Balasinor

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Balasinor
Vadasinor
Vadsol
City
Balasinor Park Entrance.jpg
Nickname: 
Land of Dinosaurs
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Balasinor
Location in Gujarat, India
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Balasinor
Balasinor (India)
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Balasinor
Balasinor (Asia)
Coordinates: 22°57′N73°20′E / 22.95°N 73.33°E / 22.95; 73.33
CountryFlag of India.svg  India
State Gujarat
District Mahisagar
Elevation
72 m (236 ft)
Population
 (2011) [1]
 • Total39,330
Language
 • Official Gujarati [2]
 • Additional official Hindi [3]
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
388255
Telephone code02690
Vehicle registration GJ 07 to GJ35

Balasinor, also known as Vadasinor, is a city located in the Mahisagar district of Gujarat, India. The city was formerly part of Balasinor State, a princely state ruled by the Babi dynasty, from September 1758 until its accession to India in June 1948. [4]

Contents

History

Balasinor State was founded in the 18th century. The rulers were titled Nawab Babi. [5]

Geography

Balasinor is located at 22°57′N73°20′E / 22.95°N 73.33°E / 22.95; 73.33 , on the National Highway Number 47 and the Gujarat State Highway Number 2.

Demographics

As of 2011 Indian census, Balasinor had a total population of 39,330, of which 20,282 were males and 19,048 were females. The population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 4,946. The total number of literates in Balasinor was 30,314, which constituted 77.1% of the population with male literacy of 81.3% and female literacy of 72.5%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Balasinor was 88.2%, of which male literacy rate was 93.8% and female literacy rate was 82.2%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 3,603 and 331 respectively. Balasinor had 7591 households in 2011. [1]

As of the 2001 Indian census, Balasinor had a population of 33,704. It had a literacy rate of 70.5% and a ratio of 940 women for every 1000 men. 12.6% of the population was between the ages of 0 and 6. [6]

According to Chambers's Concise Gazetteer of the World, from 1914, the population of Balasinor town was approximately 9,000 at the time.

India's Jurassic Park

In 1981, palaeontologists stumbled upon dinosaur bones and fossils during a regular geological survey of this mineral-rich area. They found dinosaur egg hatcheries and fossils of at least 13 species of which the most important discovery was that of a carnivorous abelisaurid theropod named Rajasaurus narmadensis, a previously unknown predator that was 25 to 30 feet long and two-thirds the size of the Tyrannosaurus rex . [7] It lived in the Late Cretaceous period. [8] [9]

The news of the find was welcomed in the neighbouring villages. Many residents brought the fossilised eggs home and worshipped them. Since then excavations have turned up a veritable trove of dinosaur remains—eggs, bones, a skeleton which is now kept in a Calcutta (Kolkata) museum—bringing hordes of scientists and tourists to Balasinor. [8]

Researchers, after piecing together the evidence in Raiyoli, believe that Gujarat is home to one of the largest clutches of dinosaur hatcheries in the world. At least 13 species of dinosaurs lived there, for more than 100 million years until their extinction 65 million years ago. The soft soil made hatching and protecting eggs easier for the animals. Many researchers call them the best-preserved eggs in the world after the ones found in Aix-en-Provence in France. [8]

These fossilised dinosaur remains have triggered what tourism officials of the Gujarat state call "Dinosaur Tourism". Princess Aaliya also called the Dinosaur Princess conducts guided tours of the fossil park. [8] [9]

Another notable discovery in the village of Dholi Dungri, bordering Balasinor taluka, was that of Sanajeh indicus , a primitive madtsoiid snake that likely preyed on sauropod dinosaur hatchlings and embryos. [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Rajasaurus</i> Abelisaurid dinosaur genus from Late Cretaceous India

Rajasaurus is a genus of carnivorous abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of India, containing one species: Rajasaurus narmadensis. The bones were excavated from the Lameta Formation in the Gujarat state of Western India, probably inhabiting what is now the Narmada River Valley. It was formally described by palaeontologist Jeffrey A. Wilson and colleagues in 2003 based on a partial skeleton comprising the braincase, spine, hip bone, legs, and tail–a first for an Indian theropod. The dinosaur likely measured 6.6 metres (22 ft), and had a single horn on the forehead which was probably used for display and head-butting. Like other abelisaurids, Rajasaurus was probably an ambush predator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park</span> Dinosaur and Fossil Park in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

The Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, is a park that houses fossilized remains and petrified eggs of dinosaurs. It is a man-made fossil park and not the actual nesting grounds where the dinosaurs lived. The eggs and fossils on display here are from the world's 3rd-largest dinosaur fossil excavation site and 2nd-largest hatchery at Raiyoli, Balasinor, Gujarat. The Park was set up by the Geological Survey of India and is the only dinosaur museum in the country.

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<i>Sanajeh</i> Genus of snakes

Sanajeh is a genus of late Cretaceous madtsoiid snake from western India. A fossil described in 2010 from the Lameta Formation was found coiled around an egg and an adjacent skeleton of a 50 cm (19 in) long sauropod dinosaur hatchling. This suggests that the snake preyed on hatchling sauropods at nesting sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babi dynasty</span> Afghan dynasty existed in British India

The Babi dynasty was a Afghan dynasty that formed the ruling royal houses of British India's princely states. The Babai community, originally of Afghan descent, largely resides in India and some parts of Pakistan. The community traces its royal origins to the dynasty founded by Sherkhanji Babi in 1654, who was himself a ruler from the dynasty's founding until 1690. The last Nawab of the British Indian princely state of Junagadh, Sir Muhammad Khanji, signed an Instrument of Accession and acceded his princely state of Junagadh, as well as its vassal state of sardargadh, Bantva Manavadar, to the Dominion of Pakistan after the Partition of British India in 1947. However, the Dominion of India did not recognize the accession and annexed the princely state shortly afterwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balasinor State</span> Princely state of India

The State of Balasinor was a princely state in Balasinor during the era of British India and founded by Sardar Muhammed khan Babi and Murtuza Bhatia The last ruler of Balasinor signed the accession to join the Indian Union on 10 June 1948. Its rulers belonged to the family of Babi or Babai tribe. The state was founded by the Junagadh State Babi dynasty.

The fauna of Gujarat, a state in western India, encompasses a range of ecosystems, including coastal areas along the Arabian Sea, the semi-arid forests on the Kathiawar Peninsula, and the arid salt flats of the Rann of Kutch.

References

  1. 1 2 "Census of India: Balasinor". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  2. ↑ "52nd REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR LINGUISTIC MINORITIES IN INDIA" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  3. ↑ Benedikter, Thomas (2009). Language Policy and Linguistic Minorities in India: An Appraisal of the Linguistic Rights of Minorities in India. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 89. ISBN   978-3-643-10231-7. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "Indian Princely States before 1947 A-J".
  5. ↑ "Indian states before 1947 A-J".
  6. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  7. ↑ Sanyal, Sanjeev (10 July 2013). Land of the seven rivers : a brief history of India's geography. Penguin Books. ISBN   978-0-14-342093-4. OCLC   855957425.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "The wonders of India's Jurassic Park". BBC. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 Dixit, Neha; Mehta, Vishal (21 January 2016). "Meet India's Dinosaur Princess". Smithsonian Magazine . Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  10. ↑ Wilson, Jeffrey A.; Mohabey, Dhananjay M.; Peters, Shanan E.; Head, Jason J. (2 March 2010). "Predation upon Hatchling Dinosaurs by a New Snake from the Late Cretaceous of India". PLOS Biology. 8 (3): e1000322. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000322 . ISSN   1544-9173. PMC   2830453 . PMID   20209142.
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