Gaurishankar Udayshankar

Gaurishankar Udayshankar, Gaurishankar, C.S.I. or Gaga Oza (21 August 1805 – 1 December 1892) was chief minister of Bhavnagar state in Kathiawar, India from 1850 to 1879. He was very well known and well respected for his keen statesmanship.

Life and career He was born into a family of Vadnagara Nagar Brahmins from Ghogha near Bhavnagar.

He rose from being a revenue officer to state minister in 1847. On the death of the reigning chief, in 1870, he was appointed joint administrator in concert with a British official.

During his tenure, many improvements were introduced. The land revenue was based on a cash system, the fiscal and customs systems were remodelled and tree planting was encouraged. The Gowrishankar Waterworks was completed in Bhavnagar, on which six lakhs of rupees were spent. The Bhavnagar state began construction of a network of railway lines over the peninsula of Kathiawar. The British government acknowledged Gowrishankar's many services with the distinction of Order of the Star of India in 1877.