Surat: Epitome of Gujarat Model

Ashleshaa Khurana

As ‘the Gujarat Model’ becomes the centre of political debate this election season, no other city in the state stands as significant as Surat. Last week, our city was judged as India’s best city to live in for the amenities it offers its citizens . For Surtis, it has always been the way of good life they have lived since ages.This is a trend that Tapi town has been following since centuries. Development is ingrained in the basic roots of this district and its denizens and overcoming all odds that have come its way ,Surat has managed to outshine all other Indian cities when it comes to progress, here is why :

Trade : A globally renowned port, with extensive amounts of commodities including textile and precious stones,exported out of and imported in here, Surat was one of the major money spinners of India as early as the fifteenth century.Surat’s markets were called ,”as populous as those in London” by Peter Mundy . With its constant international and national visitors of the mercantile community, many of whom settled here, it was a cosmopolitan centuries before Bombay, Delhi, Chennai and Calcutta.

Finance: Records state that Surat’s local businessmen from Surat like Virji Vora, Hari Vaishya, Mulla Abdul Gaffur who bankrolled the administration be it Mughal or British, lending lakhs of rupees in those days to the governing authorities, so that the city would have a steady governance to enable the traders to function better in their business. Surat’s shroffs controlled the price of the bullions and decided the rates at which gold from around the world would be exchanged here.

Infrastructure:  Built in 1510,Gopi Talav ,the city’s much celebrated lake had enough capacity to provide water to the entire city and a system to collect rain water ,as well cisterns to purify it from mud and dry leaves. Sir Thomas Roe , the English diplomat who obtained farmans for the English to trade in Surat in the 17^th century wrote how ,”Surat is the fountainhead and life of all East India trade. The road to Swally (Suvali) and the port of Surat are the fittest in all the Mughal’s territory.  The Surat-Agra-Delhi business corridor existed even 400 years ago as a major trade route! Edward Terry, chaplain at the English Factory of Surat penned,”Surat has luxurious summer houses with garden walks, fountains and bathing places that the wealthy merchants of Surat have built for them outside the city. Jari and textile industries took advantage of electricity as early as 1920’s thanks to Surat Electric Company.

Education : Surat was the seat of the learned Jain Bhataraks since the 14^th century.One of India’s earliest universities the Arabic IBO University,originally founded by the 43^rd Dai Syedna Abdeali Saifuddin in 1814, is located in Zhampa Bazar,home town of the foremost among litterateurs Kavi Narmad, Surat had a world class library –The Andrews Library way back in 1850,stacked with tomes from around the world ,even though India’s literacy rate at the time of Independence was only 12.2%

Agriculture and animal husbandry: The Encyclopedia of Indian Agriculture include Fryer’s accounts the 17^th century describing Surat’s fields growing in abundance potatoes and brinjals .The Portuguese brought in the cultivation of potatoes which they called ‘Batata’ as we still do.Abu Fazl’s early records praises the pineapples, pomegranates, custard apples,mangoes and oranges grown here.  While the hundreds of little villages which surround Surat grew in abundance everything from cash crops like poppy, to sugarcane to cotton, the city has had Panjarapol since more than 250 years now where the best of the veterinarians attend to cattle needs.