Company started docking in Surat, using it as a trade and transit point. In 1615, following the Battle of Swally, Captain Best, followed by Captain Downton, overcame Portuguese naval supremacy and obtained an imperial firman establishing an English factory at Surat. The city was made the seat of a presidency of the East India Company after the success of the embassy God of Wealth. In 1664 the Maratha King Shree Chhatrapati Shivaji attacked Surat, a key Mughal power centre and a wealthy port town, which generated a million rupees in taxes. When Shivaji arrived in Surat, he demanded tribute from the Mughal commander of the army stationed for port security. The tribute was refused and, instead of battling the Marathas, the Mughal commander (Stationed at the Surat fort) sent an emissary to assassinate Shivaji, but in vain. Shivaji conquered the city, and forces under his command exacted their revenge. Shivaji's army sacked Surat for nearly 3 days, looting both the Mughal and Portuguese trading centres.
Surat was the primary port of India during the Mughal period, a distinction it lost to Bombay during the late 17th century as the East India Company grew.
The prosperity of Surat received a fatal blow when Surat was ceded to the English as part of the dowry for Catherine of Braganza's wedding to Charles II in 1662. Shortly afterwards, in 1668, the East India Company established a factory in Bombay (Mumbai) and Surat began its relative decline concurrent with the rise of British interests in Bombay.
Surat was sacked again by Shivaji in 1670 when it was under Mughal Empire. By 1687, the English East India Company had moved the presidency to Bombay. At its height, Surat's population reached an estimated 800,000, but by the middle of the 19th century the number had fallen to 80,000. The British took control of Surat again in 1759, and assumed all government powers of the city in 1800.
In 1730, Baghdadi Jewish Joseph Semah arrived from Baghdad to
