Exhibition: Port Towns of Gujarat

On the occasion of the inauguration of the new premises of Alliance Française and the Heritage Resource Centre
DarshakItihasNidhi (DIN), a not-for-profit foundation for studies in history, organized in December, 2012 the second edition of its international Symposia on Maritime History of Gujarat.

2012 Symposium held in Daman proposed to explore the characteristics of Gujarat ports and sea coast settlements, and the role they played in the economy, society and polity of Gujarat, as part of the Indian subcontinent and of the Indian Ocean World (IOW). The panels of the Symposium were enriched by an exhibition on the same theme, and presenting historical visuals on the port towns of Gujarat.

The Alliance Française and DIN invite you to discover this unique collection of images and exhibits on the maritime past of Gujarat.
The exhibition results from an opportunity to access historical manuscripts conserved in the BibliothèqueNationale de France and other Libraries of Portugual, Netherland, and UK. The collected views and plans produced from the 15th to the 19th century are proposing a journey along the historical littoral of Kachchh, Saurashtra and the Gulf of Khambhat. They offer us a chance to discover the port towns of Gujarat the way sailors and travellers were viewing at them from the Sultanate, the Mughal period, till the modern time.

The exhibition is enriched by trading or seafaring artefacts collected in cities and sea towns of Gujarat. They are the bearer of an information related to the port activity, either in the context of trade and industry, or in the context of navigation and sea faring.
The exhibition is curated by Dr. Sara Keller. The Alliance Française is thankful to Mr. Hasmukh Shah, Chairman - DIN.
Stay tuned to know the dates of the exhibitions in the beginning of April 2013!