History
Modern Baroda is a great and fitting memorial
to its late ruler, Sayaji Rao Gaekwad III (1875-1939 AD). It was the
dream of this able administrator to make Baroda an educational,
industrial and commercial centre and he ensured that his dream would
come true.
Baroda is situated on the banks of the
river Vishwamitri (whose name is derived from the great saint Rishi
Vishwamitra). The city was once called Chandravati, after its ruler Raja
Chandan, then Viravati, the abode of the brave, and then Vadpatra
because of the abundance of banyan trees on the banks of the
Vishwamitri. From Vadpatra it derived its present name Baroda or
Vadodara.
Baroda has a rich historical background.
The ardent historian can trace Baroda’s history over 2000 years and
more. However, the recent threads can be picked up when the Moghul rule
over the city came to an end in 1732, when Pilaji brought the Maratha
activities in Southern Gujarat to a head and captured it. Except for a
short break, Baroda continued to be in the hands of the Gaekwads from
1734 to 1949.
The greatest period in the Maratha rule of
Baroda started with the accession of Maharaja Sayajirao III in 1875. It
was an era of great progress and constructive achievements in all
fields.
Maharaja Sayajirao was one of the foremost
administrators and reformers of his times. He initiated a series of bold
socio-economic reforms. He attached great importance to economic
development and started a number of model industries to encourage
initiative, and then handed back the working industries to private
enterprise. He started model textile and tile factories. It is as a
result of his policy of industrial development that Baroda is today one
of the most important centres for textile, chemical and oil industries
today. He introduced a number of social reforms. In no department of
administration has the far-sighted policy of this wise ruler been more
conspicuous than in education, and in none have the results been more
real and tangible. He boldly introduced compulsory primary education and
a library movement (the first of its kind in India) to augment his
adult education scheme.
It was he who visualised a general scheme
of development in all branches of knowledge at different stages, with
the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda at the apex. Modern Baroda
owes its beauty, its educational institutions and its masterpieces of
architecture to the insight and vision of this great ruler.
There is a saying that nothing grows under
the banyan tree, but this is not true of Baroda. Having witnessed the
rise and fall of the empires and kingdoms of the Hindus, Pathans,
Moghuls and Marathas, it now occupies a unique position on the
educational, cultural and industrial map of India. Yet, it has been
fortunate enough to retain the beauty of its rich and varied past. And
it is one of the few cities in India which is still influenced by the
lost might of its ruling dynasties.
The People & Culture
The people of Baroda like to tell visitors
that their city is a ‘Sanskari Nagari’, that is, a ‘cultured city’. By
and large, the visitors agree. The city does indeed have rich cultural
traditions. And today’s Barodians have quite a full and hectic cultural
life throughout the year.
The outstanding trait about Baroda’s
cultural life is that it is remarkably cosmopolitan. And while there are
hundreds of different identities, everyone participates in all
activities. So, the culture of the city is not just history or heritage;
it is dynamic, ever-changing and alive.
Yes, Baroda is one of India’s most
cosmopolitan cities. Thanks to the vision and broadmindedness of the
Gaikwads, the subsequent industrialisation, the proliferation of
academic activities and a strategically important geographical location,
Baroda has welcomed a wide variety of people from all over India and
also from all over the world.
More or less every Indian community has an
active identity in this city. And this happy co-existence is reflected
in the social and cultural life of the people. In all of this, the
sprawling and cosmopolitan MS University campus and the large number of
local, national and foreign industries act as a catalysing and unifying
force.
The average Barodian is open to the world
and overflowing with hospitality, as the history and growth of the city
aptly testify.
If you want to see Baroda’s cultural
enthusiasm, you should visit this city during any festive occasion
Navratri, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Id, New Year, Uttarayan, Holi,
campus fun fairs, etc. On any given day, some cultural activity or the
other is going on in the city. Classical music and dance have their
patrons, and so does the modern stage and pop culture. The culture and
the traditions are both alive and being forever experimented with.
Can you expect anything less from a city
which is blessed by its geography and its history, which is the home of a
vibrant internationally renowned university and which is a key
component of India’s industrial base? The people of Baroda have not only
hung on to the cultural heritage, they embellish it as they exuberantly
go on with their daily lives.
The official language of Gujarat is
Gujarati, but Hindi, Marathi and English are also widely used in Baroda.
State and local government offices in the city use both Gujarati and
English, Central government offices use English and Hindi and industrial
and commercial organisations use English. The medium of instruction at
the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (MSU) is English. The medium
of instruction in the city’s schools varies Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi,
English, etc.
The cultural life is of course in many
languages. And on the streets, in the markets and at other public places
you can hear ‘AKHA INDIA’ (the whole of India).
Industry & Commerce
Baroda enjoys a special place in the state
of Gujarat. Till the early 1960’s Baroda was considered to be a cultural
and educational centre. The first modern factory (Alembic
Pharmaceuticals) was established in Baroda in 1907 and subsequently
companies such as Sarabhai Chemicals, Jyoti, etc., came up in the 1940s.
By 1962 there were 288 factories employing 27510 workers. At that time,
the dominant industrial groups were chemicals and pharmaceuticals,
cotton textiles and machine tools.
In 1962, Baroda witnessed a sudden spurt in
industrial activity with the establishment of Gujarat Refinery. Several
factors like raw material availability, product demand, skillful
mobilisation of human, financial and material resources by the
government and private entrepreneurs have contributed to Baroda becoming
one of India’s foremost industrial centres.
The discovery of oil and gas in Ankleshwar
and North Gujarat led to the industrial development of Gujarat in a big
way. The Baroda region is the largest beneficiary in the process of this
industrialisation. Gujarat Refinery went into the first phase of
production in 1965. The refinery being a basic industry made vital
contributions on several fronts at the regional and national levels.Learn more , please keep it on reading.
In Baroda various large-scale industries
such as Gujarat State Fertilisers & Chemicals, Indian Petrochemicals
Corporation Limited and Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited have
come up in the vicinity of Gujarat Refinery and all of them are
dependent on it for their fuel and feedstock. Other large-scale public
sector units are Heavy Water Project and Gujarat Industries Power
Company Limited. In addition to these public sector enterprises, a
number of other large-scale enterprises have come up in the private
sector. The products of these industries have wide applications in
various sectors of the Indian economy.
The establishment of large industrial units
in a region automatically brings into existence a number of smaller
enterprises. Baroda is no exception and the city and the surrounding
areas are today humming with industrial activity.
The industrialisation of Baroda has
attracted entrepreneurs not only from Baroda but also from all over
Gujarat and India. A large number of the entrepreneurs come with sound
business backgrounds and the level of education and technical skills is
exceptionally high.
Education
Baroda is synonymous with education. The
patronage of education started with Maharaja Sayajirao and the city has
built further on the academic infrastructure established by him.
The present educational foundation rests on
over 20 public schools and over 100 private schools. Towering
benevolently over all is the Maharaja Sayajirao University, the jewel in
the Baroda crown, so to speak. MSU is the only university in Gujarat
with English as the medium of instruction. It has 13 faculties and 17
residential hostels, 4 of them for women students. The university caters
to over 30,000 students.