section_path: History/Toponymy
section_name: Toponymy
paragraph_text: Toponymy
  
  Based on relics found in several neighbourhoods of the old city and on writings of the Persian historian al-Biruni, it is surmised that an early Bhil tribal group settlement was known as Ashaval.
  
  According to Merutunga, Karna, the Chaulukya (Solanki) ruler of Anhilvada (modern Patan), successfully launched a military campaign against Ashaval and founded a city nearby called Karnavati. The location of Karnavati is not definitively known. References from the 14th and 15th centuries mention Ashaval but do not mention Karnavati.
  
  Ahmad Shah I of the Gujarat Sultanate transferred its capital from Anhilvada to Ashaval in 1411 CE; as was custom, the city was subsequently renamed Ahmedabad after the Sultan.