The great port of Surat in western India dominated accounts of Indian Ocean trade between the late sixteenth and mid eighteenth century. Consolidated first by an Ottoman notable, it became the Mughal Empire’s western window into the worlds of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. In this essay, I explore Surat’s other, less visible, aspect: namely as an intellectual centre, that brought together diverse and sometimes competing traditions. In turn, we shall see how this vibrant intellectual life was tied up both to certain structures of politics, and to commercial exchange at various scales.

中文翻译：

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苏拉特的隐藏面孔：对大都会印度洋中心的思考，1540-1750年

在16世纪后期至18世纪中叶，印度西部的苏拉特大港口主导了印度洋贸易。它由奥斯曼帝国首先合并，成为莫卧儿帝国进入红海和波斯湾世界的西方窗口。在本文中，我探讨了苏拉特的另一个较不为人所知的方面：作为一个知识中心，它汇集了多种多样且有时相互竞争的传统。反过来，我们将看到如何将这种充满活力的知识生活与某些政治结构以及各种规模的商业交流联系在一起。