Sea Ports of Colonial Times and Their Trade (1500 AD – 1800 AD)

From 16 th Century onwards, Surat was emerging as an important seaport outdoing Khambhat, Gogha and other ports in the Gulf of Khambhat in terms of volume of trade and commercial activities. The Portuguese had established their monopoly in the region by capturing the island of Diu and started threatening Indian merchants having overseas interests. For the safe conduct of the ships of other nations, they started issuing ‘cartaze’ (passes) in return for money to ships trading in the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Malaysian Archipelago and China Sea. When Dutch East India Company and English East India Company entered the region to establish direct trade with the Asian countries, they faced stiff resistance from the Portuguese. The English were harassed the most and they were barred from the Gulf. This resulted in an armed conflict and both the parties decided to outdo each other.