A lot about Surat

 Surat is one of the biggest cities of Gujarat in India. Another name of Surat is Suryapur. The history of Surat starts from 7th century AD when the Western Chalukyas ruled over this region. There is a mention about this city in the great epic Mahabharata. It is said that when Lord Krishna travelled from Mathura to Dwaraka, he stopped at this place. It was called Lata region and was ruled over by the Mauryas. Kshatrapas, who held sway for a brief period of time, was defeated by Chandragupta.

Qutbuddin Aibak captured this region. The Parsi settlement started here in 12th century. Trade flourished here during this time contributing to its prosperity. The Muslim people of ancient times used Surat as a gateway to Mecca to perform their Hajj pilgrimage. The historic buildings the Makkai Pul and the Mughal Sarai were built for this purpose. The pilgrims used to stay there when they embarked on their voyage.

Surat was not a place of significance until 13th century. In the south of Surat is situated Rander, the ancient town where Arabs and Kafa settled down for trade. The major businesses of this time were spices, silk, porcelain and musk. The raid of Portuguese in the 16th century made Rander lose its significance and this led to the rise of Surat as one of the important cities of India.

The name Suryapur meaning the city of sun was given by a Brahman Gopi. The name Surat is also said to have come from the Persian word, Bunder-e-Khubsurat which means a beautiful port. According to Sir Monies Williams the old name of the town was Suraj and the Muslim rulers had changed this to Surat which means the chapter of Kuran.

Portuguese came to Surat in 17th century and held supremacy over the place until English came to the place in August 1608. The city flourished during the period of the Mughal rulers, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. In 1615, British were able to establish a factory at Surat after defeating the Portuguese at the Battle of Swally. In 1664, Chattrapathi Shivaji, the king of Marathas attacked Surat and caused damage to both the Mughal and Portuguese trade centers there.

When the Charles II of England married the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza in 1662, Surat along with Bombay was given to England as a part of the dowry. East India Company then turned its attention towards Bombay and the glory of Surat slowly faded away. In 1759, all the powers of Surat went into the hands of the British and by 1800 they exercised full control over the region.

The peace of the city remained undisturbed for centuries. The Bawamia family was the wealthiest family in that place and they contributed greatly for the development of the city. The fire and flood of 1837 caused damage to the buildings. After the independence of India, it became one of the important commercial centers. On 1st October 1966, municipality was converted into Municipal Corporation. There were violent riots in Surat between Muslims and Hindus in 1992. In 1994, due to heavy rains and resulting floods plague epidemic spread taking a huge toll. At that time, Surat photos and Surat videos showed the severity of the condition. Things changed soon and Surat now is a developed city with a GDP growth rate of more than 11.5 percent.

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Suhaina Mazhar is a freelance content writer and blogger and has written thousands of original articles.