Surat
| Surat | |||
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| State : |
 India
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| State : | Gujarat | ||
| District : | Surat | ||
| Sub-district : | Surat City | ||
| Location : | 21 ° 12 ′ N , 72 ° 50 ′ E | ||
| Height : | 10 m | ||
| Area : | 335.8 km² | ||
| Residents : | 4,501,610 (2011) | ||
| Population density : | 13,406 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Postal code : | 394000 | ||
| Website : | Surat | ||
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Surat ( Gujarati સુરત , Hindi सुरत ) is a city of around 4.5 million people in the southeast of the Indian state of Gujarat .
location
Surat is located on the Gulf of Khambhat near the mouth of the Tapti at an altitude of 7 to 15 m above sea level. d. M. Mumbai, the capital of the south adjoining state of Maharashtra , is about 280 km south; Vadodara (the former Baroda ) is about 154 km northeast. The climate in Surat is mostly humid; Precipitation falls mainly in the monsoon months June to September.
population
Official population statistics have only been kept and published regularly since 1991; for Surat, however, there are also older figures. The strong increase in the urban population is mainly due to the immigration of families from the surrounding area. The agglomeration is expected to have a population of 9.2 million by 2050.
| year | 1901 | 1931 | 1961 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 |
| Residents | 119,306 | 98,936 | 288.026 | 1,498,817 | 2,702,234 | 4,501,610 |
A good 85% of the population are Hindus , a good 11.5% are Muslims and just under 2.5% are Jains ; Sikhs , Buddhists and Christians form splinter groups. A male population of around 2.5 million is compared to only around 2 million women, which on the one hand is not unusual in northern India because of the high abortion rate among girls, but on the other hand is also related to the influx of male workers from rural areas in the hinterland. One speaks Gujarati and Hindi as well as English is widely spoken.
economy
Surat was an important port city, but the inner city port is increasingly silting up and has become unusable after the river regulation of the Tapti; the new Port of Magdalla is located directly on the coast. In return, Surat has become a very active economic metropolis: It is a center for textile and carpet production as well as gold and silver threads; approx. 92% of all jewelry diamonds in the world are cut here. In addition, Surat is a cultural metropolis with a university , theaters , museums and galleries .
history
In 1194 the place was conquered by the military leader Qutb-ud-Din Aibak , the founder of the Sultanate of Delhi . In 1373 troops of Muhammad bin Tughluq , the then Sultan of Delhi, looted the place. In 1512, the Portuguese took Surat, pillaged and burned the place. 1576 conquered the Mughal emperor Akbar I , the since 1407 existing Sultanate of Gujarat , Surat and became an important port city of the Mughal Empire. The Europeans who visited the city in the 17th century painted a multi-ethnic and multi-religious picture of the trading city (e.g. Jürgen Andersen , Jean-Baptiste Tavernier , Thomas Roe , Johann Albrecht von Mandelslo ), but were also impressed by the administration and the military system of the Mughal Empire. After English ships defeated the Portuguese in the naval battle of Suvali (north of Surat) in November 1612 and broke their maritime dominance, the East India Company founded their first trading post in India in the town. In 1664 Surat was conquered and sacked by the marath leader Shivaji . The East India Company had its headquarters in Surat until 1687, after which it shifted its focus to Bombay . From 1667 to 1759 there was also a trading post of the French East India Company in Surat .
From the 16th century, the seaport of Surat took a leading position as a transshipment point for goods in India. In 1616 the Dutch also established a trading post in Suratte . It was not until the 19th century that the city of Bombay, south of Surat, took over a large part of the trading activities because of the more modern port facilities there. In 1860 the station in Surat was opened; through the connection to the railway network, the development of the city took off and the population grew considerably.
Attractions
Despite its long history, Surat has hardly any historically or culturally significant sights:
- The elaborately designed tomb of the Dutchman Henrik van Rheede , who died in 1691 on a ship off the coast of India, is located in the Dutch Cemetery .
- Two domed tombs ( qubbas ) from the early 19th century commemorate Muslim dignitaries.
- The Masjid e Moazzam with its two minarets , the architecture of which is reminiscent of the Great Mosque of Kairouan , was completed in 1817; however, it was thoroughly restored in 1996.
- The Chintamani Jain Temple , which is rather inconspicuous from the outside, but richly furnished on the inside , was built on the west bank of the Tapi during the lifetime of the Great Mogul Aurangzeb .
- The ISKCON temple was built about 4.5 km to the north in the 1980s.
- The Jagdishchandra Bose Aquarium is one of the most modern aquariums in India and all of Asia.
- The Sardar Patel Museum , opened in 1998, shows exhibits from the history of Gujarat and neighboring regions.
Others
A plague epidemic occurred in Surat from August to October 1994. The WHO counted 6,344 suspected, 234 proven plague cases and 56 deaths. The plague pathogen identified there had properties that had not yet been observed, because it was characterized by weak virulence and, due to some molecular biological characteristics, is considered to be a new type of pathogen strain .
See also
literature
- Ashin Das Gupta: The World of the Indian Ocean Merchant. 1500-1800. Collected Essays of Ashin Das Gupta, compiled by Uma Das Gupta. With an introduction by Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Oxford 2001.
- Murari Kumar Jha: The Mughals, Merchants and the European Companies in the 17th century Surat . In: Asia Europe Journal 3, 2005, pp. 269-283.
Web links
- Surat or Guzuratte, Surate, Souratte. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 41, Leipzig 1744, columns 395-397.
