Flanked by the Gulf of Khambhat on the east, Bhavnagar is the second largest city in the Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat state, western India. It is home to a population of nearly 6 lakhs, chiefly engaged in trade and commerce.

The largest ship-recycling yard in India has been developed at Alang, 50 km to the south that has provided a base for many industries and vocations in the district. Bhavnagar is also an important centre of gem-cutting craft. Bhavnagar came into being in 1723. A village called Vadva was what used to be near the present heart of the town. Bhavsinhji I, a Rajput king, ruled his state of Gohilwad from Sihor, a town 22 km in the west. He spotted this place near the seashore as promising location to develop his capital and the name Bhavnagar was derived from the king's own name, the suffix nagar meaning a city. Unlike most other princedoms in the Saurastra region, Bhavnagar was fortunate in being ruled by a succession of benevolent princes. Helped and guided by competent and welfare-oriented administrators, they made it economically, culturally and politically progressive state.