SURAT, a city and district of British India in the northern division of Bombay. The city is on the site where the English first established a factory on the mainland, and so planted the seed of the British empire in India. In 1514 the Portuguese traveller Barbosa described it as an important seaport, and dur ing the reigns of Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan it rose to be the chief commercial city of India. At the end of the 16th century the Portuguese were undisputed masters of the Surat seas. But in 1612 Captain Best, and after him Captain Downton, destroyed the Portuguese naval supremacy and made Surat the seat of a presidency under the English East India Company, while the Dutch also founded a factory. In 1664 Sir George Oxenden bravely defended the factory against Sivaji, but its prosperity re ceived a fatal blow when Bombay was ceded to the Company (1668) and shortly afterwards made the capital of the Company's possessions and the chief seat of their trade. From that date also the city began to decline. At one time its population was esti mated at 800,000, but by the middle of the 19th century the number had fallen to 80,00o; in 1931 it had risen to 98,936. It is still of commercial importance.
The city is situated on the left bank of the river Tapti, m. from its mouth, and has a station on the Bombay, Baroda and Cen tral India railway, 167 m. north of Bombay. A moat and city wall indicates the dividing-line between the city, with its narrow streets and handsome houses, and the suburbs. The city is a centre of
trade and manufacture. There are cotton mills, factories for gin ning and pressing cotton, rice-cleaning mills and paper, ice and soap works. Fine cotton and silk goods are woven, and there are special manufactures of silk brocade, gold and silver wire, car pets, sandalwood and inlaid work.
The DISTRICT OF SURAT has an area of 1,651 sq.m., and the population in 1931 was 693,613. The district has a coast-line of 8o m., consisting of a barren stretch ; behind this is a rich, highly cultivated plain, nearly 6o m. in breadth, at the mouth of the Tapti, but narrowing to only 15 m. in the southern part, and on the north-east are the wild hills and jungle of the Dangs. The principal crops are cotton, millets, rice and pulses. The chief cen tres of trade are Bulsar and Surat. The district is traversed by the main line of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India railway, with a branch along the Tapti valley to join the Great Indian Peninsula railway at (Almaner.
The SURAT AGENCY consisted of three native states : Dharampur (q.v.), Bansda (q.v.) and Sachin, together with the tract known as the Dangs. Sachin has an area of 42 sq.m., and a pop. (1931) of 22,107. The Agency has now been absorbed by the Revakantha Agency.