GUJARAT, a region of India, Bombay Presidency. In the widest sense it includes the whole area of Gujarati speech, i.e., the northern districts and states of the presidency from Palanpur to Daman, with Kathiawar and Cutch; but it is more properly confined to the country north of the Narbada and east of the Rann of Cutch and Kathiawar. The name is used officially for the north division of the Bombay Presidency, which includes Ahmedabad, Broach, Kaira, Surat, Thana and the Panch Mahals, with an area of 13,579 sq.m. The name, also given to a district in the Punjab, is derived from the Gujars, who passed into India from the north-west, established a kingdom in Rajputana, and spread south in A.D. 400-600. The ancient Hindu capital was An hilvada ; the Mohammedan dynasty, which ruled from 1396 to 1572, founded Ahmedabad, which is still the largest city; but Gujarat owed much of its historical importance to the seaports of Broach, Cambay and Surat. Its fertile plain, with regular rainfall and many rivers, is styled the "garden of India." Gujarat gives its name to the vernacular of northern Bombay, viz., Gu jarati, one of the three great languages of that Presidency. It has an ancient literature and a peculiar character.