IRJMST Vol 13 Issue 11 [Year 2022] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 37 Ports and Trade Routes of Medieval Gujarat Dr. Monika Sharma 1 Gujarat has always been a great contributor in trade and commerce of India since early times. In medieval period this region had also played a vital role in it, this role is supported by the fact that there were around sixty small and big ports in Gujarat for loading and unloading of the items. Trade was flourished in this period through sea and land route.Being a hub of trade, industry and mercantile activities, it is quite obvious that Gujarat was well-linked with other trade centres and industrial towns of the country as well as outside the boundaries. Towns within the region of Gujarat were also well connected through roads and rivers andtravellers in medieval India who traversed across Gujarat, recorded rich information about the routes and roads between two towns in their accounts. Ports The supplement of Mirat-i-Ahmadi describes two types of ports – Bandar and bara. Major port or Bandar had access to the sea, through a harbour 1 or a creek, 2 or an estuary. 3 It was essential to enable ships to approach and cast anchor. 4 Baras were small ports and were connected with the sea through a river, basically baras were meant for small boats which were called hodisin Gujarat, and onlythese boats had access to it. 5 According to Mirat, the total number of these ports was around twenty seven and baras were around forty five. 6 The more important among them were Gogha, Cambay, Broach, Surat, Swally and Rander. 7 TheSultanate of Gujarat in 1571-72 A.D. had 23 ports and constituted them into 23 revenue divisions/mahals and annual Income from them amounted Rs. 38,00,000/-. 8 It was 6.9% of the total revenue of the kingdom. 9 The ports of Surat, Broach, Gogha, Gandhar and Rander annually yielded Rs. 20,00,000/-. Cambay remitted 4,00,000/- and remaining 17 ports paid 14,00,000/- to the treasury of the kingdom. 10 The ports of Gujarat and their location can be clearer through this map 11 : 1 Assistant professor, Dept. of History, M.S. University, Vadodara (monika9319358886@gmail.com)