| Wankaner | |
| Settlement Type: | city |
| Pushpin Map: | India Gujarat#India3 |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Gujarat, India |
| Coordinates: | 22.6161°N 70.9531°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Gujarat |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Morbi |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Elevation M: | 81 |
| Population Total: | 43881 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Gujarati, Hindi |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Registration Plate: | GJ |
Wankaner is a city and a municipality in Morbi district in the State of Gujarat. Until 2013, Wankaner was part of the Rajkot district.
The city was named after its location on the Machhu River, "Wankaner" translating to "riverbend" ("Wanka" - bend, " -ner" - river) in Gujarati.[2]
Wankaner is located at 22.6161°N 70.9531°W. It has an average elevation of 81 metres (265 feet) and is about 53km (33miles) from Rajkot.[3]
Wankaner was legendarily founded by four friends, and two were saints i.e. Shahbava and Nagabava. Nagabava was the Rajyguru of state. Shahbava in an event cursed the state, that the place would fall due to either fire or water. The temple of Nagabava and dargah of Shahbava survive in the old city, and thousands of people go for worship each day to get blessings. Wankaner has many other Hindu and Muslim places of worship.[4]
Wankaner State was an 11-gun salute state during the British Raj era, when it was governed by members of the senior branch of the Jhala rajput dynasty.[5]