Gujarat is known as the "Jewel in the West" in the western part of India. Gujarat is the country of the Gurjars, and the state came to be known as Gujarat over the times. Mauryas ruled Gujarat in the third century BC. In the town of Junagarh, some stone inscriptions were found with King Ashoka's orders. In the fifth century, the Huns invaded and defeated the Maurya Dynasty. Then the Gurjars came to this place from Northern India. The Gupta Dynasty ruled Gujarat in the fourth and fifth centuries and Solanky Dynasty in the ninth century. Finally, Chalukya King Mulraj Solanky established modern Gujarat in the tenth century.  
According to Archaeologists, Gujarat was the base of Indian civilization, even 5000 years ago. People of Harappa in modern Punjab came to Gujarat in 2500 BC after crossing the Ran of Kutch and established their settlement in the basin of the Narmada River. At that time, several cities were very advanced in education and civilization. However, the flood of the Narmada River in 1900 BC ruined this civilization. There are 23 of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation available in Gujarat. Archaeological finds of that era, especially that of Dholavira, Lothal, Gola Dhoro, Rangpur, Amri, and Rojadi, are significant. Some archaeological discoveries of the Stone age are also available in Rojadi and Adamgarh. In addition, the archaeology department discovered some Harappan port cities at Kuntasi near Morvi. The ancient city of Lothal was ancient India's first port. Dholavira, the ancient city, is one of India's largest and most prominent archaeological sites, belonging to the Indus Valley Civilisation. The most recent discovery was Gola Dhoro.
Yadavas, the descendants of Sri Krishna, ruled Dwarka in the western part of Saurashtra. Later on, Chandragupta Maurya ruled Girnar. Maurya Dynasty built the  Jain temples of Girnar and Palitana and the Sun temple of Modhera. All these places are trendy among tourists. Dwarkadheesh temple, with Sri Krishna's memory, and the first Jyotirlinga temple of Somnath, are popular with tourists and Hindu pilgrims.
Gujarat has the longest coastline in India, most of which lies in the Kathiawar area. States of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu border Gujarat. Sindh province of Pakistan also is on the border of Gujarat. The capital of Gujarat is Gandhinagar, and Ahmedabad is the largest city.
The largest river in Gujarat is the Narmada, and the Tapi river is the second largest. The Sabarmati River has the longest course in the state. The fourth river is Mahi.  
Desert is known as Rann in Gujarati. The Greater Rann of Kutch is a seasonally marshy saline clay desert between the Pakistani province of Sindh and the northern part of Kutch.  
We visited Gujarat, the Jewel of the west, in 2008. The places we will travel in this book are Ahmedabad, Modhera, Patan, Gandhi Nagar, Dharangadhra, Palitana, Gir Nationakl Park, Diu, Chorwad, Porbandar, Somnath, Dwarka, Bet Dwarka, Bhuj, Narayan Sarobar, Koteswar and Lakhpat.