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Who would not want to talk about their homeland surrounded by two rivers, a beautiful lake, smaller and bigger hills and lush terrain? So let me share this information with you in this article & in the next few issues of this monthly magazine, Shri Virpur Samachar.
In this regard, accidentally I came across Shri Kirtan Latkari’s article on Vadasinor’s history which also included partial history of Virpur. Indeed, we are very grateful to Kirtanbhai for this information.
During Mahabharat’s time Vadasinor, Virpur & its vicinity were part of Hidimba forest, and Kaleshvari. Since this information is not officially recorded, its history is based on some logic.
This area was inhabitated by prominent Asuras (Rakshasas) as mentioned in “Puranas”. In those days, Shiva Ling’s puja was performed here. We have not been able to dig adequate landmarks about this time frame. However, we come across “Bhim Foot Prints” on the way to Kaleshvari from Limadiya. This whole area was known as “Hidimbavan”.
Getting history prior to Chavadas and Solanki dynasties in Gujarat is like trying to find a needle in a haystack! It is even harder to find historical information of a Gujarati small town, Virpur, located at a corner of this state! Jayasinh Siddharaj had an influence in this area in that he built many “Vavs”(Type of wells). We will be delighted if some one can throw some light on the history of our land marks: Desai’s Vav of Virpur, Bhamariyo Well at Bharodi and Bhanji’s Vav at Saradiya.
Virpur was under the jurisdiction of Solanki dynasty. It was named after Vira Bariya, a Solanki ruler who established this town. The original name has been Virpur but it is also known as Birpur. However, it is interesting that some institutions have not accepted Virpur as its name. Many cities in India have switched back to their original names, e.g. from Bombay to Mumbai, from Baroda to Vadodara, from Madras to Chennai, from Calcutta to Kolkata and from Broach to Bharuch. So why don’t we change it from Birpur toVirpur? Let us now come to our main topic, the history of Virpur.
It is said that Dhavaldev’s great grandson Virbhadra Chuval left Kalrigadh and came to Virpur. (If some one knows location of Kalrigadh, we would like to know). Virbhadra and Virabariya fought a war and Virabariya lost it even though he was a great warrior. He could not win against Virbhadra’s strong army. Virbhadra killed Virabariya. Thus under Virbhadra, Solanki dynasty from Virpur was eliminated. This took a turn in Virpur’s history. This happened during AD 1225. It appears that this phenomenon is happening in front of us!
Virpur’s unique history is attractive even though its location in Kheda district and Gujarat State is like it is no where on the map! We are interested in knowing its social customs, lifestyle, food, and celebrations of festivals.
Who would not want to know Virpur of Hidambavan area and its history? Siddharaj Jaysinh was a talented person and was fond of knowledge. His army once defeated Malva and he gained its wealth as well as precious books. He appreciated Bhoja’s Sanskrit grammar books and he challenged his people to write even better than that of Bhoja’s writings. Hemchandracharya took that challenge and he composed better than Bhoja’s grammar. Siddharaj was very happy with these new books and he honored Hemchandracharya by declaring “Siddhahem Shabdanu Shahsan Granth” He also had placed this granth on “Ambadi” (A seat on an elephant) during Shobha Yatra of this granth. The king Siddharaj walked in this Shobhayatra in Patan. Virpur was under the jurisdiction of Siddharaj during this time. Virpur was fortunate to be ruled by this great king!
As we mentioned before, Virabariya established Virpur in Hidamabavan region. However, King Virbhadra defeated him in 1225 AD and ruled over Virpur. Since then his dynasty, Kikaji Mansinh, Madhavsinh, Gamsinh, Prithvipal, Vikramsinh and Vithalsinh ruled over it. Vadasinor was part of Virpur kingdom until then. Vithalsinh moved from Virpur to Dihya area on bank of Mahi River. This area was blessed with natural beauty and was gorgeous. However, his successor Bhimsinh moved its capital to Lunavada. Over the time for one or other reason, Vadasinor, Virpur and Lunavada were politically connected and it seems that they are still connected.
We are indebted to Virabaria for establishing Virpur. However, there is a “blot” story on him. He wanted to marry a Brahmin girl but due to rigid cast system then, he was discouraged to do it. However, he insisted on marrying her, as a result, Brahmins went to Vadodara’s mighty king Gayakvad for help. Gayakwad burnt Virpur three times and in the end Brahmin’s daughter was released.
Another account indicates that the whole area was under the jurisdiction of Kolia Rajput. However, in 1605AD Mohamed Begda’s people established his authority on this region. In short, Muslims started ruling this area in the beginning of 17th century.
We do not seem to get reliable information about Virpur’s history during this time frame.
Later on Aladdin Khilji captured Virpur and nearby Karanta. Since his kingdom was large, he could not directly rule all of these areas. He placed his representatives in various districts. He nominated Alfkhan for this area. Alf khan built a fort in Karant and Virpur was placed under Dariyayi Pir’s supervision. Gujarat’s king Mujfar Shah established Dariyayi Pir’s holy site (Roja) in Virpur after Dariyayi Pir’s death. The pilgrims visit this site each year during “Urns”. Faithful from Rajasthan and Gujarat visit it each year since then.
This area was placed under the representative of Muslim king since it was constantly harassed by Baraiya, Bhils and Kolis and they needed to be checked upon.
Later on Mogul King Akbar took over Gujarat’s kingdom and it became part of Mogul dynasty.
Bahadurkhan Babi from Afghanistan came to Delhi and joined Mogul King Shahjanhan’s army. Bahadurkhan’s son Sherkhan was courageous and skilled warrior. During this time in Chuval area, Kolis were harassing people and they were afraid of them. Sherkhan brought Kolis under control. Pleased with this outcome, Mogul king made him his representative for this area. Sherkhan had four sons namely, Muhammad Mubarizkhan, Muhammad Mujfafar, Jafarkhan and Bajkhan. In 1674AD Muhammad Mubarizkhan was named as army Chief in Kadi and Muhammad Mujfafar was named Kadi’s representative. Jafarkhan and his children established kingdom in Radhanpur, Junagadh, Vadasinor, Virpur and Batva whereas the fourth son, Bajkhan became Ranpur’s jagirdar.
During 1698 AD time frame, Marathas attacked Gujarat. Marathas were shrewd and faithful. Jafarkhan was surprised with sudden attack of Marathas chief army officer Sardar Dhanaji Jadav. Jafarkhan was preparing himself for this potential attack; however he did not expect a sudden attack. He begged Marathas and they freed him after he paid dues. His one son Muhammad Sherkhan and his family became Radhanpur’s king. Jafarkhan’s another son; Salabatkhan had three sons, namely Muhammad Bahadur, Dalilkhan and Jamankhan.
Salabatkhan received Kathiavad (Dhodha) and Vadasinor from Mogul King Aurangzeb. They established army in these areas to protect people. This is known as “Thanu”.
We see the remains of fort in Vadasinor and Virpur today. These forts were built to protect people from Koli and Bhil dacoits.
Salabat Muhammadkhan passed away in 1730AD. His son could not fight against Abhayasinh Rathod and Madhoji Gayakwad in 1732AD war and he finally came to Vadasinor.
The time was now in favor of Marathas. Nobody could face Marathas. Sherkhan recognized this situation and he stayed put where he was. His son, Mahobatkhan solidified his rein over Junagadh and his second son Muhammad stayed as a representative in Vadasinor. Meanwhile, Delhi’s kingdom got weaker and as a result its authority over its representatives was diluted and every small kings and representatives established their own rule over their small territories.
Recapping history so far, our small town Virpur, established by Vira Baria is located at the boundaries of Kheda, Sabarkantha and Panchamahal districts. Its longitude is at 23 degrees 11 minutes and its latitude is at 73 degrees 29 minutes. Due to its location in Hidambavan area, it has witnessed Mahabharat’s history. Virpur’s history without Patan’s knowledge seeking king, Siddharaj Jayasinh would be incomplete. Also, Virbhadra who killed Virabaria in 1225AD and snatched away his kingdom, Virbhadra’s dynasty was associated with Virpur’s history since then. Dolia Rajputs had an influence over Virpur. Virpur fell under Muhammad Begda in 1705AD (?) It also came under Alauddin Khilji. His representative, Alafkhan and Dariyayi Pir also are part of Virpur’s history. There after Gujarat became part of Mogul dynasty.
During Shahjanha’s time, Bahadurkhan from Afghanistan joined Mogul army in Delhi
and his son Sherkhan was appointed Mogul’s representative to eliminate Koli’s terror in Chuval area. His third son, Jafarkhan was rewarded with Vadasinor and Virpur territories and later on his family ruled over. During Mogul king Aurangzeb’s time, Jafarkhan’s son, Salabat Muhammad khan was rewarded with Virpur and Vadasinor territory. Upon weakening of Mogul dynasty, its Muslim representatives became independent rulers of the land they once held.
During this time frame, Umabai’s Nayab Rangoji Traymakrao asked Muhammad Sherkhan for his help to fight Punaji Vithal, Trayambakrao and Fakarudaula. Muhammad’s financial situation was so bad that he could not pay his soldiers and as a result he was not able to help Rangoji.
To improve his financial situation, Muhammad Sherkhan went to Mahua and Nadiad and looted these territories and increased his wealth. From here he proceeded to Kapadvanj and he came across Rangoji’s competitor, Traymakrao. Muhammad Sherkhan’s army was no match to Traymakrao’s huge and mighty army. He lost lot of his men during the fight and he got frightened with the notion that he would be captured. As a result, he ran away with the rest of his people during next night. He came near Kapadvanj and joined Rangoji’s army. Rangoji let him join him even though Muhammad did not help Rangoji when he asked for in the past.
In 1746AD, Muhammad Sherkhan’s army fought with Maratha’s Fakrudaula near Adas. He was not able to withstand his enemy and was injured. Rangoji helped him and he gave him refuge. Perhaps Virpur’s history would have been different if Rangoji did not help him.
Muhammad Sherkhan was a clever and skillful politician. Despite his two defeats, he was now thinking about capturing Ahmedabad. He knew that this was not a simple task and he needed some help. He felt that Idar’s king will support him in this adventure and formulated a strategy to align with Idar and contacted Idar’s maharaja Anandji’s brother, Raisinh and also he asked his former foe, Fakrudaula to join. This trio came up with a scheme to attack Ahmedabad and surrounded this town with troops. His distant cousin, Kamaluddin Javamardkhan was the ruler of Ahmedabad and he was not about to give up and gave them a tough time. The trio was disappointed and gave up the idea of conquering Ahmedabad. Muhammad Sherkhan came back to Vadasinor-Virpur to keep his kingdom intact.
This time frame was full of historical actions. Damajirao Gayakwad had a brother Khanderao. In those days kings had ambitions to conquer other territories and increase their revenue and enjoy the wealth. Damajirao and Khanderao with the help of Kamaluddin Javamardkhan attacked Borsad. Its Nawab (king) was not strong enough to face these people so he asked for help from Muhammad Sherkhan. Muhammad Sherkhan with the help of Idar’s king, who had established good relation with him in the past, saved Nawab’s kingdom.
Muhammad Sherkhan was not interested in Gujarat’s politics anymore and thus time went on. In 1754AD he announced his independence from Ahmedabad and declared himself as a Nawab of Vadasinor-Virpur. He lived four years there after peacefully and passed away in 1758 AD. His eldest son, Mohbatkhan declared himself as the Nawab of Junagadh and his younger son, Sardar Muhammad declared himself as a Nawab of Vadasinor state.
The sun and truth are two sides of a coin. A cloud covers sun, however for a short time! Similarly, truth eventually comes out. The shining of truth is history. Who does not want to know the history of Virpur? Each activity of Virpur is history for us even though it may have not been accounted for. Ask Avichal Mata’s hills in Virpur who has witnessed its events. It has witnessed dacoits, looters…..If only it could talk, it would narrate the past events it has witnessed!
Let us summarize the history so far. Events of Hidambavan, Vira Baria’s valour, Virbhadra’s dynasty, Muhammad Begda, Mogul dynasty Akabar and Shahjahan have directly or indirectly touched Virpur. Both rivers of Virpur have witnessed Afghanistan’s Babi Bahadurkhan’s son and his third son Jafarkhan and his lineage’s history. Salamatkhan received Ghogha (Kathiawad) and Vadasinor states during Mogul king Aurangzeb period. His son, Muhammad Sherkhan became independent king after Delhi’s rulers lost its power. He was injured while fighting Maratha’s in 1746AD. He was rescued by Rangoji and he tried and his attempt to conquer Ahmedabad failed and he passed away in 1758AD.
Now let us dive further into the history. When Muhammad Sherkhan’s oldest son became the ruler of Junagadh, his younger son, Sardar Muhammad declared Vadasinor state as an independent state from Junagadh. During that time Vadasinor state was vast. It encompassed Dakor on one side, Kapadvanj on the other side and also included Virpur. He took pride in being a ruler of this state. He was very ambitious as well as clever. Most of the members of his cabinet were Hindus. His minister of affairs was like a ruler. He inherited a brave, intelligent and capable minister of affair from his father’s generation. His name was Sarasram. He was a good politician. He knew that Marathas won’t let Muslim kingdoms live in peace. He thought about saving these kingdoms from wrath of Marathas. He met with his Maratha counter part, Rugnathrao. He made a proposal that Marathas and they will share Vadasinor state’s revenue equally. In return Marathas would not harass Vadasinor’s kingdom. This was agreed upon by Marathas since they were getting revenue with minimum effort on their part. Rugnathrao promised that they won’t attack Vadasinor.
Kings, kingdoms and their zeal to increase their territory was the way of life then. The majority of these kingdoms were plagued with politics. The Habsi Sardar was an army officer for Muhammad Sherkhan. He did not like Sarasram and he was like a thorn for him. After Sherkhan’s death, Habsi Sardar expanded his influence over Sardar Muhammad (Nawab). Nawab would take him into his confidence most of the time. Habsi Sardar and another army officer, Muhammadjahan ganged up on Sarasram and as a result Sarasram was relieved from his post. Until now Marathas were living peacefully with Nawab due to the previously negotiated agreement of equal revenue sharing formula with Muhammad Sherkhan. However, the Habsi Sardar misguided the Nawab and Nawab without giving any thoughts, broke the revenue sharing agreement and stopped paying Marathas’ share. Marathas were annoyed with this.
During this time, Dipsingh ruled Lunavada, a neighboring state. He was a friend of Nawab. Nawab heavily penalized Virpur’s Desai community to balance his treasury. Desai’s of Virpur were not happy with this and they asked for help from Maratha sardar Sadashiv Ramchandra. This cause was enough for already infuriated Marahtas to attack Vadasinor. They surrounded Vadasinor fort with their army. Both sides fought for a few days and Nawab finally realized that his army was no match with its counter part and he gave in. Nawab paid Sadashiv Rs.30,000 and Habsi Sardar became a prisoner of Marathas. Once again, Nawab agreed to honor previous agreement with Peshava Marahtas. However, in reality once again he did not keep up with his commitment and also he did not try to negotiate release of Habsi Sardar from Maratha’s prison. As a result Peshva Maratha sardar Bhagavantrao attacked Nawab’s kingdom in which Nawab and his Babis lost the war and he ran away and hid in near by territory. Meanwhile he gathered Kolis on his side and prepared a small army with their help.
During 1761AD’s Panipat fight, Marathas kingdom became weak Nawab took advantage of this situation and he attacked Vadasinor and won it back. Once again he established Babi’s kingdom. Thus Marathas rule over Vadasinor lasted only for two years. The people of the state did not like Marathas rule.
Surrounded by rivers, Virpur must have been a prosperous town during those days. Ramjanki Bazaar must have been filled with various shops and it must have been crowded with people during that time. The time seems to have changed. It is not same Virpur any more. It is unfortunate to see Virpur’s state of condition nowadays. Virpur itself must be sorry to see its decayed state!
After Sardar Muhammad’s death, his son Jamiyatkhan took over his place and later on Jamiyatkhan’s son Salabatkhan became Vadasinor’s king. Meanwhile, they kept paying their dues to Peshvas Maratha. Salabatkhan died in 1820AD without any children. Junagadh’s king was also distant cousin of Vadasinor’s king. Therefore, in absence of Vadasinor’s heir, Junagadh’s king made a claim on Vadasinor. But British did not honor it and they nominated Salabatkhan’s paternal relative who was closer to British ideology. His name was Adamkhan. British declared Adamkhan as heir of Salabatkhan, and made it look like Salabatkhan himself had chosen Adamkhan as his heir!
Adamkhan’s minister Vajju Majmudar was not as smart as Muhammad Sherkhan’s minister, Sarasram. He did not do a good job in running states affairs. As a result, British let Adamkhan go and they appointed his brother Edalkhan in his place in 1822 AD. He ruled for nine years and died.
All of these rulers were paper tigers only. The real rulers behind them were British who used to get advise from their appointed political agents. After Edalkhan’s death, the political agent selected his son Joravarkhan as a ruler of Vadasinor state. He ruled for 51 years. In short, he did what British told him to do. He passed away in 1882AD.
The political agent nominated Joravarkhan’s son, Manvarkhanji as new ruler of Vadasinor state. Manvarkhanji had a brilliant, intelligent and popular minister, Premchand Shandas. He was a Nagar Brahmin from Thasara. He was ambitious, worked very hard and looked after public interest. He worked as a minister for 30 years. During his time he built 20 miles road connecting Vadasinor to Virpur.
Manvarkhan ruled Vadasinor from 1884AD till 1895AD. He had a son named Jamiyatkhan. Manvarkhan passed away when Jamiyatkhan was only 4 years old. Vadasinor was ruled by under the guidance of British until Jamiyatkhan became eligible for the throne. Premchand also served as Jamiyatkhan’s minister until 1902AD. Mr. Gard replaced Premchand as a minister. He helped Jamiyatkhan.
Jamiyatkhan was a narrow minded ruler. He was surrounded by “yes men”. He had tremendous interest in “Dramas” and to satisfy his hobby in plays, he did everything that he could and he did not look after his people’s interest. Only after assuming power for 2 years, he established Sardar Vijay Drama Company in 1917AD! He was crazy after plays to the extent that he used to spend a lot of energy in making extra ordinary scenes. His company became very popular and people from Ahmedabad and Vadodara cities came to see plays offered by his company. He lost respect of his people since he did not pay attention to their needs.
The drama administrators were very industrious. The famous plays of the time were: Zeri Nagan (Poisonous she cobra), Fareli Jal, Kandam Kesari, Navalkanta etc. They were very popular in far away cities from Vadasinor state. In order to create scenes for these plays, the play directors used to scout reputable “Deshi Natak Samaj” company’s plays. They were using this information to create the scenes for their plays.
Nawab was unpopular not only due to his negligence of his people but also he forced people to buy tickets for plays.
In 1924AD Nawab took his drama company to Ahmedabad.
The doubling of real estate taxes in 1931AD further lowered Nawab’s disliking with his people. The people filed a complain against Nawab to Mumbai’s Governor General, Sir Frederick The other complaints included was force used by Nawab to enforce items such as, people requiring to bow when Begam(Queen) passed by. Its disobedience resulted in punishment of beating and other inhumane treatments.
The People were required to give gifts not only when a boy was born to royal family but also when a girl was born to them. Thus thousands of rupees were colleted by the administrator. Some time the king used to employ “fear techniques” by showing guns to people who opposed him.
Let us capture some of the other bad events took place during Jamiyatkhan’s time.
Virpur and Vadasinor are considered as Vaishnavas strong hold. The Vaishnavas gurus were permitted to these towns without any hesitation by the ruler. According to Natvarlal C Modi’s account for Vadasinor’s history, in 1932AD Vaishanva’s guru, Sri Vallabhlal Maharaj was scheduled to visit Vadasinor. The devotees put a lot of effort for guru’s welcoming ceremony. The guru could not make in time due to the car problem. However, devotees waited eagerly to receive him. Maharajshri’s party arrived at 11:30 pm at Vadasinor’s fort gate. As required by rule, the gates were closed at that time. As a result Maharajshri could not enter the town. The community leaders went to Nawab and made a request to open the gate so that Maharajshri could enter the town. The king demanded a thousand Rupees. Maharajshri was pained by Navab’s decision and he decided not to submit to this blackmail and did not pay and consequently he did not enter the town. The town people were extremely unhappy over this.
Another case is the Tajia floats used during Muslim religion festivals. The Nawab forced people to make Tajias without paying them. Later on he stopped this practice.
One needs to acknowledge his good characteristics also. He treated all of the women folks with respect and honor and never laid his hands on any one of them.
He ruled for 15 years. He did not get along with various ministers during this time frame. Shri Trivedi was the last minister during his power. Shri Kama was the last minister when king was powerless.
Jamiyatkhan came to power in 1915AD and was dethroned in 1937AD. After losing power, He lived in Vadodara until he died in 1945AD. In his absence, since his son Sagir was minor, the regional council took care of affairs of the state. The Maharaja (King) of Lunavada Virabhadraji was the president of council.
In 1947AD, when British left India, Vadasinor state was ready to join Bharatiya Snngh. (Indian Nation). The people of state’s villages were joyous and excited about this. The farming communities led this movement in many villages. Their leader, Chaturbhai Chauhan was locked up in custody by the state and was prosecuted and found guilty. However, the Nadiad appeal court declared him innocent. In 1952AD he was elected to the state assembly as a representative of the district.
The Babi dynasty ended on 10 June, 1948. This was the day when Vadasinor state joined Bharatiya Snagh. The people were now joyous in that they got the freedom. There were some commotions about this. However, finally the wishes of people were accepted.
The following is the history after independence:
In 1948AD, Shri Ochchhavlal Modi was nominated as a Mumbai state’s representative of Vadasinor Taluka after the princely state was dissolved.
In 1952AD, Shri Chaturbhai Chauhan (Pandava) was first elected representative to Dharasabha (Member of Indian Parliament).
In 1957AD, Shri Khushalbhai Dave became member of Dharasabha based on seat allocation to non privileged people.
In 1962AD, Mrs. Shantaben Makvana became member of Dharasabha based on seat allocation to non privileged people.
In 1967AD, Shri Natvarsinh Solanki ( Independent party) became a member of Gujarat state assembly. and Pravinsinh Solanki became a member of Darasabha.
In 1975AD, Champaben Modi (Independent party) was elected as a member of Dharasabha.
The history goes on…….
Salabatkhan, the son of last Navab Jamiyatkhan takes a lot of interest in Cricket, Volleyball and other sports. His pension from government of India was terminated under the government law,
We Hope that Virpur Taluko created under leadership effort by Shri Mukeshbhai Shukla prosper!
The following is Virpur’s rulers’ chronology before it joined Bharat Sangha:
Vira Baria
Virbhadra
Kikaji Mansinh
Madhavsinh
Gamsinh
Prithvipal
Vikramsinh
Vithalsinh
Muhammad Begda’s Representatives (1605AD)
Aladdin Khilji
Alafkhan (Representative of Aladdin Khilji)
Dariyayi Pir (Under Alafkhan’s supervision)
Mogul King (Entire Gujarat under Akbar’s rule)
Sherkhan Babi (Under Mogul king Shahjahan’s rule)
Jafarkhan established Virpur Vadasinor (Jafarkhan was 3rd son of Sherkhan)
Salabat Sherkhan
Muhammad Sherkhan (Passed away in 1758AD)
Sardar Muhammad Sherkhan
Peshwa Maratha Sardar Bhagavantrao (For 2 Years only)
Sardar Muhammad Sherkhan (In 1761AD when Marathas were weakened)
Jamiyatkhan
Sakabatkhan (Died in 1820AD without any heir)
Adamkhan ( Salabatkhan’s distant cousin nominated by British)
Edalkhan ( British removed Adamkhan due to his inability to rule and Adamkhan’s brother, Edalkhan. was nominated in his place)
Joravarkhan (Ruled for 51 years)
Manvarkhan (1884AD to 1895AD)
Jamiyatkhan (1915AD to 1937AD)
Salim
10 June 1948 (Vadasinor/Virpur joined Bharat Sangha)
Note: The above write up on “ Hooray Virpur!!!” is based on English translation of several Gujarati articles written on this subject by shri Jitendra O. Desai in “Shri Virpur Samachar” monthly magazine. We sincerely appreciate the efforts he put in compiling this information.
