Place · coastal gulf · India
Gulf of Khambat
/kʰəmbʰaːt/
Also known as Gulf of Cambay, Khambhat, Cambay, Khambat
A funnel-shaped inlet of the Arabian Sea on the Gujarat coast, receiving the Narmada, Tapti, Mahi and Sabarmati. Its extreme tidal range and shifting silt made it both the outlet of several river pilgrimages and the approach to a series of ports that dominated western Indian trade for two thousand years. For Narmada pilgrims it is where the river ends and the circuit turns back.
- Periods
- Indus Valley Urbanisation, Second Urbanisation, Classical and Puranic Age, Regional Flourishing, Islamic Age and Bhakti Traditions, Early Modern Age, British Colonial Age, Republic and Living Practice
- Function
- Trade & production
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 21.500, 72.400 (approximate)
Worth knowing
Tides here are among the highest in India, and the resulting bore and sandbanks were notorious among sailors. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the difficult approach to Barygaza, modern Bharuch. Silting progressively killed the gulf's ports in turn: Lothal in the Bronze Age, then Bharuch, then Khambhat itself, pushing trade steadily south to Surat.
Connections (1)
- Site adjacencyVimaleshwar
Vimaleshwar stands near the point where the Narmada empties into the Gulf of Khambhat, whose tidal range is among the highest in India — over ten metres at spring tides. Pilgrims on the parikrama must cross the estuary by boat here to change banks and begin the return leg, and the tides govern when the crossing can be made at all. It is the single pivot on which the three-year circuit turns.
Sources
Wikipedia, “Gulf of Khambhat”. Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology monument records, and the standard regional literature.
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