Merchants Come Here With Many Ships
And Cargoes, But What They Chiefly Bring Is Gold, Silver, Copper [And
Tutia].
There are no pirates from this country; the inhabitants are good people,
and live by their trade and manufactures.
NOTE 1. - CAMBAET is nearer the genuine name of the city than our CAMBAY.
Its proper Hindu name was, according to Colonel Tod, Khambavati, "the
City of the Pillar." The inhabitants write it Kambayat. The ancient city
is 3 miles from the existing Cambay, and is now overgrown with jungle. It
is spoken of as a flourishing place by Mas'udi, who visited it in A.D.
915. Ibn Batuta speaks of it also as a very fine city, remarkable for the
elegance and solidity of its mosques, and houses built by wealthy foreign
merchants. Cambeth is mentioned by Polo's contemporary Marino Sanudo, as
one of the two chief Ocean Ports of India; and in the 15th century Conti
calls it 14 miles in circuit. It was still in high prosperity in the early
part of the 16th century, abounding in commerce and luxury, and one of the
greatest Indian marts. Its trade continued considerable in the time of
Federici, towards the end of that century; but it has now long
disappeared, the local part of it being transferred to Gogo and other
ports having deeper water. Its chief or sole industry now is in the
preparation of ornamental objects from agates, cornelians, and the like.
The Indigo of Cambay was long a staple export, and is mentioned by Conti,
Nikitin, Santo Stefano, Federici, Linschoten, and Abu'l Fazl.
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