Editing Rajkot (section)

==History==
{{Further|History of Rajkot}}{{See also|Rajkot State}}
[[File: Gandhi and Sheikh Mehtab.jpg|thumb|left|Young Mahatma Gandhi (left) and his school friend Sheikh Mehtab (right) in Rajkot]]
The name of the city of Rajkot (literally means the city of princes) was probably derived from Raju Sandhi, the co-founder of the erstwhile princely state of [[Rajkot district]] in 1620.
Rajkot has been under different rulers since it was founded. It has had a long history and had a significant influence in the [[Indian independence movement]]. Rajkot was home to many personalities like [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. Rajkot is in a transition period of growing cultural, industrial, and economical activities. Rajkot is the 26th largest city in India and the 22nd fastest-growing urban area in the world.<ref name="citymayors" />

Rajkot was the capital of Saurashtra state from 15 April 1948 to 31 October 1956 before merging in bilingual Bombay State on 1 November 1956. Rajkot was merged into Gujarat State from bilingual [[Mumbai|Bombay]] state on 1 May 1960. Thakur Saheb [[Pradyumansinhji Lakhajirajsinhji|Pradyumansinhji]] died in 1973. His son, [[Manoharsinhji Pradyumansinhji, 15th Thakore Saheb of Rajkot|Manoharsinhji Pradyumansinhji]], has carved out a political career at the provincial level, succeeded him. He served as a Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly for several years and as the state Minister for Health and Finance. Monoharsinhji's son, Mandattasinh Jadeja has embarked on a business career.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Talukdar|first=Moinak Mitra & Tapash|title=The royal business class|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/starting-up/the-royal-business-class/articleshow/3473290.cms?from=mdr|access-date=2021-05-21}}</ref>

On 26 January 2001, the 7.7{{M|w}} [[2001 Gujarat earthquake|Gujarat earthquake]] shook [[Western India]] with a maximum [[Mercalli intensity scale|Mercalli intensity]] of X (''Extreme''), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured. This earthquake mainly affected the Kutch region of western Gujarat.