January 31 Friday – At Baroda Station, some 245 miles north of Bombay, Sam was treated to a “ride on a lurching elephant, without a mahout at the controls” [Parsons “MT India” 80]. Clara recalled this as in Colombo.
The city in one period was called Chandanavati after the rule of Chanda of the Dodiya Rajputs. The capital was also known as Virakshetra or Viravati (Land of Warriors). Later on, it was known as Vadpatraka or Vadodará, and according to tradition, is a corrupt form of the Sanskrit word vatodar, meaning "in the belly of the Banyan tree". It is, as of 2000, almost impossible to ascertain when the various changes in the name were made; early English travellers and merchants of the 18th century mention the town as Baroda,[8] and it is from this, that the name Baroda is derived; in 1974 (well after independence) the official name of the city was changed to Vadodara.