page_title: Junagadh
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Junagadh / History / Early history
caption_attribution_description: English: This image is of Ashoka's Rock edict at Junagadh. I have captured it when I visited Janagadh early 2007.
context_page_description: Junagadh is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, 355 km southwest of the state capitals Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, it is the 7th largest city in the state.
  Literally translated, Junagadh means "Old Fort". A different etymology derives the name from "Yonagadh". It is also known as "Sorath", the name of the princely state of Junagadh.
  After a brief struggle between India and Pakistan, Junagadh voted to join India in a plebiscite held on 20 February 1948. It was a part of Saurashtra state and later Bombay state. In 1960, in consequence of the Maha Gujarat movement, it became part of the newly formed Gujarat state.
context_section_description: An early structure, Uparkot Fort, is located on a plateau in the middle of town. It was originally built in 319 BCE during the Mauryan dynasty by Chandragupta. The fort remained in use until the 6th century, when it was abandoned for about 300 years, then rediscovered by the Chudasama ruler Graharipu in 976 CE. The fort was subsequently besieged 16 times over an 1000-year period. One unsuccessful siege lasted twelve years.
  Within 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) of Uparkot Fort is an inscription with fourteen Edicts of Ashoka on a large boulder. The inscriptions are in Brahmi script in a language similar to Pali and date from 250 BCE. On the same rock there is a later inscription in Sanskrit, which was added around 150 CE by Mahakshatrap Rudradaman I, the Saka (Scythian) ruler of Malwa, and a member of the Western Kshatrapas dynasty, and which has been described as "the earliest known Sanskrit inscription of any extent". Another inscription dates from about 450 CE and refers to Skandagupta, the last Gupta emperor. Old rock-cut Buddhist caves in this area, dating from well before 500 CE, have stone carvings and floral work. There are also the Khapra Kodia Caves north of the fort, and the Bava Pyara Caves south of the fort. The Bava Pyara caves contain artworks of both Buddhism and Jainism.
  The Maitraka dynasty ruled Gujarat from 475 to 767 CE. The founder of the dynasty, General Bhatarka, military governor of Saurashtra peninsula under the Gupta empire, established himself as the independent ruler of Gujarat around the last quarter of the 5th century.
caption: Ashoka's Rock Edict at Girnar, Junagadh
exif: {"Image Make": "Nokia", "Image Model": "6681", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "138", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "526", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4237", "EXIF ExposureTime": "197/3945", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "250", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:02:20 14:05:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:02:20 14:05:46", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "4323/1000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "84/25", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "9/2", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1280", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "960", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up"}