Chapter SUPREME COURT to SURAT of S by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

in Suráshtra nor Guzerat in Gurjjara. All evidence goes to prove that the old and modern names applied to the same places. Thus Ptolemy’s Surastrene comprises Surat.… ” (Dowson (?) ibid. i. 359). This last statement seems distinctly erroneous. Surat is in Ptolemy’s [Greek Text] Larikh, not in [Greek Text] Surastrhnh, which represents, like Saurashtra, the peninsula. It must remain doubtful whether there was any connection between the names, or the resemblance was accidental. It is possible that continental Surat may have originally had some name implying its being the place of passage to Saurashtra or Sorath.

Surat is not a place of any antiquity. There are some traces of the existence of the name ascribed to the 14th century, in passages of uncertain value in certain native writers. But it only came to notice as a place of any importance about the very end of the 15th century, when a rich Hindu trader, Gopi by name, is stated to have established himself on the spot, and founded the town. The way, however, in which it is spoken of by Barbosa previous to 1516 shows that the rise of its prosperity must have been rapid.

[Surat in English slang is equivalent to the French Rafiot, in the sense of ‘no great shakes,’ an adulterated article of inferior quality (Barrére, s.v. Rafiot). This perhaps was accounted for by the fact that “until lately the character of Indian cotton in the Liverpool market stood very low, and the name ‘Surats,’ the description under which the cotton of this province is still included, was a byword and a general term of contempt” (Berar Gazetteer, 226 seq.).]

1510.—“Don Afonso” (de Noronha, nephew of Alboquerque) “in the storm not knowing whither they went, entered the Gulf of Cambay, and struck upon a shoal in front of Çurrate. Trying to save themselves by swimming or on planks many perished, and among them Don Afonso.”—Correa, ii. 29.

1516.—“Having passed beyond the river of Reynel, on the other side there is a city which they call Çurate, peopled by Moors, and close upon the river; they deal there in many kinds of wares, and carry on a great trade; for many ships of Malabar and other parts sail thither, and sell what they bring, and return loaded with what they choose.… ”—Barbosa, Lisbon ed. 280.

1525.—“The corjaa (Corge) of cotton cloths of Çuryate, of 14 yards each, is worth … 250 fedeas.”—Lembrança, 45.

1528.—“Heytor da Silveira put to sea again, scouring the Gulf, and making war everywhere with fire and sword, by sea and land; and he made an onslaught on Çurrate and Reynel, great cities on the sea-coast, and sacked them, and burnt part of them, for all the people fled, they being traders and without a garrison.… ”—Correa, iii. 277.

1553.—“Thence he proceeded to the bar of the river Tapty, above which stood two cities the most notable on that gulf. The first they call Surat, 3 leagues from the mouth, and the other Reiner, on the opposite side of the river and half a league from the bank.… The latter was the most sumptuous in buildings and civilisation, inhabited by warlike people, all of them Moors inured to maritime war, and it was from this city that most of the foists and ships of the King of Cambay’s fleet were furnished. Surat again was inhabited by an unwarlike people whom they call Banyans, folk given to mechanic crafts, chiefly to the business of weaving cotton cloths.”—Barros, IV. iv. 8.

1554.—“So saying they quitted their rowing-benches, got ashore, and started for Surrat.”—Sidi’ Ali, p. 83.

1573.—“Next day the Emperor went to inspect the fortress.… During his inspe ction some large mortars and guns attracted his attention. Those mortars bore the name of Sulaimáni, from the name of Sulaimán Sultán of Turkey. When he made his attempt to conquer the ports of Gujarát, he sent these … with a large army by sea. As the Turks … were obliged to return, they left these mortars.… The mortars remained upon the sea-shore, until Khudáwand Khán built the fort of Surat, when he placed them in the fort. The one which he left in the country of Súrath was taken to the fort of Junágarh by the ruler of that country.”— Tabakat-i-Akbari, in Elliot, v. 350.

c. 1590.—“Surat is among famous ports. The river Tapti runs hard by, and at seven coss distance joins the salt sea. Ranir on the other side of the river is now a port dependent on Surat, but was formerly a big city. The ports of Khandevi and Balsar are also annexed to Surat. Fruit, and especially the ananas, is abundant.… The sectaries of Zardasht, emigrant from Fars, have made their dwelling here; they revere the Zhand and Pazhand and erect their dakhmas (or places for exposing the dead).… Through the carelessness of the agents of Government and the commandants of the troops (sipah-salaran, Sipah Selar), a considerable tract of this Sirkar is at present in the hands of the Frank, e.g. Daman, Sanjan (St. John’s), Tarapur, Mahim, and Basai (see (1) Bassein), that are both cities and forts.”—Ain, orig. i. 488; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 243].

[1615.—“To the Right Honourable Sir Thomas Roe … these in Zuratt.”—Foster, Letters, iii. 196.]

1638.—“Within a League of the Road we entred into the River upon which Surat is seated, and which hath on both sides a very fertile soil, and many fair gardens, with pleasant Country-houses, which being all