or AHMEDABAD, an ancient and celebrated city of Hindustan in the province of Guzerat, of which it was formerly the Mahometan capital. It is situate on the banks of the river Sabarmatty, which washes its western walls, and after a course of about 120 miles falls into the Gulf of Cambay, near the city of that name.

It was built in the year 1412 by the Sultan Ahmed Shah Amedian of Guzerat, on the site of a town still more ancient. It soon became a populous and splendid city; and in the early part of the seventeenth century, after the subjugation of Guzerat by the emperors of Delhi, was a noted emporium of eastern commerce, to which the Dutch and other European merchants resorted for the purchase of goods. Here were manufactories of rich gold and silver flowered silks of every description; steel, gold, ivory, enamel, mother-of-pearl, and lacquered ware, as well as of silk and cotton piece-goods, which were exported through Cambay. This state of prosperity continued until the rise of the Mahrattas, who captured the city in the early part of the last century, and levied a tax on every article, however trifling, and whether of luxury or of necessity, which was either brought within or sent out beyond its walls. Thenceforward Amedabad declined from its ancient splendour; its various manufactories, with some trifling exceptions, rapidly fell into decay and ruin; and its former grandeur is now marked only by the ruins of minarets, palaces, aqueducts, and caravansaries, which extend nearly thirty miles around. In 1780 it was stormed and captured by the British, but shortly afterwards restored by them to the Mahrattas. At that period, from being one of the largest capitals in the East, Amedabad was reduced to a circumference of five miles and three-quarters, surrounded by high walls, with irregular towers every fifty yards, and having twelve principal, besides many inferior gates. On the outside of the walls the country was in a state of desolation, the resort of wild beasts and of noxious reptiles.

In 1818, upon the overthrow of the Peishwa, Amedabad reverted to the British. On its present condition there is little to remark. Some additional consequence was conferred on the city during the administration of the government of Bombay by Sir John Malcolm, who made it the seat of the political residency, previously stationed at Baroda; but in 1838 this advantage was lost by the re-transfer of the residency to its former location. The extent and strength of the walls of Amedabad have been already noticed; but these having become greatly dilapidated, the government in 1834 authorised their thorough repair at a cost of L25,000. The city contains 130,000 inhabitants; its principal streets are well lighted during the night with oil, and the requisite supply of water for the inhabitants is raised from the river and distributed through the city by pipes of tile. Distance from Bombay, 290 miles; from Poona, 320; from Delhi, 490; and from Calcutta 1020 miles. Long. 72. 36. E. Lat. 23. N.