Mandvi - Once Upon a Port...
BOOKMARK
The quiet port town of Mandvi in Kutch is a popular destination for tourists. A sleepy port known for its white sandy beaches, with wooden sailboats bobbing on the sea, it is idyllic. But it wasn't always like this. Once upon a time, in the late 18th and early 19th century CE, Mandvi was among the greatest and busiest ports in India. At the epicenter of sea and land trade which spread from Central Asia to the West coast of Africa and India, it was a key point in the triangular trade route between Oman, Mandvi and the hinter land of Punjab and Sindh.
The port of Mandvi is located on the coast of Kutch, around 60 kms from Bhuj. Through history, political change has always been the reason for the rise and fall of great cities and the same is true in the case of Mandvi. The most authoritative work on the rise and decline of Mandvi port is the book ‘Globalization before its time-The Gujarati Merchants from Kachchh’ by Chhaya Goswami, a noted historian who has studied the Kachchhi community extensively. Goswami says the story of the Mandvi port is the story of the visionary rulers of Kutch, its administrators and merchants.
The Jadeja kings ruled Kutch from the mid-16th century CE. Unlike other rulers in India, the Jadejas realized that trade and commerce was the biggest source of revenue in their arid and rain-starved kingdom and hence were extremely favorable to traders. Chhaya Goswami describes them as ‘Pro-Trade, Pro –Entrepreneur’. The founder of the Jadeja kingdom in Kutch was Khengarji I, who in 1548 CE, assumed the throne, taking the title of Rao, thus becoming the first Rao of Kutch. He not only founded the capital city of Bhuj but also the town of Mandvi around 1581 CE with the help of a Bhatia trader named Topan from Nagar Thatta in Sindh who supervised the construction of its port.
Khengarji was succeeded in 1585 CE by his son Bharmalji I. Due to the geographical proximity of Kutch to Oman and the Arabian ports, Bharmalji encouraged Mandvi as a port of passage for Hajj pilgrims. He promoted a shipping service from Mandvi to Mecca, which earned him the gratitude of Mughal Emperor Jehangir, who exempted Kutch ...