Champaner

Champaner is an ancient fort located at the foothills of Pavagadh, The town derives its name from the Champa tree. It also gets this name from its founder Champaraj, a contemporary of King Vanraj Chavda of Anhilwada.

It is located in Panchamahal District, 47 kilometres from the city of Vadodara. The city was briefly the capital of Gujarat. It is located at 22°48'33" N and 73°55' E.

History
The famous Muslim king of Gujarat, Muhammad Begada captured the fort in late 15th century after a long siege against the Khichi Chauhan Rajputs.

Muhammad Begada decided to establish the new capital of Gujarat at this place in 1484 AD and changed the name of the town to Muhammadabad. It took 23 years to build the town. It had a meteoric rise, and attained glory as a great town of western India. Many edifices were constructed during these years: bazaars, town squares, royal gardens and water structures, including mosques. It also became a major trading center producing fine silk, woven and dyed textile and sword manufacturing.

Its decline started after attacks by the Mughal emperor Humayun in 1535 AD. After the death of Sultan Bahadurshah (1536 AD), the royal capital was again moved back to Ahmedabad. Later, the fort came under control of Mughals, Marathas and British; but Champaner could never regain its glory. In 1803 AD, when the British took the town, it was overgrown with jungles and had only 500 inhabitants.

Champaner is today the site of the Champaner-Pavagadh Archeological Park and has become the first site in Gujarat and the 26th in the country to get the status of 'World Heritage Site' on July 1, 2004.

The entire landscape for miles around is scattered with remains of fort walls, ruined tombs, gardens, arches, pillars and wells. Champaner reminds the visitor of other such great deserted towns of India - Mandu, Hampi, Orchha and Fatehpur Sikri. At Champaner, one can see three fortifications - the base (Champaner), the top (Pavagadh) and the area connecting both of them (Machi).

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