Situated in the Northeast of Gujarat state of India, the administrative headquarters of Sabarkantha district is Himmatnagar, about 80 km from Ahmedabad. It shares borders with Rajasthan state to the northeast, Banaskantha and Mehsana districts to the west, Gandhinagar and Kheda districts to the south and Panchmahal District to the east. Established by Sultan Ahmed I in 1426 AD to put a control on the political activities of the Rao of Idar, Himmatnagar was even renamed as Ahmedanagar from his name.

It was again handed over to the kingdom of Idar in the year 1848 and was renamed to its current name Himmatnagar. The name was derived from the name of Himmatsinghji who ruled the state in those times. Located at the foothills of the 500 ft high rocky hill on which the Fort of Idargadh lies, Idar is a beautifully established town.  Due to the strong construction of the fort as per those times, its strength has become proverbial.  It is often said that to achieve an impossible task is tough as to conquer the fort of Idargadh. In his travelogues, the renowned Chinese traveler Hyuen Sang has noted the place called Vadali, which is called Ochalee in Chinese.

Sabarkantha History

Ambiyara, Mohanpur, Malpur, Bayad etc. are several agencies integrated with this district. The current district of sabarkantha comprises of the 29 different united and merged kingdoms. Once a part of Ahmedabad district, the Prantij and the Modasa talukas were are also merged in this district. With the division of the bilingual state of Bombay in 1956, During the major division of the Mumbai State in 1956, several subdivisions like Vidarbh, Marathwada, Saurashtra and Kutch were formed. When the bilingual state was divided into two states, the Sabarkantha district also came into its existence like the Ahmedabad district. On 1st May 1960, Sabarkantha came into existence as a part of the state of Gujarat.

Sabarkantha Climate

With a minimum winter temperature of 6.9 degree centigrade and a maximum summer temperature of 43.5 degree centigrade, the district experiences an average rainfall of 1035 mm.