Gujarat Day 2023: History and Significance of Gujarat Foundation Day

Gujarat Day 2023: 1 May marks the foundation day of the state of Gujarat. On this day in 1960, the erstwhile state of Bombay was bifurcated on linguistic grounds and two states were formed – Maharashtra and Gujarat. Gujarati, the official language of the state of Gujarat, originates as an Indo-Aryan language that derived from local Prakrit and Sanskrit.

Read also: Why is 1st May celebrated as Maharashtra Day and Gujarat Day? History and Significance

Often referred to as the ‘Jewel of Western India’, Gujarat has been on the world map since ancient times. Gujarat was officially formed in the year 1960 after a publication for the state in the year 1928 in a magazine named Kumar. Freedom fighter and writer KM Munshi originally proposed a concept called Mahagujarat.

In 2010, Ahmedabad was ranked No. 3 on the list of the world’s fastest growing cities published by Forbes, after the Chinese cities of Chongqing and Chengdu. Gujarat is also the home state of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, known as the ‘Iron Man of India’.

The earliest written account of Gujarat’s 2000-year maritime history is documented in a Greek book titled ‘The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by the Merchants of the First Century’.

About 18,000 villages in the state have been connected to the electricity grid for 24-hour power supply. Farms are also electrified along with Jyotigraha scheme in the state.

Gujarat also played an important role in the commerce of Mumbai and Karachi during the British Raj. The state’s primary agricultural products include peanuts, sugarcane, cotton, and milk products.

This proposal was put forward in a conference during the Gujarat Sahitya Sabha held in the city of Karachi in 1937. The plan for Gujarat was first seen in a magazine titled ‘Uttarishta Jagrat’ before a poem by Devshavji Parmar.

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