Piram Island | |
---|---|
island | |
Coordinates: 21°35.9′N72°21.2′E / 21.5983°N 72.3533°E | |
Country | India |
State | Gujarat |
District | Bhavnagar district |
Area | |
• Total | 0.753 km2 (0.291 sq mi) |
Languages | |
• Official | Gujarati, Hindi |
Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
Piram Island or Piram Bet is an island in Gulf of Cambay of Arabian Sea which falls under Bhavnagar district of Gujarat state, India. Except the campus of lighthouse, the island is privately owned.
The island is situated 7.2 nautical miles from Ghogha, a town and former sea port, in Bhavnagar district. The island is spread of 186 acres but half of it is wasteland. [1]
The island is connected with Ghogha throughout its history. The island was under Muslim soldiers of Delhi Sultanate in early years of 14th century. In 1325, the island was captured by Mokhadaji Gohil, the Gohil chief of Umrala and ancestor of Bhavnagar State 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 of Delhi Sultanate 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. [2] [3]
The island fell into obscurity after the destruction of the fort. In the middle of the eighteenth century (c. 1729), 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 Bhavnagar State 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. [4] The lighthouse and quarters are now owned by Directorate General of Lighthouse and Lightships, Government of India which was the only settlement on the island which was closed down in 2010. [5] 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. [1]
The island exposes sediments of Late Miocene age, equivalent to the Siwalik Hills. [6] fossils found include the sivatheriine giraffes, Bramatherium and Sivatherium were found. The fossils of the prehistoric equid, Hipparion were also found on the island. Also known is Piramys a side-necked turtle belonging to the family Podocnemididae, a group which no longer occurs in India or Asia and today is only found in South America and Madagascar. [7] Several shipwrecks found around the island are dated to the fourteenth century. [1]
The island has mangrove vegetation and also nesting site for two endangered species of sea turtle; Olive ridley sea turtle and Green sea turtle, and around fifty species of birds, mostly seabirds. The sea turtles arrives for nesting in August–September. [8]
Kathiawar is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about 61,000 km2 (23,500 sq mi) bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat in the east. In the northeast, it is connected to the rest of Gujarat and borders on the low, fertile hinterland of Ahmedabad. It is crossed by two belts of hill country and is drained radially by nine rivers which have little natural flow aside from in monsoon months, thus dams have been built on some of these. Kathiawar ports have been flourishing centres of trade and commerce since at least the 16th century.
The Gulf of Kutch is located between the peninsula regions of Kutch and Saurashtra, bounded in the state of Gujarat that borders Pakistan. It opens towards the Arabian Sea facing the Gulf of Oman.
Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Indian Union in 1948. It is now the administrative headquarters of the Bhavnagar district.
Khambhat, also known as Cambay, is a city and the surrounding urban agglomeration in Anand district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was once an important trading center, but its harbour gradually silted up, and the maritime trade moved to Surat. Khambat lies on an alluvial plain at the north end of the Gulf of Khambhat, noted for the extreme rise and fall of its tides, which can vary as much as thirty feet in the vicinity of Khambat. Khambat is known for its halvasan sweet, sutarfeni, akik stone and kites (patang), and for sources of oil and gas.
Bhavnagar District is a district of southeastern Gujarat, India, on the Saurashtra peninsula. The administrative headquarters is in the town of Bhavnagar.
Pirotan Island is an island in the Marine National Park, Arabian Sea. It is located 12 nautical miles (22 km) off the coast, Jamnagar District of Gujarat state, India. It consists of mangroves and low-tide beaches, and has an area of 3 square kilometres. Rozi island is located about 10 kilometres to the southeast.
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 Bhavnagar in the nineteenth century.
Bhavnagar State was a princely state with 13 Gun Salutes during the British Raj. It was part of Kathiawar Agency in Saurashtra. The hereditary Kotwals of the royal palace of Bhavnagar were Talpada Kolis of Radhavanaj village of Kheda district.
The Kannur Lighthouse is located near the Payyambalam Beach, a few kilometers from Kannur town, in Kerala state, south India. It is adjacent to the Sea View Park and the Government Guest House. The lighthouse is still active and overlooks the Arabian Sea.
Ranpur is a town located on the bank of the river Bhadar in Botad district, Gujarat, India. Ranpur is little city of botad district.
The Diu Fortress is a Portuguese-built fortification located on the west coast of India in Diu. The fortress was built as part of Portuguese India's defensive fortifications at the eastern tip of the island of Diu during the 16th century. The fortress, which borders on the town of Diu, was built in 1535 subsequent to a defense alliance forged by Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat and the Portuguese when Humayun, the Mughal Emperor attempted to annex this territory. It was strengthened over the years, till 1546. The Portuguese ruled over this territory from 1537 until the Indian invasion of December 1961. Today it is a landmark of Diu and one of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World.
The Bhal region is an area of Gujarat, India. It is spread across the political boundaries of the districts of Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, and Anand. The Bhal region is situated on the deltas of the Sabarmati, Bhogawo, Bhadar, Lilka and other rivers that flow east and southeast off the Kathiawar peninsula into the Gulf of Cambay. The word Bhaal seems to have been derived from the Sanskrit word भाल which means forehead. Such a name is given to this region probably because it is mostly as flat as a forehead with almost entire region's soil without any stones, pebbles or gravel.
Baria, or Baraiya,Bareeya and Bariya is a clan (Gotra) of the Koli caste found in the Indian State of Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. the Devgad Baria was their Stronghold or given their name to Baria State in Gujarat. according to the historian Y.V.S Nath, the ruling royal family of Baria State is original Koli by caste but later they claimed to be of Rajput origin to be in high status among other Princely States.
Bhumbhali is a village in Bhavnagar Taluka of Bhavnagar district in Gujarat, India.
Muzaffar Shah I, born Zafar Khan, was the founder of the Muzaffarid dynasty in Medieval India, reigning over the Gujarat Sultanate from 1391 to 1403 and again from 1404 to 1411.
Gujarat, a region in western India, fell under Delhi Sultanate following repeated expeditions under Alauddin Khalji around the end of the 13th century. He ended the rule of Vaghela dynasty under Karna II and established Muslim rule in Gujarat. Soon the Tughluq dynasty came to power in Delhi whose emperor carried out expeditions to quell rebellion in Gujarat and established their firm control over the region by the end of the century. Following Timur's invasion of Delhi, the Delhi Sultanate weakened considerably so that the last Tughluq governor Zafar Khan declared himself independent in 1407 and formally established the Gujarat Sultanate.
The Gohil dynasty or Gohil or Guhilas of Saurashtra ruled parts of Saurashtra region of present-day Gujarat state of India as subordinates or independents starting 12th century. Their origin is traced to Guhila dynasty of Gujarat and they had migrated to Saurashtra in 12th century. The earliest known inscription of Gohils is found from Mangrol. They later moved to the east coast where they established themselves and the region came to be known as Gohilwar and ruled till the independence of India in 1947. The erstwhile princely states of Bhavnagar, Palitana, Lathi, Vala and Rajpipla belonged to Gohil rulers.
Wallacepur is a village in the Ghogha Taluka of Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India. It was founded in the 19th century and became the only all-Christian village in Gujarat.
Gujarati-Portuguese conflicts refers to the armed engagements between the Portuguese Empire and the Sultanate of Gujarat, in India, that took place from 1508 until Gujarat was annexed by the Mughal Empire in 1573.