Bharat Ki Kahani

  Shivaji's plunder of Surat (6-10 th  January 1664) Surat was arguably one of the richest cities in the world during the seventeenth century. It was the principal port of the most prosperous empire in the world. Gujarati merchants traded across all major trade routes of the world, and their wealth was legendary. Surat fortress was impregnable for a cavalry force. But the city adjacent to it was entirely undefended. There was not even so much as a wall by way of a defensive structure. The Mughal empire was at the peak of its power at the time, and it was not imagined that some group of brigands could dare to mount a raid on its principal port. Early in the morning of Tuesday, 5 th  January 1664, Surat city administration received the alarming news that Shivaji was encamped with a cavalry force 28 miles to the south of Surat and seemed poised to advance over the city. Panic spread throughout the city. The poor were seen moving across the Tapti River with their valuables, women and c