Medieval Period
Flight of Sultan Bahadur during Humayun's campaign in Gujarat, 1535. Folio from an Akbarnama (History of Akbar), c. 1590. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, M.78.9.6.
Before they finally entrenched themselves in 1298, the Muslims had only an occasional contact with this part of India. This was either as sea-farers or traders. They were allowed to establish two small settlements in Cambay (current Khambhat) and Broach (current Bharuch). Abdulla, a missionary from Egypt, who came during Sidhraj Jaysinh's regime and was allowed to preach, is credited with the formation of the Bohra community among the Muslims. However, after the defeat of Karandev Vaghela at the hands of Allauddin Khilji, Muslim rule continued for nearly 400 years either under Delhi's viceroyalty or under Muslim Sultanates till the Mughal viceroy, Monimnkhan was defeated by the Marathas who captured Ahmedabad in 1758.Zafar Shah, a viceroy of Delhi for Gujarat, was responsible for starting the Sultanate of Gujarat. He fully exploited then prevailing conditions in Delhi to his advantage. He shook off his loyalty to the emperor, declared independence and became the first Sultan. He assumed the title of Muzaffar Shah. His successor Ahmed Shah founded a new city, following a dream, on the banks of the River Sabarmati and named it Ahmedabad after his own name. Since then, this new city became the capital of successive regimes in Gujarat until the state of Gujarat was formed in 1960 and the capital was moved to new city of Gandhinagar later. Ahmedabad grew into a flourishing city and became next only to Delhi in importance.
Mahmud Shah succeeded Ahmed Shah, Mahmud became a powerful ruler and was successful in over powering and subduing most of the Rajput chieftains. As a conqueror Mahmud was ruthless, as an administrator efficient and as a builder a great one. Apart from subduing the Rajput chieftains, Mahmud also tried to remove the Portuguese menace with the help of a naval fleet raised by his slave named Malik Ayyaz. But he was unsuccessful and they set up a powerful naval base at Diu off the Sautrashtra coast.
Under Mahmud Shah, Gujarat once again became prosperous and there was a great deal of progress and state-building activity. Patan, the ancient seat of Hindu learning, once again became a seat of learning in Islamic disciplines. The available infrastructure at Patan was exploited by Mahmud Shah. The decline of the Sultanate started with the assassination of Sikandar Shah. Because of this decline, Gujarat became an easy prey to the great Mughal Emperor Akbar's armies. Bahadur Shah, the last Sultan, was defeated which marked the beginning of the Mughal rule which lasted almost 200 years.
Notwithstanding the fact that Gujarat became a part of the Mughal Empire its importance did not diminish as is apparent from the selection of the ablest princes as Gujarat's viceroys. Murad Baksh, Shah Jahan, Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb, Muhammad Azam Shah among others, were all made the Viceroys of this West coast region. The formal Muslim rule in Gujarat ended in 1758 when Momin Khan surrendered to the Marathas, however the Islamic influence remained.