The City of Vadodara apty described by a medieval Jain writer as a “Tilak on the Brove of Lata.” is a nodal center of the costal plain of Gujarat. It is Strategically situaled at a junction of the main highways linking Gujarat with Rajputana and the Punjab in the north, the Malva and the Gangetic valley in the north east, Konkan in the south and khandesh in the south-east. Significantly Vadodara today is a junction on the western railway of the lines leading to Amdavad and Delhi. This confirms the historic role of Vadodara in the communication pattern for movements of people and culture. The history of Vadodara city amply bears out its cultural and commercial activities during the last two thousand years. Apart form the traditional stories, our knowledge of the history of Vadodara is based mainly on jain literature and a few old inscriptions pertaining to Vadodara.

MID - PLEISTOCENE PERIOD

Vadodara may not have had a colourful history like Kolkata or seen the rise and fall of great empire builders like Delhi. But then unlike those two cities its history begins only somewhere in the mid-pleistocene Period, when the early man lived on the banks of the river Mahi. This river must have formed the flood plain during that age. The movements of this “food gathering” parasites on nature, living on the banks of the river, grumbling the roots and killing animals with crude stone tools made out of the cobbles and pebbles available on the river bank, were necessarily controlled by the availability of convinient raw materials for their tools. There are evidences of the existence of early man in the Mahi river valley at a number of sites within 10 to 20 km to the north-east ot Vadodara. No evidences however of the existence of this man are found in and around present Vadodara. This may be because of the absence of gravels and cobbles on the banks of the Vishwamitri rivulet.

The next phase of the pre-historic Vadodara witnessed the first human settlement on the right bank of the river vishwamitri on a group of dunes resting on the alluvium of the river. It also means that men knew about where to set up settlements, as they had selected an elevated land. The Vishwamitri must have been prone to seasonal floods even then. These people still belonged to the stone age, crafting their tools with finely grained stones. From their material culture and physical environment, they seem to have belonged to the same culture as those whose impliments were found in the Mahi river valley. This human settlement has been dated 1000 b.c.

OLD ANKOTAKKA

Around the beginning of the Christian Era, a small township developed at the same spot as the above mentioned settlement on the right bank of the river. It came to be know as Ankotakka (present day Akota) The mound on which this settlement was established came to be known as Dhantekri. The entire settlement was developed by clearing grazing land and forest of Ankhol and covered an area of ½ to ¾ sq. km. This is indicative of the presence of thick forests during those times. Due to its location on the ancient trade route between Gujarat and Malva, this small township flourished in to a commercial entre. There was a supposed commercial relation between this township and Rome.

The township of Ankotakka developed during the rules of the Guptas and the Vallabhis. It was subjected to periodical heavy floods. But a severe flood which inundated the renovated public hall, forced the inhabitants to abandon this township and move away from the banks of the Vishwamitri.

The event occured in 600 A.D. The inhabitants moved to the east of Ankotakka to another elevated portion located on the present kothi area. This formed the nucleus of a new township.