Walled City of Ahmedabad

The Walled City of Ahmedabad was founded by Sultan Ahmed Shah I of Gujarat Sultanate in in 1411.

It is the first city to get UNESCO’s heritage city tag.

It remained the capital of the Gujarat Sultanate and later important political and commercial centre of Gujarat.

It was established as a product of the Sultan’s ambitions to create a trading rival to the neighbouring Hindu trade centre of Asaval.

Further, he made Ahmedabad centre of his own line of dynasty and replaced the old capital of Anhilvad Patan, located nearby.

Ahmed Shah I had laid the foundation of Bhadra Fort starting from Manek Burj, the first bastion of the city in 1411 which was completed in 1413.

It presents rich architectural heritage from sultanate period, notably the Bhadra citadel, walls and gates of Fort city and numerous mosques and tombs, as well as important Hindu and Jain temples of later periods.

During Mughal rule, Bhadra Fort served as the seat of Governor of Gujarat

The richness of architecture present in Ahmedabad is enhanced by the cultural fusion of Hindu and Muslim elements.

The city also holds rare distinction of being one of the oldest trading points in India and also centres of Indian freedom struggle under Mahatma Gandhi.

Spread over 5.43 square kilometres, the city now has approximate population of four lakh, living in century old wooden residences in around 600 pols or neighbourhoods.

Today, despite having become extremely crowded and dilapidated, it still serves as the symbolic heart of metropolitan Ahmedabad.

It is located on the eastern banks of Sabarmati river.

It was declared World Heritage City by the World Heritage Committee (WHC) of UNESCO.

The walled city of Ahmedabad is first city in India to get World Heritage City status and third in Asia after Bhaktapur (Nepal) and Galle (Sri Lanka).

India now has total 36 World Heritage Inscriptions 28 cultural, 7 natural and 1 mixed site.

India is second after China in terms of number of world heritage properties in Asia and Pacific (ASPAC) region, and overall seventh in world.