Editing Dwarka (section)

==History==

===Puranic traditions===
{{Main|Dvārakā}}

[[File:Dwarkadish-temple-gujarat.jpg|thumb|[[Dwarkadhish Temple|Dwarika Jagat Mandir]] (or Dwarkadhish Temple), view from entrance of the town.]]
[[File:Dwarka.jpg|right|thumb|A painting depicting [[Krishna]]'s Dwarka, made during [[Akbar]]'s reign, from the [[Smithsonian Institution]].]]
Dwarka is considered as the first capital of Gujarat.{{sfn|Desai|2007|p=285}} The name literally means gateway.{{Sfn|Sridharan|2000|p=7}} Dwarka has also been referred to throughout its history as "Mokshapuri", "Dwarkamati", and "Dwarkavati".<ref name="Dwar">{{Cite web |title=Dwarka Nagari -Introduction & Importance |url=http://www.dwarkadhish.org/Introduction-Importance.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623190150/http://www.dwarkadhish.org/Introduction-Importance.aspx |archive-date=23 June 2012 |access-date=27 November 2013 |publisher=Dwarkadish organization}}</ref> It is mentioned in the ancient epic period of the ''[[Mahabharata]]''.{{Sfn|Sridharan|2000|p=7}} According to legend, [[Krishna]] settled here after he defeated and killed his uncle [[Kamsa]] at [[Mathura]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmxEAQAAMAAJ|year=1910|publisher=The Branch}}</ref> This mythological account of Krishna's migration to Dwarka from Mathura is closely associated with the [[culture of Gujarat]].{{sfn|Yagnik|Sheth|2005|p=3}} Krishna is also said to have reclaimed 12&nbsp;[[yojanas]] or {{Convert|96|km2}} of land from the sea to create Dwarka.<ref name=Under>{{cite journal |last1=Gaur |first1=A. S. |last2=Tripati |first2=Sundaresh |last3=Tripati |first3=Sila |title=An ancient harbour at Dwarka: Study based on the recent underwater explorations |journal=Current Science |date=2004 |volume=86 |issue=9 |pages=1256–1260 |jstor=24109935 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24109935 |issn=0011-3891}}</ref>

Archaeological findings suggest the original temple [[Dwarkadhish Temple]] dedicated to Krishna was built in 200 BCE at the earliest.<ref>{{cite book|author=S. R. Rao|title=Marine Archaeology of Indian Ocean Countries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bgYIAQAAIAAJ|date=1988|publisher=National Institute of Oceanography|isbn=8190007408|pages=18–25|quote=The Kharoshti inscription in the first floor of Sabhamandapa of Dwarkadhish Temple is assignable to 200 BC. [...] Excavation was done by the veteran archaeologist H.D. Sankalia some twenty years ago on the western side of the present Jagat-Man- dir at Modern Dwarka and he declared that the present Dwarka was not earlier than about 200 BC.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=L. P. Vidyarthi|title=Journal of Social Research,Volume 17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JuUKAAAAIAAJ|date=1974|publisher=Council of Social and Cultural Research|page=60|quote=Inscription in brahmi found in the temple supports the fact of its construction during the Mauryan regime. Apart from this beginning, the pages of history of Dwarka and Dwarkadhish temple are full of accounts of its destruction and reconstruction in the last 2000 years.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Alok Tripathi|title=Remote Sensing And Archaeology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCBmAAAAMAAJ|date=2005|publisher=Sundeep Prakashan|isbn=8175741554|page=79|quote=In 1963 H.D. Sankalia carried out an archaeological excavation.. at Dwarkadheesh temple at Dwarka to solve the problem. Archaeological evidences found in this excavation were only 2000 years old}}</ref> The temple was rebuilt and  enlarged in the 15th–16th century.<ref>1988, P. N. Chopra, ''Encyclopaedia of India'', Volume 1, p. 114.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Rao|first=Shikaripur Ranganath|title=The lost city of Dvārakā|date=1999|publisher=Aditya Prakashan|isbn=978-8186471487}}</ref> The temple is also the location of [[Dvaraka Pitha|Dwaraka maţha]], also called ''[[Saraswati|Sharada]] Matha/Peeth'' and "western peeth",{{sfn|nn|1964|p=12}}{{refn|group=note|name="Saradha"}} one of the four ''peeths'' ([[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]: "religious center") established by [[Adi Shankaracharya]]. As an important pilgrimage centre for Hindus, Dwarka has several notable temples, including [[Rukmini Devi Temple]], Gomti Ghat, and [[Bet Dwarka]]. There is also a lighthouse at the land end point of Dwarka.

===Archaeology===
Archaeological investigations at Dwarka, both on shore and offshore in the [[Arabian Sea]], have been performed by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]]. The first investigations carried out on land in 1963 revealed many artefacts.<ref name= Subramanian>{{Cite web|last= Subramanian|first= T.S.|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/23/stories/2007022301242200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224105526/http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/23/stories/2007022301242200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 February 2007|title=Significant finds at Dwaraka|date= 23 February 2007|newspaper= [[The Hindu]]|access-date=14 April 2015}}</ref> Excavations done at two sites on the seaward side of Dwarka brought to light submerged settlements, a large stone-built jetty, and triangular stone anchors with three holes. The settlements are in the form of exterior and interior walls, and fort bastions. From the [[Typology (archaeology)|typological]] classification of the anchors it is inferred that Dwarka had flourished as a port during the period of the [[Middle kingdoms of India]].<ref name=Under/> [[Coastal erosion]] was probably the cause of the destruction of what was an ancient port. Another excavation near Dwarkadhish temple took place which have yielded a shrine dedicated to [[Vishnu]] from 9th century CE, furthermore excavation were conducted which yielded a settlement from 1st century BCE another excavation was conducted in the site for the antiquity of the town, have yielded a settlement probably contemporary to [[Mahabharata]] dated around [[2nd millennium BCE]].{{R|Under}}

Dwarka is mentioned in the copper inscription dated 574&nbsp;CE of Simhaditya, the [[Maitraka|Maitraka dynasty]] minister of [[Vallabhi]]. He was the son of Varahdas, the king of Dwarka. The nearby Bet Dwarka island is a religious pilgrimage site and an important archaeological site of the [[Late Harappan]] period, with one [[thermoluminescence]] date of 1570&nbsp;BCE.{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=222}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.533668|title=Excavations At Dwarka: 1963|last=Ansari|first=Z. d|date=1964}}</ref>

===Early history===
An epigraphic reference ascribed to Garulaka Simhaditya, the son of Varahdas, the king of Dwarka, is inscribed on a copper plate dated to 574&nbsp;CE, found in [[Palitana]]. The Greek writer of the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'' referred to a place called Baraca, which has been interpreted as present-day Dwarka. A reference made in [[Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]'' identified Barake as an island in the Gulf of Kanthils, which has also been inferred to mean Dwarka.<ref name=Under/>

One of the [[Char Dham|four dhams]] (religious seats), which were founded by [[Adi Shankara]]charya (686–717&nbsp;CE) at the four corners of the country, was established as a monastic centre and it forms part of the Dwarka temple complex.{{sfn|Brockman|2011|p=94}}{{sfn|Desai|2007|p=285}}

===Middle Ages to present===
[[File:Dwarka1.jpg|thumb|left|Dwarka in a painting of the late 1820s by William Purser]]
In 1473 the [[Gujarat Sultanate|Gujarat Sultan]] [[Mahmud Begada]] sacked the town and destroyed the temple of Dwarka.{{sfn|Sen|2013|p=115}}{{sfn|Yagnik|Sheth|2005|p=50}} The Jagat Mandir or the Dwarakadhisa temple was later rebuilt.<ref name=Brit>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/174909/Dwarka|title=Dwarka|access-date=19 April 2015|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> [[Vallabha Acharya]] retrieved an idol of Dwarkadhish, which was revered by Rukmini. He hid it in a [[stepwell]], known as Savitri vav, during the Muslim invasion, before moving it to Ladva village. In 1551, when Turk Aziz invaded Dwarka, the idol was shifted to the island of Bet Dwarka.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

[[File:Dwarka (1909) (20161999144).jpg|thumb|View of Dwarka from the south bank of the Gomti creek, 1909]]
Dwarka, along with the Okhamandal region, was under the rule of [[Gaekwad of Baroda]] state during the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]]. A war broke out at Okhamandal in 1858 between the local [[Wagher|Vaghers]] and the [[British Raj|British]]. The Vaghers had won the battle and ruled until September 1859. Later, after a joint offensive of the British, the Gaekwads, and other princely state troops, the Vaghers were ousted in 1859. During these operations, led by Colonel Donovan, the temples at Dwarka and Bet Dwarka suffered damage and were looted. A complaint of atrocities by the British was made by the local people of Jamnagar, [[Porbander]], and [[Kutch]], which led to their restoration.{{Sfn|Dharaiya|1970|p=120}}<ref name=Democracy>{{cite web| title=Gujarat During The Great Revolt: The Rebellion In Okhmandal| date=7 October 2007| url=http://archives.peoplesdemocracy.in/2007/1007/10072007_1857.htm| access-date=19 April 2015| publisher=People's Democracy| volume=XXXI| issue=40| archive-date=16 January 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116021507/http://archives.peoplesdemocracy.in/2007/1007/10072007_1857.htm| url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|Yagnik|Sheth|2005|pp=94–95}} In 1861, Dwarakadheesh Temple was renovated by [[Khanderao II Gaekwad|Maharaja Khanderao]] and the British, who refurbished the [[shikara]].{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} [[Sayajirao Gaekwad III|Maharaja Gaikwad]] of [[Baroda]] added a golden [[pinnacle]] to the shikara in 1958 during a refurbishment by Shankaracharya of Dwarka. Since 1960, the temple has been maintained by the Government of India.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sheikh|first=Samira|date=1 May 2017|title=Ruling Dvārakā: Kṛṣṇa's Capital in Later Times (ca. 1450–1950)|url=https://academic.oup.com/jhs/article/10/1/112/3797244/Ruling-Dvaraka-K-a-s-Capital-in-Later-Times-ca|journal=The Journal of Hindu Studies|volume=10|issue=1|pages=112–130|doi=10.1093/jhs/hix004|issn=1756-4255|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The [[Sudama Setu]], a bridge over the Gomti River connecting mainland Dwarka with Panchkui island was opened in 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/sudama-setu-connecting-dwarka-with-panchnad-likely-to-be-completed-befor-janmashtami-festival/|title= Sudama setu' connecting Dwarka with Panchnad likely to be completed before Janmashtami festival|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=20 June 2015|access-date=12 September 2015}}</ref>