AHMADABAD, -dn (1' ( For derivation see Auto I. The chief town in the district of the same name, in the presidency of Bombay, India, situated on the left bank of the Sabar mati. 290 miles north of Bombay, in lat. 23° N., long. 72° 3G' E. (Map: India, B 4). Pt was founded in the year 1412, on the site of the an cient Asha•al. by Ahmed or Ahmad Shah, and in ISIS came under British rule. It was famous for its manufacture of rich fabrics of silk and cot ton. articles of gold. silver, steel, and enamel, industries still carried on, and to which may be added the manufacture of paper and superior pottery. It lets recovered much of its extensive trade in indigo. cotton, and opium. It \vas for merly one of the largest and most magnificent capitals in the east, and its architeetural relies are splendid. even in the midst of decay. The Jumna or Juma'alt \[asjid, or great mosque, rises from the centre of the city, and is adorned by two superbly decorated minarets. Its domes are
supported by lofty columns, regularly disposed, and the concave of these cupolas is ornamented with mosaic and fretwork. The pavement is of the fittest marble. The mosque of Sujaat Khan and the modern .lain temple of Seth Ilathi Slab are extremely beautiful. There is likewise an ivory mosque, so named from the eireumstanee that, although built of white marble, it is lined with ivory, and inlaid with a profusion of gems, to imitate natural flowers, bordered by a silver foliage on mother-of-pearl. There are also the Fire Temple and the Tower of Silence of the Parsis. Ahmadabad once abounded in gardens, and there were aqueducts, reservoirs, etc. The city walls, built in the fifteenth century. which had become very dilapidated, were re paired in 1834. and a system of water-works was Pop., 1591, 148,400; 1901, 150,700.