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"What beauty did the founder of this city see in this place that made him establish the city here? Moreover, how would other emperors have spent the precious years of their lives here? It is beyond my imagination. It is hot winds and there is scarcity of water."
"I have already called this city a Gardabad (a city full of dust). Its air is also full of dust. The water here is very bad and not fit for drinking."
"The river flowing near the city remains dry except during the monsoon. The water in the wells is mostly salty. The water in the ponds has been turned like buttermilk by the washermen after washing the clothes."
“Prosperous people have ponds in their houses. They collect rain water and use it throughout the year. Water that is not exposed to outside air is harmful for health.”
"The land outside the city is covered with thorns (thor) instead of greenery. Everyone knows the effect of the wind blowing over these thorns. I have called this city Gardabad before and now I am not able to understand what to call it."
"Should I call it Shamumistan, or Aalimastan, or Zukumdar (city of thorns), or Jahannumabad (city of hell)? Because all these names fit it well."
Jahangir has written these words in his autobiography 'Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri', i.e. 'Jahangirnama'.
Today Ahmedabad holds its rich heritage, grand architecture and an honored place as a UNESCO World Heritage City.
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But what happened to the Mughal emperor Jahangir in this city that he gave it such negative names?
After all, why did Jahangir openly express his anger and hatred towards Ahmedabad in 'Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri'?
Jahangir got fever after coming to Ahmedabad
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During the time of Emperor Jahangir, 8 Subedars were appointed in Ahmedabad. Emperor Jahangir had visited Gujarat during the time of Subedar Muqarrab Khan.
They were going to come to Ahmedabad from Malwa via Khambhat. Around the 30th of December in the year Hijri 1027, i.e. the year 1617, the emperor's convoy left for Ahmedabad after taking a sea tour in Khambhat.
After a journey of five days, his convoy reached Ahmedabad. The time to enter the city was the next day, so they camped near Kankaria Pond.
Jahangir writes, "The garden inside the Kankaria pond was ruined and the buildings had fallen down. So Safi Khan got them repaired."
The emperor liked the structure of Kankaria very much. But on the banks of the pond near the bridge of Naginawadi, there was a garden of the famous Bakshi Nizamuddin Ahmed Khan, the author of 'Tabaqat-e-Akbari'.
Jahangir writes that its trees were also cut.
The next day when he entered Ahmedabad, a huge crowd of people gathered on the way to see him.
Jahangir writes, "There was only dust all the way from Kankaria to Bhadra. The main road was wide and spacious, but the appearance of the shops did not suit the beauty of the road. The houses were made of wood and their pillars facing the road were thin and weak."
Image source, Photo by Burstein Collection/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
After reaching Ahmedabad, Jahangir celebrated the 27th birthday of his son Shahjahan.
Jahangir did not like Ahmedabad. Therefore he thought of going to Agra via Malwa. He left Ahmedabad on 10 February 1618.
But when the emperor's convoy reached the border of Malwa, he felt uneasy.
He decided to return to Ahmedabad again. They again reached Ahmedabad via Jhalod from Malwa border. He re-entered the city on 17 April 1618.
At that time his stay in Ahmedabad was long. But during that time a disease had spread in the city.
Jahangir writes, "There would hardly have been any person in Ahmedabad who had not suffered from this disease. The good thing was that the number of people dying from it had not increased much."
Jahangir also had fever. At that time the Europeans living in Ahmedabad also fell prey to it.
Troubled by the pain and weakness of this disease, Jahangir expressed his anger and resentment towards Ahmedabad.
He gave nicknames to Ahmedabad like Gardabad, Jahannumabad and Shamumistan.
Jahangir's experiment to test the air quality of Ahmedabad
According to the description given in 'Jahangirnama', Jahangir's love for nature and his deep knowledge about animals and birds was surprising.
He encouraged painters and was a skilled painter himself. Apart from this, he was also fond of music and gardens.
Published by the National Institute of Sciences of India and authored by MA Alvi and A. In the book "Jahangir - The Naturalist" written by Rahman, there is a mention of an experiment conducted by him in Ahmedabad.
It is told that Jahangir had conducted an experiment to compare the air and water of Ahmedabad and Mehmedabad.
It is recorded, "This experiment was conducted to test the suitability of Ahmedabad and the environment of Ahmedabad for human health. Jahangir writes, 'Undoubtedly, the water and air of Ahmedabad are not the same as the water and air of Ahmedabad. To test this, I gave strict orders that a sheep should be skinned and hanged on the banks of the Kankaria pond.'
"Also, a similar sheep should be hanged in Ahmedabad also, so that the difference in the air of both the places can be known. In Ahmedabad, the sheep was hanged after 7 hours."
"When only 3 hours of the day were left, its body had changed and decomposed to such an extent that even passing by it became difficult. On the other hand, the body of the sheep that was hanged in the morning in Mehmedabad had not seen any change till the evening. It was only after 1.30 hours of the night that it started rotting."
"In short, in Ahmedabad the sheep's body decomposed in 8 hours, whereas in Mehmedabad it took 14 hours to decompose." (Rogers, Vol. II, London, 1914, p. 33)
Jahangir stayed in Ahmedabad for nine months
In the book 'Gujaratnum Patnagar-Ahmedabad' written by historian Ratmanirao Bhimrao and published by Gujarat Sahitya Sabha, it is written that Jahangir was not angry with the city of Ahmedabad, but with the fact as to why the city was established at this place.
Ratmani Rao writes, "A foreign traveler has also written that the roads of Ahmedabad were dusty. But till the 18th century, no one was found to criticize this city."
"Abul Fazal writes that the entire area from Patan to Vadodara looked like a garden. Travelers coming after Jahangir describe Ahmedabad as a huge garden."
"Sultan Mahmud Begada was very fond of good air and big gardens. He used to come to Ahmedabad especially from Champaner in summers."
"From all this it seems that the Emperor's criticism of Ahmedabad was probably due to his illness."
He further writes, "It is not that Jahangir did not enjoy Ahmedabad. During that time, one day there was heavy rain and the Sabarmati river was flooded."
"Many houses also collapsed in that flood. Jahangir has also written that the people of Ahmedabad used to say that it had never rained so much before. Jahangir had also spent a good time in Ahmedabad."
"Kankaria seems to be one of his favorite places. Once on the night of Shab-e-Barat, he ordered lights to be lit around Kankaria and also got fireworks done."
"The king enjoyed it so much that he got the lighting done the next day also. On the same occasion, he met a monk living on the banks of Kankaria and also talked to him."
Referring to the British traveler Thomas Roe, Ratnamanirao writes, "He had gone to meet Jahangir when he came to Ahmedabad. At that time the Emperor was sitting with women on the bank of the river in a garden in the city. I could not meet the Emperor and I was called to Bhadra Mahal. When I reached the palace, the Emperor was not there."
On 2 September 1618, the emperor's convoy left again and once again stopped at the banks of Kankaria pond. Ratmani Rao writes that at the same time the Emperor had celebrated his 50th birthday there.
At that time, the holy month of Islam, Ramadan was going on. Therefore, Jahangir broke the fast by calling the scholars of Ahmedabad. Ratnamanirao also writes that pearls and gold flowers were also scattered on that day.
Jahangir stayed in Kankaria for four days. He lived in Ahmedabad for about nine months.
In the same year, Jahangir appointed his son Shahjahan as the Subedar of Ahmedabad. During his stay in Ahmedabad, Jahangir also got coins minted.
At that time the administration of the state was in the hands of his wife Noorjahan. Therefore, it is said that these words were also written on those coins - "In the thirteenth year of the reign, Noorjahan, wife of Jahangir, female Subedar of Ahmedabad."
The mint located in Kalupur, Ahmedabad is considered to be built during the time of Jahangir.
During this stay of Jahangir, Shahjahan was 27 years old. He spent the best part of his youth in Ahmedabad. But three years later Shahjahan rebelled against his own father.
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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