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Thanks to Deepak Chudasama and BBC Gujarati
There is a demand to change the name of Ahmedabad to Karnavati but there is ambiguity and sometimes contradiction in historical facts.
There is always a question in people’s mind whether Ahmed Shah really conquered ‘Ashaval’ and founded Ahmedabad or ‘Karnavati’? Did Ahmed Shah really establish Ahmedabad near Ashaval or near Karnavati?
After the statement of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani that Ahmedabad could be renamed Karnavati, both those who were in favor of changing the name and those who were opposing it were putting forth their views by citing the history of that time.
As mentioned in the book ‘History of Islamic Sultans in Gujarat’ by Persian linguist and former head of the Persian department of Gujarat University, Chhotubhai Nayak, Muzaffar Shah, who is considered the first independent sultan of Gujarat, handed over the throne of Anahilwad. (Patan) was given to his grandson Ahmed Shah instead of his other sons
After the comments of BJP leaders, Telangana leaders advised to change the name of Ahmedabad.
There has been a demand to name Ahmedabad as Karnavati for a long time, but what is the truth of the beliefs associated with it?
There is always a question in the minds of people whether Ahmed Shah really conquered ‘Ashaval’ and founded Ahmedabad or ‘Karnavati’?
Many people object to the names of cities-towns-localities by citing historical texts. But often historical claims can be contradictory.
Reaching the town of Ashaval, situated on the banks of the historic Sabarmati, Sultan Ahmed Shah decided to uproot the Asha Bhils from there.
Muzaffar Shah had five sons, Firoz Khan, Haibat Khan, Saadat Khan and Sher Khan and the fifth Tatar Khan who became the father of Ahmed Shah.
Tatar Khan had died before Ahmed Shah ascended the throne. The other four were Ahmed Shah’s uncles.
Now when the grandson got the throne, these four uncles were disappointed and at that time there was no such environment that they could leave their throne peacefully.
Sir Edward Clive Bailey writes in the book ‘Local Mohammedan Dynasties of Gujarat’, Firoz Khan’s son Modud was the governor of Vadodara at that time.
Firoz Shah was the eldest uncle of Sultan Ahmed Shah. In that respect, Modud was his cousin.
Modud and Firoz Khan played a leading role in the coup conspiracy.
Some nobles also joined Firoz Shah and Modud. The most prominent among them were two Hindu chieftains, one Jivandas Khatri and the other Prayagdas.
As mentioned in the book ‘History of Islamic Sultanate in Gujarat’, Emperor Hushangshah of Malwa also joined the rebellion.
Besides, messages were sent to the landlords of Gujarat to support the fight in this rebellion by gifting horses.
This rebellion was led by Modud and appointed Jivandas as his Wazir. All of them gathered an army.
Jivandas thought of attacking Patan in front of everyone, some said that it would be difficult to deal with Sultan Ahmed Shah as his army was large, some said to reach an agreement immediately.
Finally all the people gathered had differences and some joined Sultan Ahmed Shah. An internal fight started in which Jivandas Khatri was killed.
After the alliance broke, Modud moved towards Khambhat, where he was joined by Sheikh Malik, the governor of Surat and Rander.
However, seeing Sultan Ahmed coming towards them, they moved towards Bharuch, Ahmed Shah reached there and surrounded the fort of Bharuch. Later the rebels surrendered to the Sultan.
Sultan Ahmed Shah forgave Modud and Sheikh Malik and returned from Bharuch.
Ali Muhammad Khan writes in Mirat-e-Ahmadi that after suppressing the rebellion, Ahmed Shah left to return to Anhilwar.
Then they reached Ashaval, a town on the banks of Sabarmati, after which Sultan Ahmed Shah decided to uproot the Asha Bhils from there.
As mentioned in ‘History of Islamic Sultanate in Gujarat’, Sultan Ahmed Shah reached there and camped for some time and took a walk on the banks of Sabarmati.
According to various references found about Ashaval, Sultan Ahmed Shah had decided to establish a city here.
Asha Bhils again fled from Ashaval and came here, paving the way for the establishment of Ahmedabad.
As claimed in the book, Ahmadabad (now Ahmedabad) was founded in February-March 1411.
However, these dates of founding also differ among historians.
Ahmed Shah laid the foundation of Ahmedabad on the advice of his Pir Hazrat Sheikh Ahmed Khattu Ganjbakshni.
The Sultan also consulted amirs and clerics for the establishment of the new city.
There were four Ahmeds who laid the foundation of Ahmedabad. One of them was Hazrat Sheikh Khattu, the second was his successor Qazi Ahmed, the third was Mullah Ahmed and the fourth was Sultan Ahmed Shah himself.
In the book ‘History of Gujarat’, Khan Bahadur writes that apart from these four Ahmeds, 12 fakirs also assisted the Sultan in the founding ceremony of Ahmedabad.
As mentioned in the book, these four Ahmeds and twelve fakirs were disciples of the famous Muslim saint Nizam-ud-din Auliya of Delhi.
Why was Aurangzeb’s tomb built in the middle of Aurangabad instead of Delhi?
According to ‘History of Gujarat’, Ahmed Shah named the city after his guru, himself and two other companions.
As mentioned in this book about the importance of the founding of Ahmedabad, the Sultan found from experience that an area can be defended well only when a strong fort is built in its center.
R should be gathered.
By doing this, it will be easy to control the kings of Idar, Champaner and Sorath.
In this matter, the Amirs and Pirs of that time were also consulted. Hazrat Sheikh Khattu also supported this advice.
Achyut Yagnik and Suchitra Seth have shed some light on Ahmedabad, Karnavati and Ashaval in the book ‘Ahmedabad from Royal City to Megacity’.
According to the description found in the book, Persian and Mughal period historians say that Ashaval was located on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati river.
According to some evidence, Ashaval should have been around the present Jamalpur and Astodia gate on the banks of the river.
Arabic and Persian historians call it ‘Ashaval’, while Sanskrit and Prakrit sources call it ‘Ashapalli’.
500 years before the establishment of Ahmedabad, the great scholar Alberuni had mentioned it by the name of ‘Ashaval’.
Jain Acharya Jineshwarsuri has mentioned Ashapalli in 1039 BC in ‘Nirvanalilavatikatha’.
All these evidences prove the importance of Ashaval or Ashapalli in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
There is no mention of ‘Karnavati’ being a city in ‘Mirat-e-Ahmadi’ or ‘History of Gujarat’.
Karnavati is mentioned in ‘Prabandhachintamani’ written by Jain Acharya Merutundacharya in 1304-05.
As described in it, King Karnadev went to a village called Ashapalli to attack Asha Bhil.
After the auspicious omen of Bhairav Devi, a temple of Kocharab Devi was built there and he pitched his tents there.
He defeated Asha Bhil and established Karneshwar Mahadev there and built Karnasagar lake and built Karnavati Puri there and started ruling himself.
As mentioned in the book ‘Ahmedabad From Royal City to Megacity’, Jain literature and religious sources of the late 13th and early 14th centuries mention ‘Karnavati’ as being on the banks of the Sabarmati river.
However, it is not clear whether Karnavati was another name for Ashaval or there was a military outpost called Karnavati next to it.
Expanding Merutundacharya’s story three decades later, two other Jain scholars, Jinmanandana and Charitasundara, retold it by writing that Karnadev decided to build a new city.
As soon as Karnadev installed his son Siddharaja on the throne, he felt that two kings cannot rule in one city.
So these Jain scholars say that Karnadev decided to settle Karnavati after conquering Ashaval.
On the other hand, the historical poem written by Acharya Hemchandra, which dates back to Siddharaja’s time, mentions that Karnadev died soon after Siddharaja was installed on the throne of Anahilwad.
There is no mention of a city called Karnavati in this poem.
So was Ashapalli the same city called Karnavati Nagari?
Was Karnavati a different city? If it was Karnavati, why is there mention of Ashaval or Ashapalli only till the 12th or 13th century?
Siddharaj and Kumarapala, sons of Karnadev who succeeded Siddharaja, both ruled for many years. Why did they never mention Karnavati?
Why did Jain scholars of their time not mention Karnavati in their literature?
Karnavati started getting mentioned in Jain literature and religious literature in the late 13th century.
According to ‘Ahmedabad from Royal City to Megacity’, Ashapalli is mentioned even 150 years after the establishment of Ahmedabad by Sultan Ahmed Shah in 1411.
From this we can say that Karandev must have established a military post near Ashapalli, which gradually turned into a colony.
It is likely that it merged with Ashapalli as it developed in later years.
According to ‘History of Gujarat’, Ahmed Shah founded Ahmedabad on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati river and right next to Ashaval.
He built a 53 feet high ruby tower, a little ahead of the present Ellisbridge. The foundation of Ahmedabad was laid here.
According to Ali Mohammad Khan’s article in ‘Mirat-e-Ahmadi’, the name of the Bhadra Fort built in Ahmedabad is taken from the Patan Fort.
The construction of the Bhadra Fort was also very similar to the Patan Fort.
For decades, Patan i.e. Anahilwad remained the capital of the Hindu and then Muslim rulers of Gujarat.
The fort of Bhadra was square in shape and covered an area of about 43 acres.
However, there is disagreement as to when the wall around the city was completed.
As mentioned by ‘Farishta’, the wall around the city of Ahmedabad was completed in the time of Muhammad Begada.
Ali Mohammad Khan in the article ‘Mirat-e-Ahmadi’ says that the inscription at the beginning of the fort reads, ‘All who are within it are now safe.’
This tithilek has the year 892 Hijri written in it. This means that this wall was built in B.C. It must have been completed in 1487.
However, there are some records that the fort was completed in 1413. However, in ‘Mirat-e-Sikandari’ this mention is of 1417.
As mentioned in ‘History of Gujarat’, when Ahmedabad was founded, the population was not high. Later the population gradually increased.
So the fort must have been completed in 1413, but due to the increase in population, the wall around the city must have been completed in 1487.
According to the mention of ‘Mirat-e-Ahmadi’, the fort had a total of 12 gates and a total of 189 towers. Also it had more than 6,000 windows.
The masonry work of this fort was done with bricks and lime. Its strength was compared to the forts of Delhi and Shahjahanabad.
As mentioned in ‘Mirat-e-Ahmadi’, the fort has 12 gates
Of the Ajas, three Shahparu in the north, Idri in the south
There were gates named Delhi and Dariyapur.
In the south there were Astodia, Jamalpur and a gate which was closed was known as Dhedia.
On the western side towards the bank of Sabarmati river there were gates named Khanjahan, Raikhad and Khanpur. While on the eastern side there were gates named Kalupur, Sarangpur and Raipur. (Google translation from Gujarati)
