Surendranagar district

Surendranagar is an administrative district in Saurashtra region of Gujarat state in India. It has a population of approximately 1.7 million people. Surendranagar, along with the twin city of Wadhwan, has a total of 400,000 inhabitants, and is known as "Camp". Surendranagar district takes its name from its headquarters Surendranagar. Originally it was the place where the British political agent for Wadhwan lived and became known as Wadhwan Camp. After the agent left in 1946, Wadhwan Camp was renamed after Surendrasinhji Jorawarsinhji (1922-1983), then-ruler of Wadhwan, and became known as Surendranagar. Even today the city is still called the 'Camp' locally from its old name. The district overall, when the various princely states had been merged, was known as 'Zalavad', the land of the Jhala Rajputs, who held many of the states. Their name derives from an apocryphal incident in the palace of Harpaldev, their ancestor. A wild elephant had burst into a courtyard where his children were playing, but their mother managed to fend off the elephant and rescue the children. As she held them, they received the name 'Jhala' (or Zala) from the Gujarati word Jhalavun (to hold). Several small-scale archaeological expeditions in the district have found only a few traces of prehistoric man. Tools from the Late Stone Age were found in Sejakpur in Sayla taluk in 1957–58. Near Rangpur in 1931 was found a Harappan site, the first Harappan site found in Gujarat and evidence that the Indus Valley civilization extended to Saurasthra. In fact, Rangpur was the first site found that lasted longer than the Harappan civilization itself. However, it seems Rangpur was not a major commercial centre since no seals were found here. The early history of this district is unclear, but most likely follows the same pattern as the other districts of Saurashtra. The district was probably ruled by the Mauryas, then Indo-Greeks. Afterwards it was ruled by the Western Satraps, and then by the Gurjara-Pratiharas.