The 1830s was a decade of recurrent disasters for Surat. The city on the banks of the estuary of the Tapi River witnessed destructive floods and then spells of fire as well. Repeated bouts of the twin tragedy threatened the western Indian trade hub with the possibility of getting drowned under the many layers of its own history—one that had spanned a good four centuries of glory at that point in time.
As luck would have it, all was not lost. While the deluges and infernos consumed most of its medieval monuments, Surat has a few historical structures that managed to withstand destruction. The grandest among them are the Surat castle, erected by the Gujarat Sultanate in the 16th century to protect the port city from Portuguese attacks, the Mughal Sarai that stands testimony to the importance of Surat as a port and embarkation point for the Haj pilgrimage during the reign of the Mughal Empire, 17th-century British, Dutch and Armenian cemeteries, 19th-century fire temples of the Parsis who prospered in Surat during the Mughal and British periods, and the British colonial buildings of the early 20th century.
Art historians are the happiest about this state of affairs. Says Gauri Wagenaar, representative of the Netherlands Business Support Office in Gujarat: “View it from the Netherlands’ point. Surat has important Dutch sites. Prominent Dutch people like Baron Adrian Van Reed were buried here—his mausoleum is an interesting monument.”
That Dutch cemetery stands near Katargam Gate of Surat. This eclectic mausoleum has a baroque façade, Indo-Saracenic features, and a double-domed cupola supported by attractive columns. Inside it are galleries, carved ceilings, epitaphs to Lord Henry Adrian Baron of Reede, and a description of the woodwork, holy inscriptions and murals that the mausoleum showcased before the 1830s. Next to the cemetery is the churchyard of Armenians, who formed an important trading community in Surat from the 16th century. Their cemetery has tombstones with one of the epithets dedicated to the wife of a priest named Marinas who died in 1579 AD. The British cemetery, also near the Katargam Gate, has the grand pavilion-like mausoleum of George Oxenden, the President of Surat’s English factory and East India trade operations since 1662 till his death in 1669, and his brother Christopher. An inscription talks about the family’s political and commercial power, which is reflected in the impressiveness of the mausoleum. The mausoleum has a mix of Hindu, Islamic and European architectural elements, including doors crowned by low relief carvings, pointed arches, columns and Indo-Saracenic domes. Another impressive mausoleum in the complex is dedicated to Gerald Aungier, who was president of Surat’s English factory and later Governor of Bombay after the East India Company headquarters were moved to Mumbai till 1677.
“Some of the descendants of the Dutch and Armenians buried in Surat still visit the cemeteries,” notes Sarosh Wadia, an architect involved with heritage conservation and restoration in Surat. He notes the many historical stories associated with the city. For example, the Saraswati Mandir is the home of Kavi Narmad (1833-86) who wrote the famous patriotic poem Jai Jai Garvi Gujarat. “This house is not an architectural masterpiece, but it has an important place in India’s freedom struggle history.” Wadia stresses the need for orientation centres that introduce the visitor to the history and stories related to the city’s various sites. They can help the visitors appreciate the significance of the monumental block called the Chowk, where the Surat Castle is situated, the residential areas and the Chintamani Derasar which is unusual among Jain temples in having wooden carvings because the Jains usually build in stone for posterity, besides the old quarters of the city like the Bohra residential areas and the old houses of Randher. Then Surat has it stories on weaving, zari brocade and food specialties like the nan-kathais and gharis. “Thankfully, the new municipal administration is keen on promoting heritage,” he adds.
As for the Chowk, it is surrounded by imposing colonial buildings built after a fire that destroyed much of Surat around 175 years ago. They include the JJ Sorabji Training College (established as a school in the late 1800s), the 1907-founded Andrews Library building, an 1895-built Anglican Church. Looming up beside the Chowk is the Surat Castle, which houses government offices these days. Says Bhamini Mahida of the museum: “It will be good if the offices inside the heritage buildings are relocated. They can then be adaptively reused for tourism.”
Agrees author Manvita Baradi, director of Urban Management Centre: “The heritage buildings have been largely neglected for many years, but this is set to change now.” Two months ago—on April 28—the Surat Municipal Corporation passed a draft heritage policy for the grading of 2,991 properties of historical value in the city. “We plan to develop the Chowk as a heritage square and creating a Heritage Cell for the promotion of Surat’s tangible and intangible heritage,” adds Baradi, who co-authored At the Core: Understanding the Built Heritage of Surat and Rander. Surat seems set to emerge as a heritage tourism destination.