Patan, Gujarat

Patan is a city in the Indian state of Gujarat and the administrative headquarters of Patan district in the north of the state, standing on the bank of the now-extinct Saraswati River. In medieval times it was known as Anahilapataka, and tradition credits the Chavda king Vanaraja with establishing it, which one passage of its source article dates to 746 CE. It served as the capital of the Chavda dynasty and then of the succeeding Chaulukya dynasty, and under the Gujarat Sultanate it was the capital from 1407 to 1411. Through the rule of several Hindu and Muslim dynasties it thrived as a trading city and a regional capital of northern Gujarat, and it holds many Hindu and Jain temples as well as mosques, dargahs and rauzas. Its old market is sizeable and is believed to have been in continuous operation since at least the rule of the Vaghelas. The 2001 census of India counted 112,038 residents.