Navsari Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Head-quarters of the prdnt of the same name, Baroda State, situated in 20° 57' N. and 72° 56" E., 147 miles from Bombay, with which it is connected by the main line of the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway. It is an ancient place, known to Ptolemy as Nasaripa. Population (1901), 21,451, including 12,357 Hindus, 4,756 ParsTs, and 2,753 Musalmans. The town is intimately connected with the history of the Parsis in India. After the flight from Persia of those Zoroastrians who refused to abandon their faith at the bidding of the Muhammadan conquerors, a large band landed on the western coast of Gujarat, of whom some betook themselves to Navsari in 1142. Here they throve and prospered, and their mobeds or sacerdotal class thereafter made the town their stronghold, a position which has been maintained to the present day. The town itself shows signs of comfort and even of wealth, the streets are well watered, and the sanitation is praiseworthy. In the country round about are numerous detached houses with good gardens, the property of wealthy ParsI merchants who have retired from business elsewhere to their ancestral home. In the neighbourhood of these houses are plantations of date-palms, which are- resorted to by visitors and inhabi- tants alike for the purpose of imbibing the famous toddy of the district. Date-palms grow everywhere, but the toddy that is obtained near Navsari is deemed the most delicious and healthy. Owing to the proximity of the town to the sea, the climate is pleasant from the middle of April to the middle of June, as a mild breeze constantly cools the air. The water too is accounted most wholesome. Malhar Rao Gaikwar was fond of living here, and it was in this town that he was married for the fourth time. Before celebrating the nuptials he was married in due form to a silk cotton-tree, which was then formally destroyed, the object being to avert misfortune. He had been married twice, but had no son and heir ; and it was hoped by destroying his third wife, the tree, that his fourth venture would prove fortunate. Among public buildings of importance are the high school and the Anglo-vernacular school, the former known as the Sir Kawasji Jahanglr Zarthosti Madrasa, and the latter as the Dadabhai Kawasji Tata school. Both buildings are modern, and the Baroda State has liberally assisted in their construction and maintenance. There are also a civil hospital, a public market, a library and reading-room, a jail, a distillery, and fine offices for the Subah and prdnt Judge. Among other objects of interest in Navsari are the Towers of Silence for the reception of the ParsI dead, the large Fire-Temple known as Atash Bahram, and the smaller ones or agidris. To the larger temple all the young mobeds from Bombay and elsewhere are sent for confirmation, or to receive the apostolic succession of their order.
The town was once famous for its cotton cloth, which was in great demand at the English and Dutch factories of Surat in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries for export to Europe; but this is produced no longer. Hand-loom weaving is carried on to some extent, but only coarse garments are made. The manufacture of the kusti or sacred thread of the Parsis, woven only by the wives of the mobeds, is however a work of considerable skill. The threads are largely exported to all parts of India, and the monopoly secures an industry for mobed ladies. There is also a soap and perfumery factory on the outskirts of the town, which has met with some measure of success. Many workers produce articles of copper, brass, iron, wood, and leather, for local use. A boot and shoe manufactory has lately been established.
Navsari is administered by a municipality, reorganized in 1905 on a partly elective basis, which has an income of Rs. 8,500 from customs, excise, and tolls, besides a State grant of Rs. 5,500. The town has a large import and export trade by both rail and water. For the latter the Purna river, on the left or south bank of which the town is situated, affords fair conveniences, and the harbour is being improved.
