Question

Why dud the port of Surat decline by the end of the 19th century

Answer 1

The port of Surat on the west coast of India was the major port to handle the Indian foreign trade with the west before the age of machines.But towards the end of the 18 century ,various European companies, especially the east India company monopolized much of the trade. They setup & patronized their own ports. All this resulted in the decline of old ports like Surat