Vallabhi which is now known as Vala is an an ancient city located in Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat. This place was the capital of the ancient Maitraka dynasty.
History of Vallabhi
According to the legends, the city of Vallabhi was founded in the 3rd century by Vijayasena, a Kshatriya. The Maitrakas ruled the country and parts of Rajasthan from Vallabhi from the fifth to the eighth centuries.Vallabhi was a renowned Jain center and the Maitrakas who were sun worshippers embraced Jainism later on. But when Itsing, the Chinese traveller visited Vallabhi in the second quarter of 7th century CE, the place was a great center of learning and was ruled was a Buddhist follower. In 524,Vallabhi came under the rule of barbarians and thus the Maitraka rule ended.
Gajni which was one of the ancient ports of Vallabhi, the ruins of which are founded three miles from the modern city. Several scholars have identified Gajni with the Gajni in the traditions of Karnal Kamboj. It is said that the barbarians had captured Gajni also.
