Ahmadabad

Ahmadabad, the 'Manchester of the East', was founded in 1411, and when Sir Thomas Roe visited it in the 17th century he found it a "Godly city as large as London." On the ruins of the ancient township of Karnavati, the new city was built by Sultan Ahmed of Gujarat. Its prominence in the present century is as a major cotton textile centre and because of its proximity to Sabarmati Ashram where Mahatma Gandhi lived and worked during the first half of his political career in India. It was from here that Gandhiji launched the famous Dandi march to break the salt law. Ahmadabad has extensive architectural remains. Its mosques, palaces and tombs are specimens of Indo-Sarcenic architecture. The Jama Masjid, completed in 1424, is one of the most beautiful mosques in the world.