in dignity to the sanctuary; and whether looked at from its courts or from outside, it possesses variety without confusion, and an appropriateness of every part to the purpose for which it was intended.” But perhaps the most unique sight in Ahmedabad is the two windows in Sidi Said’s mosque of filigree marble work. The design is an imitation of twining and interlaced branches, a marvel of delicacy and grace, and finer than anything of the kind to be found in Agra or Delhi.
The modern city of Ahmedabad is situated on the left bank of the river Sabarmati, and is still surrounded by walls enclosing an area of about 2 sq. m. Its population in 1901 was 185,889. It has a station on the Bombay and Baroda railway, 309 m. from Bombay, whence branch lines diverge into Kathiawar and Mahi Kantha, and is a great centre for both trade and manufacture. Its native bankers, shopkeepers and workers are all strongly organized in gilds. It has cotton mills for spinning and weaving, besides many handlooms, and factories for ginning and pressing cotton. Other industries include the manufacture of gold and silver thread, silk brocades, pottery, paper and shoes. The prosperity of Ahmedabad, says a native proverb, hangs on three threads—silk, gold and cotton; and though its manufactures are on a smaller scale than formerly, they are still moderately flourishing. The military cantonment, 3 m. north of the native town, is the headquarters of the northern division of the Bombay command, with an arsenal.
The District of Ahmedabad lies at the head of the Gulf of Cambay, between Baroda and Kathiawar. Area 3816 sq. m. The river Sabarmati and its tributaries, flowing from north-east to south-west into the Gulf of Cambay, are the principal streams that water the district. The north-eastern portion is slightly elevated, and dotted with low hills, which gradually sink into a vast plain, subject to inundation on its western extremity. With the exception of this latter portion, the soil is very fertile, and some parts of the district are beautifully wooded. The population in 1901 was 795,967, showing a decrease of 14% in the decade, due to the effects of famine. The principal crops are millets, cotton, wheat and pulse. The district is traversed by the Bombay and Baroda railway, and has two seaports, Dholera and Gogo, the former of which has given its name to a mark of raw cotton in the Liverpool market. It suffered severely in the famine of 1899–1900.
AHMEDNAGAR, or Ahmadnagar, a city and district of British India in the Central division of Bombay on the left bank of the river Sina. The town is of considerable antiquity, having been founded in 1494 by Ahmad Nizam Shah, on the site of a more ancient city, Bhingar. This Ahmad established a new monarchy, which lasted till its overthrow by Shah Jahan in 1636. In 1759 the Peshwa obtained possession of the place by bribing the Mahommedan commander, and in 1797 it was ceded by the Peshwa to the Mahratta chief Daulat Rao Sindhia. During the war with the Mahrattas in 1803 Ahmednagar was invested by a British force under General Wellesley and captured. It was afterwards restored to the Mahrattas, but again came into the possession of the British in 1817, according to the terms of the treaty of Poona. The town has rapidly advanced in prosperity under British rule. Several mosques and tombs have been converted to the use of British administration. The old industries of carpet-weaving and paper-making have died out; but there is a large trade in cotton and silk goods, and in copper and brass pots, and there are factories for ginning and pressing cotton. Ahmednagar is a station on the loop line of the Great Indian Peninsula railway, 218 m. from Bombay, and a military cantonment, being the headquarters of a brigade in the 6th division of the western army corps. The population in 1901 was 43,032.
The District of Ahmednagar is a comparatively barren tract with a small rainfall. The area is 6586 sq. m. The population in 1901 was 837,695, showing a decrease of 6% in the decade, due to the results of famine. The bulk of the population consists of Mahrattas and Kunbis, the latter being the agriculturists. On the north the district is watered by the Godavari and its tributaries the Prawara and the Mula; on the north-east by the Dor, another tributary of the Godavari; on the east by the Sephani, which flows through the valley below the Balaghat range; and in the extreme south by the Bhima and its tributary the Gor. The Sina river, another tributary of the Bhima, flows through the Nagar and Karjat talukas. The principal crops are millet, pulse, oil-seeds and wheat. The district suffered from drought in 1896–1897, and again in 1899–1900.
AHMED TEWFIK, Pasha (1845–), Turkish diplomatist, was the son of Ismail Hakki Pasha. He was at first in the army, but left the service in 1862; four years later he entered the diplomatic service, being employed at various European capitals. He became minister at Athens in 1883 and ambassador in Berlin in 1884. He was appointed minister for foreign affairs (Kharijie Naziri) in 1896.
AHMED VEFIK, Pasha (1819–1891), Turkish statesman and man of letters, was born in Stambul in 1819. He was the son of Rouheddin Effendi, at one time charge d’affaires in Paris, an accomplished French scholar, who was, therefore, attached, in the capacity of secretary-interpreter, to Reshid Pasha’s diplomatic mission to Paris in 1834. Reshid took Ahmed with him and placed him at school, where he remained about five years and completed his studies. He then returned to Constantinople, and was appointed to a post in the bureau de traduction of the ministry for foreign affairs. While thus employed he devoted his leisure to the translation of Moliere’s plays into Turkish and to the compilation of educational books—dictionaries, historical and geographical manuals, &c.—for use in Turkish schools, with the object of promoting cultivation of the French language among the rising generation. In 1847 he brought out the first edition of the Salnameh, the official annual of the Ottoman empire. Two years later he was appointed imperial commissioner in the Danubian principalities, and held that office till early in 1851 when he was sent to Persia as ambassador—a post which suited his temperament, and in which he rendered good service to his government for more than four years. Recalled in 1855, he was sent on a mission to inspect the eastern frontiers, and on his return was appointed member of the Grand Council of Justice, and was entrusted with the revision of the penal code and the code of procedure. This work occupied him until the beginning of 1860, when he was sent as ambassador to Paris, for the special purpose of averting the much-dreaded intervention of France in the affairs of Syria. But Ahmed Vefik’s abrupt frankness, irascibility and abhorrence of compromise unfitted him for European diplomacy. He offended the French government; his mission failed, and he was recalled in January, 1861. None the less his integrity of purpose was fully understood and appreciated in Paris. On his return he was appointed minister of the Evkaf, but he only retained his seat in the cabinet for a few months. He was then for a brief period president of the Board of Audit, and subsequently inspector of the Anatolian provinces, where he was engaged for more than three years. His next appointment was that of director-general of customs, whence he was removed to the office of musteshar of the grand vizierate, and in the following year entered the cabinet of Midhat Pasha as minister of public instruction, but very soon retired to his seat in the Council of State and remained out of office until 1875, when he represented Turkey at the International Telegraphic Conference in St Petersburg. He was president of the short-lived Turkish parliament during its first session—March 19 to June 28, 1877—and at its close was appointed vali of Adrianople, where he rendered invaluable aid to the Red Cross Society. On his recall, at the beginning of 1878, he accepted the ministry of public instruction in the cabinet of Ahmed Hamdi Pasha, and on the abolition of the grand vizierate (February 5, 1878) he became prime minister and held office till about the middle of April, when he resigned. Early in the following year he was appointed vali of Brusa, where he remained nearly four years, and rendered admirable services to the province. The drainage of the pestilent marshes, the water-supply from the mountains, the numerous roads, the suppression of brigandage, the multiplication of schools, the vast development of the silk industry through the substitution of mulberry plantations for rice-fields, the opening out of the mineral
