Khambhat, historically known as Cambay, is a city and municipality in the Anand district of the Indian state of Gujarat. Situated at the northern end of the Gulf of Khambhat on the western coast of India, it was for several centuries one of the most important seaports of the Indian Ocean trade network. The city gives its name to the surrounding gulf, the Gulf of Khambhat, an inlet of the Arabian Sea into which the Sabarmati, Mahi and Narmada rivers drain.
| Name | Khambhat (Cambay) |
|---|---|
| Type | City and municipality |
| State | Gujarat |
| District | Anand |
| Region | Charotar / Gulf of Khambhat coast |
| Languages | Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu |
| Historical name | Cambay / Stambhatirtha |
Khambhat lies on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Khambhat, near the mouth of the Mahi river. The gulf is known for some of the highest tidal ranges on the Indian coast, which has historically made navigation difficult and contributed to the silting of Khambhat's once-busy harbour. The terrain around the city is largely flat alluvial plain, part of the broader Charotar region of central Gujarat.
Khambhat appears in early Indian sources under the Sanskrit name Stambhatirtha. By the early medieval period it had emerged as a leading port of western India, trading with the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, East Africa and Southeast Asia.
Under the Chaulukya (Solanki) rulers of Gujarat and later the Vaghelas, Khambhat flourished as a commercial centre. The Arab traveller Al-Masudi and later Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta and the Moroccan and Persian chroniclers refer to Cambay as a major emporium. After the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate's authority in Gujarat and the rise of the independent Gujarat Sultanate in the 15th century, the port continued to handle textiles, indigo, agate, carnelian beads and spices.
Portuguese sources of the 16th century, including the writings of Tomé Pires and Duarte Barbosa, describe Cambay as one of the wealthiest cities of the Indian Ocean. The Mughal conquest of Gujarat under Akbar in 1573 brought Khambhat within the Mughal Empire, and it remained an important customs port through the 17th century, hosting English, Dutch and Portuguese factories.
From the late 17th century onwards, the silting of the gulf and the rise of Surat and later Bombay caused Khambhat's maritime trade to decline. In the 18th century the Nawabs of Cambay, of the Momin Khan family, established a princely state under nominal Mughal and later Maratha and British paramountcy. The state of Cambay acceded to the Indian Union after independence in 1947–48 and was subsequently merged into Bombay State, becoming part of Gujarat on the state's formation in 1960.
Khambhat is particularly noted for its traditional craft of cutting and polishing agate and carnelian stones, an industry with roots reaching back to antiquity; beads from the region have been found at archaeological sites across the ancient world. Other traditional products include sutarfeni and halvasan, sweets associated with the city. Salt manufacture along the gulf, fishing, tobacco processing and textile work are also part of the local economy. Offshore, the Gulf of Khambhat basin is significant for petroleum and natural gas exploration by ONGC.
The population of Khambhat is religiously mixed, with Hindu, Muslim, Jain and Parsi communities reflecting the city's long mercantile history. Khambhat is an important centre of the Dawoodi Bohra community and contains several historic mosques, dargahs, Jain temples and stepwells dating from the sultanate and Mughal periods.