Bantva or Bantwa, is a small town in

Saurashtra region Saurashtra, also known as Sorath or Kathiawar, is a peninsular region of Gujarat, India, located on the Arabian Sea coast. It covers about a third of Gujarat state, notably 11 districts of Gujarat, including Rajkot District. It was formerly a ...

of the state of

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 ...

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 ...

Geography

Bantva is located at an altitude of 20 meters. Nearby towns are

Nanadiya Nanadiya is a small village in Gujarat, India within the Manavadar ''taluka'' of Junagadh district. It is located between Junagadh and Porbandar, around 25 km from the Arabian Sea. It has an average elevation of 24 metres (78 fee ...

Limbuda Limbuda is a village in Junagdh District in the state of Gujarat, 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 t ...

, Nakara

Manavadar Manavadar is a city and a municipality in Junagadh district of India. History Bantva Manavadar was a princely state of British India. Founded in 1733, it became a British protectorate in 1818. On 25 September 1947, it acceded to the newly for ...

Vanthali Vamansthli (Vanthli)is a city and a municipality in Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Demographics India census, Vanthali had a population of 21,891. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Vanthali has an avera ...

Junagadh Junagadh () is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (the state capital), it is the seventh largest city in the state. Literally t ...

Keshod Keshod is a town (Now a City) and a Taluka in Junagadh District. History on the name It has been told by many old aged people of this city that the name of the city came from a very interesting incident happened during the Mahabharata time. K ...

Visavadar Visavadar is a town and a municipality in Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Geography Visavadar is located at . It has an average elevation of 91 metres (298 feet). Demographics India census, Visavadar had a populati ...

Kutiyana Kutiyana (Devanagari: कुंतियाणा; Gujarati: કુતિયાણા) is a city and a municipality in Porbandar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is situated on the banks of Bhadar river. History Source:- The name o ...

Dhoraji Dhoraji () is a town situated on the banks of the River Safura, a tributary of the River Bhadar. It is a municipality in the Rajkot district in the state of Gujarat, India. History Dhoraji was acquired by Kumbhaji II of Gondal State from ...

Porbandar Porbandar is a city in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It is the administrative center of the Porbandar District and it was the former capi ...

and

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of ...

. The town is roughly 10 kilometers from the

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 ...

History

Before the

Independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

in 1947, Bantva was part of the

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

Bantva Manavadar Bantva-Manavadar or Manavadar State was a princely state during the era of the British Raj in India. It was located on the Kathiawar peninsula in Gujarat. See also *Political integration of India *Bantva Memons *Bantva References External l ...

Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it is ...

, founded in 1760 and locally ruled until February 1948 by Khan Himmat Khan, son of Khan Amir Khan, of the Muslim Babi family of

Junagadh State Junagarh or Junagadh ( ur, ) was a princely state in Gujarat ruled by the Muslim Babi dynasty in British India, until its integration into the Union of India in 1948. History Muhammad Sher Khan Babai was the founder of the Babi Pashtun d ...

. In 1947 it followed the neighboring and more powerful

Princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

into union with

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, but that decision was quickly reversed by Indian occupation and subsequent plebiscite. It is a decision Pakistan has never accepted.

Demographics

Before 1947, the population of Bantva was approximately 20,000; 80% of its population was

Memon Memon may refer to: Ethnic group and language * Memon people, an ethnic group originating in the ancient Sindh (modern day Pakistan) * Memoni language, the language of Memon people historically associated with Kathiawar, Gujarat, India People wit ...

. As of the 2001 India census, Bantva had a population of 15,216. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Bantva has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%, with 57% of the males and 43% of females literate. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Places of interest

Places of interest in Bantva are: #Bantwa Gymkhana #Barwali Masjid #Jamia Masjid #Madrassa E Islamia #Mazaar Of Bukhari Sharif #Yateem Khana Islamia

Notable locals of Bantva

Arif Habib Muhammad Arif Habib ( ur, ; b. 1953) is a Pakistani business magnate and stock market trader who is the founder of the Arif Habib Group. As of 2012, Arif Habib Group had 11,000 employees and annual revenue of Rs. 100 billion. He also serves as mem ...

- Pakistani business magnate and stock market trader who is the founder of the Arif Habib Group *

Abdul Sattar Edhi Abdul Sattar Edhi ( ur, ; 28 February 1928 – 8 July 2016) was a Pakistani humanitarian, philanthropist and ascetic who founded the Edhi Foundation, which runs the world's largest volunteer ambulance network, along with various homeless s ...

- Humanitarian, Social Worker and founder of Edhi Foundation, which has the largest private ambulance service network in the world. Born in a

family, which, during partition, migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi. *

Bilquis Edhi Bilquis Bano Edhi ( ur, ; 14 August 1947 – 15 April 2022) was a Pakistani nurse who helped save the lives of over 16,000 children. During her career as a nurse and marriage to Abdul Sattar Edhi, she was one of the most active philanthropis ...

- Wife of

Ahmad Adaya Ahmad Adaya ( ur, ) (1927–2006) was an American real estate tycoon and philanthropist who was the founding partner of a California real estate company IDS Real Estate Group. He was known for establishing the New Horizon School for Muslim rel ...

- founder of IDS Real Estate Group, one of the California's largest real estate companies. *

Ahmed Dawood Seth Ahmed Dawood (15 March 1899 – 2 January 2002) was a Pakistani industrialist and a philanthropist. Dawood founded several companies and The Dawood Foundation (TDF), which established the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (renam ...

- Pakistani pioneer merchant, industrialist, philanthropist and founder of the

Dawood Group The Dawood Group (Urdu: داؤد گروپ), also ''Dawood Group of Companies'', is a term widely used in Pakistan for diverse businesses and industries of the Dawood family-business, founded by Seth Ahmed Dawood (1905-2002). The term ''Dawood Gr ...

, . * Shrikant Shah - Indian novelist and short story writer. * Rajendra Shukla - Indian poet * Mustafa Hanif Balagamwala - Honorary Secretary General of Memon Professional Forum.

References

{{Reflist

Sources and external links

My Memories of Bantva By: Abdur Razzaq Thaplawala

* ttp://www.memonpoint.com Memon Po!nt by Abdul Ghaffar Variend, Chicago, IL USA
World Memon Organization of North America, Chicago, IL USA

Memon Cities and towns in Junagadh district