The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.s2.74

v3.c29.s2.74

Gujarāt was the richest kingdom of India. ‘It was to India what Venice was to Europe, the *entrepôt* of the products of both the eastern and western hemispheres.’ Its princes favoured sometimes the Jain and sometimes the Buddhist heresy. The court of Siddhārāja Jayasingha, the seventh of the Solankīs, who reigned from 1094 to 1143 and was one of the most powerful of Indian rulers, was visited by the geographer al-Idrīsī. On Bhīm’s death in 1242 his throne passed to Vīsaladeva Vāghela of Dholka, who was descended from Siddhārāja Jayasingha, and who reigned from 1243 to 1261.