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Navsari, one of the oldest cities of Gujarat, has an inspiring
history of over 2000 years. According to the Greek historical writings, a
celebrated Egyptian astronomer and geographer named Tolemy mentioned
about Navsari's port in his book written about 1850 . years . ago (150 A.D.). The . geographic location . he . showed . as . Narispa, is in fact the Navsari of today (Ref: Bombay Gazetteer. Record 13).
The origin of the name "Navsari" has a very fascinating
history. In the past, the city of Navsari has been associated with many
names such as Nag Vardhana, Nag Shahi, Nag Sarika, Nag Mandal, Nav
Sarika and Nav Sareh. Some of the legends associated with the various
names of Navsari are as follows:
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Shayashray
Shiladitya, who ruled over Navsari in the seventh century named this
city NAG VARDHANA in honor of his Guru Nag Vardhana. During the same
period, the name changed to NAV SARIKA as is evidenced by a recovered
copper plate dated 669 A.D. The legend is that Shayashray Shiladttya
presented a copper plate to a priest in his town. The copper plate read
that Shiladitya, the ruler of "Nav Sarika," had bestowed a nearby
village upon this priest of the Kashyapclan.
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Another recovered copper plate dated 821 A.D. implies that the
city's name later changed into NAG SARIKA. The copper plate indicates
that a Rashtrakut king named Kark Suvarna Varsh gave "Nag Sarika" as a
gift to his teacher named AparaJeet, pupil of Sumati kaharishi, who in
turn was a pupil of the famous Digambar Jain teacher Acharya Mallavadi.
There is a popular legend behind the name "Nag Sarika." Fables suggest
that there was a big papal tree on the bank of a pond in the city. A
huge Cobra lived in a hollow of this tree. On this same tree, Sarika _ a
singing bird _ had her nest. As they resided in the same place, both
became friends. Everyday Sarika entertained the Cobra by singing her
melodious tunes. The legends have it that due to this remarkable
friendship between the Nag (Cobra) and the Sarika (singing bird), the
city's name became popular as NAG SARIKA.
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Another
legend of the Nag talks about the origins of a different name for the
city: NAG SHAHI. Historically, a Nag (Black Cobra) temple was situated
next to a talav (pond) in the city. People worshipped the Black Cobra
for its power and Prowess. Although the pond (talav) does not exist any
more, the historical Nag Temple still exists in the area known as "Nag
Talavdi" today. Hence the city came to be known as NAG SHAHI, which
means the power and prowess of the Black Cobra.
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to the Parsi tradition, in 1142 A.D., when they first came to Navsari,
the city was named as NAG MANDAL. The Parsis found the city's atmosphere
to that of "Sari" prant of Iran. In the Farsi dialect, "Nao" means new
and "Sari" refers to the place in Iran. Hence, the name NAO SARI came
into being.
The Fourteenth century marked the beginning of Muslim
rule in Gujarat. Navsari came under the Muslim rule in the late
sixteenth century when its name was changed to NAV SAREH. The anecdote
is that according to the Muslim tradition, there were nine "Sarchs" of
Muslims in the city and hence the name was derived as NAV (Nine) SAREH
(Sarchs).
The above changes in names show that Navsari, like any
other city, has passed through many vicissitudes in the matter of
political reign. About fourteen hundred years ago, the kings of the
Chalukya Dynasty governed the region of Navsari. Later on, the Parsis,
who migrated from Iran, virtually ruled this small town. The reign of
the Parsis ended as the Muslim rulers took over. For the last one
hundred years, until India's independence in 1947, Navsari was the
property of the Gaekwads of Baroda.
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