| New Delhi, Gujarat and UP |
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Gujarat
The History of the Gujarat state of India is very ancient. Evidence comes from the prehistoric trading centre - Lothal in Gujarat; situated at head of the Gulf of Cambay; which marks the south-western site of the Indus Civilization. The City of Dholavira, which is estimated to be older that Lothal stands in the Middle of the Rann of Kutch. Gujarat's coastal cities, chiefly Bharuch, served as ports and trading centres for theMaurya and Gupta empires. After the collapse of the Gupta empire in the sixth century, Gujarat flourished as an independent Hindu kingdom. The Maitraka dynasty, descended from a Gupta general, ruled from the sixth to the eighth centuries from their capital at Vallabhi, although they were ruled briefly by Harsha during the seventh century. In 775 the first Parsi(Zoroastrian) refugees arrived in Gujarat from Iran.
The Arab rulers of Sind sacked Vallabhi in 770, bringing the Maitraka dynasty to an end. A branch of the Pratihara clan ruled Gujarat after the eighth century. From the ninth century it was ruled by the Solanki dynasty and saw many invasions by Muslim rulers from Central Asia. Solanki rule continued until Gujarat was incorporated by the Muslim rulers of Delhi in the late thirteenth century.
One of India's first most industrialized states, Gujarat maintains a variety of industries, the principal ones being general and electrical engineering and the manufacture of textiles, vegetable oils, chemicals, soda ash, and cement. New industries include the production of fertilizers and petrochemicals.
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh has an important place in the culture of India; as it is considered to be the birthplace of Hinduism and has many important sites of Hindu pilgrimage. It also holds much of the heritage of the Mughal Empire, including both the famous Taj Mahal and the tomb of the great Mughal Emperor Akbar in Agra and Akbar's capital-palace in Fatehpur Sikri. Throughout its history, it was sometimes divided between petty kingdoms and at other times formed an important part of larger empires that arose on its east or west, including the Mauryan, Gupta, Kushan and Mughal empires. Uttar Pradesh attracts a large number of visitors both national and international.
The city of Agra, which gives access to three world heritage sites: Taj Mahal; Agra Fort; and Fatehpur Sikri, the world famous 16th century capital city near Agra, built by the Mughal emperor Akbar, whose mausoleum in Agra is also worth a visit. The holiest of the holy cities of Hindus on the banks of sacred rivers Ganga and the Yamuna: Varanasi (also considered world's oldest city), Ayodhya (birth place of Lord Rama), Mathura (birth place of Lord Krishna) and Allahabad (the confluence or 'holy- Triveni sangam' of the sacred Ganga-Yamuna and the erstwhile Saraswati rivers). |
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