Piram Island or Piram Bet is an island in

Gulf of Cambay The Gulf of Khambhat, historically known as the Gulf of Cambay, is a bay on the Arabian Sea coast of India, bordering the state of Gujarat just north of Mumbai and Diu Island. The Gulf of Khambhat is about long, about wide in the north and up ...

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

which falls under

Bhavnagar district Bhavnagar District is a Districts of India, district of southeastern Gujarat, India, on the Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra peninsula. It is also known as Gohilwar as a major portion of Bhavnagar district was ruled by Gahlot, Gohil Rajputs. The a ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Except the campus of lighthouse, the island is privately owned.

Geography

The island is situated 7.2 nautical miles from

Ghogha Ghogha is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is situated on the mid-western bank of the Gulf of Khambhat. It was an important historical commercial port on the Arabian Sea until the development of nearby Bha ...

, a town and former sea port, in

. The island is spread of 186 acres but half of it is wasteland.

History

The island is connected with

throughout its history. The island was under Muslim soldiers of

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

in early years of 14th century. In 1325, the island was captured by

Mokhadaji Gohil Mokhadaji Gohil (1309–1347) was a ruler of Ghogha, near Bhavnagar in Gujarat during the mid-14th century. He was a descendant of Sejakaji Gohil of Khergadh who migrated to Saurashtra during the early 13th century. Mokhadaji Gohil was contemp ...

, the Gohil chief of Umrala and ancestor of

Bhavnagar State Bhavnagar State was a princely state with 13 Gun Salutes during the British Raj. It was part of Kathiawar Agency in Saurashtra. The State of Bhavnagar covered an area of 2,961 sq. miles and had a population of 618,429 in 1941. Its ruler ...

family. He made the island his headquarter, built a fort and levied toll from all ships passing up the Gulf of Cambay. He became a noted pirate in Gulf. His exactions came to the knowledge of the emperor

Muhammad bin Tughluq Muhammad bin Tughluq (1290 – 20 March 1351) was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from February 1325 until his death in 1351. The sultan was the eldest son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. In 1321, the youn ...

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

who was then quelling a revolt in Gujarat. In 1347, Tughluq attacked Ghogha and killed Mokhadaji. He destroyed the fort of Piram island. He left Ghogha and Piram in the hands of Dungarji, Mokhadaji's son.Virbhadra Singhji, ''The Rajputs of Saurashtra,'' Bombay, Popular Prakashan (1994), p. 44. The island fell into obscurity after the destruction of the fort. In the middle of the eighteenth century (), a merchant of Surat named Mulla Muhammad Ali, built a fort on Piram with an intention to establish himself as an independent chief. Subsequently it fell under the royal family of

who had built a bastion on south west corner of the island to keep watch on the maritime activities. The British built the 24m high circular masonry lighthouse tower on the bastion in 1864-65 from the ruins of Mulla's bastion. The lighthouse and quarters are now owned by Directorate General of Lighthouse and Lightships,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

which was the only settlement on the island which was closed down in 2010. The island is under ownership of decedent of royals of Bhavnagar, Siddhrajsinh Raol. It is one of the few privately owned virgin islands of India. He intended to sell it in 2012.

Paleontology and Archaeology

The island exposes sediments of

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

age, equivalent to the

Siwalik Hills The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the India ...

. fossils found include the sivatheriine giraffes, ''

Bramatherium ''Bramatherium'' (Brahma’s beast) is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged from India to Turkey in Asia. It is closely related to the larger ''Sivatherium''. Etymology The first part of the generic name, Brahma (Sanskrit masculine ', no ...

'' and ''

Sivatherium ''Sivatherium'' ("Shiva's beast", from Shiva and ''therium'', Latinized form of Ancient Greek θηρίον -'' thēríon'') is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged throughout Africa to the Indian subcontinent. The species ''Sivatherium giga ...

'' were found. The fossils of the prehistoric

equid Equidae (sometimes known as the horse family) is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, asses, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus '' Equus'', w ...

, ''

Hipparion ''Hipparion'' (Greek, "pony") is an extinct genus of horse that lived in North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa during the Miocene through Pleistocene ~23 Mya—781,000 years ago. It lived in non-forested, grassy plains, shortgrass prairie or st ...

'' were also found on the island. Also known is '' Piramys'' a

side-necked turtle The Pleurodira are one of the two living suborders of turtles, the other being the Cryptodira. The division between these two suborders represents a very deep evolutionary divide between two very different types of turtles. The physical differen ...

belonging to the family

Podocnemididae Podocnemididae is a family of pleurodire (side-necked) turtles, once widely distributed. Most of its 20 genera and 30 species are now extinct. Seven of its eight surviving species are native to South America: the genus ''Peltocephalus'', with onl ...

, a group which no longer occurs in India or Asia and today is only found in South America and Madagascar. Several shipwrecks found around the island are dated to the fourteenth century. Piram Bet

Flora and fauna

The island has mangrove vegetation and also nesting site for two endangered species of sea turtle;

Olive ridley sea turtle The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in th ...

and

Green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

, and around fifty species of birds, mostly seabirds. The sea turtles arrives for nesting in August–September.

References

{{Authority control Islands of Gujarat Archaeological sites in Gujarat Bhavnagar district Tourist attractions in Bhavnagar district Private islands of India