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SURAT

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 117 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SURAT , a See also:

city and See also:district of See also:British See also:India in the See also:northern See also:division of Bombay. The city is on the site where the See also:English first established a factory on the mainland, and so planted the See also:seed of the British See also:Empire in India. See also:Local traditions See also:fix the See also:establishment of the See also:modern city in the last See also:year of the fifteenth See also:century, and in 1514 the Portuguese traveller Barbosa described it as an important seaport, frequented by many See also:ships from See also:Malabar and all parts. During the reigns of See also:Akbar, See also:Jahangir and Shah Jahan it See also:rose to be the See also:chief commercial city of India. At the end of the 16th century the Portuguese were undisputed masters of the Surat seas. But in 1612 See also:Captain Best, and after him Captain Downton, destroyed the Portuguese See also:naval supremacy and obtained an imperial See also:firman making Surat the seat of a See also:presidency under the English See also:East India See also:Company, while the Dutch also founded a factory. In 1664 See also:Sir See also:George Oxenden defended the factory against See also:Sivaji with a bravery that deserves to See also:rank with See also:Clive's See also:defence of See also:Arcot. The prosperity of the factory at Surat received a fatal See also:blow when Bombay was ceded to the Company (1668) and shortly afterwards made the See also:capital of the Company's possessions and the chief seat of their See also:trade. From that date also the city began to decline. At one See also:time its See also:population was estimated at 800,000, by the See also:middle of the loth century the number had fallen to 8o,000; but in 1901 it had risen again to 119,306. Surat was taken by the English in 1759, and the conquerors assumed the undivided See also:government of the city in 1800. Since the introduction of British See also:rule the district has remained comparatively tranquil; and even during the See also:Mutiny See also:peace was not disturbed, owing in See also:great measure to the See also:loyalty of the leading See also:Mahommedan families.

The city is situated on the See also:

left See also:bank of the See also:river See also:Tapti, 14 M. from its mouth, and has a station on the Bombay, See also:Baroda & Central India railway, 167 m. See also:north of Bombay. A See also:moat indicates the dividing-See also:line between the city, with its narrow streets and handsome houses, and the suburbs, mostly scattered among cultivated lands; but the city See also:wall has almost disappeared. On the river frontage rises the irregular picturesque fortress built about 1540. A See also:fire and a See also:flood in 1837 destroyed a great number of buildings, but there remain several of See also:interest, such as the See also:mosque of Nav Saiyid See also:Sahib, with its nine tombs, the Saiyid Edroos mosque (1634) and the ornate Mirza Sami mosque and See also:tomb (1540). The most interesting monuments are the tombs of English and Dutch merchants of the 17th century, especially that of the Oxenden See also:brothers. Surat is still a centre of trade and manufacture, though some of its former See also:industries, such as See also:ship-See also:building, are See also:extinct. There are See also:cotton See also:mills, factories for ginning and pressing cotton, See also:rice-cleaning mills and See also:paper mills. See also:Fine cotton goods are See also:woven in See also:hand-looms, and there are See also:special manufactures of See also:silk See also:brocade and See also:embroidery. The chief trades are organized in See also:gilds. There are many wealthy Parsee, See also:Hindu and Mahommedan merchants. The DISTRICT of SURAT has an See also:area of 1653 sq. m., and the population in See also:tool was 637,017, showing a decrease of 2% in the See also:decade. The district has a See also:coast-line of 8o m., consisting of a barren stretch of See also:sand See also:drift and See also:salt See also:marsh; behind this is a See also:rich, highly-cultivated See also:plain, nearly 6o m. in breadth, at the mouth of the Tapti, but narrowing to only 15 M. in the See also:southern See also:part, and on the north-east are the See also:wild hills and See also:jungle of the Dangs.

The See also:

principal crops are millets, rice, pulses, cotton and a little See also:wheat. After Surat city the chief centre of trade is Bulsar. The district is traversed by the See also:main line of the Bombay & Baroda railway, with a See also:branch along the Tapti valley to join the Great See also:Indian See also:Peninsula railway in See also:Khandesh. Near the coast, under the See also:influence of the See also:sea See also:breeze, an equable temperature prevails, but 8 to 11 m. inland the breeze ceases to blow. The coast also possesses a much lighter rainfall than the interior, the See also:annual See also:average ranging from 30 in. in Olpad to 72 in Chikhli, while at Surat city the average is 391 in. The SURAT AGENCY consists of three native states: See also:Dharampur (q.v.), See also:Bansda (q.v.) and Sachin, together with the See also:tract knownas the Dangs. See also:Total area, r06o sq. m.; pop. (1901), 179,995. Sachin has a See also:revenue of £17,000 and its chief is a Mahommedan. SUBBASE (See also:Lat. super, whence the Fr. sur, above or upon, and See also:base, q.v.), i.e. upper base, the See also:term in See also:architecture applied to what, in the fittings of a See also:room, is called the See also:chair-See also:rail. It is also used to distinguish the See also:cornice of a See also:pedestal or See also:podium and is separated from the base by the dado or See also:die.

End of Article: SURAT

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