Ahmadabad

City in Gujarat, India, situated on the Sabarmati River, 430 km/260 mi north of Mumbai (formerly Bombay); population (2001 est) 4,519,300. The former state capital and Gujarat's largest city, it is a major industrial centre specializing in cotton manufacturing, and other industries include pharmaceuticals, flour milling, and the manufacture of soap, glass, carpets, and tobacco products. It has many sacred buildings of the Hindu, Muslim, and Jain faiths, as well as buildings designed by 20th-century architects, such as Le Corbusier, reflecting commercial success.

Ahmadabad was founded in the reign of Ahmed Shah in 1412, and came under the control of the East India Company in 1818. In 1930 Mahatma Gandhi marched to the sea from here to protest against the government salt monopoly; the city has remained a centre for Indian nationalism. The city is home to Gujarat University (1949) and the Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute for Indological Research. Gandhi's ashram (religious retreat) was founded in 1915, and lies in the suburb of Sabarmati.