About Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad. It is also financial capital of Gujarat. It is the fifth largest city andseventh largest metropolitan area of India, with a city population of approximately 5.6 million and metropolitan population of 6.4 million. In 2010,Forbes magazine rated Ahmedabad as the fastest-growing city in India, and third in the world after two Chinese cities — Chengdu and Chongqing.In December 2011 a leading market research firm IMRB declared Ahmedabad as the best city to live in of India's mega-cities. Ahmedabad is located on the banks of the River Sabarmati, 32 km from the state capital Gandhinagar. The city is the administrative centre of Ahmedabad district and was the capital of Gujarat till 1960. In colloquial Gujarati, the city is commonly called Amdavad.



Ahmedabad was founded on February 26, 1411 by Sultan Ahmed Shah to serve as the capital of the Gujarat Sultanate, and was named after him. Under British rule, a military cantonment was established and the city infrastructure was modernized and expanded. Though incorporated into the Bombay Presidency during British rule, Ahmedabad remained the most important city in the Gujarat region. The city established itself as the home of a booming textile industry, which earned it the nickname the "Manchester of the East." The city was at the forefront of the Indian independence movement in the first half of the 20th century. It was the centre of many campaigns of civil disobedience to promote workers' rights, civil rights, and political independence.


Since the creation of the state of Gujarat in 1960, Ahmedabad had become a bustling metropolis with beautiful classical and colonial European styled buildings, lining the city’s thoroughfares. The city is witnessing a major construction boom and population increase. A rising centre of education, information technology and scientific industries, Ahmedabad remains the cultural and commercial heart of Gujarat and much of western India.


source: Wikipedia