Baroda

Baroda (or Vadodara) is, by Indian standards a medium sized city located in the state of Gujarat in the west of India.

It is home to almost two million people, the beautiful Maharaja Palace and the Maharaja Sayajirao University (M.S.U.) which is famous for its fine arts department.

It is the second biggest city of Gujarat (after Ahmedabad), and known as its cultural capital.

Major industries include textiles, petrochemicals, engineering and a small but growing software industry.

While not having major tourist attractions Baroda is generally considered a good place to live, and an intersting mix of traditional indian areas like the old city, various temples, etc., and modern developments like shopping centres and multiplex cinemas.

History

The earliest mention of Baroda is in a grant or charter of 812 that identifies it as Vadapadraka, a village attached to the nearby town of Ankottaka. In the 10th century Vadapadraka replaced Ankottaka as the main town.

Baroda more recent history began when the Maratha leader Pilaji Gaekwad (or Gaekwar) conquered the city from the Mughal empire in 1721. The Gaekwads were granted the city as a fief by the Peshwa, the nominal leader of the Maratha empire. After the Maratha defeat by the Afghans at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, control of the further regions of the empire by the Peshwas weakened, and the Gaekwad Maharajas ruled Baroda until Indian independence. In 1802, the British intervened to defend a Maharaja that had recently inherited the throne from rival claimants, and Baroda concluded a treaty with the British that recognized their independence from the Maratha empire, and guaranteed the Maharajas of Baroda local autonomy in return for recognizing British sovereignty.

Maharaja Sayajirao III, who took the throne in 1875, did much to modernize Baroda, establishing compulsory primary education, a library system, a university, and model textile and tile factories, which helped to create Baroda's modern textile industry. With India's independence in 1947, the last ruling Maharaja of Baroda acceded to India. Baroda was added to Bombay state, which was divided into the states of Gujarat and Maharastra in 1960. Because Gujarati was Baroda's predominant language, it became part of Gujarat.

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