View source for Navsari Town

=Navsari Town, 1908=

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%">
This article has been extracted from <br/>

THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908.<br/>

OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
</div>
|} 
[[Category:India|N]]
[[Category:Places|N]]
''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.