# Kathiawar

Kathiawar is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about 61,000 km$^2$ (23,500 sq mi) bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat in the east. In the northeast, it is connected to the rest of Gujarat and borders on the low, fertile hinterland of Ahmedabad. It is crossed by two belts of hill country and is drained radially by nine rivers which have little natural flow aside from in monsoon months, thus dams have been built on some of these. Kathiawar ports have been flourishing centres of trade and commerce since at least the 16th century.

## Etymology and history

The name Kathiawad seems to have been derived from the early settlements of Kathikas or Kathis who entered Gujarat from Sindh in early centuries of the Common Era.

## History
### Literary comment

The state of the region in the early nineteenth century is shown in Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poetical illustration, "Scene in Kattiawar", to an engraving of a painting by Clarkson Frederick Stanfield.

## Districts in Kathiawad Region

* Amreli
* Bhavnagar
* Botad
* Junagadh
* Gir Somnath
* Devbhumi Dwarka
* Jamnagar
* Rajkot
* Porbandar
* Morbi
* Surendranagar

## Geography and ecosystem

The natural vegetation on most of the peninsula is xeric scrub. A range of low hills known as the Gir Hills occupies the south-central portion of the peninsula. The highest of these is Girnar. The hills are home to an enclave of tropical dry broadleaf forest.
Gir National Park and its surroundings host the last remaining Asiatic lion population. Other national parks in Kathiawar are Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar on the Gulf of Cambay, and Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch, near Jamnagar.

## Antiquity (places: history, archaeology, nature, religion)

* Dwarika
* Somnath
* Sasan Gir and interiors / Kathi territories in Amreli-Bhavnagar districts
* Vallabhi
* Junagadh
* Shatrunjay Hills, Palitana
* Sihor
* Palitana
* Virpur (Rajkot) and Gondal
* Jamnagar & Marine National Park
* Velavadar
* Old cities of Gondal, Wadhvan, Morbi, Wankaner
* Diu, India

## Notable characters and figures
### Religion, pre-history, spirituality

* Sudama
* Baba Balak Nath
* Neminath
* Narsinh Mehta
* Dayanand Saraswati
* Jalaram Bapa
* Shrimad Rajchandra
* Morari Bapu
* Ramesh Bhai Ojha
* Gangasati
* Kanji Swami

### Society, ideology, politics, leadership

* Mahatma Gandhi
* Muhammad Ali Jinnah
* U. N. Dhebar
* Virchand Gandhi
* Fatima Jinnah
* Gangubai Kothewali

### Governance, nobility, reforms, politics

* Muhammad Mahabat Khan III
* Maharaja Sir Takhtsinhji Gohil of Bhavnagar
* Maharaja Bhagvatsinhji of Gondal
* Maharaja Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja of Jamnagar
* Maharaja Krishnakumar Sinjhji Gohil
* Balwantrai Mehta
* Jivraj Mehta

### Art, literature, poetry, journalism, socialism

* Jhaverchand Meghani
* Kalaguru Ravishankar Raval
* Dalpatram
* Nanalal Dalpatram Kavi
* Sursinhji Takthasinhji Gohil
* Dula Bhaya Kag
* Amrut Ghayal
* Kavi Kant
* Harilal Upadhyay
* Chunilal Madia
* Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh
* Rajendra Shukla
* Ramesh Parekh
* Ruswa Majhalumi

### Sports

* K. S. Ranjitsinhji
* Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji
* Vinoo Mankad
* Ashok Mankad
* Dilip Doshi
* Karsan Ghavri
* Ashok Patel
* Dhiraj Parsana
* Ajay Jadeja
* Parthiv Patel
* Ravindra Jadeja
* Siddharth Trivedi
* Cheteshwar Pujara
* Jaydev Unadkat
* Chetan Sakariya

### Cinema, entertainment, music, folklore

* Mohammed Chhel
* Vijay Bhatt
* Nanabhai Bhatt
* Dina Pathak
* Asha Parekh
* Shahabuddin Rathod
* Parveen Babi
* Dimple Kapadia
* Manhar Udhas
* Pankaj Udhas
* Mehul Kumar
* K. Lal
* Alka Yagnik
* Ben Kingsley
* Hemant Chauhan
* Neeraj Vora
* Himesh Reshammiya
* Dilip Joshi
* Anjum Rajabali
* Anand Gandhi
* Chhel Vayeda
* Pan Nalin
* Sanjay Chhel

### Business, industry, innovation, entrepreneurship, philanthropy

* Nanji Kalidas Mehta
* Muljibhai Madhvani
* Nautamlal Bhagavanji Mehta
* Dhirubhai Ambani
* Abdul Gaffar Billoo
* Ahmed Dawood
* Sam Pitroda
* Tulsi Tanti
* Abdul Sattar Edhi

### History and culture

* Prince Vijaya
* Ra Navghan
* Devayat Bodar
* Kadu Makrani
* Mohkam Singh