Bhuj

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District map of Kutch

Bhuj (भुज) is a town in Kachchh district in Gujarat. Bhujinga (भुजिङ्ग) is country mentioned in Mahabharata (VI.10.40)[1].

Variants of name

Location

Bhuj has an average elevation of 110 metres. On the eastern side of the town is a hill known as Bhujia Hill, on which there is a Bhujia Fort, that separates Bhuj city and Madhapar town. It has one major lake Hamirsar and several small lakes.

Origin of name

Bhuj gets name from Bhujanga, the last chieftain of Naga rulers.

Mention by Panini

Vibhujagni (विभुजंग्नि) is mentioned by Panini in Ashtadhyayi. [2]

History

V. S. Agrawala[3] writes that under category of villages ending in agni we have - Kāṇḍāgni and Vibhujāgni (modern Bhuj). Agni refers to a burning sandy tract, equivalent to Skt Iriṇa or Rann. Vibhujagni (Vibhujāgni) refers to Rann of Cutch-Bhuj in the north-west and Kāṇḍāgni to the Little Rann of Cutch towards the north east, traces of its name being preserved in the sea-port of Kāṇḍalā.


According to legend, Kutch was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, allied with Bheria Kumar and rose up against Bhujanga, the last chieftain of Naga. After the battle, Bheria was defeated and Sagai committed sati. The hill where he lived later came to be known as Bhujia Hill and the town at the foothill as Bhuj. Bhujang was later worshiped by the people as snake god, Bhujanga, and a temple was constructed to revere him.[4]

Bhuj, formerly sacred to the snake Bhujang, was established by Rao Hamirji in 1510 and was made the capital of Cutch State by Rao Khengarji I in 1549. Its foundation stone as state capital was formally laid on Vikram Samvat 1604 Maagha 5th (approx. 25 January 1548).

After 1590, when Rao was forced to acknowledge Mughal supremacy, Bhuj was known as Suleiman Nagar among Muslims. The walls were built by Rao Godji I in 1723, and the Bhujiya Fort by Devkaran Seth in Rao Deshalji I's time (1718 - 1741).[5]

Bhuj has been attacked six times. In two cases the defense was successful and in four it failed. In 1728 an attack by Sarbuland Khan, Mughal Viceroy of Gujarat, was repulsed by Rao Deshalji I, and, in 1765 Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro was, by a timely display of the strength of the fortifications, induced to withdraw. During the civil troubles of the reign of the Rao Rayadhan III, Bhuj was thrice taken, by Meghji Seth in 1786, by Hansraj in 1801, and by Fateh Muhammad in 1808. On the 26th March 1819, the hill fort of Bhujia was captured by a British detachment under Sir William Keir.[6]

Notable persons

External links

References

  1. पाञ्चालाः कौशिकाश चैव एकपृष्ठा युगं धराः
    सौधा मद्रा भुजिङ्गाश च काशयॊ ऽपरकाशयः Mahabharata (VI.10.40)
  2. V. S. Agrawala: India as Known to Panini, 1953, p.65
  3. V. S. Agrawala: India as Known to Panini, 1953, p.65-66
  4. Ward (1 January 1998). Gujarat–Daman–Diu: A Travel Guide. Orient Longman Limited. pp. 316–317. ISBN 978-81-250-1383-9.
  5. Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Printed at the Government Central Press. 1880. pp. 215–216.
  6. Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Printed at the Government Central Press. 1880. pp. 215–216.