Limbdi State
| Limbdi State લીંબડી રિયાસત |
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| Princely State of British India | |||||
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| History | |||||
| • | Established | c. 1500 | |||
| • | Accession to the Union of India | 1947 | |||
| Area | |||||
| • | 1931 | 632 km2(244 sq mi) | |||
| Population | |||||
| • | 1931 | 40,688 | |||
| Density | 64.4 /km2 (166.7 /sq mi) | ||||
 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. |
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Limbdi State was a princely state and was entitled to a 9-gun salute during the British Raj. It was ruled at that time by members of the Jhala dynasty. It belonged to Kathiawar Agency. After India's independence from British colonial rule in 1947, Limbdi was integrated into the Indian Union with other princely states.
During local princely states existence in Kathiyawad, there were approximately 222 small & medium princely states. During that era, Limbdi was also a princely state. During the time span from 1768 to 1948, many rulers had taken charge of Limbdi starting from Harisinhji, Bhojrajji, Harbhamji, Fatesinhji, Jashwantsinhji, Jatashankar.
During the reign of king Jaswantsinhji, Swami Vivekananda had stayed in the city Limbdi during his visit of Saurashtra. King Jaswantsinhji had become the friend of Swami Vivekananda. They had stayed together in Mahabaleshwar during 4-May-1892 to 28-May-1892. Spiritual discussion held between them has been well depicted in the Daily Diary of king Jaswantsinhji. It is believed that king Jaswantsinhji had inspired & requested Swami Vivekanand to participate in the World Religion Conference.
After Sir Jaswantsinhji, Sir Jatashankar took over the charge of the Limbdi state and introduced modern values during his rule. For the purpose of making people aware of the ruling of the state, he had initiated tradition of publishing Limbdi Darbari Gazette in 1909. For ensuring well-managed administration of Limbdi state, a tradition of "Sudharai (improvement)" was executed which consisted of 30 members out of which 18 members used to belong to public body and 12 used to belong to administrative body. In this arrangement, main social benefits such as cleanliness, health, fire brigade and lighting were made available as and when need arises.
There were several princely cities in Saurashtra, but Limbdi was the first city to install electricity bulbs on the city roads during the reign of King Jatashankar. During Jatashankar's rule, utmost importance was given to improving the condition of agriculture and farmers. For making proper use of land resources, the king used to give waste lands and barren lands to needy farmers for 3 years for development without collecting any taxes from them. In 1908, the cultivated land was 11,600,000 acres (47,000 km2) which reached to 18,100,000 acres (73,000 km2) in 1935. For the upliftment of farmers, Limbdi Co-operative Bank was established. By forming various farmers oriented laws, they had been made free from the burden of debt. During this time, famines(droughts) used to happen over and over again. But the king always encouraged the farmers to store food & fodder to meet future contingencies. Therefore in 1912, Limbdi state didn't have to suffer much due to famine.
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