Surat

:For the town in France, see Surat, Puy-de-Dôme.

History

Local traditions fix the establishment of the modern city in the last year of the fifteenth century, and in 1514 the Portuguese traveller Duarte Barbosa described it as an important seaport, frequented by many ships from Malabar and all parts. There still is an irregular picturesque fortress on the banks of the river built in 1540. One particular village in the suburbs of Surat is Barbodhan Village, possibly named after the explorer Barbosa.

Related Topics:
Duarte Barbosa - Malabar - Barbodhan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Surat eclipsed Cambay as the major port of western India, as Cambay's harbor had began to silt up. During the reigns of Mughal emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan it rose to be the chief commercial city of India. At the end of the 16th century the Portuguese were undisputed masters of the Surat sea trade. But in 1612 the British Captain Best, and after him Captain Downton, destroyed the Portuguese naval supremacy and obtained an imperial firman establishing a British factory at Surat, and making the city the seat of a presidency under the British East India Company, while the Dutch also founded a factory. In 1664 the Maratha leader Shivaji sacked Surat, with the exception of the British factory, a fortified warehouse-counting house-hostel, which was successfully defended by Sir George Oxenden. The prosperity of the factory at Surat received a fatal blow when Bombay was ceded to the Company (1668) and shortly afterwards made the capital of the Company's possessions and the chief seat of their trade. From that date also the city began to decline, and the city was sacked again by Shivaji in 1670. At one time its population was estimated at 800,000, by the middle of the 19th century the number had fallen to 80,000; but in 1901 it had risen again to 119,306. Surat was taken by the British in 1759, and the conquerors assumed the undivided government of the city in 1800. Since the introduction of British rule the district has remained comparatively tranquil; and even during the Revolt of 1857 peace was not disturbed, owing in great measure to the loyalty of the leading Muslim families.

Related Topics:
Cambay - Mughal - Akbar - Jahangir - Shah Jahan - Portuguese - British - British East India Company - Dutch - Maratha - Shivaji - Bombay - Revolt of 1857 - Muslim

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A fire and a flood in 1837 destroyed a great number of buildings, but there remain several of interest, such as the mosque of Nay Saiyid Sabib, with its nine tombs, the Saiyid Edroos mosque (1634) and the ornate Mirza Sami mosque and tomb (1540). Among the interesting monuments are the tombs of English and Dutch merchants of the 17th century, especially that of the Oxenden brothers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By the early 20th century, Surat was still a centre of trade and manufacture, though some of its former industries, such as ship-building, were extinct. There were cotton mills, factories for ginning and pressing cotton, rice-cleaning mills and paper mills. Fine cotton goods were woven in hand-looms, and there were special manufactures of silk brocade and embroidery. The chief trades were organized in guilds. The trading brought an eclectic mix of ethnicities which make Surat's culture unique even in modern times.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1992, violent riots took place between Hindus and Muslims, and in 1994, a plague epidemic spread in the city. The municipal commissioner Rao and the people of Surat worked hard in the late 1990s to clean the city up after which it was recognized in many circles as the 'second-cleanest city in India'.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~