Қамбат қаласы: тарихы мен ерекшеліктері

City in Gujarat india
a city in Gujarat, India

Khambhat (/k//ɑː//m/'/b//ɑː//t/, ), 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. Khambat is perhaps the only place in India where the Harappan craft of agate bead making is found in the living tradition. Surprisingly Khambat has no stone deposits; the craft has survived mainly through acquiring stones from the Rajpipla hills, about 200 km away from the city. In the folklore of Khambat, the beginning of the craft is attributed to Baba Ghor, a 1500 AD saint from Ethiopia (Habash) who had led a large contingent of Muslims (Siddi) to settle in the city. However, in the archaeological record the origin of the craft can be traced to nearby Lothal, a Harappan outpost that flourished about 4000 years ago.

Some people believe that the City of Khambat may be the Camanes of Ptolemy. James Tod believed that the name comes from the Sanskrit Khambavati or 'City of the Pillar'.

Cambay was formerly a flourishing city, the seat of an extensive trade, and celebrated for its manufactures of silk, chintz and gold stuffs. The Arab traveler al Mas'udi visited the city in 915 AD, describing it as a very successful port; it was mentioned in 1293 by Marco Polo, who, calling it Cambaet, noted it as a busy port. He mentions that the city had its own king. Indigo and fine buckram were particular products of the region, but much cotton and leather was exported through Cambay. In the early 1340s, the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta remarked on its impressive architecture and cosmopolitan population. "Cambay is one of the most beautiful cities as regards the artistic architecture of its houses and the construction of its mosques. The reason is that the majority of its inhabitants are foreign merchants, who continually build there beautiful houses and wonderful mosques an achievement in which they endeavour to surpass each other. "An Italian traveler, Marino Sanudo, said that Cambeth was one of India's main two ocean ports. Another Italian, visiting in about 1440, Niccolò de' Conti, mentions that the walls of the city were twelve miles in circumference. The Kothi gateway traditionally believed to be constructed by an English factory is in fact a 14th century gate, probably dating to the 1330s, of Tughluq era. The Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa visited the city, which he calls Cambaia, in the early sixteenth century. His description of the city is very full. He states:

<blockquote>"Entering by Guindarim [Gandhar port, Bharuch], which is within on the river, there is a great and fair city called Cambaia in which dwell both 'mouros' [Muslims] and 'gentios' [Hindus]. Therein are many fair houses, very lofty, with windows and roofed with tiles in our manner, well laid out with streets and fine open places, and great buildings of stone and mortar. "(translation of

Owing principally to the gradually increasing difficulty of access by water by the silting up of the gulf, its commerce has long since fallen away, and the City became poor and dilapidated. The spring tides rise upwards of 30 ft (10 m) and in a channel usually so shallow that it is a serious danger to shipping. By 1900, the trade was chiefly confined to the export of cotton. The City was celebrated for its manufacture of agate and carnelian ornaments, of reputation, principally in China.

Cambay was famous for its cloth manufacturing and trading activities. There were certain coarse cotton cloths which were called Cambay cloth. For instance, the checked cloths. There are records of extensive trading of Gujarati Cambay cloth.

Khambat was the capital of Cambay State, a princely state of British India. It was the only state in the Kaira Agency of the Gujarat division of the Bombay Presidency. It had an area of It was founded in 1730, at the time of the dismemberment of the Mughal Empire. The Nawabs of Cambay were descendants of Mumin Khan, the last of the Mughal governors of Gujarat, who in 1742 defeated his brother in law Nizam Khan, governor of Khambhat,

The sport of cricket in India was first played in Cambay State in 1721. In 1780 Cambay was taken by the army of general Goddard Richards, but it was restored to the Marathas in 1783. Finally it was ceded to the British by the Peshwa under the treaty of 1803. The state was provided with a railway in 1901. It has an average elevation of
Khambhat has warm and humid climate. It is located on the plains. The land on which Khambhat sits is the silt deposited by the Mahi River, so Khambhat has very fertile, wet coastal alluvial soil. The area south of Khambhat is muddy wetlands and then coast line comes. Normally April to June is summer. From July, it rains until September. It has a muggy climate for most of the year except winters. Sometimes Khambhat receives heavy rain, and surrounding areas get affected from floods in the Mahi River. Mid November to January is winter, which results in essentially mild cold during the nights and early mornings with warm noons. Maximum average temperatures are and minimum average temperatures are Summer average maxima are 38 °C (100 °F) and minima around 22 °C (72 °F). In summer, high winds are common. Khambhat coast's tides are among the highest in the world at up to .

As of 2011 India census, Khambhat had a population of 201,964. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Khambhat has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 67%. In Khambhat, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Khambhat was well known for Muslim gravestones carved in marble which were exported to various locations along the Indian Ocean rim, including Southeast Asia. Many here are in the agate business, diamond cutting polishing & colored stone business (mainly ruby), and have shops which sell eatables and household products. Kite making is another important business in the City among few particular communities. Fishing and salt harvesting are other businesses some particular communities are occupied with.

Khambhat is connected with Anand by Railway Line. Total 8 trains depart per day for Anand.

Khambhat is connected with Tarapur, Dharmaj, Vataman, Petlad, Nadiad, Anand, undel and Dali by Regional roads.

In May 2001, India's Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Science and Technology division, Murli Manohar Joshi, announced that the ruins of an ancient civilization had been discovered off the coast of Gujarat, in the Gulf of Khambhat. The site was discovered by NIOT while they performed routine pollution studies using SONAR, and was described as an area of regularly spaced geometric structures. It is located 20 km from the Gujarat coast, spans 9 km, and can be found at a depth of 30–40 meters. In his announcement, Joshi represented the site as an urban settlement that pre dates the Indus Valley civilization. However, these claims were made without the backing of any experts and have since been debunked by prominent archaeologists.