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| English cemetery of Surat, Tripadvisor.com |
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| English cemetery- mausoleums and tombs. Surat. temples.vibhaga.com |
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| English cemetery of Surat, gujarattourism.com |
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| English cemetery of Surat, gujarattourism.com |
Their business increased over a period of time and so was their population. The British cemetery was built on the outskirt of the town to meet the needs of Britons settled in Surat. The cemetery has impressive big brick structures and stucco tombs highlighting the cordial cultural and commercial relations the British merchants had with the natives, besides political and mercantile trading aspirations of the English company.
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| Location map Surat city, Gujarat.mapsofindia.com/ |
Dating back to 1649, from the origin and the chronology of the tombs it is clear that the design and architecture of the earliest tombs followed the Indo-Islamic styles with a view to be congruous with the local cultures of the natives. However, we could see a gradual change in the adaptation of the design style of the tombs in the 18th century CE with dominant western architectural features. It is obvious this modification and shift toward western style was primarily due to the arrival of more British and growing political clout of the English company across India. Changing architectural styles of the British tombs in the later years throws light on the more influence of the EIC and the changing attitude of the local British population and foreign visitors to the city from the 17th to early 20th centuries.
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| English cemetery of Surat, |
Because of trade competition among the European powers in Surat, they constructed mausoleums over the graves instead of tombstones. Funnily, resembling large Muslim tombs, the Europeans were keen to adopt the local style to impress on the natives so that the latter would feel at home with them.
The English cemetery located outside the city-wall (earlier known as 'Alampanah') near the Katargam Gate that came up during the earliest colonial period, is associated with many famous names in the historical narratives of the English factory at Surat. No doubt, they also played a significant role in the growth and development of Surat city and its political history.
According to the early ASI's revised report -1912, there were about 19 tombs in the English cemetery during that time and many of which are still barely surviving today. Also present are a large number of simple tombs over the grave of less important persons with minimum decoration. But the ones that are grandiose in style get the attention of the visitors.
The Dutch and Armenians running trade and business here had a tough competition and needed a gimmick to impress on the natives. Strangely, the trade war among them reached a crescendo and got the attention of the departed souls. Their preoccupation was as how to build fascinating mausoleums over the graves incorporating both Hindu and Muslims architectural elements instead of simple tombs with epitaph and minimum decoration. Construction of large structures in the grave with embellishment gained currency as a mark of their political power and opulence.
The Europeans failed to understand Thomas Grey's words ---- ''Paths of glory lead but to the grave''. No matter where the mortal remains of the dead were buried with a big mausoleum over them or not, positively their eternal sleep in the serene and quiet grave yard would have been disturbed because the big structures over the grave were built not out of respect for the loved ones but out of arrogance to serve their selfish needs - trade expansion.
Adjacent to the British and Dutch cemeteries, the churchyard of the Armenians, another important trading community in Surat from the 16th century looks different. Unlike the British and Dutch tombs, theirs have heavy inscription without artificial superstructures the British and Dutch built with ulterior motive.
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| British cemetery, Suratcommons.wikimedia.org/ |
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| British cemetery, Suratgujarattourism.com |
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