Vav is a town and the headquarters of Vav Taluka in Vav - Tharad District in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

state of India. Vav is the largest taluka of the district.

History

The Rana, rulers of Vav, came from Sambhar and

Nadol Nadol is a census town in Desuri tehsil of Pali district, India. Ashapura Mataji temple and Shri Nadol Tirth attract pilgrims. History Nadol was originally called Naddula. The Chahamanas of Naddula (called Chauhans of Nadol in vernacular le ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, and claimed kindred with

Prithviraj Chauhan Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; 22 May 1166 – February 1192), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chahamanas of Shakambhari, Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, w ...

, who was defeated and slain by the Afghans in 1193. After many turns of fortune, Dedhrav, driven out of Nandol, settled at Tharad, then under the

Chaulukya The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

kings of

Anhilwad Patan Patan () is the administrative seat of Patan district in the Indian state of Gujarat and is an administered municipality. It was the capital of Gujarat's Chavda and Chaulukya dynasties in medieval times and is also known as Anhilpur-Patan t ...

kings. According to other views, his son Rana Ratansing, driven out of Nadol, in 1103, settled at Tharad. Rana Punja, the seventh in descent from Dedhrav was killed by the Muslims in battle in 1283. His son Rana Vaja regained his estate, by the influence of his father-in-law the Raval of

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed ''The Golden city'', is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...

, as a grant from the Delhi emperor but lost Tharad. So he chose his new capital, Vav. Vav gained its name from a step-well built by his great-grandfather Rana Mehpalji. It suffered very severely from the 1813 famine. During the British period, the eighteenth descendant, Umedsinh, agreed with the British in 1819-20 and became a protectorate. Vav State was under the

Palanpur Agency Palanpur Agency, also spelled Pahlunpore Agency, was a political agency or collection of princely states in British India, within the Gujarat Division of Bombay Presidency. In 1933, the native states of the Mahi Kantha Agency, except for Danta ...

of Bombay Presidency, which in 1925 became the

Banas Kantha Agency Palanpur Agency, also spelled Pahlunpore Agency, was a political agency or collection of princely states in British India, within the Gujarat Division of Bombay Presidency. In 1933, the native states of the Mahi Kantha Agency, except for Danta ...

. After

Independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

in 1947, the Bombay Presidency was reorganized in

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created in 1950 from the erstwhile Bombay Province, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Province (in British India roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Mah ...

. When

state was formed in 1960 from Bombay State, it fell under

Banaskantha district Banaskantha district is one of the Districts of Gujarat, thirty-four districts of the Gujarat States and territories of India, state of India. The administrative headquarters and largest city is Palanpur. The district is in northeastern Gujarat wh ...

of Gujarat till January 2025, After the Newly

Vav-Tharad district Vav-Tharad is a Districts of India, district of Gujarat, India. It is located on the eastern side of the Rann of Kutch and southern side of the Rajasthan State touches its borders, its headquarters is at the city of Tharad. Vav-Tharad was carved ...

was formed and this town transferred into this new Vav-Tharad district.

References

Notes

Bibliography

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

: {{Princely states of the Western India States Agency Princely states of Gujarat Villages in Vav-Tharad district