first measures for the settlement of Kathiawar and Mahi Kantha were taken between 1807 and 1820. Baji Rao, the last of the peshwas, who had attempted to shake off the British yoke, was defeated, captured and pensioned (1817-1818), and large portions of his dominions (Poona, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Sholapur, Belgaum, Kaladgi, Dharwar, &c.) were included in the presidency, the settlement of which was completed by Mountstuart Elphinstone, governor from 1819 to 1827. His policy was to rule as far as possible on native lines, avoiding all changes for which the population was not yet ripe; but the grosser abuses of the old régime were stopped, the country was pacified, the laws were codified, and courts and schools were established. The period that followed is notable mainly for the enlargement of the presidency through the lapse of certain native states, by the addition of Aden (1839) and Sind (1843), and the lease of the Panch Mahals from Sindhia (1853). The establishment of an orderly administration, one outcome of which was a general fall of prices that made the unwonted regularity of the collection of taxes doubly unwelcome, naturally excited a certain amount of misgiving and resentment; but on the whole the population was prosperous and contented, and under Lord Elphinstone (1853-1860) the presidency passed through the crisis of the Mutiny without any general rising. Outbreaks among the troops at Karachi, Ahmedabad and Kolhapur were quickly put down, two regiments being disbanded, and the rebellions in Gujarat, among the Bhils, and in the southern Mahratta country were local and isolated. Under Sir Bartle Frere (1862-1867) agricultural prosperity reached its highest point, as a result of the American Civil War and the consequent enormous demand for Indian cotton in Europe. The money thus poured into the country produced an epidemic of speculation known as the "Share Mania" (1864-1865), which ended in a commercial crisis and the failure of the bank of Bombay (1866). But the peasantry gained on the whole more than they lost, and the trade of Bombay was not permanently injured. Sir Bartle Frere encouraged the completion of the great trunk lines of railways, and with the funds obtained by the demolition of the town walls (1862) he began the magnificent series of public buildings that now adorn Bombay. Entry: BOMBAY
In 1401 Dilawar Khan assumed independence in Malwa, of which Mandu became the capital, and his son Hoshang adorned it with important buildings. They are of a modified form of the Pathan style of the 14th century. Among them the finest is the great Jama Masjid, which was finished by Mahmud Shah I. in 1454. It covers a nearly square area, 290 ft. from east to west by 275 ft. from north to south, exclusive of the porch on the east, which projects about 56 ft. Inside, the court is an almost exact square, surrounded by arches on each side, standing on plain square piers 10 ft. high, each of a single block of red sandstone; behind these are triple arcades on the north and south, a double one on the east, and on the west the mosque, having three great domes on its west side. This court, in its simple grandeur and expression of power, may be regarded as one of the very best specimens of this style to be found in India. The tombs and palaces of Mandu, mostly much ruined, it would occupy too much space to describe. But here, as elsewhere, the available materials have exercised a marked influence upon the architecture; the prevalence of a red sandstone is emphasized in the piers of the Jama Masjid, more than 300 of them being each of a single block of this material; and for more decorative purposes marble, both white and coloured, was freely used to revet the walls and piers. The style is strictly arcuate, without admixture of the general trabeate structural methods followed by the native Hindus; and while at Jaunpur and Ahmedabad, at the same period, we find the strong influence of native methods copied in the Mahommedan architecture, at Mandu the builders clung steadily to the pointed arch style, without any attempt, however, at groining. Entry: FIG
For Gujarati, there are numerous grammars, amongst which we may note W. St C. Tisdall, _Simplified Grammar of the Gujarati Language_ (London, 1892) and (the most complete) G. P. Taylor, _The Student's Gujarati Grammar_ (2nd ed., Bombay, 1908). As for dictionaries, the most authoritative is the _Narma-kos_ of Narmada Sankar (Bhaunagar and Surat, 1873), in Gujarati throughout. For English readers we may mention Shahpurji Edalji's (2nd ed., Bombay, 1868), the introduction to which contains an account of Gujarati literature by J. Glasgow, Belsare's (Ahmedabad, 1895), and Karbhari's (Ahmedabad, 1899). (G. A. Gr.) Entry: AUTHORITIES
_Manufactures._--The chief feature of the modern industrial life of Bombay is the great development in the growth and manufacture of cotton. Large steam mills have rapidly sprung up in Bombay City, Ahmedabad and Khandesh. In 1905 there were 432 factories in the presidency, of which by far the greater number were engaged in the preparation and manufacture of cotton. The industry is centred in Bombay City and Island, which contains nearly two-thirds of the mills. During the decade 1891-1901 the mill industry passed through a period of depression due to widespread plague and famine, but on the whole there has been a marked expansion of the trade as well as a great improvement in the class of goods produced. In addition to the mills there are (1901) 178,000 hand-loom weavers in the province, who still have a position of their own in the manipulation of designs woven into the cloth. Silk goods are manufactured in Ahmedabad, Surat, Yeola, Nasik, Thana and Bombay, the material being often decorated with printed or woven designs; but owing to the competition of European goods most branches of the industry are declining. The custom of investing savings in gold and silver ornaments gives employment to many goldsmiths; the metal is usually supplied by the customer, and the goldsmith charges for his labour. Ahmedabad and Surat are famous for their carved wood-work. Many of the houses in Ahmedabad are covered with elaborate wood-carving, and excellent examples exist in Broach, Baroda, Surat, Nasik and Yeola. Salt is made in large quantities in the government works at Kharaghoda and Udu in Ahmedabad, whence it is exported by rail to Gujarat and central India. There is one brewery at Dapuri near Poona. Entry: BOMBAY
KHARAGHODA, a village of British India, in the Ahmedabad district of Bombay, situated on the Little Runn of Cutch, and the terminus of a branch railway; pop. (1901), 2108. Here is the government factory of salt, known as Baragra salt, producing nearly 2,000,000 cwt. a year, most of which is exported to other provinces in Central and Northern India. Entry: KHARAGHODA
Separated from this chain by the valley of the Nerbudda on the west, and that of the Sone on the east, the plateau of Malwa and Baghelkhand occupies the space intervening between these valleys and the Gangetic plain. On the western edge of the plateau are the Aravalli hills, which run from near Ahmedabad up to the neighbourhood of Delhi, and include one hill, Mount Abu, over 5000 ft. in height. This range exerts an important influence on the direction of the wind, and also on the rainfall. At Ajmer, an old meteorological station at the eastern foot of the range, the wind is predominantly south-west, and there and at Mount Abu the south-west monsoon rains are a regularly recurrent phenomenon,--which can hardly be said of the region of scanty and uncertain rainfall that extends from the western foot of the range and merges in the Bikaner desert. Entry: THE
MAHI KANTHA, a political agency or collection of native states in India, within the Gujarat division of Bombay. Over half the territory is covered by the native state of Idar. There are eleven other chiefships, and a large number of estates belonging to Rajput or Koli thakurs, formerly feudatories of Baroda. Several of the states are under British administration. Total area, 3125 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 361,545, showing a decrease of 38% in the decade, due to famine; estimated revenue, £76,000; tribute (mostly to the gaekwar of Baroda), £9000. Many of the inhabitants belong to the wild tribes of Bhils and Kolis. In 1897 a metre-gauge railway was opened from Ahmedabad through Parantij to Ahmednagar. At Sadra is the Scott College for the education of the sons of chiefs on the lines of an English public school. There are also Anglo-vernacular schools at Sadra, Idar and Mansa. The famine of 1899-1900 was severely felt in this tract. Entry: MAHI
_Brass and Copper Work._--The village brazier, like the village smith, manufactures the necessary vessels for domestic use. Chief among these vessels is the _lota_, or globular bowl, universally used in ceremonial ablutions. The form of the _lota_, and even the style of ornamentation, has been handed down unaltered from the earliest times. Benares enjoys the first reputation for work in brass and copper. In the south, Madura and Tanjore have a similar fame; and in the west, Ahmedabad, Poona and Nasik. At Bombay itself large quantities of imported copper are wrought up by native braziers. The temple bells of India are well known for the depth and purity of their note. In many localities the braziers have a special repute either for a peculiar alloy or for a particular process of ornamentation. Silver is sometimes mixed with the brass, and in rarer cases gold. The brass or rather bell-metal ware of Murshidabad, known as _khagrai_, has more than a local reputation, owing to the large admixture of silver in it. Entry: 13
GOGO, or GOGHA, a town of British India in Ahmedabad district, Bombay, 193 m. N.W. of Bombay. Pop. (1901) 4798. About ¾ m. east of the town is an excellent anchorage, in some measure sheltered by the island of Piram, which lies still farther east. The natives of this place are reckoned the best sailors in India; and ships touching here may procure water and supplies, or repair damages. The anchorage is a safe refuge during the south-west monsoon, the bottom being a bed of mud and the water always smooth. Gogo has lost its commercial importance and has steadily declined in population and trade since the time of the American Civil War, when it was an important cotton-mart. Entry: GOGO
IDAR, or EDAR, a native state of India, forming part of the Mahi Kantha agency, within the Gujarat division of Bombay. It has an area of 1669 sq. m., and a population (1901) of 168,557, showing a decrease of 44% in the decade as the result of famine. Estimated gross revenue, £29,000; tribute to the gaekwar of Baroda, £2000. In 1901 the raja and his posthumous son both died, and the succession devolved upon Sir Pertab Singh (q.v.) of Jodhpur. The line of railway from Ahmedabad through Parantij runs mainly through this state. Much of the territory is held by kinsmen of the raja on feudal tenure. The products are grain, oil-seeds and sugar-cane. The town of Idar is 64 m. N.E. of Ahmedabad. Pop. (1901) 7085. It was formerly the capital, but Ahmednagar (pop. 3200) is the present capital. Entry: IDAR
BHILS, or BHEELS ("bowmen," from Dravidian _bil_, a bow), a Dravidian people of central India, probably aborigines of Marwar. They live scattered over a great part of India. They are found as far north as the Aravalli Hills, in Sind and Rajputana, as well as Khandesh and Ahmedabad. They are mentioned in Sanskrit works, and it is thought that Ptolemy (vii. I. 66) refers to them as [Greek: Phullitai] ("leaf wearers"), though this word might equally apply to the Gonds. Expelled by the Aryans from the richer lowlands, they are found to-day in greatest numbers on the hills of central India. In many Rajput states the princes on succession have their foreheads marked with blood from the thumb or toe of a Bhil. The Rajputs declare this a mark of Bhil allegiance, but it is more probably a relic of days when the Bhils were a power in India. The Bhils eagerly keep the practice alive, and the right of giving the blood is hereditary in certain families. The popular legend of the Bhil origin assigns them a semi-divine birth, Mahadeva (Siva) having wedded an earth maiden who bore him children, the ugliest of whom killed his father's bull and was banished to the mountains. The Bhils of to-day claim to be his descendants. Under the Moguls the Bhils were submissive, but they rebelled against the Mahrattas, who, being unable to subdue them, treated them with the utmost cruelty. The race became outlaws, and they have lived their present wild life ever since. Their nomad habits and skill with their bows helped them to maintain successfully the fight with their oppressors. An unsuccessful attempt was made in 1818 by the British to conquer them. Milder measures were then tried, and the Bhil Agency was formed in 1825. The Bhil corps was then organized with a view to utilizing the excellent fighting qualities of the tribesmen. This corps has done good service in gradually reducing their more lawless countrymen to habits of order, and many Bhils are now settled in regular industries. Entry: BHILS
CAMBAY, GULF OF, an inlet in the coast of India, in the Gujarat division of Bombay. It is about 80 m. in length, but is shallow and abounds in shoals and sandbanks. It is supposed that the depth of water in this gulf has been decreasing for more than two centuries past. The tides, which are very high, run into it with amazing velocity, but at low water the bottom is left nearly dry for some distance below the latitude of the town of Cambay. It is, however, an important inlet, being the channel by which the valuable produce of central Gujarat and the British districts of Ahmedabad and Broach is exported; but the railway from Bombay to Baroda and Ahmedabad, near Cambay, has for some time past been attracting the trade to itself. Entry: CAMBAY
KAIRA, or KHEDA, a town and district of British India, in the northern division of Bombay. The town is 20 m. S.W. of Ahmedabad and 7 m. from Mehmadabad railway station. Pop. (1901), 10,392. Its antiquity is proved by the evidence of copperplate grants to have been known as early as the 5th century. Early in the 18th century it passed to the Babi family, with whom it remained till 1763, when it was taken by the Mahrattas; it was finally handed over to the British in 1803. It was a large military station till 1830, when the cantonment was removed to Deesa. Entry: KAIRA