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Introduction
xx111
'the available evidence of Gujarat Hindu enterprise by sea', which gives a good idea of the maritime activity of Gujarat in the last two thousand years.
In fact the main cause of the fabulous wealth of Gujarat was not so much the fertility of its land, as the commercial enterprise of her people. Yuan Chang has noted this in case of Bharucha and Valabhi and we find the author of Nabhinandanoddhāraprabandha saying in so many words that all people risiding in Gujarat make lot of money with little effort on its many sea-coasts,
afetar a: gaf aangeg hai. Jahit pa asfa fa:Aftaga il Fl. 81. SEATA , ..
In this connection, mention may be made of the colonising activity of Gujarat.
It appears, from the traditions preserved in the Mahavamsa and the Dīpavamsa, that Ceylon owes its name Simhaladvīpa, its language Simhalese and its aryanisation to a prince named Vijaya the son of the king Simhabahu who reigned at Simhapura in Lala or Lata-a name by which Gujarat was often referred to by forcigners. According to Dr. L. D. Barnett, the Aryan immigration started from Sihapura in Lata ( possibly the modern Sihor, in Kathiawar ) and Soparā, The latter band belonged to the Simhalas (Sībalas) or ‘Lion-tribe' and it was probably they who imposed their Aryan tongue on Ceylon. "The landing of Vijaya is made to coincide with the decease of Gāutama Buddha in 483 B. C.' (Cambridge History of India Vo. I pp. 605-607 ]. *
# Mr. Ratnamanirao Jhote in an illuminating article on the Shipping of Gujarat' has very ably controverted the view of Prof. Radhakumud that Prince aya started from
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