The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.8

c6.s3.8

The earliest notice that we possess of Somnâth is contained in the brief account of the successful campaign of Mahmûd of Ghazni. According to Ferishta* the fortified city of Somnâth was situated “on a narrow peninsula, washed on three sides by the sea.” It was the residence of the Raja, and Naharwâla (a transposition of Analwâra) was then only “a frontier city of Gujarât.” This agrees with the native histories, which place the close of the Chaura dynasty of Analwâra in S. 998, or A.D. 941, when the sovereignty passed into the hands of the Châlukya prince Mula Raja, who became the paramount ruler of Somnâth and Analwâra.