Destination Features

Small History:

Vadodara was originally Vadapadraka (a village amidst the lots of banyan trees, now fews are there to give thir witness), where this named as Vadodara a city of banyan tree, English named it Baroda. Historical and archaeological findings date this place back to the 9th century when it was a small town called Ankottaka Right now it is know as Akota, which is located on the right bank of the river Vishvamitri. Ankottaka was a famous centre of Jainism in the 5th and 6th century AD. Some of the Akota bronze images can be seen in the Vadodara Museum. 

Vadodara history can be found way back in the 812 AD when and that time it was a small settlement some distance away from its current location. This was ruled by Hindu rulers till 1297 when the influx of Muslim rule spread across central India and control passed into the hands of the sultans of the Delhi Sultanate. By 1573, Vadodara was ruled by the Gujarat Sultan but he soon lost his empire to the growing might of the Mughal Empire. Their domination over most of central India continued unchallenged for over a hundred years till the Marathas emerged as strong contenders in the 1730s.

The Gaekwads, a Maratha clan who were originally the generals of the Peshwas in Maharashtra, carved out a kingdom for themselves in Baroda. Twenty years later, Damaji's nephew Pilaji became the founder of the house of Gaekwad. Although an English Resident was appointed to the Court of Baroda in 1802, the rulers had a good equation with the British. The wealth of the family is legendary, and stories abound of their priceless jewellery and works of art. The city witnessed a golden age when Maharajah Sayajirao Gaekwad came to the throne in the late 19th century. He brought about many reforms in education, medicine, religious tolerance and administration. Sayajirao was one of the three princes who rated and got a 21gun salute.

Maharaja Sayaji Rao Gaekwad III (1875-1939) is a legend; he was the adopted son of Queen Jamnabai. He took Baroda through a golden age with the help of an astute statesman - his chief minister, Diwan Madhav Rao. Sayaji Rao began constructing the Laxmi Vilas Palace, naming it after his first wife who was a princess of Tanjore state.

With Independence, Vadodara merged into the mainstream of Indian states and became part of the newly constituted state of Mahagujarat and finally it became part of Gujarat.