Kheda

History

The name Kheda originated from the Sanskrit term Kshetra (lit. 'land or field'). Situated at the confluence of the Vatrak and Shedhi rivers, local mythology links the region to the ancient movements of peoples across India. The area has a long documented history, evolving from an ancient regional territory into a prominent urban center. The earliest linguistic reference to the region dates back to the Ganapatha (c. 2nd century BCE), an appendix to Pāṇini's Sanskrit grammar treatise, which records Khetaka as a geographical name of the broader region. The region is also mentioned as Divyanagar in 133rd chapter of Padmapurana. The regional identity persisted into the early medieval period.

Seventh- and eighth-century copperplate grants issued by the Maitraka dynasty of Valabhi explicitly designate Khetaka as a major administrative division (mandala or vishaya). The town gained prominence as a strategic administrative and military center in the early eighth century. Following the Arab (Tājika) incursions into the Maitraka capital of Valabhi around 705-706 CE, the Maitraka rulers shifted their administrative focus. They began issuing royal copper-plate charters from military camps (jayaskandhāvāra) based primarily in Khetaka, making a shift in the regional power structure that sustained the dynasty for over half a century.

From the 12th through the 17th centuries, Khetaka maintained its prominence, now as a recognized, well-defined town and urban settlement. Copperplate grants from the Rashtrakuta Empire identify Khetaka as a major Rashtrakuta-controlled town and a prominent center of Brahmin settlement, with 750 villages under its jurisdiction. The town is also mentioned in the Nimbavati story of the Dashakumaracharita, Ācārāṅga Sūtra, Merutunga's Prabandhachintamani (1305 CE), Puratana-prabandha-sangraha (compiled before the 15th century by multiple authors) and Jinaprabha's Vividh-tirtha-kalpa (c. 1332 CE).

It was under Chaulukya and Vaghela dynasties from 10th to the start of the 14th century, after which it was brought under the Gujarat Sultanate. The town of Kheda passed to the Babi Dynasty (of Pashtun descent) early in the eighteenth century and remained with them until 1763, when it was taken by the Marathas under Damajirao Gaekwad. It was during Babi rule that Mahmad Khan Babi built the town's fort. The Marathas under Anandrao Gaekwad ceded the district to the British in 1803, and it became part of the Bombay Presidency of British India. Even so, Kaira was still entitled, at least as late as 1901, to a tribute of 488 rupees from the Koli petty princely state of Ghorasar. Kheda was a large military station until 1830, when the cantonment was moved to Deesa.

Kheda is also where, on 22nd March 1918, Mahatma Gandhi launched the Satyagraha campaign against oppressive British taxation during a famine.