British rule
The British East India Company took over the city in 1818. A military cantonment was established in 1824, a municipal government in 1858, and a railway link between Ahmedabad trade and textile manufacturing. The struggle for independence from the British soon took roots in the city. In 1915, Mahatma Gandhi came from South Africa and established two ashrams in Ahmedabad, the Kochrab Ashram near Paldi in 1915 and the Satyagrah Ashram on the banks of Sabarmati in 1917. It was later called Harijan Ashram or Sabarmati Ashram. Mahatma Gandhi started the salt satyagraha in 1930. He and many followers marched from his ashram to the coastal village of Dandi, Gujarat, to protest against the British imposing a tax on salt. Before he left the ashram, he vowed not to return to the ashram until India became independent.

After independence
After independence, Ahmedabad became a provincial town of Bombay . On May 1 1960, Ahmedabad became a state capital as a result of the division of the state of Bombay into two states of Maharashtra and Gujarat . A large number of educational and research institutions were founded in the city in the 1960s. In February 1974, Ahmedabad occupied the centre-stage of national politics with launch of the Nav Nirman agitation. It started of as an argument over a 20% hike in hostel food bill in the L.D. College of Engineering, but ignited an agitation which later snowballed into the Nav Nirman movement. This movement caused the then chief minister of Gujarat, Chimanbhai Patel, to resign and also gave Indira Gandhi one of the excuses for imposing the Emergency on June 25, 1975.There were two major anti-reservation protests in 1981 and 1985.On 26 January 2001, a devastating earthquake centred near Bhuj, measuring 6.9 on the richter scale, struck the city. As many as 50 multistoried buildings collapsed killing 752 people.In February and March 2002, Ahmedabad witnessed communal riots as an aftermath of an attack on a train full of Hindu pilgrims at Godhra.

Despite the fact that it is a busy textile town, Ahmedabad has a certain charm. In the old city, the superb artistic and aesthetic traditions of Gujarat are visible in its beautiful mosques, Jain temples, unique stone step wells that descend in elaborately decorated levels into the earth and in old houses with their ornately carved wooden balconies and screens. Modern Ahmedabad has fine structures - designed by renowned architects like Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn.  

State : Gujarat
District(s) : Ahmedabad
Coordinates : 23.03° N 72.58° E
Area : 1,300 km²
Elevation : 53 m
Time zone : IST (UTC+ 5:30 )
Population(2005): 5,171,000
Density : 3,978/km²
Codes : Postal :380 0xx
Telephone :+91-079
Vehicle :GJ-