- Sanjan (Gujarat)
Sanjan is the second station in
Gujarat (the first station is Umbergaon) just inside the Gujarat-Maharashtra border, when travelling on the Western Railway line. Sanjan is in theValsad district.Sanjan is believed to have been founded by Zoroastrian refugees who sought asylum in Gujarat "c."
936 . Those Zoroastrians, whose descendants are today known as the Parsis, are thought to have named the settlement after Sanjan in Greater Khorasan, the city of their origin.Sanjan Bunder as it is locally known is a part of Sanjan town, Gujarat situated in the valsad district, 10 Miles before the Portuguese colonised Daman, During The 1700s There was a huge influx of Spanish and French Muslim Traders who settled in Sanjan to begin trading Indian Spices which was a hugely profitable market at the time, They married Hindu Gujarati women who later on went on to convert to Islam, The current Muslim population of Sanjan are believed to be the descendents of these people.
Since 2002 the World Zarathushti Cultural Foundation, Mumbai has been conducting a series of archaeological excavtions at the ancient mounds at Sanjan Bandar and its vicinity. Three years (2002, 2003 & 2004) of excavations have revealed a large city (approx 2km x 1km) on the banks of the Varoli Creek/River which was occupied from the 8th to the 13th centuries AD. That the city was involved directly in the trade activities of the Indian Ocean littoral is evidenced by the large amounts of West Asian and Chinese ceramics as also by the numerous numismatic finds and the amazingly large amounts of West Asian Glassware and Beads. The site has also yielded the first definitive proof of Parsi (Zoroastrian) occupation at Sanjan in the form of a "dokhma" or Tower of Silence (a uniquely Zoroastrian mortuary structure). The excavations and explorations have also yielded interesting art historical data in the form of Hindu (probably Silahara Period)sculptural and structural remains. Final report writing is in progress.
ee also
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Qissa-i Sanjan , an account of the early years of Zoroastrian settlers in India.
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