Genesis of an Indian city. Urbanism and Architectural Knowledge in Ahmedabad

The Indian megacity Ahmedabad is the subject of the new book "Genesis of an Indian city. Urbanism and Architectural Knowledge in Ahmedabad" by Sara Keller, postdoctoral researcher in the research group "Religion and Urbanity" at the Max Weber Centre for Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt. In it, she shows how urban history and urbanity can be reconstructed with the help of mapping and building research.

The focus is on the Indian city of Ahmedabad, founded in 1411, and its early monumental stone buildings, which was declared a UNESCO cultural heritage site in 2017. Architectural techniques and transfer of technologies, plural meanings of image and space, as well as urban development and urbanity are the main themes of this richly illustrated monograph.

Ahmedabad, first UNESCO World Heritage City in India, owes its nomination to the exceptional character of its tangible and cultural heritage. Before being the heart of the Gandhian journey and the cradle of modern Indian architectural movements, Ahmedabad was the capital of Muzaffarid Gujarat, one the richest Indian kingdoms of its time. It is this long and complex urbanity built on a multidimensionalethnic and cultural identity that this volume looks at. Beyond the modern metropolis, “Genesis of an Indian City” goes back to the historical roots of what shaped the materiality and the identity of today’s giant Ahmedabad. It is a journey to understand Indian urbanity, its tangible body, its atmosphere and its social dynamics. What defined the Indian city, what are its urbanistic components, how building archaeology can help where sources are silent, how do cultural factors and urban body contribute to each other’s growth: these are few of the questions raised by this volume. It is published by Navajivan, a publishing house founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1929.