Surat
Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 3 "The Making of a Global World"; Class 10, Ch 4 "The Age of Industrialisation"
Meaning
Surat is a port in Gujarat. In the 17th and early 18th centuries it was the main centre of India's trade across the western Indian Ocean, sending goods to the ports of the Gulf and the Red Sea. Indian merchants and bankers controlled much of this trade, especially the trade in cotton and silk cloth. Its decline shows how European companies took over India's trade.
Example
Surat's total trade fell from Rs 16 million in the late 17th century to Rs 3 million by the 1740s. European companies won concessions and monopoly rights. As Surat faded, Bombay and Calcutta grew as European-controlled ports.
Don't confuse with
- Masulipatam: this was the main port on the Coromandel coast in the east. Surat served western sea trade towards the Gulf and the Red Sea.
Related concepts
- Gomastha
- System of advances
- Deindustrialisation
- American Civil War
- Cotton Supply Association
- Manchester Cotton Company
- Bombay Gazette