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Solanki Empire सोलंकी Solanki Samrajya
← CE 942–CE 1244 →
Capital	Patan
Language(s)	Rajasthani, Hindi, Gujarati
Religion	Hinduism
Government	Monarchy
King
- 942/960-995/997	Mulraj I
- 1143–1173	Kumarpal
- 1242–1244	Tribuvanpal
Historical era	Classical India
- Established	CE 942
- Disestablished	CE 1244

The Solanki (Devanagari: सोलंकी) was a royal Hindu Indian dynasty that ruled parts of western and central India between the 10th and 13th centuries.

History[link]

The Solanki and the Chalukas of the later period are the same lineage. The original word may be Sulik, which was derived similarly to Chulik, meaning a palm^{[clarification needed]}, by the Brahman Priest at the Mount Abu fire sacrifice. Therefore, it was pronounced that the Chalukyas were born from the Palm (Chuluk) of Brahma. A grant^{[clarification needed]} of one Dharasen II of Vallabhi, mentions the Saulkikas, along with Pratisarakas, and Churoddharanikas. The last two words may be the antecedents of Pratihara and Chaudhari (two titles) respectively.

A number of scholars including V. A. Smith assign them Gurjar origin.^[1][2]

The name Solanki derives from Chalukya the ancient Indian dynasty. The founder of the Solanki Rajput gotra is said to have born out of the Agnikund. During 543–566, Pulakesi I, established the kingdom at Vatapi (present-day Badami, Bagalkot District in North Karnataka).^[3] The Solanki clan-name is found within the Jat, Rajput and Gurjar^[4] communities of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

In Gujarat, Anhilwara (modern Siddhpur Patan) served as their capital. Gujarat was a major center of Indian Ocean trade, and Anhilwara was one of the largest cities in India, with population estimated at 100,000 in the year 1000. The Solankis were patrons of the great seaside temple of Shiva at Somnath Patan in Kathiawar. Bhima Dev helped rebuild the temple after it was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1026. His son, Karandev, conquered the Bhil king Ashapall or Ashaval, and after his victory established a city named Karnavati on the banks of the Sabarmati River, at the site of modern Ahmedabad.

See also[link]

Notes[link]

Vikram Solanki

Personal information
Full name	Vikram Singh Solanki
Born	(1976-04-01) 1 April 1976 (age 36) Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
Nickname	Vik
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm off break
International information
National side	England
ODI debut (cap 156)	23 January 2000 v South Africa
Last ODI	1 July 2006 v Sri Lanka
ODI shirt no.	38
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1995–present	Worcestershire (squad no. 3)
2006–2007	Rajasthan
Career statistics
Competition	ODI	FC	LA	T20I
Matches	51	280	370	3
Runs scored	1,097	16,048	10,064	176
Batting average	26.75	36.30	32.05	25.33
100s/50s	2/5	29/85	14/59	1/1
Top score	106	270	164*	43
Balls bowled	111	7,105	1,122	0
Wickets	1	86	28	–
Bowling average	105.00	47.90	35.25	–
5 wickets in innings	–	4	0	–
10 wickets in match	n/a	1	n/a	n/a
Best bowling	1/17	5/40	4/14	–
Catches/stumpings	16/–	296/–	143/–	3/0
Source: Cricinfo, 30 August 2011

Vikram Singh Solanki (born 1 April 1976) is an Indian-born English cricketer, who plays county cricket for Worcestershire. In 2007, he became the 24th Worcestershire batsman to pass 10,000 career runs for the county.^[1] He also captained Worcestershire from 2005 to 2010, before resigning mid-season.^[2] He as also played over 50 One Day Internationals for his country as a batsman and occasional off-spinner and wicket-keeper.

Early life and career[link]

Solanki was born in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India,^[3] but moved to Wolverhampton with his family at the age of eight. Solanki played junior and senior cricket for Wolverhampton cricket club where he was a childhood prodigy under coach Arthur Pickering he often starred as a wicket keeper, bowler and batsman, Solanki once scored over 100 in a twenty over game by himself. He made his first-class debut for Worcestershire in 1995, although he had played one-day cricket for the county two seasons earlier. In 1996 he was awarded the NBC Denis Compton Award. Although generally an occasional bowler, Solanki produced a ten-wicket haul, five wickets in each innings, against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1996.^[4] In 1999 he achieved a batting average of over 40, something he repeated in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. 2006 was also the first season since 2000 in which he managed to top 1,000 first-class runs, making 1,252.

England A tours[link]

Solanki was picked for two England A tours: to South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1998-99, and to Bangladesh and New Zealand in 1999-2000. His fine performances on these latter tours led to his making his full One Day International debut against the South Africans later that same winter. However, he was unable to translate his A-team feats into runs for the senior England side, and after eight innings yielding just 96 runs, he was dropped and not picked again for more than three years.

One day internationals[link]

Solanki played in four of the five One Day Internationals when England toured Pakistan in December 2005, his best score of 49 also being the highest in England's innings in the final match, which England went on to win by 6 wickets. However, Solanki was not selected for the team to go on the tour to India, instead being chosen to captain the 'A' team in the West Indies.

On 1 July 2006, Solanki took his first wicket in ODIs at Headingley, removing Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya for 152. It was something of a hollow triumph, however, as Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga (109) had put on 286, a world record for the first wicket in ODIs,^[5] and England were crushed as Sri Lanka scored 324/2 to win by eight wickets in just 37.3 overs. Solanki made history against Australia in 2005 when he became the first supersub in a One Day International, replacing Simon Jones to strengthen England's tail after a batting collapse; coming to the crease at no.8 with England 93/6, Solanki made 53 not out.^[6] He also took part in the final two matches of England's time in the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship, replacing the injured Matt Prior. Keeping wicket and opening the batting in both of his matches in that tournament, he took two catches in the first, conceded no byes in either match, and scored 24 and 43. Those were (to date) his last international appearances.

Solanki has represented England on 51 occasions in one-day cricket, but still not been selected for a Test Match. His undoubted natural talent has only rarely come through into his performances for his country, and his England batting average languishes in the mid-1920s. He has made only two international hundreds, 106 off 108 balls against South Africa at The Oval in 2003^[7] (when he shared an opening partnership of 200, an English record,^[8] with Marcus Trescothick), and exactly 100 off 93 balls versus Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2004/05.^[9]

Worcestershire[link]

Solanki is also an occasional bowler of off-spin for Worcestershire, although he has only bowled a handful of overs for England. Worcestershire appointed Solanki as captain of the county for 2005, succeeding the retiring Steve Rhodes. In September 2006 he agreed an extension to his contract which saw him remain at the county until 2009. Following a defeat by Glamorgan on 12 August 2010, he announced his resignation as captain with immediate effect stating that "it was time for somebody else to be at the helm". ^[10]

After showing good form in the first half of the 2009 season Solanki was called up to the England Lions squad for their fixture against Australia.

Rajasthan[link]

Together with Worcestershire team-mate Kabir Ali, Solanki accepted an offer to play for Rajasthan in the Indian Ranji Trophy during the 2006–07 season.

Indian Cricket League[link]

Solanki joined the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2007, he made six appearances for the Mumbai Champs in his single season of ICL.

Career milestones[link]

• 22 June 1995: First-class debut for Worcestershire: v Hampshire at the County Ground, Southampton
• 16 May 1997: Maiden first-class century: 128* v Oxford University at The Parks, Oxford
• 23 January 2000: One Day International debut: v South Africa at Bloemfontein, South Africa
• 28 June 2003: Maiden ODI century: 106 v South Africa, The Oval, London
• 1 August 2008: Highest First-Class Innings: 270 v Gloucestershire, Cheltenham
• 24 June 2009: First T20 century: 100 v Glamorgan, New Road, Worcester

References[link]

1. ^ "Most Runs for Worcestershire". CricketArchive. http://cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Records/England/Firstclass/Worcestershire/Batting_Records/Most_Career_Runs.html. Retrieved 2007-04-27. 
2. ^ Cricinfo match report
3. ^ "Profile, Vikram Solanki Website". Worcestershire CCC. http://www.vikram-solanki.com/vk/profile. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 
4. ^ Lancashire v Worcestershire, 1996
5. ^ "Sri Lanka: Highest Partnership for Each Wicket in ODIs". CricketArchive. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Records/Odis/Overall/Highest_Partnerships.html. Retrieved 2006-10-02. 
6. ^ "Supersub Solanki in cricket first". BBC. 2005-07-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/4660393.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-02. 
7. ^ "England v South Africa at the Oval, 2003". Cricinfo. http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/66294.html. Retrieved 2008-07-12. 
8. ^ "England: Highest Partnership for Each Wicket in ODIs". Cricinfo. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/fow/highest_partnerships_by_wicket.html?class=2;id=1;type=team. Retrieved 2008-07-12. 
9. ^ "Zimbabwe v England at Bulawayo, 2004/5". Cricinfo. http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64912.html. Retrieved 2008-07-12. 
10. ^ "Solanki agrees new deal at Worcs". BBC Sport. 2006-09-27. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/worcestershire/5384244.stm. Retrieved 2006-09-30. 

External links[link]

• Player profile: Vikram Solanki from ESPNcricinfo
• Statistical summary from CricketArchive

v t e England squad – 2007 ICC World Twenty20 3 Shah 5 Collingwood 6 Maddy 9 Anderson 11 Flintoff 13 Prior 16 Kirtley 24 Pietersen 28 Schofield 29 Snape 32 Mascarenhas 33 Tremlett 38 Solanki 39 Broad 45 Wright Coach: Moores Ravi Bopara and Ryan Sidebottom were named in the squad but withdrew after injury. James Anderson and Dimitri Mascarenhas were called up as replacements.

Purshottam Solanki is a Bhartiya Janata Party politician and (as of 2012^[update]) the Minister of Fishery in the Government of Gujarat. He is alleged to have caused loss of 400 crore (US$72.4 million) to the government of Gujarat by granting contracts improperly.

Political career[link]

Solanki won 2007 assembly elections (12th assembly elections) and became Member of Legislative assembly from Talaja constituency, in Bhavnagar, Gujarat.^[1] Following the win, he was selected to serve as a cabinet minister in the government led by Narendra Modi and was appointed as the "Minister of fishery".

Fishery scandal[link]

In 2009 Solanki gave contracts for fishing in reservoirs across the state. The contracts were allegedly given for fishing in the waters of 58 dams without following or performing any tendering process by auctions and the contracts were just allotted after payment of 40 crore.^[2] It was estimated that due to the mis-conduct in granting the contracts, the government of Gujarat suffered a loss of 400 crore (US$72.4 million).^[1] Following the allegations, Ishaq Maradia wanted to prosecute the minister under the Anti-corruption Act for the "irregularity". However, the cabinet and Modi rejected the application for prosecution twice due to "lack of sufficient evidence".^[3] The matter reached High Court and it was suggested by the court that the governor of Gujarat Kamla Beniwal should take the decision whether to prosecute the minister or not. Beniwal, on 26 July 2012, overruled the state government and directed to prosecute the Minister.^[1][3]

The matter was again taken to the high court by Solanki. The petition challenged the Governor's sanction and was seeking reversal. On 20 September 2012, the high court rejected the petition, citing that "the sanction for prosecution was not erroneous".^[3] As the court rejected the petition, Arjun Modhwadia, the leader of the opposition and president of Gujarat congress, alleged the role of Narendra Modi in the scam and also asked for Modi's resignation on moral grounds. He added, "Rs. 400 crore scam was carried out with 'full knowledge of CM' and he, he should step down, owning moral responsibility."^[2] The court directed the superintendent of police, Gandhinagar, .^[1][3]

See also[link]

• List of scandals in India

References[link]