GUZERAT or Gujarat, the name given to the northern seaboard of the Bombay Presidency, extending from lat. 20° to 24° 45' N., and from long. 69° to 74° 20' E. The .term Guzerat is sometimes also employed to include the peninsula of Kattyawar with its 180 pretty states. Guzerat Peninsula has the Gulf of Cutch on its north west, and the Gulf of Cambay on its south-east. The area of the whole province is stated by Captain Nasmyth to be 31,752 square miles, of which only 10,736 belong to the British Govern ment, in Ahmadabad, Kaira, ranch Mahal, Broach, and Surat, population 2,857,731, the remainder appertaining to tributary chiefs. An hilwara was the dynastic natne of three races that ruled in Guzerat from A.D. 696 till A.D. 1309, when Guzerat was annexed to Dehli by Ala-ud-Din Muhammad Shah. The name of these dynasties was taken from the town of Anhilpur, which rose to great distinction as a commercial site, and with Cambay as its seaport was the Tyre of India. At its height, Anhilpur -was 12 cos (or 15 miles) in circuit, within which were many temples and colleges, 84 chaok or squares, 84 bazars or market-places, with a mint for gold and silver coin. Col. Tod thinks it not unlikely that the Chaora, the tribe of the first dynasty of Anhilwara, is a mere corruption of Saura, as the eh and s are perpetually interchanging. The Mahratta cannot pronounce the ch ; with them Cheeto is Seeto, etc. He thinks the Saura princes of Deo and Somnath in all likelihood gave their name to the peninsula of Guzerat. Guzerat was overrun in A.D. 718 by 31uhammad-bin-Kasim Walid's general, but when advancing on Chittore he was met by Bappa and totally defeated.
The city of Nehrwalla, says Rennell, the ancient capital of Guzerat, together with the whole of that peninsula, fell into the hands of Mahrnud, who died four years afterwards (1028), possessed of the eastern and by much the largest part of Persia, as well as, nominally, of all the Indian provinces from the west,ern part of the Ganges to the peninsula of Guzerat It was governed by Mahomedans from A.D. 1396 to 1561, as under :— The lowland of Guzerat resembles that of the Konkan, Canara, the Karnatic, and Orissa, but the interior of the province is mountainous. The alluvial tract is a soil eminently productive, and is occupied by Rajput tribes, Gujar, Kat'hi, Koli, and Kunbi, all claiming a distinct origin. The Koli of Guzerat are de,scendants of aboriginal tribes who occupied the country before the Aryan conquests: They have long since adopted some parts of Hinduism. In the beginning of the
nineteenth century they were a restless, turbulent race, despising agriculture, and living by plunder. Before the middle of the century they had settled down to be peaceful husbandmen, and the state of some of their villages vied with those of the Kunbi. In Guzerat the Kolis are of three sections ; the most numerous, the Tullabdah (639,141), then the Puttunwaria, the Kahrez, the Dhandur, and Bhabria. They are in the Baroda district, north to Khyrallu and Massana in the Mahikanta, and form a large portion of the population. In 1883 there were 1,003,287 in Guzerat, Konkan, and Bombay. They are labourers and watchmen ; and a few, under the name of Selottah, form escorts of treasure. The Guzerat Kunbi are a remarkably sturdy, independent race, and will often wrangle for days over a slight increase made in their rent.
The district of Diu is Portuguese, and the town of Diu during the past three centuries has been repeatedly besieged by rulers of Guzerat and the Dekhan, but it has continued in the power of the Portuguese.
The Guzerati language is spoken in the Penin sula by Rajput tribes, Gujar, Kat'hi, Koli, and Kunbi, all claimin,„a a distinct origin. Guzerati is bounded by the Marwari a little to the north of Deesa, to the north and east by the Hindi or Rangri Basha of Malcolm, in Rajputana and Malwa respectively ; and in the south it dovetails with Mahrati in the valleys of the Nerbadda and Tapti, ending at Hatnp on the former river, and running into the latter. The emigrants from Persia, now known as Parsees, who landed in this penin sula, have adopted the Guzerati language. In the Dekhan, Guzerati is a term applied to any native of Guzerat, but more especially to the traders and dealers from that country. In Bengal and Behar, one subdivision of the Kurmi or agricultural tribe is called Guzerati, having perhaps come originally from thence, or possibly from being of Gujar origin. The Mabratta and Guzerat Brahmans may eat together but do not intermarry ; and the first approach at social union is seemingly to be with the Mahratta and Guzerat Brahmans, amongst whom the influence of European knowledge has had more effect than upon any of all the other races in India. Good seed has fallen on a good soil, and from a body of mendicants, these Brah mans have become active, powerful, and useful.— Gaz.