Dholka is said to stand on the site of Viratpur, or Matsyanagar, which, in their wanderings, the Pandavas found governed by queen Sudishva of the Kaiyo or Bhil race.

At the close of the eleventh century, the town was adorned with a lake – still its chief ornament – by Minaldevi, the mother of Jayasimha Siddharaja of the Chaulukya dynasty.

Early in the thirteenth century, it was called Dhavalgadh and held by Vir Dhaval, the founder of the Vaghela dynasty, whose territories included the lands of Godhra and Lat.

In records of the Sultans and viceroys, though never a place of great consequence, Dholka is often mentioned as a town and fort, the quarters of a local governor; its remains show that at one time, it was occupied by many Islamic buildings.

In the eighteenth-century troubles, Dholka seems to have been taken by the Marathas in 1736; to have been recovered by the Viceroy in 1741; to have again fallen into the Gaikwad's hands in 1757; and to have remained with him till its cession to the British in 1804.

[1] Gujarati Historic Novel named Gujaratno Jay written by Zaverchand Meghani based on various Jain Prabandhas describes city as Dhavalakka (ધવલક્ક).

[2] Regarded as the oldest municipality in Gujarat, the city has majestic ruined mosques featuring tracery work, carvings and designs.

There are monuments there known as Pandava's Pathshala and Ali Khan's Mosque as well as mandapas and chattris (outdoor pavilions), all marked by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The rear wall of the mosque has a series of intricately designed limestone jalis (perforated screens) while the central room has a minbar (pulpit) where the imam stands to deliver sermons.

Fallen pillars, grave stones with intricate patterns on all sides, and broken chattris (pavilions) lie within the premises of the idgah (congregation assembly area), while its paved ground is almost entirely covered in grass.

In the middle of the lake are the remains of a building, connected with the shore by a light and graceful wooden bridge, supported on sculpted stone piers.

[clarification needed][4] Of Hindu temples, the chief is the Nageshvar, or Chandreshvar Mahadev, built in 1751 (1807 S.) by Antaji Rav, an officer of the Gaikwad's.