Sanjan is a town situated in Umargam taluka in the Valsad district in the state of Gujarat, India. Sanjan is located around 70 km from the Valsad city. It is the earliest settlement of the Parsis in India.
Geography
Sanjan Bandar, also called old Sanjan is the initial settlement. Sanjan is situated on the banks of Varoli river.
Transport
The town is served by Sanjan railway station which lies on New Delhi–Mumbai main line. The nearest airport is Surat Airport in Surat.
History
Sanjan is believed to have been founded by Zoroastrian refugees who sought asylum in Gujarat in 698 AD. A widely believed legend is that the Zoroastrians were offered a filled pot of milk by Jadi Rana, the King of Sanjan to signify that his kingdom was full. In response, the Zoroastrians poured sugar into the milk without spilling any milk, stating they would adapt to the kingdom and cause no disorder, to which the King agreed.
Sanjan was captured by Mahmud Begada of the Delhi Sultanate in the 1480s. The ceramics were studied and published by Dr. Rukshana Nanji. The published report is the first volume in the Sanjan Excavation Report Series. The glass was studied by Ms. Rhea Mitra-Dalal. Human remains were studied by Dr Veena Mushrif-Tripathi and published as the second volume in the series. The site has also yielded the first definitive proof of Parsi (Zoroastrian) occupation at Sanjan in the form of a dokhma or Tower of Silence (a uniquely Zoroastrian mortuary structure). The excavations and explorations have also yielded art historical data in the form of Hindu (Shilahara Period) sculptural and structural remains.