AHMADABAD

also spelled Ahmedabad, city, eastern Gujarat state, west-central India. It lies along the Sabarmati River, about 275 miles (440 km) north of Bombay. The old city lies east of the river, while newer sections lie along the west bank. The city was founded in AD 1411 by the Muslim ruler of Gujarat, Sultan Ahmad Shah, next to the older Hindu town of As awal. Ahmadabad grew larger and wealthier for a century, but dynastic decay and anarchy eventually brought about a decline, and the city was captured in 1572 by the Mughal emperor Akbar. Its renewed eminence under the Mughals ceased with the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. Ahmadabad's further decline was arrested by the British annexation of Gujarat in 1818. The city's first cotton mills were opened in 185961, and Ahmadabad grew to become the sixth most populous city and the largest inland industrial centre in India. The city became the temporary capital of Gujarat state in 1960, but the state administration was moved to Gandhinagar in 1970. Its dynastic history made Ahmadabad a meeting place of the Hindu, Muslim, and Jaina architectural traditions. Ahmad Shah and his successors ordered the dismantling and adaptation of Hindu temples in order to build mosques. This gave many of Ahmadabad's mosques and tombs a Hindu flavour in their form and decoration. The dense forest of 260 richly carved columns within the Jami Masjid (Great Mosque), which was completed in 1423, recalls the hall of a Hindu temple. At the mosque's entrance is the domed tomb of Ahmad Shah (1441), and on the road leading to it is the Tin Darwaza, or triple arch (c. 1425), a triumphal gate through which the sultan was borne to worship. Among the city's many other fine Muslim buildings are the delicate mosque (c. 1505) at Rani Sipri's tomb; the Sidi Said Mosque (151015), with minutely pierced arch-screens; and the exuberantly rich Rani Rupmati Mosque (1515). An interesting local feature is the division of the old city centre into pols, or self-contained blocks of houses that shelter several thousand people each. Some pols are virtually small townships, crossed by a street with gates at either end. Another attractive feature of the city is Lake Kankaria, offering promenades, boating, a hill garden, and a museum designed by the architect Le Corbusier. Ahmadabad is the home of Gujarat University (1949) and the Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute for Indological Research. Sabarmati, a suburb west of the river, became well known as the seat of Mahatma Gandhi's ashram, or religious retreat. Ahmadabad's ancient architectural remains contrast sharply with its modern mills and factories. About one-half of the city's workforce depends upon the cotton-milling industry, which is the largest in India. Other light industries produce pharmaceuticals, vegetable oil, flour, soap, matches, glass, tobacco, hosiery, and carpets. The city's handicrafts include brocades, lace, copper and brassware, jewelry, and woodcarving. Ahmadabad lies at the junction of main roads leading to Bombay and central India, the Kathiawar Peninsula, and the Rajasthan border. The city is a major junction on the Western Railway, with lines running to Bombay, Delhi, and the Kathiawar Peninsula. The chief crops grown in the surrounding area are cotton, millet, wheat, and pulses. Pop. (1991) city, 2,876,710; metropolitan area, 3,312,216.