Page 83 - SST Class 07

Port and Trading Towns

Next, were the towns which were famous for
their trade. Since during those days, trading
happened either by land or by sea, these were
mostly by the seaside. Hence, they were called as
port and trading towns. Surat, Nagapattinam,
Broach are among some of the prominent ports
of that period.

professions settled there. There were priests,
garland makers, weavers, sculptors, shopkeepers,
traders, musicians, dancers and many more.
Tirupati, Somnath, Kanchipuram, Madurai and
Mathura were some other famous temple towns.
Pilgrimage Towns
Pilgrimage centres slowly turned into towns.
Surat Port and Trading Town Benaras (now Varanasi), Allahabad (officially
known as Prayagraj), Mathura and Vrindavan
are examples of such towns. The dargahs of
famous Sufi saints such as Khwaja Muin-ud-Din
Chishti at Ajmer and Khwaja Hazrat Nizam-ud-
Din Auliya at Delhi attracted a large number of
devotees. Many of them settled there.
Craft Towns
Specialised crafts were concentrated at different
places. Kings and nobles required luxury goods.
This led to the growth of craft towns. For exam-
Nagapattinam Port and Trading Town
ple, Bidar was famous for its beautiful ‘bidri’
Temple Towns
There were numerous temple towns in different
parts of the country. A classic example is Tanjore
(now Thanjavur). It was the capital of the Cholas,
but was more famous for its temples. Tanjore
developed into a flourishing town largely because
of its temples.

Temples were centres to the economy and society
of that particular region as they performed a
large number of functions. To cater to the needs
of the temple and the pilgrims, people of different
Bidri
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