When we look at Ahmedabad, it comes across as layers of history which overlap to form what it is today. To decode it, the understanding of the evolution is integral. The timeline of Ahmedabad has been divided according to the periods which saw considerable changes in the city. This is not an attempt to make a decisive or a comprehensive timeline of the city, rather it attempts to collate some important events in time which have led to some changes in the city. This has been extracted from various seminars over a period of a semester and include the interpretations of the speakers who presented throughout the semester.
1411 C.E.- 1572 C.E.:
This era is marked by the rise of Ahmedabad as a prominent city and the capital of the Gujarat Sultanate. The only Islamic ruled city in pre-mughal India to have a greater prominence than Ahmedabad was Delhi. Some of the most spectacular structures of Ahmedabad such as the Jami Mosque belong to this time frame. Ahmedabad was annexed by the Mughals in the year 1572 C.E., thus bringing an end to a chapter in the history of Ahmedabad.
1411: Ahmed Shah, the then Sultan of Gujarat commenced the construction of the Bhadra Fort in the year 1411 C.E. The fort is located adjacent to the river Sabarmati. There are some stories which suggest varying reasons for the selection of the location for the city. The earlier capital of Gujarat was Patan and the shift of the capital southwards to Ahmedabad may have been a response to the growing uproar against the court at Patan. According to one story, Ahmed Shah saw a hare chasing a pack of predators and impressed by the unusual scene, he determined to set up his city on that very site. Another account says that Ahmed Shah had fallen in love with the daughter of a local chieftain but the chieftain was unwilling to marry his daughter to him. The daughter who reciprocated Ahmed shah’s feelings; with the support of her mother, convinced her father to grant permission for the alliance. Consequently the city was built near the small settlement where the bride belonged to.
[Source: Desai, J. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
The Bhadra fort over looked a maidan or open ground. The exact origin of the word ‘Bhadra’ is unclear but there are a few theories which suggest at different possibilities. According to one belief, a space having or surrounded by four sides is called Bhadra. There is also a Bhadrakali mandir located close to the entry gate of the fort but it is speculated that it may have come up during the Maratha rule later.
[Source: Desai, J. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Bhadra Maidan serves as an open platter whose contents contain historic narratives. The Bhadra Fort and the adjoining Maidan may have shared parallel histories but the architectural character till date seems to distinguish between the privileged and the private. Some of the oldest structures include the Jami Masjid and the Teen Darwaza forming the sides of the enclosed Maidan. The Maidan seems to have acted as the locus of major activities and the Bazzars or markets were held in the Maidan as Ahmedabad served as a crossroads of travel. Traces of the Khas Bazzar offering commodities such as the ittar or perfume can still be noted in the area. The markets were reserved for the queens on Mondays.
[Source: Desai, J. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
The Maidan was also the ground of major political and public events. One instance suggestive of it is the display of more than 50 heads of robbers by the then emperor Begda. The very scale of the open space allows it to accommodate masses and thus it became the center for political activity in the city.
[Source: Desai, J. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Mid and Late 15th century: One of the most prominent religious group of structures in Ahmedabad is the Sarkhej Roza. It is the site of burial of Sufi saint Sheikh Ahmed Ganj Baksh Khattu. The complex includes a massive man made water body and the Sultans also built palaces and other burials around this lake. The coming in of the Sufi saint gained a lot of attention in the court and the influence of the Ulema seems to have weakened as a result. Another great saint who resided in Ahmedabad in the fifteenth century was Burhanuddin Qutub-ul-Alam. His son, Shah e Alam became a revered and loved saint of the city and his Roza still exists in Ahmedabad. Mahmud Shah Begda also greatly revered the saint and even today the urs is attended by people of all class and caste. The third religious influence to affect the city was that of the Imam Shah, he established the Satpanth, meaning the path of the truth. What these religious influences in the formative years of Ahmedabad seem to have done to the city is that they may have been able to avoid major communal friction.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Mid and Late 15th century: It is believed that somewhere between the years1450 C.E. to 1475 C.E., the city was fortified. The shape of the city walls seem to indicate that it enclosed the settlements which existed then. The city walls were built in stone. The city walls have twelve gates, the existence of numerous gates indicate the trade routes which the city must have been connected to. The city thus developed a layer of security and the Bhadra fort became the second line of defense.
Late 15th century: The capital was briefly moved southwards to the city of Champaner under the rule of Mahmud Shah Begda in the years 1485-86 C.E. Ahmedabad continued to prosper and remained the cultural hub of the region. The city of Champaner failed to emerge as a prominent city and the capital was shifted back to Ahmedabad, one of the reason may have been the lack of a water source.
[Source: Yagnik, A. & Sheth, S. (2016) Ahmedabad from Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books India]
16th century: One of the most important preacher of the seventeenth century, Vallabhcharya, visited Ahmedabad and he established the Pushti margi sect. The worship is centered around devotion to Krishna. Another major religious influence was that of Dadu Dayal (majorly the sixteenth century) and his sect. Eventually there was an influence of the Bhakti saints who visited the city.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1572 C.E.- 1707C.E.:
1572: Ahmedabad lapsed into the hands of the Mughals losing its title as the capital of the kingdom though it remained the socio-political- economical hub of western India.
1653: The city notes the visits of Mughal emperors and one of the notable contributions is that of the Azamkhan ni Sarai completed in the year 1653 C.E. The need of a Sarai in the setting of Bhadra Fort and Maidan indicated that trade must have flourished under the Mughal rule as well.
[Source: Desai, J. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
17th century: The prominence of the city under the Mughals is evident from the fact that there was a Tank Shala or mint which was present in the city. The presence of a mint also emphasizes the economic importance of the city. It has been recorded that the revenues generated by the city were only second to Delhi, the capital of Mughals. Ahmedabad was known for trading in Jeweler and Textile and perhaps the most prominent Jeweler of the Indian subcontinent during the reign of emperors after Akbar was Shantidas Jhaveri, a resident of Ahmedabad. The fact that he was permitted entry in the Zinana suggests his influence as a merchant and his proximity to the Mughal court.
[Source: Yagnik, A. & Sheth, S. (2016) Ahmedabad from Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books India]
1681-82: In the years 1681-1682, the city was struck with a famine. The severity of the famine forced people to organize the first ‘roti riot’ or the need for food riot. On the festival of Id, majority of the rioters who were muslims gathered in public places. The then governor, Amin Khan faced a protest by the citizens who hurled garbage and stone at him as he was passing through the market. The public spaces such as the Bhadra maidan thus continued to remain important places for significant events such as the Roti riot.
[Source: Desai, J. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1707 C.E.- 1817C.E.:
Early 18th century: The subsequent fall of the Mughal Empire left a void in the political scenario of India and Marathas rose to power in Deccan and it is observed that Ahmedabad was ruled by the Marathas. The Marathas were referred to as ‘Ganim’ which means maurauders by the locals. This period is marked by instability and the riches of the city seem to dwindle. The Peshwas of Pune and the Gaikwads of Baroda (or Vadodra) attempted to continuously lay claim on the city. Many instances suggest the state of despair during the Maratha rule.
[Source: Yagnik, A. & Sheth, S. (2016) Ahmedabad from Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books India, Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar, Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Early 18th century: Khushalchand, the Nagar Seth of Ahmedabad was a prominent merchant and he is remembered as a savior of the city from an attack by the Marathas. The Maratha forces were nearing the city with the intention of raiding it in the year 1725 C.E. The residents of the city feared plundering and looting. This is when Khushalchand stepped in and offered the marauders a ransom from his personal wealth and succeeded in saving the city. Consequently, all the traders of the city offered Khushalchand and his family one forth of their income annually as compensation and gratitude.
[Source: Yagnik, A. & Sheth, S. (2016) Ahmedabad from Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books India, Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Medieval period: There is another tale which hints at the instability during the Maratha rule. The local Hindu women of Ahmedabad had collected their jeweler and collectively decided to had it over to the Muslim general. They approached him with a plea to accept the jewelry and use it to form a force and regain the town from the Maratha control. This evidence suggests how Marathas were perceived as outsiders and invaders though they were believers of the Hindu faith. Such a response may have been a response to the turmoil the city was experiencing.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Residential Life in Pols:
Medieval period: It is interesting to note that the character of the Pols of Ahmedabad developed as response to the times of uncertainty during the Maratha rule. The old city of Ahmedabad have a number of Pols which primarily consisted of residences. Pols are enclosures and the inhabitants are often bound by the ties of religion and community. The Pol may consist of varying number of tenements, from as less as a handful to much more than a hundred. The Pols were often accessed by a singular gate and was secured by a Poliya, or a gate keeper. This arrangement seems to be response to the political instability. Inside the Pol, the Pol houses were arranged in a staggered pattern and thus the streets were not linear, the street often took turns and formed Chawks of varying scales which served clusters of houses. The streets ended in dead ends and thus the access to the adjacent Pols was restricted but the Pols remained connected by internal lesser known connections from within the houses. One or a few of the houses in the Pol were connected or opened up in adjacent Pols and lanes and this must have been of great help for escaping during raids and riots. Another adaptation of the Pol houses was the fact that as the houses were built with shared walls, the terraces became navigable and served as escape ways in such times.
[Source: Neelkanth, C. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Medieval period: Apart from the security concerns which the Pols catered to, it is interesting to note the transitions of spaces within a Pol. The narrowness of the street also resulted in the street being shaded through most of the time of the day. This may have helped against the harsh summer heat in Ahmedabad.
Medieval period: The Pol houses also display a structured transition. The Otla was the raised plinth in front of the house which acted as the first space of transition or rather a threshold in the house. These Otlas were the site of chance interaction between the passers by on the street and the onlookers sitting on the Otlas. Usually the old people of the house preferred to sit on the Otla during the day and they also acted as the surveillance, keeping an eye on who was allowed inside the house. The upper level usually projected to provide shade to the Otla and thus increased the usability of the space.
[Source: Neelkanth, C. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Medieval period: The next space in the Pol house was the ‘Baithak’,where friendly outsiders could be entertained. This acted as a social space of the house. This was followed by courtyard. The courtyard was the active center of the house. The courtyard remained the constant core of the Pol house as well, even if rooms were added on upper stories, the courtyard mas usually retained. The courtyard also served the purpose of light and ventilation as the houses only opened up to the Pol streets and the houses were linear with the narrower side facing the street. The Rasodu or the Kitchen and the space for the storage of water were located adjacent to the courtyard. The courtyard opened up in the Ordo, which was the private sanctuary of the house. The Ordo was the last consecutive space. It also housed the wealth, family heirlooms and food; all of these seem as the essentials which were to be protected during a possible raid. As the Pol houses were occupied by large families, the upper levels were occupied by other family members.
[Source: Neelkanth, C. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Medieval period: The Pol, as a unit in itself offers insights about the use of spaces on the basis of age group and gender. Till the age of seven years, the kids were not seen separately on the gender basis. The kids usually had no bars regarding the access of spaces. The young men of the Pol usually stood outside the Pol, they were also the ones who would organize and arrange for events. The young girls were kept inside the house and they helped the women in the household chores. The men were usually at work during the day and could be found either in the streets of the Pol in the evening or in the baithaks in their houses. The Old men sat in the Chawk, keeping an eye on the activities around. The Old women occupied an important position in the house and were allowed to sit in the Chawks and on the Otlas. The Pols thus acted as a unit in itself, it was also a unit of governance.
[Source: Neelkanth, C. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1818 C.E.- 1947C.E.:
Early 19th century: In the early nineteenth century, the fate of the Anglo-Maratha Wars paved way for British rule. The entry of the British seems to have been welcomed by the residents of Ahmedabad. After a period of turmoil and decline under the Maratha rule, the fortunes of Ahmedabad were set to change under the British rule. The Bristish rule rule brought in comparative peace and stability to the political scenario in Ahmedabad. The advent of the East India Company has also been stated as ‘Ram Rajya’ by Maganlal Vakhatchand.
[Source: Yagnik, A. & Sheth, S. (2016) Ahmedabad from Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books India]
Mid 19th century: By 1850, Harkunwar Ba Hutheesingh oversees and completes the construction of Hutheesingh Derasar. She is also remembered as the patron of the first school for girls in the city of Ahmedabad. This also depicts the progressive nature of the mercantile elite of the city.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1857: During the first war of independence, i.e. in 1857, parts of north India experienced turmoil but it did not affect Ahmedabad much. The British rule had brought comparative peace to the city and such an environment facilitated and encouraged trade and commerce. The city being a merchant dominated or rather there was a great influence of the merchants on the city, they chose to maintain peace in the city. This depicts the mercantile ethos of the city.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Late 19th century & Early 20th century: The introduction of Mills in the city saw the rise of a new period in the history of Ahmedabad. The name Ranchhodlal Chhotalal has become almost synonymous to the rise of Mills in Ahmedabad. He was instrumental in setting up the first mill in the city in the year 1859, after facing a lot of obstacles. The introduction of Mills in Ahmedabad provided immense employment opportunities and the city saw an inflow of migrants looking for employment in the Mills. It has been noted that by the year 1916, there were as many as 62 mills in the city. The large inflow of migrants were accommodated in shanty settlements. The condition of the Mill workers was noted by leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and the municipal authorities took measures to improve these living conditions. The government set up new housing clusters known as Chawls which provided accommodation at affordable prices. The private Mill owners soon started to commission such residential units and within a few decades, the landscape of the city was dotted my multiple Chawls.
[Source: Yagnik, A. & Sheth, S. (2016) Ahmedabad from Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books India, Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Early 20th century: Another major shift in housing was the Chawls where people were themselves not building their houses but a built product was being offered for habitation to the mill workers. The Chawls saw an attempt to maximize the use of space. One such Chaali is the Neelkanth Mahadev ni Chaali. A number of small Kholis are crammed in a specific plot. It is an initial attempt of mass housing. The passages are doubly loaded for space optimization. Initially only the mill workers came to reside in the cities, leaving behind their family in the villages but eventually the families stated migrating to the city. The need for more space thus led to some encroachment or extensions of the tenements on the road. There is a variation which can be seen today owing to the alterations done by the residents, such as addition of floors, staircases, toilets, otlas etc. These housing typologies came up after the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
[Source: Kashikar, V. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Early 20th century: In the early 20th century, the employees who could not find accommodation in the Chawls would find unclaimed land and set up small single room establishments there. The settlements slowly expanded as more migrants entered the city. These informal settlements were again community based. These built forms are additive and look haphazard but it is linked to the economy of the residents. Areas such as Juna Vadaj house such settlements. The single room saw additions over time and new rooms were added to the house, thus there is a peculiar character to these houses. This kind of development still continues in the slums and squatters of Ahmedabad.
[Source: Kashikar, V. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1915: Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in the year 1915 C.E. The city of Ahmedabad is still greatly associated with Mahatma Gandhi and the Aashram he set up on the banks of river Sabarmati. When Gandhi returned from Africa, the tales of his action had reached the people of Ahmedabad before he set foot in Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad was well connected to other parts of Gujarat and also to other major cities of India. The support of the rich merchants enabled him to set up his Kochrab Aashram in the year 1915 C.E. The coming of Mahatma Gandhi placed Ahmedabad on the World Map.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
The ideologies of Gandhi and Tagore infused a sense of utopia towards the villages. Till then, the villages were seen as backward, something which should be left behind. During this time, there was a sense of looking at the village as the bearer of the original Indian self. The kind of search for an alternative way of life led to reviving the ideas which existed in the villages. This ideology gave rise to the Bengal school of art. Its proponents include Nandalal Bose.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Hriday Kunk, at the Gandhi’s Ashram seems to embody some of this ideology. The entrance is through a courtyard and there are verandas abutting it. There is a long veranda on the other side which opens up to the river. The house lacked privacy owing to its planning. The aesthetics of the house may seem to have borrowed the simplicity from the village houses. The house does not seem to have been formally planned. This overlap of the rural in the urban is interesting in the sense that there is an attempt to negotiate, a negotiation between the rural and the urban.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1920: In the year 1920, Gujarat Vidyapeeth was founded and the establishment of Puratatva Mandir soon followed. It was under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi that institutes which emphasized the role of the native language formed in the city of Ahmedabad. These institutes contributed in the molding of an identity and broke away from the schooling system set up by the British. The activities of the Vidyapeeth slowly faded by 1930 when Mahatma Gandhi led the Salt Satyagraha.
[Source: Yagnik, A. & Sheth, S. (2016) Ahmedabad from Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books India, Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1920s: Around the 1920’s, the Pipardi ni Pol was built. The British had been in the city for more than a century and thus ideas of western planning and arrangement seem to have seeped in. The Pol is laid on a grid but the spatial organization of the houses within still seems to draw from the older model of Pol houses. This phase is a phase of transition, where the lifestyles of the people are experiencing changes owing to the influences on the idea of planning.
[Source: Kashikar, V. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1930s: Buildings during the 1930’s period included the town hall. The building was designed by Claude Batley and it incorporates a symmetric planning. A building close by is the M.J. library, again designed by Batley in the 1930’s. These buildings attempt to incorporate the modernization in technology but attempt to retain some elements of traditional architecture. For instance, the library here incorporated a dome which resembles with the dome of Dariya Khan’s Tomb. Elements such as the torans have been incorporated as well. The relation of this kind of aesthetics in architecture is closely related to the calendar art movement, which has been discussed later.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Early 1940s: The relief road was laid down in the early 1940’s in the walled city of Ahmedabad. This road was laid down to lessen the traffic on the Richie Road (or the M.G. road). The road cut across and connected Pols and eventually brought about a change in the nature of interaction between the road and the buildings abutting it. Commercial establishments started lining the road and thus there was a change in the streetscape.
1947 C.E.- 1960C.E.:
Late 1940s: The Independence of India and the partition saw passive migration of people across the borders. Ahmedabad remained comparatively peaceful during this period. Ahmedabad saw an inflow of Sindhi migrants. Sindh was included in Pakistan and thus the many Hindus preferred to migrate to India and they settled in various cities, Ahmedabad was among it. The culture of the migrants was different and as they consumed non-vegetarian food and their script resembled Arabic script. Ahmedabadis thus distanced themselves from the migrants.
[Source: Shah, A. (2015) Ahmedabad a city in the world. Bloomsbury]
Late 1940s: The calendar art movement is greatly associated to the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma and the painters who followed a similar style of painting. This movement incorporated the religious ideas which were deep rooted in the Indian culture and presented it with modern techniques and sophistication. The ramifications of such an ideology is evident in the Gujarat University building and its clock tower commissioned in the year 1947. The form, arrangement and function may have been adapted from colonial influences but the ornamentation and elements such as the arches borrow heavily from the architecture of medieval era.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1950s: The progressive art movement also gained ground around the time of independence in India. The proponents of it included Akbar Padamsee and Tayyab Mehta. This movement also started being called the Bombay progressive. The idea of the progressives was to break away from the traditional and explore and express modern ideologies through their art. In terms of architecture, Ahmedabad invited the eminent architect Le Corbusier to design a few structures. One of these buildings was the Mill owners association building.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1950s: Another structure designed by Le Corbusier in the city is the Sanskar Kendra. It may be difficult to appreciate the structure. It does not come across as a very pleasing imagery. The structure is what seems to have held it in place but there is an unmistakable modernist approach to the design of the structure. The ideas of international modernism seems to have been implanted directly in the building. The exhibits inside contradicts with the character of architecture and today the building sadly remains neglected.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1954: The ATIRA complex was inaugurated. The Ahmedabad textile Industry’s research association built a building housing labs and other research facilities and it was designed by architect Achyut Kanvinde. The ideas of the building are heavily influenced by the ideas of Walter Gropius. Elements such as the black painted columns and strip windows seem to incorporate the elements of the modern movement. He also went on to design the PRL i.e. the Physical research laboratory. The influence of Bauhaus movement is evident in this structure.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1950s: During the 1950’s period, the movement for ‘Mahagujarat’ gained ground. The movement was led by Indulal Yagnik. The present states of Gujurat and Maharashtra were jointly governed and called as the ‘Bombay State’ with its capital as Bombay. The movement kept gaining great momentum between 1956 and 1960 C.E. A sense of Gujarati aasmita gained ground and statehood was demanded. Authors such as Munshi wrote of the Solanki dynasty and pictured it as a glorious past which then the people aspired to create or look up to. In mid 1960 the two states were formed, with Bombay as the capital of Maharashtra and Ahmedabad as the interim capital of Gujarat. The capital then shifted to Gandhinagar, a planned capital, located close to Ahmedabad.
[Source: Yagnik, A. & Sheth, S. (2016) Ahmedabad from Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books India, Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1960 C.E.- 1992C.E.:
1960s: Ahmedabad houses a number of important educational institutions. The IIM-Ahmedabad was established in 1961 C.E. NID was also set up in 1961. CEPT was set up in the year 1962. This era of institution building also marked the expansion of the city towards the west. The educational institutions drew students and teachers from various parts of the country and the institutes gained immense importance as they contributed in the shaping of the city in the years to come.
[Source: Yagnik, A. & Sheth, S. (2016) Ahmedabad from Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books India, Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1960s: The 1960’s saw the activities of the Gujarat housing board. This was a time where the newly formed Gujarat state built a number of housing schemes, one such is the Baapu Nagar. It consists of houses for the lower income group. The planning of the residences is strikingly similar to the plans of the vernacular houses. The arrangement is linear with parallel walls and the back lanes carry the sewer lines. The model was a very efficient economically for the government to build.
[Source: Kashikar, V. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1960s: The housing board was also engaged in the construction of houses for the middle income group. In one such colony built in the late 1960’s, four tenements have been clubbed together, there is a series of parallel roads and a common open space. It is important to note the provision of amenities in the colony. There is an open air theater and a badminton court in the colony. This phase seems to have a lot of experimentation by the Gujarat housing board.
[Source: Kashikar, V. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1969: The banks of the country were nationalized and thus Ahmedabad saw the construction of many new banks after 1969. The bank buildings usually had podiums with the building above. The Dena bank building was designed by Hasmukh Patel and the Central Bank building by B.V. Doshi, these banks seem to be greatly influenced by the banks being built in the west, in terms of architecture.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1960s-70s: During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, the mid rise and high rise building start being built in Ahmedabad. Other reasons such as the riots also served as an incentive for the people to move out of the old city of Ahmedabad. Apartments such as the Firdaus Apartments and Royal Apartments were built during this time. These were G+9, G+10 buildings. The advertisements made for the buildings also seems to proclaim that living in high rises was what the other modern cities aspired for, and so should the Ahmedabadis.
[Source: Kashikar, V. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1970s: During the 1970’s the Navnirman movement left its impact. The college students started a movement against the rise in price of food in the canteen. This local movement which originated in Ahmedabad soon found voices and its echoes were heard in other parts of Gujarat and eventually it gained a much larger scale. The two major demands were the resignation of the then Chief minister of Gujarat and dissolution of the assembly. The movement succeeded in achieving its agenda and it was the last such movement on such a scale to see the collective support across communities.
[Source: Yagnik, A. & Sheth, S. (2016) Ahmedabad from Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books India]
1970’s: In the late 1970’s, a restaurant named Vishalla was designed by a self styled designer, Surendra Patel. The restaurant is on the outskirts of the city and it serves traditional food. The architecture of the restaurant resembles the settlements of a village. It successfully creates a nostalgia and capitalizes on it. This ideology seems to resonate with the ideologies which led to the Bengal art school, in the beginning of the twentieth century.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1980’s: During the 1980’s, many of the mills had already shut down and there was a sense of decline. The mill workers had lost their jobs and unemployment prevailed. This was also a time of unrest, there were riots on communal grounds. The anti reservation riots soon took a communal form. The unemployed soon became a part of the unorganized sector. In the year 1989, a rath yatra takes place from Somnath to Ayodhya. These happenings culminated in the events which followed, up till the riots of 2002.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar,Joshi, R. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1980’s: By the 1980’s, in many places modernism was questioned. There was resistance and perhaps opposition to the abstract and remote way of expression of modernism. Modernism had not addressed ideas of identity, memory and meaning, which the people then questioned. In the case of Ahmedabad, it was affected by the movement of the Baroda school of art. Its proponents include Jeram Patel, Bhupen Khakhar and K.G. Subramanyan. The idea of the movement was to see the expression as a way to explore the self.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1980’s: During the early 1980’s Sangath was built by architect B.V. Doshi. The architecture roots itself in the soil, the idea of subterranean architecture seems to relate to ancient structures all over south Asia. It attempts to relate to the geography and culture of the land. The structure also incorporates geometry and the vaults come across quite evidently. It seems to resonate with the art discussed earlier.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1980’s: During the early 1980’s CEE, or the centre for environmental education took shape in Ahmedabad. The key patron was Kartikeya Sarabhai. The institute has been designed by Mandala Architects. It has been influenced by the architectural developments which happened in the earlier decades in the city, but it is also steeped in the context and explores expression with its various contexts.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1980’s: In the mid-late 1980’s, the Rajpath club was established. The club was a response to the older clubs being hegemonized by Parsis and Jains. The architect was Kamal Mangaldas, he designed it in a very classic English style. It was a place where the upwardly mobile section of the Patels would visit. The society still looks up to such an aesthetic which heavily draws from the west.
[Source: Vyas, S. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
1992 C.E.- 2020C.E.:
1992: The liberalization of Indian economy in 1992 paved the way for further developments in the city of Ahmedabad. This year also coincides with the Ram Janma-Bhoomi movement which saw the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
1994: In the year 1994, the CG road was designed and opened. The CG road is surrounded by commercial establishments. The development of the CG road corresponds to the growing consumerism in the city and in fact nation wide. The growth of the middle class which wanted to showcase their prosperity found an answer in the development of the CG road. This shift in the sociopolitical scenario resounded in other forms of expression such as the movies. The acquisition of wealth and the rise of the elite seem to have diminished the visibility of the people at the lowest rung of the social ladder.
[Source: Joshi, R. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
2002: 2002C.E. is a year which the residents of Ahmedabad carry distinct memories of. The year saw large scale communal violence. The ‘Godhra Kand’ kick started a series of events which saw communal friction. It has been reported that the muslims set ablaze train compartments, leading to the loss of Hindu lives and thus as a repercussion, the Ahmedabad killings occurred. The mobs caused loss of life and property. Following the incidents of 2002, a new neighborhood or rather a ghetto by the name of Juhapura has emerged in the city of Ahmedabad, it is majorly inhabited by muslims and many muslims from other parts of Ahmedabad have migrated here in expectation of refuge. The area has kept on expanding and houses informal settlements. Such religion based divide has been increasing and marginalization has further gained ground.
[Source: Shurud, T. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar, Shah, A. (2015) Ahmedabad a city in the world. Bloomsbury]
2005: In the year 2005, the city celebrated the urban development year. This seems to acknowledge the fact that a sizable population of Gujarat, more than 30% was residing in the cities by then. This symbolizes or at least attempts to showcase the concern of the government to focus on the urban development of the cities. There would have been a conscious political motivation to associate with the aspirations of the city dwellers.
[Source: Joshi, R. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
In Ahmedabad, there is a notion that the western side of Ahmedabad is the safer and better part. The Eastern part of the city is looked down upon and the residents there are seen as trouble makers. Except for the heritage value associated to the old city, there seems to be a sense of prejudice towards that side of the river.
[Source: Shurud, T. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
There are cities within cities in Ahmedabad, similar to other industrial cities. The migrants are almost made invisible as they dwell in informal settlements. The Dalits live to the far Eastern end of the city. There are areas which are primarily dominated by certain communities. This is a result of politics.
[Source: Shurud, T. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Another interesting thing is the food habits of the residents of Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad has a small population of vegetarians but the identity of the city is crafted on the lines of projecting it as a city of vegetarian inhabitants. The reason for this again seems to be political. For instance, the Bengalis in the city celebrate the Durga Pooja every year and the Bengal Cultural association is the organizer of one of the largest celebrations. It is a common practice that non-vegetarian food is served during the festival and the venue for the festival had been the Ahmedabad Education Society’s ground for about a decade. In the year 2018, the governing body of the Ahmedabad Education Society asked the Bengalis to only serve vegetarian food on their grounds. Such instances demonstrate the political aspect of the city.
[Source: Shurud, T. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar, Personal encounter (2018)]
2007-08: The Kankariya lake, on the eastern side of the city was redeveloped by the government. The edge of this medieval lake was ‘modernized’ or organized to facilitate a certain kind of usage of the space which was more controlled and formal. The ticketing of the precinct led to a control on the access and became the deciding factor as to who could access it and who could not. This move seems to remove from the public eye, the undesirable people.
[Source: Joshi, R. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
2007: In the year 2007, a PIL was filed against the river front development project and a stay was brought to the project by the High court. This mainly concerned the resettlement of the slum dwellers of the slums abutting the river, and eventually the slum dwellers were relocated to the mass housing projects developed by the government at the periphery of the city using the funds allocated by the JNNURM fund.
[Source: Joshi, R. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
2009: The BRTS (Bus rapid transit system) was a measure to facilitate better connectivity in the city. The project gained much public fame and was seen as a move towards ‘modernization’. Approximately one and a half lakh people travel in the BRTS but the numbers have not greatly changed even though the extent of the routes has widened. The fair to travel in the buses was higher than the older municipal buses charged and thus it was used by the people who could afford the price. The number of buses, the older municipal ones and BRTS ones, has been dwindling each year though.
[Source: Joshi, R. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
The projection of the BRTS which the government authorities attempt to present to the people of Ahmedabad seems to be quite romanticized. Within the Kankaria lake, there is a small pavilion like structure accessed by a bridge, where a ticketed light and sound show is organized. This ticketed audience is presented a very rosy picture of the developments in the city, including the BRTS. The show says “BRTS ma fartu maru Amdavad” and attempts to emphasize the importance of the urban developments introduced by the government; though a relatively small percentage of commuters prefer the BRTS. This is an interesting example of how urban development, politics, governance and public perception relate to each other.
[Source: Personal encounter (2016)]
2011: The development of the Sabarmati River front restarted in the year 2011. With it’s development, a new zeal of urbanization gained ground. This development led to a considerable gain of political capital for the government. Though, such projects have also gained criticism, the riverfront development project seems as a move of elite capture. The lands which once housed slums have now been converted to public spaces which are intended to cater to only a certain segment of society.
[Source: Joshi, R. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Current: Today the housing schemes in the city are quite typical in the sense that the apartments are similar in nature to any other apartments being built elsewhere. Though, small differences still persist, the inclusion of the kitchen chawkdi for instance or the provision of a separate wash basin may be typical in an apartment in the city. Most of the residential development in the city today is in the hands of private developers. The amenities of the buildings keeps on adding though. Nation players such as Goderej have come in and the city is continuing to expand.
[Source: Kashikar, V. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar]
Today, the city houses multiple layers of history and continues to evolve after six hundred years of its existence.
The purpose to construct this timeline is to place major developments in and of the city for a better understanding of its evolution. It also allows a possibility to draw connections between the various movements and developments. A timeline also attempts to explore various dimensions of growth, such as political, cultural, economical etc. These factors constantly change with respect to the city. The timeline also explores how larger changes affect the city.
The changing nature of perception towards the city can be noticed through a timeline. For instance, in the fifteenth century, the Sultan may have proclaimed that who ever was within the city walls was safe. During the colonial period, the residents managed to collect a fund to repair the city walls, thus there would have been some sense of security which the city walls still assured the residents of. During the later period of Colonial rule, the city walls were taken down and the expanding city was connected, the need for an elaborate defensive wall could have ceased by then. One interpretation which can be drawn is that the British would not sensed any rival by then, who would attack the city. Another could be that the city would have got better ventilation by demolishing the city walls. Yet another could be that aerial warfare would have rendered the city walls obsolete by then in most parts of the world, and hence the walls were taken down. These points in time then open up a range of interrelations with other larger developments.
Another instance could be the development of slums in the city which may be attributed to the rise of industries in the city. Thus, a parallel can be drawn between economics, wherein employment is the reason for migration and the lack of affordable housing for these migrants which led to the formation of slums. These slums are often rendered invisible by the city, though they are the service providers to the city, they are perceived as eyesores. The city and its politics shape the perspective of the residents in certain ways. Thus, a timeline helps one establish these connections.
Architectural History and Theory 
Where can I access the source: Neelkanth, C. (2020) Ahmedabad Seminar?
LikeLike
Hello, the talk is not available in public domain.
LikeLike