Indian Merchants and the Decline of Surat c.1700-1750

Surat was the principal Mughal port in early 18th century and was connected not only with all of northern and western India but with Central Asia as well. Merchants of Surat dealt regularly with the Safavid Empire in Persia and the expanded Ottoman structure which guarded Iraq and covered the Red Sea. These three Islamic empires contributed to the prosperity of the merchants of Surat. The mercantile families of Surat had a special concentration on Mocha in Yemen. However, Surat’s prosperity declined in the first half of the 18th century when the Safavid Empire and the Mughal Empire broke down, the Ottomans were gravely weakened, and a civil war waged in Yemen. The book explains the decline of the port city of Surat.