Ahmedabad
Is the largest city in Gujarat and the sixth largest city in India with a population of almost 5 million. The city is also sometimes called Karnavati , an older name and as Amdavad in colloquial Gujarati . Ahmedabad is the administrative center of Ahmedabad District , and was the former capital of Gujarat State from 1960 to 1970 , when Gandhinagar replaced it. It is from the sober habitat of Sabarmati at Ahmedabad, that the 'Father of the Nation' - Mahatma Gandhi took on the mighty British Empire , and gave human race one of its most remarkable ways to fight oppression - non-violence.

Origin of name
There is a legend associated with Ahmedabad. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, an independent sultanate ruled by the Muslim Muzaffarid dynasty was established in Gujarat. Sultan Ahmed Shah, while camping on the banks of the Sabarmati river, saw a hare chasing a dog. The sultan was intrigued by this and asked his spiritual adviser for explanation. The sage pointed out unique characteristics in the land which nurtured such rare qualities which turned a timid hare to chase a ferocious dog. Impressed by this the sultan, who had been looking for a place to build his new capital, decided to found the capital here and called it Ahmedabad.

Solanki Rule
Archaeological evidence points to the occupation of the site from a much earlier period than that of Sultan Ahmed Shah. It was known in ancient times as Ashapalli or Ashaval. In the eleventh century the Solanki King Karandev I, ruler of Anhilwara (modern Patna), waged a war against the Bhil king of Ashaval. After his victory he established a city called Karnavati on the banks Sabarmati at the site of modern Ahmedabad. Solanki rule lasted until the thirteenth century, when Gujarat came under the control of the Vaghela dynasty of Dwarka.

Sultanate Rule
Gujarat was then conquered by the Sultanate of Delhi at the end of the thirteenth century. In 1487 Mahmud Begada, the grandson of Ahmed Shah, fortified the city with an outer city wall six miles in circumference and consisting of 12 gates, 189 bastions and over 6,000 battlements to protect it from outside invaders. The last Sultan of Ahmedabad was Muzaffar II.

Mughal rule
Gujarat was conquered by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1573. During the Mughal rule, Ahmedabad became one of the empire's thriving centres of trade, especially in textiles, which were exported as far as Europe. Jehangir, son of Akbar, visited Ahmedabad in 1617 but did not like it and called it Gardabad, the city of dust. Shahjahan spent the prime of his life in the city, and also built the Moti Shahi Mahal in Shahibaug.