How city got its name

Englishman Philips Baldeus sketched this cityscape in 1672 AD

The earliest mention of the city as Ashavally, Ashapal or Ashaval finds mention in Muslim scholar Alberuni’s Qitab-ul-Hind. It was a town ruled by tribal King Asha Bhil. In 1074, King Karnadev I of the Solanki dynasty defeated Asha Bhil in battle and established the city of Karnavati.

Karnavati was strategic for Karnadev I for his army campaign in Lat Pradesh, today’s South Gujarat. Karnavati became his army base, from where he fought off attackers from South Gujarat and the Yadavs of Girnar.

Karnadev I had built three temples in Karnavati — of Jayanti Devi, Kochharba Devi and Karneshwar Mahadev. Present-day Kankaria was a water tank named Karnasagar after him. Siddharaj Jaysinh, also known as Gujarat no Naath, was crowned at Karneshwar temple, which was built by his father Karnadev I.

Karnavati enjoyed a pride of place during the Solanki rule, till the Solanki kingdom fell to Muslim Sultanate. The last of of the Solanki dynasty, Karnadev Vaghela, better known as Ra Karan Ghelo, was defeated by Allaudin Khilji, marking the beginning of Muslim rule in Gujarat.

Zafar Shah, viceroy of Delhi, was the one who founded Gujarat Sultanate. He assumed the title of Muzaffar Shah and became the emperor of Gujarat, making Patan its capital.

During this period, Karnavati went into oblivion. In 1411, Zafar Shah’s successor Ahmed Shah founded the city of Ahmedabad, where Karnavati was situated.

According to legend, when Ahmed Shah first came to the city, the sight of a rabbit taking on a hound remained etched in his memory and he decided to set up base here and named the city his capital.

Ahmedabad remained capital of Gujarat for around 162 years till the Gujarat Sultanate stopped being an independent sultanate. In 1572, Mughal emperor Akbar captured the city and ended the rule of the Sultanate.