Cantonment In India

Surat Cantonment

Suryapur, as it was known earlier to become Surat, which is the present calling, is a well-developed City of State of Gujarat, which is the third cleanest city in India,  second largest city of Gujarat State  and  8th most populated city of the country.

This city having been  located 306 km south of Gujarat’s  capital Gandhinagar,Surat is also famous for diamond trade, on one side, and Textile business on the other side, it is also known for the Embroidery work with large number of embroidery machines established here.

History

When East India Company landed in India in 1608, ships from England started docking only in Surat, making  it as its trade and transit point. In 1615, later acquiring the naval supremacy from the Portuguese.

Surat city was then the seat of power for East India Company , while in 1664 this town which was under Mughal regime was attacked by the Maratha King Shree ChhatrapatiShivaji, when Mughal commander of the army stationed for port security refused to pay tribute to him,  in retaliation to which Mughals attempted to kill Sivaji, but they suffered further attack from him, which destroyed both the Mughal and Portuguese trading centres.

When Charles II married Catherine in 1662, Surat was given away to English as dowry by Braganzasand also the prosperity of Surat declined after British trading shifted to Bombay (now Mumbai)

Surat was peaceful during British rule, surprisingly even during the 1857 revolt in India, because of its mercantile activities, with maximum focus on diamond trade, presumably because of this there was no cantonment establishment required at Surat.

How to Reach Surat Cantonment

The Surat Airport became disfunctional in 2001 due to technical reasons , however, the  new airport Surat Air Port at Magdalla which is in Operation 2011 gives  air connectivity to Surat.

Suratrailway station belonging to  Western Railway zone of the Indian Railways has trains connecting most of the parts of the country, making it easier to travel by train to Surat.

Although Road traffic is very heavy on major highways that pass through Surat, there  are plenty of buses to Surat for comfortable travel, and new expressways are planned which will be executed by 2013.

Demographics

As per 2001 Census of India, Suratpopulation was 84,361, whereas  the data from the provisional figures  of 2011 census, indicates a population of 101,854 , Males constituting  55% then and  now , and females 45%, however the  Surat’saverage literacy rate of 65% in 2001 has now improved to 82%.

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