Bhuj
THE KHOJAS IN BHUJ
When the Jadeja dynasty was established over Kutch in 1549, its capital was placed at Bhuj.
Tieffenthaler (1750) describes Bhuj as 'great and strengthened with two forts.' He says it took its name from Bhuj-bávan or the fifty-two yard snake which the people worshipped and fed every day with milk and rice. Res. Hist. et Geog. de l'Inde, I. 396.
In 1818, Bhuj had 20,000 people and was famous for its clever artists in gold and silver. The great earthquake of the following year (16th June 1819) destroyed nearly 7000 houses with a loss of 1140 human lives. About one-third of the buildings that escaped ruin were much shattered, and the north face of the town wall was levelled with the ground. The most disastrous, severer than any that had happened for more than 400 years, began on the 16th June 1819. The first shock was felt at about a quarter to seven in the evening, and lasted for about two minutes. The ground could be seen to move, it was hard to keep standing, and every house was shaken to its centre." Within four hours (11 P.M.) three slight shocks were felt, and on the next day the earth was often in motion with gusts of wind, and a noise as of the rumbling of carriages. This noise went on during the whole night, and after stopping for a few minutes at a quarter to ten, a severe shock, lasting about fifty seconds, brought down a number of shattered buildings. For six weeks there were daily shocks, and, during the next four months, they were felt at intervals, the last on the 20th November. Little has been recorded as to the speed and course of the earthquake wave. The shock seems to have been felt at the same time over the whole of Cutch, and to have travelled north about fifty-three miles a minute. Cutch seems to have been the centre of disturbance. The damage caused by the earthquake was very great. At Bhuj, 7000 houses including the Rao's palace were destroyed, and 1150 persons buried in the ruins;
In 1837 Bhuj is said to have had a population of 30,000 souls, about 6000 of them Musalmáns.
(1872)Bhuj, the capital of Cutch, is thirty-six miles north of Mándvi and twelve south of the great Ran. The town, with in 1872 a population of about 24,000 souls, is pleasantly situated in a plain between two streams, each about two miles distant from the city wall. In shape an irregular polygon, it is surrounded by a well kept solid stone wall, thirty-five feet high and four thick, with towers at irregular intervals armed with fifty-one guns. In the walls are five gates, the Mahadev, Pátvadi, Sirpat, Bhidvál, and Vániávád. Inside the walls, the streets, narrow and crooked, hardly passable by a horse carriage, are lined by high stone walls, the enclosures of dwellings that often open either from a corner or from a side lane. The houses, each in the centre of an enclosing wall, though low, are generally strongly built of stone with small loophole-like windows. On the west close to the town walls are two pleasantly laid out gardens, the Sarad and Khás Bág, belonging to His Highness the Ráo. Each has its garden house and both are well shaded and watered and gay with flowers. To the north is the race course.
Bhuj and Nawanagar are known to have been centers of cotton production in the seventeenth century.
The cotton that was grown in numerous villages around Bhuj was of a fine quality and as soft as that of Broach. Although it was short-stapled, by mixing it with other varieties from elsewhere, the producers could make strong yarn for weaving textiles.
Bhuj, with 20,000 people, justly celebrated for its ingenious artists in gold and silver work;
A school of design has lately (1877) been started at Bhuj, and it is hoped that it may raise to its former level the silversmith's art, lowered of late years by the use of European patterns, and the ease with which cheap work can be sold.
KHOJAS in Bhuj records in 1877.
KHOJA'S, honourable or worshipful converts, numbering 7253 souls, are found all over Cutch, chiefly on the south coast in Mándvi, Mundra, and Anjár, and have an old and large settlement in Bhuj.(1877)
References & Notes
- ↑ Shu Yamane, Naoko Fukami, Tomoaki Okamura - Spatial Formation of the Port Cities of Kutch Region, India, Academia.com ebook-Location 81-83 Location 58-59
- ↑ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Volume V: Cutch,Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Bombay- Printed at Government Central Press,1880.Academia.edu Kindle Location 5914
- ↑ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Volume V: Cutch,Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Bombay- Printed at Government Central Press,1880.Academia.edu Kindle Location 5899
- ↑ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Volume V: Cutch,Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Bombay- Printed at Government Central Press,1880.Academia.edu Kindle Location 5899
- ↑ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Volume V: Cutch,Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Bombay- Printed at Government Central Press,1880.Academia.edu Kindle Location 5871-1878
- ↑ Nadri,Ghulam.Exploring the Gulf of Kachh: Regional Economy and Trade in the Eighteenth Century-Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Vol. 51, No. 3 (2008), pp. 460-486 (27 pages) Published By: Brill- Kindle Location 156-157
- ↑ ibid - Location 160-162
- ↑ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Volume V: Cutch,Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Bombay- Printed at Government Central Press,1880.Academia.edu Kindle Location 4475
- ↑ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Volume V: Cutch,Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Bombay-Printed at Government Central Press,1880. Kindle Location 3410
- ↑ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Volume V: Cutch,Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Bombay-Printed at Government Central Press,1880. Kindle Location 2565
The following families are found in the Khojawiki records as originating from Bhuj. You can search for thier personal history by clicking on the names.
• VALI
• Fijibai Alladin Cassam Kanji
• Jawalbai Karmali Nathoo Bawa
• Ghulam Hussain Mohammad Ali Dharas
• Ali Muhammad Jan Muhammad Chunara
• Kassamali Rajabali Hasham Paroo
