Ahmedabad'

Ahmedabad' (better Ahmadabad), chief town of a district in Guzerat, second amongst the cities of the province of Bombay, is 50 miles NE. of the head of the Gulf of Cambay. It was built in the year 1412 by Ahmed Shah, and finally came under the power of the British in 1818. It was formerly one of the largest and most magnificent cities in the East, and in the 18th century had a pop. of 900,000. Its architectural relics are gorgeous, even in the midst of decay, and illustrate the combination of Saracenic with Hindu forms mainly of the Jain type. The Jama Masjid, or Great Mosque, rises from the centre of the city, and is adorned by two superbly decorated minarets. There is likewise an ivory mosque, so called because, although built of white marble, it is lined with ivory, and inlaid with a profusion of gems. There are some twelve other mosques and six famous tombs. The modern Jain temple is of singular beauty. The prosperity of the place was almost wholly destroyed by the rapacity of the Mahrattas, but it has largely recovered, and is still famous for its manufacture of rich fabrics of silk and cotton, brocades, and articles of gold, silver, steel, and enamel. The pottery is very superior; and paper of various sorts is largely manufactured, chiefly from jute. Pop. (1891) 148,412. The district, mainly a great alluvial plain, has an area of 3949 sq. m., and a pop. of 921,712, of whom about a tenth are Mohammedans.