Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 2 (2nd edition).pdf/181

 BARODA

CITY.

171

the Laripura gate, are collected most of the bankers’ houses.

But

Muhammad Wadi, a to whom Baroda owes

the wealthiest of the bankers, Mairal, lives in the

suburb probably named after the Guzerat king early pre-eminence.

its

Near the bankers

the jewellers,

live

who

Gaekwdr. Behind the Nazar Bagh is situated the walled arena in which the athlete, the rhinoceros, the elephant, the buffalo, and the ram still fight though drove a thriving trade during the reign of the

less

frequently than of old

—

late

—

for

the

amusement of

the

court and

holiday-loving populace.

On

one side of this arena, just beyond the Water-gate, are the and menageries ; while on the other, but beyond the

aviaries

Champaner

gate,

is

the filkhdnd,

where, in

the

Rao, nearly one hundred elephants were kept

time

of

Khandi

but from this gate is the Sher Shah tank, one of the two large reservoirs on which Baroda is dependent for its water supply. It is connected by iron piping with the Sur Sagar tank, near the Laripura gate ; and both are fed by rain-water. The iron pipe was the work of Malhar Rao, and by its means, the large fire which broke out in 1875 in the wealthy quarter of the town, was prevented from doing a vast amount of damage. There are no springs in the neighbourhood of Baroda, and the people depend upon wells for their drinking water, which is both insufficient and bad, owing to the entire absence of any system of drainage. Active measures were taken by the late minister. Sir T. Madhava Rao,

now

to

number has been

their

remedy these

The and

greatly

at great expense,

Not

reduced.

defects.

large majority of the houses are of the

so

far

overcrowded,

that

the

chief

meanest description, problem is how

sanitary

accommodation for the large number of inhabitants. no doubt that the capital has much increased in size and the impress of Musalman rule, so during the present century clearly distinguished by Mr. Forbes, is no longer visible. The chief houses are those in the suburb built by the Gaekwdr’s ministers and noblemen. Eighteen horse pdgds large lines and Khandi Rao’s parade ground cover a considerable portion of the area of the town, while the Gaekw^r’s gardens and garden palaces, situated to the west and south of the suburbs, form a striking feature of the place. Beyond the Khoti, within the suburbs, are the jail, the high school, and the Government offices. Three miles south of the Ghendd (rhinoceros) Some gate of the city, is the Makarpura palace, built by Khandi Rao. new, large, and beautiful buildings, such as the Jamnabai Hospital, the Baroda State library, the public offices, the central jail, the Lakshmi Vilas palace, the Baroda college, together with the public park situated between the cantonments and the city, have added greatly to

devise

There

is



—

to the attractions of Baroda.

—