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Surat
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The Radhasoami movement of Surat Shabda Yoga was established by Shiv Dayal Singh (1818-1878) in 1861 and named "Radhasoami Satsang" circa 1866. Soamiji Maharaj, as he was known, presided over the satsang meetings for seventeen years at Panni Gali and Soami Bagh in Agra, India, until he died on June 15, 1878. [3] Accounts of his guru and successors vary, although he did give verbal instructions on his last day as to how his followers should be cared for. [4] According to Radha Soami Satsang Beas, his guru was Tulsi Sahib of Hathras. According to Soami Bagh and Dayal Bagh successors, Tulsi Sahib [5] was a contemporary guru of the same teachings, but being a natural born Satguru, Shiv Dayal Singh himself had no guru.
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One of the state's oldest cities, Surat, has been India's ancient trading center. Since long, traders from across the seven seas had links with this city. Known for silks, textiles, spices and exquisite diamond cutting and polishing, Surat was described as "a storehouse of the most precious production of Hindustan" by a Portuguese traveler Barbosa in 1514. The city's industrialization began nearly a century later when the Britishers set up the first factory in 1612. Surat has been one of the most prosperous of India's cities in the 17th and 18th century. In Mughal times, Surat was the main port from which pilgrims sailed to Mecca.
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Surat has a large concentration of colleges under the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University in the Athwa Lines area on the banks of the Tapti river. It has a medical college and three engineering colleges, including the prestigious Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat(SVNIT formerly svrcet or svr, among the 17 NIT's of India), some private colleges like Sarvajanik College of Engineering and Technology (SCET), and the C K Pithawala College of Engineering and Technology (CKPCET). SCET is one of the few institutions in the country to offer engineering degrees in Surat's main industry, Textiles. The 'Sir K.P.College of commerce' and MTB Arts and PT Science colleges are among the oldest in the state of Gujarat with PT Science being the only English Science college in the city. V.T. Choksi Sarvajanik College of Education is another well known educational institution.
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Surat had a developed credit market. This functioned through brokers. Every businessman, big or small, operated through these brokers. Also, a complex interplay of caste relations went into the trading and financing structure. Various communities like the Baniyas, Jains, Bohras, Sarrafs etc would participate in it. Among the Indian traders of Surat, there was Virji Vora, who during the first half of seventeenth century engaged in banking, shipping and trade. Even VOC, the Dutch Company, would raise finances from him.
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Surat eclipsed Cambay as the major port of western India, as Cambay's harbour had begun to silt up by the end of fifteenth century. Subsequently during the reigns of Mughal emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan it rose to be the chief commercial city of India. An Imperial mint was established at Surat during that time. As the major port on the western seaboard of that time, Surat ... served as the sailing port for the Hajj to Mecca. At the end of the 16th century the Portuguese were undisputed masters of the Surat sea trade. In 1608, ships from the British East India Company started docking in Surat, which was established as a trade transit point.
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Surat finds mention in the Mahabharata when Lord Krishna stopped here during his journey from Mathura to Dwarka with his cows. According to the Sanskrit scriptures, this area was under the control of the western Chalukyas in AD 610 and remained under Hindu kings till 12th century when a general of Qutub-ud-din Aibak captured the city. The wealth and prosperity of the city started in the 12th century when Parsis first settled here. Akbar captured the city in 1573 after a long siege and it became an important Mughal trading point. Arabian traders started calling this place Bunder-E-Khubsoorat (the beautiful port), which later shortened to Surat.In 1612, the British established their trading factory here, soon to be followed by the Dutch and French. Due to political and climatic problems and growing importance of Mumbai, Surat lost its prominence.
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