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Historic Events of Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad is considered to be the largest city in Gujarat which is a state located in the western part of India. Ahmedabad lies on the western banks of River Sabarmati and it possesses a very rich history. Ahmedabad has been ruled by different rulers since it has developed and has been created as a city and therefore the history of Ahmedabad is very rich and glorious. 

The city also served as the former capital city of Gujarat and it has also served as a home to some of the greatest Indian leaders like Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi during the movement for the Independence of India. Ahmedabad is a city that also serves as the economical and the cultural spot of Gujarat and it ranks seventh among the largest cities of India.

Historical Events of Ahmedabad

The Rule of Solankis in Ahmedabad

It has been proved through archaeological evidences that the entire area within and around Ahmedabad has been used as an inhabitance by human beings since the 11th century. Previously, or during the 11th century, Ahmedabad was called Ashaval or Ashapalli.

During that time, the Solanki ruler belonging to Anhilwara which is present day Patan, Karandev I fought a war with the Bhil king belonging to Ashaval and he won the war. It was Karandev I who established a particular city called Karnavati which was located on the land where present day Maninagar stands and it is very close to River Sabarmati.

The Rule of Vaghelas

The Rule of Vaghelas

The rule of the Solankis in Ahmedabad lasted till the 13th century and it was only during the 13th century that Gujarat was started being ruled by the Vaghela dynasty from Dholka and the city called Karnavati began to be conquered by Delhi Sultanate.

The Rule of Muzaffarid Dynasty

It was in the year 1411 that Gujarat came under the control of the Muzaffarid dynasty.

Ahmedabad Gets its Name

Legend has it that while Sultan Ahmed Shah was camping on the edges of River Sabarmati, he saw that a dog was being chased by a hare. The Sultan thought this to be a great act of courage and bravery and as he was looking for a place to establish his capital, he went on further and established his capital at the forest area that lay very close to Karnavati and he called the capital Ahmedabad. 

This is how the city got its name. This entire process is described in just one line which says: “Jab kutte pe sassa aaya, tab Badshah ne shaher basaya” and this line means that when the dog was chased by the hare, seeing this act of courage, the Emperor constructed the City.

Fortification of Ahmedabad

In the year 1487, Ahmed Shah’s grandson called Mahmud Begada, fortified the entire city of Ahmedabad with an exterior wall that measured 10 kilometers in circumference and it consists of a total of twelve gates, 6000 battlements and 189 bastions. The Muzaffarid dynasty ruled Ahmedabad until the year 1573 and it was only after 1573 that Akbar, the Mughal Emperor captured Gujarat.

The Mughal Rule in Ahmedabad

It was during the rule of the Mughals in Gujarat that the city of Ahmedabad turned out to be the thriving center of trade in Gujarat and large exports of textiles were carried out from Ahmedabad to the different parts of the world. Shahjahan, the Mughal Emperor spent the best time of his life in Ahmedabad and he also constructed the Moti Shahi Mahal that is located at Shahibaug.

Ahmedabad

In the year 1630 and 1632, Deccan Famine hit the city and further famines took place in 1650 and 1686. The city of Ahmedabad remained the regional headquarter of the Mughals until 1758 and it was in the year 1758 that the Mughal surrendered Ahmedabad to the rulers of the Maratha dynasty.

The Maratha Rule in Ahmedabad

Much glory of the city was lost during the rule of the Marathas in the city and it also came to verge of being the spot of contention between two most important Maratha clans namely the Gaekwad of Baroda and the Peshwa of Poona. The city of Ahmedabad was taken over by the British East India Company in the year 1858. 

Ahmedabad

Railway connectivity between the cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad came into being in 1864 and this was an initiative of the Central, the Baroda and the Bombay India Railway. This initiative made Ahmedabad a very important junction for trade and traffic between southern and northern India. it was also during this period that a large number of people migrated to Ahmedabad from different parts of India in order get employed in the textile mills that were being established in Ahmedabad.

Freedom Movement in Ahmedabad

It is said that Ahmedabad served as a very important city during the movement that was started for the Independence of India. Independence movement was found to develop very strong roots in Ahmedabad when in the year 1915; Mahatma Gandhi carried out the task of establishing two ashrams in Ahmedabad namely Satyagraha Ashram which is called Sabarmati ashram at present on the banks of River Sabarmati and the Kochrab Ashram that is located very close to Paldi. These were the tow centers that were established by Gandhiji and they became the centers of very intense and fierce nationalist activities in India.

Mass Protests in Ahmedabad

The mass protests that were held in protest of the Rowlatt Act that was passed in the year 1919, a large number of textile workers burnt down more than 51 buildings of the Government located across Ahmedabad. During the 1920s, teachers and textile workers went on total strike demanding better pay, better conditions of working and civil rights.

Salt Satyagrah in Ahmedabad

Salt Satyagraha was initiated by Mahatma Gandhi in the year 1930 from Ahmedabad and this Satyagraha was in the form of a march that was started from Gandhiji’s Ashram at Sabarmati and is called the Dandi salt March. Various movements that were initiated for the Independence and against the various laws made by the British in India bear their roots to the city of Ahmedabad.

Quit India Protest in Ahmedabad

The economic institutions and the administration of the city became functionless due to the peaceful protests that were held by a very large number of people in Ahmedabad during the 1930s and this was again found in the year 1942 when the Quit India Movement took place. After India achieved its independence in 1947 and the partition of India was carried out in the year 1947, there was intense and massive communal violence that broke out in the city between the Muslims and the Hindus. During this violence, the entire city of Ahmedabad was found to be filled with dense smoke as the shops and the buildings of the city were set on fire during the riots.

Ahmedabad becomes the Capital of Gujarat

The bifurcation of the State of Bombay took place on 1st May 1960 and new state called Gujarat was formed and it in only during this time that Ahmedabad became the capital of Gujarat. During this period, there were a very large number of research institutions and educational organizations that were set up in Ahmedabad and thus it became an important center of science, higher education and technology in Gujarat. 

Ahmedabad

There were even a large number of chemical and heavy industries set up in Ahmedabad that went a long way in strengthening the economic base of the city and also of the people living within the city of Ahmedabad. Development of the city in the next two decades came to a standstill because of political events that took place in Ahmedabad.

The city was able to establish itself as a center for national politics in the year 1974 when the Nav Nirman agitation was launched in the city. The Nav Nirman agitation was basically a protest that was against the 20% hike in the food fees of hostels at L.D College of Engineering. This protest turned out to be a mass protest against corruption and it demanded the removal of the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Chimanbhai Patel. Anti reservation protest were also held in Ahmedabad when the reservation policy was introduced by the Government of India during the 1980s.

Earthquake in Ahmedabad in 2001

It was on 26th January 2001, that the city of Ahmedabad was struck by a very devastating earthquake with its center very close to Bhuj. The earthquake measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and it resulted in huge devastation and damage throughout the city. More than 50 multistory buildings were found to collapse due to the earthquake and it even killed around 752 people. 

The entire infrastructure of the city was also devastated due to the earthquake. In 2002, the violence between the Muslims and the Hindus of Gujarat spread across Gujarat and it even engulfed the city of Ahmedabad, further paralyzing it for a month. The Gujarat violence killed more than 1044 people in entire Gujarat and it was due to the displacement of Muslims in Gujarat that many refugee camps were erected throughout the city. The city of Ahmedabad was also rocked by a series of bomb blasts that took place in the city on 26th July 2008 and these bomb blasts killed and injured thousands of people.

Economic Developments in Ahmedabad

Recently, the effect of liberalization of the economy of India has helped in energizing the economy of Ahmedabad and there are a large number of communication, commerce, construction and tertiary sector activities taking place in Ahmedabad. 

Ahmedabad

The city of Ahmedabad has also witnessed the development of service and scientific industries, the growth of the sector of information technology and the noteworthy improvements in communications and transportation. The population of Ahmedabad is fast growing which has also resulted in the large scale construction of residential apartments in the city.

All in all, it can be said that Ahmedabad is a city that is developing very fast and at the same time it has also been found that large scale growth in the industrial and the economic sector of the city has taken place.

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