AKSAI CHIN

 also spelt (Pinyin) Akesaiqin , isolated, inhospitable, and mostly uninhabitable plain on the northern tip of the Indian subcontinent, in the Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountain ranges. Geographically an extension of the Tibetan Plateau, it is Considered a part of Ladakh, India. The Chinese call it the White Stone Desert. Aksai Chin figured in the boundary discussions between India and China in 1960, and severe fighting took place in Ladakh during the 1962 Indo-China conflict. It concluded with China seizing about 38,000 sq km of Indian territory in Aksai Chin, in addition to another 5,180 sq km of northern Kashmir that Pakistan later relinquished to Beijing under the 1963 pact.  

AIZAWL

          city, capital of Mizoram. It is situated on a ridge at an elevation of about 900 m and is the most populous town in the state. In the 1970s, Aizawl was the scene of an armed attack on the government treasury and other offices by members of the Mizo National Front. Aluminium utensils, handloom textiles, and furniture are manufactured in the town. A diesel-powered station generates electricity, and there is an airport nearby.

The surrounding region is a part of the Assam-Myanmar (Burma) geologic province, with north-south-aligned, steeply inclined hill ranges. The rapid Dhaleshwari (Tiwang), Tuivawl, and Sonai (Tuirail) rivers and their tributaries criss-cross the region. Timber and bamboo are collected from the dense hillside forests. The soil cover is generally thin except in the river valleys, where rice, corn (maize), beans, tobacco, cotton, pumpkins, oilseeds, and peanuts (groundnuts) are grown. Poultry raising, hunting, fishing, and animal husbandry supplement agriculture. Handloom weaving, making ironware, carpentry, basket weaving, and hat making are the main cottage industries. The Mizo hills tribes of the region are mostly immigrants from Myanmar, and most have become Christians. Population (2001) 228,280.  

AHMEDABAD

city, also spelt Ahmadabad , administrative headquarters of Ahmedabad district, Gujarat, western India. It is situated on the Sabarmati river, and lies 440 km north of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Though a pre-industrial city, it now has a combination of old structural core with more modern extensions in the new city area.
Ahmedabad was founded in AD 1411 by a Muslim ruler, Sultan Ahmad Shah. Later, in 1572 the city was captured by Mughal emperor Akbar. It was surrounded by a wall and 12 gates, having both a temple and a mosque at the centre. Communities lived here in neighbourhoods, called Pols, by caste, religion, occupation, and language.
Ahmedabad was a temporary capital of Gujarat until 1970, when the administration was moved to Gandhinagar, a newly planned capital. Ahmedabad was known as the "Manchester of India", due to its famous cotton textile industry, which was started in the middle of the nineteenth century. Its economic pull had attracted a large number of migrant workers. However, since 1980, almost all textile mills have been closed down because of growing competition from synthetic fibres. During the last decade (1990-99), chemical, pharmaceutical, and engineering industries have grown here in place of cotton textile industry. In 2001, the city was rocked by a massive earthquake that killed thousands of people.
The city has many outstanding centres of learning like the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and the National Institute of Design (NID), which make it an important academic hub of western India. Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati ashram is also situated here.

A combination of Hindu, Muslim, and Jain architecture can be seen in the city. An attractive feature of Ahmedabad is Lake Kankaria. It also has the outstanding Calico Museum of Textiles, the Shreyas Folk Museum of Utensils, a tribal museum, and a municipal museum designed by Le Corbusier. Ahmedabad is well connected by broad- and metre-gauge railway, domestic and international airports, and private and public bus system. The city is a major junction on the Western Railway, with lines running to Mumbai, Delhi, and the Kathiawar Peninsula. The chief crops grown in the surrounding area are cotton, millet, wheat, and pulses. Population (2001) 4,215,497.  

ABU

town, also called Mount Abu , south-western Rajasthan. It is situated on the slopes of Mount Abu, in the Aravalli range. The town is a noted hill resort, and the Jain temples at nearby Dilwara, built of white marble, are famous. Tejpal Temple, built about AD 1200, is known for the richness of its carving, especially on the under-side of its dome. Abu was the headquarters of the British Rajputana States Agency and has a police training college. Population (2001) Town 22,152.  

ADAM'S PEAK

mountain in southwestern Sri Lanka, 2,243m high and 18 km northeast of Ratnapura. Its conical summit terminates in an oblong platform about 22 by 7 m, on which there is a large hollow resembling the print of a human foot. The depression is venerated alike by -Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus, who respectively regard it as the footprint of the Buddha, Adam, and Shiva. Many pilgrims of all faiths visit the peak every year. Heavy chains on the mountain's southwestern face, said to have been placed there by Alexander the Great, mark the route to the summit.