The name Meriwadi, a locality in Udvada, aroused my curiosity. The late Pesi Patel, owner of the now defunct but once popular King Hotel informed me that the name Meri is a corrupt form of the word Medhi, meaning an ancient type of well with steps.
Such a well still exists in the compound of the house of late Alamai Chenai, about 100 m away from the Iranshah Atash Behram premises. The well is the only surviving ruin of the palace of the Raja of Mandvi. What’s more, the wall of this well has an inscription in Portuguese which, with......