Gujarat Day 2021: Know history, significance of foundation day of the 'Jewel of Western India'

May 1 marks the foundation day for the state of Gujarat, along with the state of Maharashtra. It was on this day in 1960 that the erstwhile state of Bombay was divided on a linguistic basis and two states namely Gujarat and Maharashtra came into existence.

Often called as ‘Jewel of Western India’, Gujarat has been on the global map since ancient times. It is said that even the Greeks knew about Gujarat.

Gujarat was officially formed in the year 1960 after the idea for the state of Gujarat surfaced in the year 1928 in a magazine called Kumar. Writer and freedom fighter KM Munshi first suggested a concept called Mahagujarat. The suggestion was made in a meeting during the Gujarat Sahitya Sabha which was held in Karachi in the year 1937. The map of Gujarat was first seen in a magazine ahead of a poem by Devshavji Parmar titled ‘Uthtrishta Jagrat’. 

Gujarat played a major role in the businesses of Karachi and Mumbai during the British Raj. The major agricultural produce of the state includes cotton, groundnuts, sugarcane and milk products. 

Around 18,000 villages of the state have been connected to the electrical grid for 24-hours. With Jyotigra, Yojana farms are also electrified in the state. 

Forbes list of the world’s fastest-growing cities in 2010 included Ahmedabad at number 3 after Chengdu and Chongqing from China. Gujarat is home state of Mahatma Gandhi and ‘Iron Man of India’  Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

Maharashtra Day is also celebrated on May 1, along with Labour Day or May Day.