Guj: નવસારી navasārī
‘New Inn’ – City/District,Gujarat
From Skt/Hin/Guj: nav, ‘new’; and Hin/Guj: sarāi, ‘inn’, ‘resting place’.
Navsari has strong Parsi connections. Jamsetji Tata, the industrialist, and Dadabhai Naroji, the first Indian M.P. in Britain (1892-5) and founding member of the Indian National Congress, were both born here. This has led some to suggest that the it means ‘New Sari’ [Per/Skt/Hin/Guj: nav, ‘new’] after the Persian city Sari. But references to Navsari and Navsarika (at least 2ndC) pre-date the Parsi migration (13thC).
Gandhi’s Salt March ended at the Dandi seashore near here.
