Port Towns of Gujarat offers new insights on cost-hinterland connections, urbanmorphology, port cities and littoral societies, the role of Gujarat in the Indian Ocean and data on the history of Gujarat, the Indian Ocean, and the many great port cities on India s northwest coast."

Illustrations: 2 Maps Description: In this monograph, the two authors have set out to investigate a number of issues dealing with the pre-colonial period of the two ports - Masulipatnam and Cambay. Although these two ports have their distinct characteristics, yet they betray some common features in their historical existence. The two authors, using different nature of sources as well as different approaches in their treatment, have investigated their role of two ports in overseas trade and their integration with the regional state system. Cambay which was an important port in the Sultanate of Gujarat was relegated to an inferior position with the conquest of the Mughals and the rise of Surat. Yet it has been shown that Cambay and its hinterland continued to play prominent role in the overseas trade. Golconda has fostered the birth of Masulipatnam and the Mughal conquest did not destroy it, although European private trade grew further. The end of the 18th century had limited the Mughal interest in Masulipatnam, which was bound up with the crisis of the Mughal empire. Both the authors have drawn attention to the relation between the two ports with their hinterland as well as to the growth of textile production in the suburbs. The theme of European inputs into the development of both these ports shows that after the mid-18th century, the history of these two ports diverge and go their own ways. Finally, the involvement of the super-powers-Marathas, English, Dutch-create a situation in the late 18th century, which saw the submergence of trade to the political struggle. Along with these, the climatic and physical changes of the port may have an adverse impact. It has been shown here that the problems of silting and shifting sandbanks were not major factors at Cambay. In case of Masulipatnam, it seems that the Krishna River has become shallower in the 18th century. Both these authors, basing mostly on unpublished and little known published European evidences, have tried to understand the life of the traditional Indian port towns and not merely outline its trade and commerce.

Founded in 1411 by Sultan Ahmed Shah on the banks of the river Sabarmati, Ahmedabad is today India's seventh largest city and also one of the subcontinent's few medieval cities which continues to be prosperous and important. Soon after it was established, the royal city of Ahmedabad became the commercial and cultural capital of Gujarat. When the Mughal Empire annexed Gujarat in 1572, Ahmedabad lost its political pre-eminence, but continued to flourish as a great trading centre connecting the silk route with the spice route. Briefly under the Marathas in the eighteenth century, Ahmedabad experienced a dimming of its fortunes, but with the beginning of British control from the early nineteenth century the city reasserted its mercantile ethos, even as it began questioning age-old social hierarchies. The opening of the first textile mill in 1861 was a turning point and by the end of the century Ahmedabad was known as the Manchester of the East. When Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915, looking for a place where he could establish 'an institution for the whole of India', it was Ahmedabad he chose. With the setting up of his Sabarmati Ashram, the great manufacturing centre also became a centre for new awakening. It became the political hub of India, radiating the message of freedom struggle based on truth and non-violence. After Independence, it emerged as one of the fastest-growing cities of India and in the 1960s Ahmedabadis pioneered institutions of higher education and research in new fields such as space sciences, management, design and architecture. Yet, through the centuries, Ahmedabad's prosperity has been punctuated by natural disasters and social discord, from famines and earthquakes to caste and religious violence. Ahmedabadis have tried to respond to these, trying to meld economic progress with a new culture of social harmony. Coinciding with the 600th anniversary of the founding of Ahmedabad, this broad brush history highlights socio-economic patterns that emphasize Indo-Islamic and Indo-European synthesis and continuity, bringing the focus back to the pluralistic heritage of this medieval city. Evocative profiles of Ahmedabadi merchants, industrialists, poets and saints along with descriptions and illustrations of the city's art and architecture bring alive the city and its citizens.

The book '1500+ MCQs with Explanatory Notes For GEOGRAPHY, ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT' has been divided into 6 chapters which have been further divided into 28 Topics containing 1500+ “Multiple Choice Questions” for Quick Revision and Practice. The Unique Selling Proposition of the book is the explanation to each and every question which provides additional info to the students on the subject of the questions and correct reasoning wherever required.The questions have been selected on the basis of the various types of questions being asked in the various exams.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the early modern military history of Portugal and its possessions in Africa, the Americas, and Asia from the perspective of the military revolution historiographical debate. The existence of a military revolution in the early modern period has been much debated in international historiography, and this volume fills a significant gap in its relation to the history of Portugal and its overseas empire. It examines different forms of military change in specifically Portuguese case studies but also adopts a global perspective through the analysis of different contexts and episodes in Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Contributors explore whether there is evidence of what could be defined as aspects of a military revolution or whether other explanatory models are needed to account for different forms of military change. In this way, it offers the reader a variety of perspectives that contribute to the debate over the applicability of the military revolution concept to Portugal and its empire during the early modern period. Broken down into four thematic parts and broad in both chronological and geographical scope, the book deepens our understanding of the art of warfare in Portugal and its empire and demonstrates how the military revolution debate can be used to examine military change in a global perspective. This is an essential text for scholars and students of military history, military architecture, global history, Asian history, and the history of Iberian empires.

The Need For A Socio-Economic History Of A Port-Town Is Long Over Due. This Socio Economic History Of A Particular Port Viz Surat Has Been Studied By Dr. Mitra From Different Angles.