a) Describe the architecture of Hampi?
b) Describe the towns that emerged from large villages from 8th centuryonwards.c) Name a few temple towns. Why did towns grow around temples?d) Why did Surat decline towards the end of 17th century?e) Why did people from distant lands visit Surat?D.
Surat began to decline towards the end of the seventeenth century because of many factors:
E.
1) Surat was the entry for trade with West Asia through the Gulf of Ormuz.
2) It had also been called the access to Mecca because many pilgrim ships sailed from here.
3) The Kathiawad seths or mahajans (moneychangers) had many banking houses at Surat.
4) The Surat hundis were honoured in the foreign markets of Cairo in Egypt, Basra in Iraq and Antwerp in Belgium.
5) Being a port town Surat had been a centre for trade in cotton textiles with West Asia, Africa and Europe.