our money receipt ruled in the medieval: INDIA

A Gateway to the West: Surat
Surat in Gujarat was the emporium of western trade
during the Mughal period along with Cambay (presentday
Khambat) and somewhat later, Ahmedabad. Surat
was the gateway for trade with West Asia via the Gulf
of Ormuz. Surat has also been called the gate to Mecca
because many pilgrim ships set sail from here.
The city was cosmopolitan and people of all castes
and creeds lived there. In the seventeenth century the
Portuguese, Dutch and English had their factories and
warehouses at Surat. According to the English
chronicler Ovington who wrote an account of the port
in 1689, on average a hundred ships of different
countries could be found anchored at the port at any
given time.
There were also several retail and wholesale shops
selling cotton textiles. The textiles of Surat were famous
for their gold lace borders (zari) and had a market in
West Asia, Africa and Europe. The state built numerous
rest-houses to take care of the needs of people from
all over the world who came to the city. There were
magnificent buildings and innumerable pleasure
parks. The Kathiawad seths or mahajans
(moneychangers) had huge banking houses at Surat.
It is noteworthy that the Surat hundis were honoured
in the far-off markets of Cairo in Egypt, Basra in Iraq
and Antwerp in Belgium.
However, Surat began to decline towards the end of
the seventeenth century. This was because of many
factors: the loss of markets and productivity because

of the decline of the Mughal Empire, control of the sea
routes by the Portuguese and competition from
Bombay (present-day Mumbai) where the English East
India Company shifted its headquarters in 1668.
Today, Surat is a bustling commercial centre.
Hundi
is a note recording
a deposit made by
a person. The
amount deposited
can be claimed in
another place by
presenting the
record of the
deposit.
Emporium
A place where
goods from diverse
production
centres are
bought and sold.