Rajkot 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.
Rajkot Town
Capital of the State of the same name in Kathi- awar, Bombay, situated in 22 18' N. and 70 50' E., at the junction of the Bhavnagar-Gondal-Junagarh-Porbandar, the Jamnagar, and the Morvi Railways. Population (1901), 36,151, including the civil and military stations. Hindus number 25,927, Musalmans 6,637, and Jains 3,071, Rajkot is the residence of the Agent to the Governor in Kathiawar, and contains several central institutions. Among these is the Rajkumar College, which owed its inception to the foresight of Colonel Keatinge, V.C., Political Agent from 1863 to 1867, and was opened by Sir Seymour FitzGerald, Governor of Bombay, in 1870, and for many years presided over by the late Mr. Chester MacNaghten.
This institution provides a suitable education and training not only for the sons of chiefs of Kathiawar but also for cadets of other States in the Bombay Presidency, The college itself is a fine building in the Venetian Gothic style, amply equipped with a gymnasium, a racquet court, a rifle range, and a cricket pavilion. The Jubilee Memorial Institute, an imposing building consisting of the Connaught Hall, the Lang Library, and the Watson Museum, is situated in a picturesque public garden. The Rasulkhanji Hospital for Women and Chilaren, built at the expense of the Nawab of Junagarh, and maintained jointly by the chiefs of Kathiawar, is a well-equipped institution in charge of a European lady doctor. The West Hospital, built conjointly by Government and the chiefs of Kathiawar, is a fully equipped hospital in charge of the Agency Surgeon, who has at his disposal the services of a qualified Assistant Surgeon and a trained English nurse.
The Male Tiaining College and the Barton Female Training College are also maintained by the chiefs of KSthiawar. In the military limits are a church and a clock-tower, the latter built by the late Jam of Jamnagar. In the civil station are the lines of the Kathiawar Agency police, and the Rajkot Central prison. In the neighbourhood are the Rajkot State stud farm and dairy, and two large artificial tanks which supply Rajkot with water and also irrigate a few square miles of country. There is one cotton-ginning factory in Rajkot, but the prin- cipal trade is in grain and a local building stone, The river Aji, which washes the walls of the town, is spanned by two bridges and an aqueduct. The bridge used for foot traffic was built by the late Maharaja of Bhaunagar. The high school was attended in 1903-4 by 2 93 pupils. The Irish Presbyterian Mission has a central station here. The income of the cantonment funds in 1903-4 was Rs. 1,714.
