History Of Rajkot

Rajkot was originally founded in the central part of Saurashtra in the year 1610 AD on the 6th of July, by Thakur saheb Vibhaji Ajoji Jadeja of the Jadeja clan and a Sunni Muslim person called Raju Sandhi. Vibhahi Ajoji was the grandson of Jam Sataji of Nawanagar, the present day Jamnagar. The name Rajkot was given in the honour of its co-founder Raju Sandhi.

 Rajkot was the former capital of the princely state of Saurashtra. Rajkot was once a base for the Western States British government office and rapidly expanded into a prosperous, lively business centre, with an old city. This city is also associated with Mr Gandhi, who lived here for several years. Rajkot was the capital of the Saurashtra state from 15 April 1948 to 31 October 1956 before merging in bilingual Bombay State on 1 November 1956.Rajkot was merged into Gujarat State from bilingual Bombay state on May 1, 1960.

Rajkot has seen many rulers.In 1720 AD Masum Khan conquered Rajkot and changed its name to  Masumabad.He also fortified the town.that frtress had eight gates which were studded with iron spikes on its outer side for defence purposes.Later on Masumabad was conquered by Jadeja clan and its name was restored to Rajkot. British East India Company founded saurashtra agency in Rajkot to moderate all princely states. The British constructed many impressive colonial buildings and educational institutions, few of them are Connaught Hall and the Rajkumar College. Rajkot is inhabitted by people from many different cultures that is why one can find many languages, like Gujarati, Memoni, Hindi, Urdu, English, Sindhi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi. However, only Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, and English are well understood. Rajkot is the part of Kathiyawad. Because of this people of Rajkot are famous as Kathiawadi. Rajkot is frequently referred to as "Rangilu Rajkot" (રંગીલુ રાજકોટ) meaning colorful Rajkot. The people of Rajkot like to enjoy themselves to the fullest no matter which season or time of the day. You can find them eating out at 1 am. people mostly close their business between 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm and sleep at home. There is often a saying "સુરત તો સુરત છે પણ રાજકોટ ખુબસુરત છે" (Surat may be beautiful, but cannot stand against the beauty of Rajkot) Rajkot is famous for its jewellery market(સોની બજાર), silk embroidery and watch parts.Many of the memons are also engaged in these business.Rajkot also gives an opportunity to buy Gujarati handlooms and handicrafts, which are famous all over the world. The Gujarati and memon dishes, which are known for their sweet and sour tinge, areone of the speciality of Rajkot.