Somnath, an ancient maritime town of Oujarat, India, in the SW. of the peninsula of Kathiawar; has interesting memorials of Krishna, who, it is alleged, is hurled in the vicinity; close by is a famous ruined Hindu temple, despoiled in the 11th century of its treasures, sacred idol, and gates; in 1842 Lord Ellenborough brought hack from Afghanistan gates which he thought to be the famous “Gates of Somnath,” but doubt being cast on their authenticity, they were eventually placed in the arsenal of Agra.
Population (circa 1900) given as 7,000.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Somme * Somnath, Idol of