Ahmadabad, also spelled Ahmedabad, city, eastern Gujarat state, west-central India. It lies along the Sabarmati River about 275 miles (440 km) north of Mumbai (Bombay). Ahmadabad is at the junction of the main roads leading to Mumbai and central India, the Kathiawar Peninsula, and the Rajasthan border. The city is also a major junction on the Western Railway, with lines running to Mumbai, Delhi, and the Kathiawar Peninsula. Pop. (2001) city, 3,520,085; urban agglom., 4,518,240; (2011) city, 5,577,940; urban agglom., 6,357,693.The city was founded in 1411 by the Muslim ruler of Gujarat, Sultan Aḥmad Shah, next to the older Hindu town of Asawal. Ahmadabad grew larger and wealthier for a century, but dynastic decay and anarchy eventually brought about a decline, and the city was captured in 1572 by the Mughal emperor Akbar. Its renewed eminence under the Mughals ceased with the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. Ahmadabad’s further decline was arrested by the British annexation of Gujarat in 1818. The city’s first cotton mills were opened in 1859–61, and Ahmadabad grew to become one of the most populous cities and largest inland industrial centres in India.