RBSI - The River Taptee, Surat, from the Fort - 1853 Watercolour view of the River Tapti at Surat by William Carpenter (1818-1899) between 1850 and 1856. The River Tapti rises in the central Deccan Platea

Posted on: 20 November 2010

The River Taptee, Surat, from the Fort - 1853

Watercolour view of the River Tapti at Surat by William Carpenter (1818-1899) between 1850 and 1856. The River Tapti rises in the central Deccan Plateau and flows westwards across India to the Gulf of Cambay, an inlet of the Arabian Sea. Surat was an important Mughal trading port on its bank from the late 16th to the late 18th centuries. In 1615 Sir Thomas Roe successfully negotiated a treaty in order to set up English Factories at Surat and other suitable sites. Dutch, Portuguese and French merchants were also permitted to trade in Surat during the 17th and 18th centuries but by the late 18th century the British had complete control of the port. In 1837, due to fire and floods, the town's trading base declined significantly and many Parsi and Jain merchants moved their businesses to Bombay which later surpassed Surat as the west coast's premier port.

Source : British Library

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Narmada the holy REVA and at times called RAMYA GHOSHA..in sanskrit Narmada actually form a dividing line between upper and lower india..its a cultural boundry...the tradional hindu calander on both the side is different..narmada is so sacred that the pilgrims don't cross Narmada while carrying the holy water of ganges...

the Surat was the most important port for Mughals for trade and for muslims as a starting point to HAJ for Mecca...the road from Surat to Agra was major trade corridor in those days..The richest man in the world of those days lived in Surat..his name was Gopi malek..a brahmin or a Nagar brahmin merchant..He constructed a huge fresh water lake in surat which provided all year round fresh sweet water to all the ships visiting Surat..today we have only areas with place names surviving like Gopi Para and Gopi talav area..Mughal sarai still exists which is office of Surat municipal corporation..The dutch were first to establish the factory in surat..still one can see the graveyard of Dutch merchants in surat with ornamental and decorated graves with pavalion like structures,, which is known as dutch garden..

its said that Surat was a port where ships of 84 different nationalities used to be waiting for the cargo downloads...with thier flags fluttering on the high mast of the ship...so surat was known as -Choryashi Vavta nu Bunder--port with 84 flags