Porbandar Explained

Porbandar
Other Name:Sudamapuri
Settlement Type:City
Blank Emblem Type:Logo of Porbandar Chhaya Municipal Corporation
Blank Emblem Size:100px
Image Blank Emblem:Porbandar Municipality logo.jpg
Map Alt:to
Pushpin Map:India Gujarat#India
Pushpin Label Position:right
Pushpin Map Caption:Porbandar (Gujarat)
Pushpin Relief:yes
Coordinates:21.6417°N 69.6293°Whttps://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Porbandar&params=21_38_30.0_N_69_37_45.5_E_type:city(217500)_region:IN-GJ
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: India
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name1:Gujarat
Subdivision Name2:Porbandar
Governing Body:Porbandar - Chhaya Municipal Corporation
Unit Pref:Metric
Area Total Km2:38.43
Elevation M:30.85
Population Total:152,760
Population As Of:2011
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:Languages
Demographics1 Title1:Official
Timezone1:IST
Utc Offset1:+5:30
Postal Code Type:PIN
Postal Code:360575
Registration Plate:GJ-25
Demographics1 Info1:Gujarati

Porbandar is a city and the headquarters of Porbandar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It was the former capital of the Porbandar princely state. Porbandar and Chhaya are the twin cities of each other and both cities are jointly governed by Porbandar–Chhaya Municipal Corporation.

History

Late Harappan settlement (1600-1400 BCE)

Onshore explorations in and around Porbandar brought to light the remains of a Late Harappan settlement dating back to the 16th-14th centuries BCE. There is evidence to suggest that the Harappan legacy of maritime activity continued till the late Harappan period on the Saurashtra coast. The discovery of ancient jetties along the Porbandar creek signifies the importance of Porbandar as an active center of maritime activities in the past.[1]

Indian theology views Porbandar as the birthplace of Sudama, a friend of Krishna. For this reason, it is also referred to as Sudaamapuri or Sudamapuri.

Princely Porbandar (1600 CE onwards)

See main article: Porbandar State. Porbandar was the seat of the eponymous princely state in British India. Later the state belonged to the Jethwa clan of Rajputs and had been established in the area since at least the mid-16th century. The state was subordinate to the Mughal governor of Gujarat Subah until being overrun by the Marathas in the latter half of the 18th century. After, they came under the authority of the Gaekwad court at Baroda and eventually of the Peshwa.

British influence

In common with the other states of Kathiawar, the state first came into the ambit of British influence in 1807, when the HEIC guaranteed security in the area in lieu of a fixed annual tribute to be paid to the Peshwa and the Gaekwad. In 1817, the Peshwa ceded his share to the HEIC; in 1820, the Gaekwad agreed to have the HIEC collect his due tributes in Kathiawar and remit the same to his treasury.

During the British Raj, the state covered an area of 1663km2, encompassing 106 villages and a population, in 1921, of over 100,000 people. It enjoyed a revenue of Rs. 21,00,000/-. By 1947, the rulers held the style of "Highness" and the title of "Maharaj Rana Sahib". They were entitled to a salute of 13 guns as a hereditary distinction.

After Independence

Upon the Independence of India in 1947, the state was annexed into the dominion of India. It was merged with the 'United State of Kathiawar', effective 15 February 1948 and eventually came to form part of the present-day state of Gujarat. The last King of Porbandar was Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji Maharaj.

Geography

Porbandar is located at .[2] It has an average elevation of 1 metre (3 ft).

Climate

Like most of Gujarat, Porbandar has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh) with three distinct seasons: the “cool” from October to March, the “hot” in April, May and early June, and the monsoonal “wet” from mid-June to September.[3]

Almost no rain falls outside the monsoon season, except for a very few late-season tropical cyclones. The most powerful one occurred on 22 October 1975 and produced a storm surge of 40NaN0. During the monsoon season, rainfall is exceedingly erratic: Annual rainfall has been as low as 32.22NaN2 in 1918 and 34.32NaN2 in 1939, but as high as 1850.62NaN2 in 1983—when a cyclone caused over 1100mm to fall over four days[4] —and 1251.72NaN2 in 1878.

With a coefficient of variation exceeding fifty percent and an expectation of only 41 percent of mean annual rainfall in the driest year in ten, the Porbandar region is among the most variable in the world[5] —comparable to northern Australia, the Brazilian sertão and the Kiribatese Line Islands.[6]

An illustration of Porbandar's extremely variable rainfall can be seen from 1899 to 1905 when seven successive years produced annual falls of:

Porbandar, owing to its coastal location, is the least hot of all major cities in Gujarat: Average high temperatures do not reach 350NaN0 in any month.

Demographics

India census, Porbandar (City and urban outgrowth) had a population of 152,760.[7] Males constituted 51.4% of the population and females 48.6%. Porbandar has an average literacy rate of 86.46%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 91.69%, and female literacy is 80.92%. In Porbandar, 9.11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

According to the Census in 2011, the population of Porbander contracted 3.85% in 2011. i.e. the growth rate was negative. The sex ration of the city was 943 in 2011.

Government and politics

Porbandar city is governed by a municipal council.[8] The municipality is responsible for supply of water to the city using Narmada as the main source of water supply.[9] The municipality supplies around 14 MLD everyday to the city. As per records available from 2008, the city had a coverage of 39% in terms of water supply connections though the coverage of distribution system was reported as 80%.[10] As per another assessment in the year 2016, Porbandar ranked the lowest in terms the volume of water supplied per capita at 59 lpcd (liters per capita per day) as compared to Gandhinagar which ranked the highest at 245 lpcd.[11] Municipality is also responsible for waste management in the city and generates about 66 tonnes per day of waste.[12]

The current member of Parliament is Rameshbhai Dhaduk.

Culture

Tourist attractions

The best time to visit is October to March.

Notable people

Transport

Porbandar is well-connected by road, rail and air to cities across the country.

Port

Porbandar is an ancient port city. At present it has an all-weather port, with direct berthing facilities up to 50,000 DWT ships.[15] [16]

Road

The city is connected through National Highway 27, connecting to Rajkot and Ahmedabad. National Highway 8E Ext (also known as State Highway 6) connects to Jamnagar, Dwarka in the north and Veraval, Bhavnagar in the south.

Major public transport is covered by the private and government buses.

Many private coaches are available daily to Rajkot, Dwarka, Veraval, Junagadh, Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Vadodra, Surat, and Mumbai.

Rail

Porbandar railway station connects Porbandar with major cities of state and the country. There are daily trains to Rajkot (via Jamnagar, Bhanwad and Upleta, Dhoraji, Gondal as well), Somnath (via Junagadh) and Mumbai (via Ahmedabad, Vadodra and Surat). There are also trains to Delhi, Muzaffarpur and Howrah connecting to major cities of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Vidarbha and West Bengal. A weekly train service connects Kochuveli, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) and Secunderabad (Hyderabad) with Porbandar via Mangalore, Calicut, Kochi and Quilon(Kollam).

Airport

From August 2022, no flights are operational.

Sports

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. A.S Gaur, Sundaresh, A.D. Odedra. New light on the maritime archaeology of Porbandar, Saurashtra Coast, Gujarat. Man and Environment . 29. 1. 103–107. 2004.
  2. Web site: Maps, Weather, and Airports for Porbandar, India. www.fallingrain.com.
  3. Web site: Porbandar - Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table. 2015-10-29. Climate-Data.org.
  4. Francis P. A. and Sulochana Gadgil; ‘Intense Rainfall Events over the West Coast during the Summer Monsoon Season’ (CAOS REPORT 2002 AS 1); published by Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Studies; Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
  5. Dewar, Robert E. and Wallis, James R; ‘Geographical patterning of interannual rainfall variability in the tropics and near tropics: An L-moments approach’; in Journal of Climate, 12; pp. 3457-3466
  6. Van Etten, Eddie J.B.; ‘Inter-annual Rainfall Variability of Arid Australia: greater than elsewhere?’ Australian Geographer; 40 (2009), pp. 109-120
  7. Web site: Census of India. 15 September 2020. Census of India.
  8. Web site: 2020-09-04. Local body polls Delimitation exercise held in Gujarat. 2020-09-05. The Indian Express. en.
  9. Web site: 2016-05-02. Hardlook: Thirsty Gujarat cities… fed by Narmada. 2020-12-09. The Indian Express. en.
  10. Web site: September 2008. Urban Water and Sanitation in Gujarat: A Report Prepared by Urban Management Centre. 9 December 2020. PAS.
  11. Web site: June 2016. URBAN WATER & SANITATION IN GUJARAT Summary Report 2009-2016. 9 December 2020. PAS.
  12. Web site: 2017. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA URBAN DEVELOPMENT. 9 December 2020. Eparlib.
  13. Web site: Wetlands of Porbandar . Mokarsagar Committee. 31 March 2017.
  14. News: Kaushik. Himanshu. Task force on dugong soon. 16 February 2016. Times of India. 13 August 2013 .
  15. Web site: Porbandar Port | GMB Operated Ports | Ports in Gujarat | Ports | Home | GMB Ports. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131007132550/http://www.gmbports.org/showpage.aspx?contentid=1504. 7 October 2013. 2013-10-06. dmy-all.
  16. Web site: Port of Porbandar, India . Portfocus.com . 2022-04-11.