Remonstrantie 9.8

9.8

The banians are now beginning to make a large profit in this way, and have raised the monthly rate of interest from 1 to 1½ per cent.; if loans are taken yearly, they will raise it much higher, and the amount of interest, or loss, is a matter of great importance. Customs duties are here 3½ per cent. on all imports and exports of goods, and 2 per cent. on money, either gold or silver. At present these duties are collected for the King by the Governor, Mir Jahan Kuli Beg, but formerly they were assigned to various lords as salary; the arrangement has been altered as often as twice or thrice in the year. Weights and measures are smaller here than in Hindustan. The Gujarat gaz is eight per cent. shorter than a Holland ell, and a ser weighs only 18 pice or ¾ lb. (Holland), 24 pice weighing 1 pound; these units are used in Surat, and practically throughout Gujarat. Formerly mahmudis, and not rupees, were current here; the mahmudi is smaller, and worth only 10 stivers by our reckoning. Rupees have come into circulation during the last five or six years; the mahmudi is still the nominal unit for sales and purchases, but the actual payment is generally made in rupees, which we take as 24 stivers. The King has now a mint in Surat, as in Ahmadabad and all other capital cities. Broach, 20 kos landward from Surat, is a small town, but it is splendidly situated on moderately high ground. The town is surrounded by a wall of white stone, and looks more like a fort than a city;