Champaner

Champaner चंमपानेर شمبنر is a historical city in the state of Gujarat, in western India. It is located in Panchmahal district, 47 kilometres from the city of Vadodara. The city was briefly the capital of Gujarat.

It was founded by Vanraj Chavda, the most prominent king of the Chavda Dynasty, in the 8th century. He named it after the name of his friend and general Champa, also known later as Champaraj. By the later 15th century, the Khichi Chauhan Rajputs held Pavagadh fort above the town of Champaner. The young Sultan of Gujarat, Mahmud Begada, deciding to attack Champaner, started towards it with his army on 4 December 1482. After defeating the Champaner army, Mahmud captured the town and besieged Pavagadh, the well-known hill-fortress, above Champaner, where king Jayasimha had taken refuge. He captured the Pavagadh fort on 21 November 1484, after a siege of 20 months.^[1] He then spent 23 years rebuilding and embellishing Champaner, which he renamed Muhammadabad^{[citation needed]}, after which he moved the capital there from Ahmedabad. In 1535, after chasing away Bahadur Shah Humayun personally lead some 300 Mughals to scale the fort on spikes driven into rock and stonework in a remote and unguarded part of the citadel built over a precipitous hillside. Large heaps of gold, silver and jewels were the war booty even though Bahadur Shah had managed to escape with a lot to Diu ^[2] Champaner is today the site of the Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, which UNESCO designated a World Heritage Site in 2004.

Sultan Begada also built a magnificent Jama Masjid in Champaner, which ranks amongst the finest architectural edifices in Gujarat. It is an imposing structure on a high plinth, with a central dome, two minarets 30 meters in height, 172 pillars, seven mihrabs, and carved entrance gates with fine latticed windows called "jalis"

In popular culture

The 2001 award-winning film Lagaan is based in a village in the region of Champaner, during the British Raj, when an Indian Army cantonment was stationed there.

See also

• Gujarat Sultanate
• Panchmahal district

Notes

1. ^ Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). The Delhi Sultanate, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.164-5
2. ^ The Mughal Throne by Abraham Eraly pg 44

Coordinates: 22°29′09″N 73°32′14″E / 22.4859°N 73.5371°E / 22.4859; 73.5371