Sidhpur

History

Siddhpur is also known as Sri-sthal or a "pious place". It is mentioned in the Rig Veda to be existing at that time as the Dashu village. The legend is that the great sage Dadhyanca or Dadhici had donated his bones to God Indra here at Siddhpur. Siddhpur is also believed to be located at the junction of two rivers Ganges and Saraswati. Even in the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic, it is mentioned that the Pandavas had visited the place while they were in exile. During the 4-5th A.D a large number of people settled in this part. They were Gurjara people from Iran.

Around the 10th century, under Solanki rulers, the city was at the zenith of fame and glory. The ruler Siddhraj Jaisingh built his capital at Siddhpur, thus the name Siddhpur which literally means Siddhrajs town. He built a temple dedicated to Shiva, and also beautiful palaces and one huge tower, some say of 80 metres long. He also brought large numbers of Brahmins from Mathura and had them settled here. During the 12th century Muhammad Ghori destroyed the town on his way to Somnath. Around 30,000 people were killed in the raid, and the Solanki empire was destroyed.

During the Sultanate time the place was under the rule of local dynasty ruling from Palanpur. Later on in the 15th century the place was brought under the Mughal rule by Akbar. Under the Mughal rule the town developed and flourished.