Know Your City | Mughal Sarai: Shah Jahan’s daughter planned this inn for Hajj pilgrims in Surat, it now houses civic body

As per revenue records, Mughal Sarai was built in ward no. 11 on a 5,663-square-metre area. The building has a central courtyard open to the sky with an ornate fountain, surrounded by small rooms with arched entry gates serving as lodging spaces and now occupied by offices.

An old picture of Mughal Sarai in Surat. As per revenue records, Mughal Sarai was built in ward no. 11 on a 5,663-square-metre area. (Express Photo)

The main gate is over 25 feet high, built in the typical Islamic architectural style. The municipal commissioner’s office is on the first floor above the gate. Mughal Sarai lies on the main road connecting the Chowk Bazaar area and Katargam through Ved Road and is surrounded by several heritage structures.

As per records of the SMC heritage department, Mughal Sarai bears testimony to the richly decorated style of Indo-Islamic architecture prevalent in the time of Shah Jahan.

“Among the several skilful expedients is the disposition of the decorative parapet crowning the facade coupled with an ornamental finish to the small, dome-shaped elements which surmount the principal angles of the building resembling the slender minarets,” the records say.

An old map of Surat city. (Express Photo)

“In addition to this, certain attractive patterns like that of some flowers, running borders and interlaced symbols moulded in stucco are also incorporated all along the facade,” goes the description. The entire building is surrounded by a corridor making it airy.

“The quality of the construction materials and methodologies can be judged from the present state of this building that is still intact,” as per the details received from the SMC heritage department.

Surat city is situated on the coast of the Arabian Sea and the Tapi river passes through its centre, meeting the sea at Hazira. The river divides the city into two parts – the Paal, Adajan, and Rander areas and Surat East, which is the walled city.

The Surat port is one of the oldest ports in India where flags of 84 countries were unfurled. According to Surat-based historian Abdul Vadood Jarulla, the name Choryasi (84 in Gujarati), which this area is known as, came from this landmark.

“Surat had trade and business relations with Dutch, Portuguese, Armenian and British traders. The first set of British business people came to Surat on August 28, 1608, by sea. The East India Company established their first factory in the Mughlisara area in 1613,” says Jarulla.

Mughal Sarai lies on the main road connecting the Chowk Bazaar area and Katargam through Ved Road and is surrounded by several heritage structures. (Express Photo by Hanif Malek)

He further adds, “In the past, Hajj pilgrims from India would sail by ship from ports of Malabar in Kerala, Kolkata in West Bengal and Surat in Gujarat. The Hajj pilgrims from western and northern India would come to Surat, and from Nanpura, they would sail in a small boat in the Tapi River to reach Hazira, where they would shift to bigger ships to head to Mecca and Madina for the holy pilgrimage. Surat municipal authorities made a bridge on the Tapi river at Nanpura, connecting it to Adajan and named it Makka or Makkai bridge.”

According to Jarulla, when Aurangzeb was the governor of Gujarat, Surat had an income of Rs 15 lakh, which included Rs 3 lakh in revenue from Surat city. “Shah Jahan’s eldest daughter Jahanara Begam (1614 –1681) was given charge of Surat, and she stayed in the Begamwadi area in Surat”, he says.

According to Jarulla, during her stay in Surat, Jahanara Begum found that Hajj pilgrims coming to Surat faced problems with accommodation in the city and had to wait for a few days to get on to big ships from Hazira. Upon orders from Jahanara Begum, her loyalist Yazdi got Mughal Sarai built in Mulla Chakla.

For the maintenance and operation of Mughal Sarai, Yazdi allowed other travellers to stay in Mughal Sarai for a fee of Rs 3, which included lodging and boarding. There was a parking lot where horses and bullock carts were tied. However, Hajj pilgrims were allowed to use the facility free of cost, says Jarulla.

Later during British rule, Mughal Sarai served as a prison, but following opposition from locals, it was stopped in 1857 and was again used as a place to rest from 1862, as per the records in SMC central library.

According to the heritage department, then Surat collector and magistrate T C Hope, on May 22, 1867, wrote to M A Rogers, revenue and police commissioner of Northern Division, seeking permission to start a municipality office at Sarai, as the then municipal building was sold off. The municipality had no funds to purchase new land.

Municipality officials carried out meetings with the Muslim leaders. After taking them in confidence, they started the office in Sarai on April 1, 1863, with a few rooms and in 1867, the SMC took over the entire Sarai.

Yazdi had fixed a huge white marble plaque on the main entry gate of Mughal Sarai with details of the building. It is now at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly Prince of Wales Museum) in Bombay in 1929 for preservation.

Mohammed Amin of Mashad inscribed the 11.7-foot-long, 1.9-foot-broad, and 2.5-inch-wide plaque in Persian.

The inscription rules that the pilgrims to Mecca and Madina should not be charged anything. Whatever rent collected from other travellers, after spending for the repairs on the inn, and on the servants, such as watchman, water carrier and sweeper, and fodder for the bullocks, the balance should be given to the pilgrims.

Surat city BJP Municipal corporator Vijay Chaumal in 2019 made a representation to then Surat mayor Jagdish Patel and municipal commissioner B N Pani to rename the Mughal Sarai as Suryapur Bhavan after Surat’s ancient name.

Jarulla is among those struggling to get the Mughal Sarai under the Wakf custody. He won the first round in the Gujarat Wakf Board, which declared the property as Wakf property around a year ago.

The SMC challenged the Gujarat Wakf Board order before the Wakf tribunal, and the matter is pending disposal.

However, the SMC is already planning to move to a new space in the Ring Road area, given the space constraints in Mughal Sarai. Twin towers of 28 floors are coming up where one will house the offices, and the other will have state and central government offices.