The largest city in Gujarat State of west-central India, Ahmadabad is located on the Sabarmati River, north of Bombay. The city lies in a major cotton-growing region, and approximately half of its population is economically dependent on the cotton textile industry. One of Ahmadabad's most interesting features is the sharp contrast between the remains of magnificent ancient temples and the modern designs of the industrial mills and factories. The area surrounding Lake Kankaria, a popular and attractive site, contains promenades, a hill garden, and a museum designed by the famous Swiss architect Le Corbusier. The city is the home of Gujarat University, founded in 1949, and of the Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute for Indological Research, which undertakes studies relating to India and its people. Roads from the city lead to Bombay and central India, the Kathiawar Peninsula, and north to the Rajasthan border. Ahmadabad is a major junction on India's Western Railway, with lines running to Bombay, Delhi, and the Kathiawar Peninsula. Ahmadabad was founded in 1411 by a Muslim ruler, Ahmad Shah I, the first independent sultan of Gujarat. For the next 100 years Ahmadabad grew larger and wealthier. It then experienced various declines under different rulers until the British annexed Gujarat in 1818. The city's first cotton mills were opened in 1859–61. Ahmadabad grew to become the largest inland industrial center in India. It became the state's temporary administrative headquarters in 1960 and remained so until 1970, when Gandhinagar was named the capital. Ahmadabad is also the place where Mahatma Gandhi, the 20th-century leader of nonviolent Indian nationalism, established his famous Sabarmati ashram, or retreat. (See also India.) Population (1991 census), city, 2,872,865; metropolitan area, 3,297,655. |