Surat

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A city of India, Bombay Presidency, on the Tapti, 14 m. from its entrance into the Gulf of Bombay; stretches along the S. bank of the river, presenting no architectural features of interest save some Mohammedan, Parsee, and Hindu temples, and an old castle or fortress; chief exports are cotton and grain; the English erected here their first factory on the Indian continent in 1612, and with Portuguese and Dutch traders added, it became one of the principal commercial centres of India; in the 18th century the removal of the English East India Company to Bombay drew off a considerable portion of the trade of Surat, which it has never recovered.