Onshore explorations in and around Porbandar brought to light the remains of a Late Harappan settlement dating back to the 16th-14th centuries BCE. There is evidence to suggest that the Harappan legacy of maritime activity continued till the late Harappan period on the Saurashtra coast. The discovery of ancient jetties along the Porbandar creek signifies the importance of Porbandar as an active center of maritime activities in the past.[1]
Indian theology views Porbandar as the birthplace of Sudama, a friend of Krishna. For this reason, it is also referred to as Sudaamapuri or Sudamapuri.[1]
Porbandar was the seat of the eponymous princely state in British India. Later the state belonged to the Jethwa clan of Rajputs and had been established in the area since at least the mid-16th century. The state was subordinate to the Mughal governor of Gujarat until being overrun by the Marathas in the latter half of the 18th century. After, they came under the authority of the Gaekwad court at Baroda and eventually of the Peshwa.
British influence
In common with the other states of Kathiawar, the state first came into the ambit of British influence in 1807, when the HEIC guaranteed security in the area in lieu of a fixed annual tribute to be paid to the Peshwa and the Gaekwad. In 1817, the Peshwa ceded his share to the HEIC; in 1820, the Gaekwad agreed to have the HIEC collect his due tributes in Kathiawar and remit the same to his treasury.
Huzoor Palace built by last ruler of Princely State of Porbandar, Rana Natwarsinhji, in the early 20th century, stands near seashore at Marine Drive in city.
During the British Raj, the state covered an area of 1,663 square kilometres (642 sq mi), encompassing 106 villages and a population, in 1921, of over 100,000 people. It enjoyed a revenue of Rs. 21,00,000/-. By 1947, the rulers held the style of "Highness" and the title of "Maharaj Rana Sahib". They were entitled to a salute of 13 guns as a hereditary distinction.
Like most of Gujarat, Porbandar has a hot semi-arid climate (KöppenBSh) with three distinct seasons: the “cool” from October to March, the “hot” in April, May and early June, and the monsoonal “wet” from mid-June to September.[3]
Almost no rain falls outside the monsoon season, except for a very few late-season tropical cyclones. The most powerful one occurred on 22 October 1975 and produced a storm surge of 4 metres or 13 feet. During the monsoon season, rainfall is exceedingly erratic: Annual rainfall has been as low as 32.2 millimetres or 1.27 inches in 1918 and 34.3 millimetres or 1.35 inches in 1939, but as high as 1,850.6 millimetres or 72.86 inches in 1983—when a cyclone caused over 1,100 millimetres (43.3 in) to fall over four days[4]—and 1,251.7 millimetres or 49.28 inches in 1878.
With a coefficient of variation exceeding fifty percent and an expectation of only 41 percent of mean annual rainfall in the driest year in ten, the Porbandar region is among the most variable in the world[5]—comparable to northern Australia, the Brazilian sertão and the Kiribatese Line Islands.[6]
An illustration of Porbandar's extremely variable rainfall can be seen from 1899 to 1905 when seven successive years produced annual falls of:
83.4 millimetres (3.28 in) in 1899
1,185.1 millimetres (46.66 in) in 1900
99.8 millimetres (3.93 in) in 1901
756.9 millimetres (29.80 in) in 1902
575.2 millimetres (22.65 in) in 1903
124.5 millimetres (4.90 in) in 1904 and
134.4 millimetres (5.29 in) in 1905
Porbandar, owing to its coastal location, is the least hot of all major cities in Gujarat: Average high temperatures do not reach 35 °C or 95 °F in any month.
As of 2011[update] India census, Porbandar (City and urban outgrowth) had a population of 152,760.[9] Males constituted 51.4% of the population and females 48.6%. Porbandar has an average literacy rate of 86.46%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 91.69%, and female literacy is 80.92%. In Porbandar, 9.11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
According to the Census in 2011, the population of Porbander contracted 3.85% in 2011. i.e. the growth rate was negative. The sex ration of the city was 943 in 2011.[clarification needed]
Government and politics
Porbandar city is governed by a municipal council.[10] The municipality is responsible for supply of water to the city using Narmada as the main source of water supply.[11] The municipality supplies around 14 MLD everyday to the city. As per records available from 2008, the city had a coverage of 39% in terms of water supply connections though the coverage of distribution system was reported as 80%.[12] As per another assessment in the year 2016, Porbandar ranked the lowest in terms the volume of water supplied per capita at 59 lpcd (liters per capita per day) as compared to Gandhinagar which ranked the highest at 245 lpcd.[13] Municipality is also responsible for waste management in the city and generates about 66 tonnes per day of waste.[14]
Porbandar is well-connected by road, rail and air to cities across the country.
Port
Porbandar is an ancient port city. At present it has an all-weather port, with direct berthing facilities up to 50,000 DWT ships.[17][18]
Road
"NH8b" Highway
The city is connected through National Highway 27, connecting to Rajkot and Ahmedabad. National Highway 8E Ext (also known as State Highway 6) connects to Jamnagar, Dwarka in the north and Veraval, Bhavnagar in the south.
Major public transport is covered by the private and government buses.
Duleep School of Cricket Ground is one of two cricket grounds in Porbandar. The ground is also the home ground of Saurashtra cricket team. It hosted six cricket matches from 1968 to 1986 before falling of the record. The ground is named after great Indian cricketer and Prince of Nawanagar Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji.
Natwarsinhji Cricket Club Ground is one of two cricket grounds in Porbandar. It hosted a Ranji Trophy match in October 1960 between Saurashtra cricket team and Maharashtra cricket team. The Maharashtra team won by 10 wickets as the match had a low scores with Saurashtra scored 94 & 139 and Maharashtra scored 187 and 47/0. It was scheduled for three days but was completed in two. This was only cricket played on the ground.
References
^ abA.S Gaur, Sundaresh, A.D. Odedra (2004). "New light on the maritime archaeology of Porbandar, Saurashtra Coast, Gujarat". Man and Environment. 29 (1): 103–107.((cite journal)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Dewar, Robert E. and Wallis, James R; ‘Geographical patterning of interannual rainfall variability in the tropics and near tropics: An L-moments approach’; in Journal of Climate, 12; pp. 3457-3466
^Van Etten, Eddie J.B.; ‘Inter-annual Rainfall Variability of Arid Australia: greater than elsewhere?’ Australian Geographer; 40 (2009), pp. 109-120
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