An attempt has been made in this book to study the port city of Surat during the seventeenth century. The port of Surat epitomised in this crucial period the burgeoning of international trade, and the inter play and commercial rivalry of the Europeans power.
Surat was a significant centre of shipping in the 17th Century. Down to the early half of that Century, India produced all her shipping needed aimed at coastal as well as Indian Ocean Trade. Later, demand by European companies led to the production of ‘European-type’ ships.
The study is also an endeavour to place Surat in a larger historical perspective. India had a rich tradition of oceanic trade and maritime techniques since ancient times. It was the Portuguese who supplanted the Arab traders in the Indian Ocean area. The ‘Vasco da Gama era’ witnessed the beginning of strong monopolistic tendencies coercion and competition.
This book is based on source materials including Travellers Records, several of which dwell on Surat and its commercial activities. The English Factory Records also content copious information about maritime trade. A study of medieval Surat is not possible without references to the Ain-i-Akbari and the Mirat-i-Ahmadi. Contemporary scholars on Indian maritime history and oceanic trade have done a large body of work as of late. I have availed of a considerable number of secondary sources, to give this study a factual foundation and ideological frame work.
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