Amreli is believed to have existed in 534 AD. and was earlier known as Anumanji, Amlik and then Amravati. The city is mentioned as Amarvalli in ancient Gujrati. The Nagnath temple inscription reveals that the ancient name of the city was Amreli Amarpalli. It was also called Girvanvalli. Among the remains of the ancient city are the memorial stones or paliyas and the foundations discovered at the bifurcation of the rivers Thebi and Vari, and two ancient temples, Kamnath and Trimbaknath, on the west and east of the river.
In the 18th century, only the west and south of modern Amreli, still called Juni or Old Amreli, were inhabited. The ancient inner fort, called Juna Kot, was used as a prison, and the adjoining Juna Masjid belongs to the old city. Modern Amreli dates back to 1793, when Vakhatsingh of Bhavnagar sacked Chital's neighboring possession, Kathi, and expelled many of his people to Amreli and Jetpur.
