2409:40C1:302B:1F20:8000:0:0:0 at 04:35, 18 September 2025

2025-09-18T04:35:34Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2013}}

'''Lunavada''' (also transliterated as '''Lunawada''') is a [[Municipal council (India)|municipality]] in the [[Mahisagar district|Mahisagar]] district, in the [[Gujarat]] state of [[India]]. Lunawada is the administrative headquarters of the Mahisagar district and one of the most developing towns of central Gujarat.

{{Infobox settlement
| name = Lunawada
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name =
| nickname =
| settlement_type = town
| image_skyline = Mahisagar District's Court.png
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| pushpin_map = India Gujarat
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Gujarat, India
| coordinates = {{coord|23.1333|N|73.6167|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Gujarat]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Mahisagar district|Mahisagar]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 =
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total = 36,954
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = 389230
| area_code_type = Telephone code
| area_code = 02674
| registration_plate = GJ 35
| website = http://www.lunavada.com
| footnotes =
}}

Lunawada was formally a Taluka, administrative subdivision, in the [[Panchmahal district|Panchmahal]] district up to 15 August 2013. ''Lunavada town'' is the ''only'' district administrative headquarter in Gujarat which is deprived of railway connectivity.

==History==
{{main|Lunavada State}}
[[File:Lunavada State flag.jpg|thumb|left|Lunavada State flag]]
Lunavada was the capital of [[Lunavada State]], a [[princely state]] that predated the town's existence by around 200 years, having been founded in 1225. The state's rulers claimed descent from the Solanki or [[Chaulukya dynasty]]; they constituted one of the sixteen branches of the Solanki tribe and were known as the Virpura Solanki's. Before Lunavada was founded, the state's capital was the town of [[Virpur, Kheda|Virpur]], across the [[Mahi River]] to the west of Lunavada.<ref name="Gazetteer">{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=James M. |title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Rewa Kántha, Nárukot, Cambay, and Surat states |date=1880 |publisher=Government Central Press |location=Bombay |pages=124–131 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pb4IAAAAQAAJ |accessdate=22 May 2020}}</ref>

According to traditional accounts, the town of Lunavada was founded in 1434 by Bhim Singh, the [[rana (title)|rana]] of Virpur. On a hunting trip across the Mahi River, Bhim Singh ended up lost and separated from his companions. He came across an [[Sadhu|ascetic]]'s hut and, after respectfully greeting the man, was told that, while passing east through the forest, he would see a [[hare]] crossing his path. The ascetic told him that he was to found a city on that spot. Bhim Singh did as he was told and saw the hare at a place now marked by the [[Bhavaneshvari Mata]] temple; there he built the town. Since the ascetic was a devotee of the god [[Luneshwar]], the rana named the new town Lunavada out of respect.<ref name="Gazetteer"/>

[[James M. Campbell]] noted that the story of the ascetic and the hare was a common founding legend for cities. He suggested that, instead, the name Lunavada was in honor of Bhim Singh's relative Lavanprasad, the ruler of [[Dholka]]. Campbell said that Bhim Singh was probably driven across the Mahi by the growing power of the Dholka kings, and that he chose Lunavada as the site of his new capital because of its strong defensive position. A rugged hill, subsequently fortified, overlooked the town, and a tangled forest behind it offered a safe escape route if necessary.<ref name="Gazetteer"/>

Bhim Singh's direct descendants continued to rule Lunavada until around 1600. The first half of the 1500s apparently saw conflicts with the [[Gujarat Sultanate]]; Bodi Moghal, a general of [[Mahmud Begada]], conquered nearby [[Balasinor]] in 1505, and a disturbance of some sort occurred in 1545. A paper dating to 1586 indicates the territorial extent of Lunavada State at the time: it still included Virpur and its dependent villages, which later came under [[Balasinor State]], as well as some territory in the north conquered from the [[thakur (title)|thakur]]s of [[Meghraj]], who also belonged to the Virpura Solanki clan. However, the territory to the south of the [[Panam River]], which later became part of Lunavada State, was not yet under Lunavada's control. Instead, it was controlled by the rulers of [[Godhra]] as well as a branch of the Solankis based at [[Jhanor]], near [[Thasra]].<ref name="Gazetteer"/>

Around 1600, the direct line descended from Bhim Singh died out, and a collateral relative named Kumbho Rano was brought from the village of [[Gandhari, Gujarat|Gandhari]] to become king of Lunavada. One of his descendants, Nar Singh, laid the foundation of the historical Lunavada town wall in 1718; four years later, in 1722, he paid a tribute of 80,000 [[rupee]]s to [[Haidar Kuli Khan]], the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] viceroy of Gujarat. Throughout the 1700s, Lunavada State lost territory to the neighbour Balasinor State, but it gained new lands in the south due to the decline of the Godhra chiefs and the Solanki thakurs.<ref name="Gazetteer"/>

In the census of 1872, Lunavada was recorded as having a population of 9,662, of whom 7,206 were [[Hinduism|Hindus]] and 2,456 were [[Islam|Muslims]].<ref name="Gazetteer"/>
[[File:Medieval_Palace_of_Lunawada.jpg|thumb|Medieval Palace of Lunawada]]
During the [[British Raj]], [[Lunavada State]] was one of the [[princely states]] under the [[Rewa Kantha Agency]] of [[Bombay Presidency]]. It was a second class state in the [[Rewa Kantha Agency]]. One important ruler was Wakhat Singhhji (1867–1919) a [[Solanki (clan)|Solanki]] [[Rajput]] Maharana of high lineage. The 1901 census records that the population had a decrease of 28% in the previous decade, due to [[famine]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/l/lunawada.html |title=Lunawada Princely State (9 gun salute) |access-date=7 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602100957/http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/l/lunawada.html |archive-date=2 June 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Lunavada |volume=17 |page=123}}</ref>

The last ruler of Lunawada was Maharaja Vir Bhadra Singh. The best known historical place near Lunawada is Kaleshwari where there are Pandav chori, foot prints of Bhima, ancient water kund (small bodies of water sometimes sanctified), several vaavs (large wells with accessible steps to the water level) and the Lord Shiva temple.

Col. HH Maharaja Sri Virbhadrasinhji Ranjitsinjhi 1929/1986, born 8 June 1910 in Lunawada, invested with full ruling powers on 2 October 1930, Member of the Chamber of Princes, married Maharajkumari Manher Kunwari [HH Maharani Kusum Kunwari of Lunawada], daughter of Capt. HH Maharana Raj Saheb Shri Sir Amarsinhji Banesinhji (Gangubha) of [[Wankaner State|Wankaner]], and had issue. He died in 1986.

==Godhra-Lunawada Railway==
The Godhra-Lunawada Railway was a 2 ft 6in/762 mm narrow gauge(NG) line, opened in 1912 and reached Lunawada in 1914.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918 |pages=228 |work=Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta |url=https://archive.org/details/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/page/n236/mode/1up?view=theater}}</ref> The railway length of {{convert|49|km|mi}} and was served from the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CIR) station Godhra. The railway was owned and managed by the Gujarat Railways Company. The company was taken over by the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway(BB&CIR) in 1922. An Agreement was signed 30 Apr 1914 between the Secretary of State for India and Killick, Nixon & Company of Bombay with partners Lowther Robert Windham Forest, Sir Henry Edward Eddleston Procter, Thomas William Berkett, Walter Henry Ogston and Harold Percival Hebblethwaite. The Company shall construct, complete and make ready and fit for opening for public traffic throughout on a route to be selected and determined by the Secretary of State, a railway, from the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Station at Nadiad to Kapadvanj; and a railway from the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Station at Godhra to Lunawada. This Line was closed in 2002 following [[Godhra train burning|The Godhra Train Incident]] which killed 59 people.

==References==
{{reflist}}
* Bruce Colin.R. Deyell, John. S, Rhodes Nicholas, Spengler William.f. The Standard Guide to South Asian Coins and Paper Money since 1556 AD, Krause Publications Wisconsin USA 1981

[[Category:1434 establishments in Asia]]
[[Category:15th-century establishments in India]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 1430s]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Mahisagar district]]

Lunavada - Revision history

2409:40C1:302B:1F20:8000:0:0:0 at 04:35, 18 September 2025