Patan, Gujarat

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Patan, an ancient fortified town, was founded in 745 by Vanraj Chavda, the most prominent king of the Chavda Kingdom. He named the city Anhilpur Patan or "Anhilwad Patan" after his close friend and Prime Minister Anhil. It is variously referred to in Sanskrit literature as Anahilpatak, Anahipattan, Anahilpur, Anahilvad Pattan, Pattan etc. These Chalukya rajputs, with Paramaras of Malwa, the Chauhans of Sakambhari and Chandellas of Kalanjar and Mahoba, were serious contestants for supremacy in northern India. At the zenith of their imperial greatness the bounds of Gujarat were extended to cover Saurashtra and Kutch in the West, Lata in the South, Malwa in the East and Southern Rajasthan in the North. Historian Tertius Chandler estimates that Anhilwara was the tenth-largest city in the world in the year 1000, with a population of approximately 100,000.