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a goddess called Rannade who belonged to the place now known as Rander. For, this is the place where the godess performed her penance to please the Sun god and get him as her husband. Even today there is temple here dedicated to the goddess Randhani, a form of Rannade. The Sun god himself performed an austere panance at a place called Kantareshwar which was in the thick forest around Surat. Kantareshwar is now known as Katargam. The Sun god eventually settled in the area. He had a daughter Tapi and two sons Ashwanikumars who were the vaidyas (that is doctors practising Ayurvedic medicines) to the gods. There is a place called Vaidyanath in Surat even today. According to an old Jain tradition, Rander is also believed to be associated with an ancient king called Samprati belonging to the dynasty of Ashok, the great.
Thus, Rander has a very long history stretching back to a distant mythological past. It was a highly prosperous city when Surat was no more than a mere settlement of fishermen living in poor hutments. During the first quarter of the third century, a number of Jain temples were built in Rander and the Jain books of the subsequent period tell us about a large population of Jains belonging both to the Swetamber and the Degamber sects. In the meanwhile, the older ports like Kamrej and Variav were rendered out of operation and hence useless on account of the significant changes in the course of Tapi, the changes in the course of the river in turn being brought about by the heavy deposits of sands and mud changing the very topography of its bed. On the other hand Rander started emerging fast into a major port in the area. This fact is amply born out by some ruins found near Rander.
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Al Beruni, an Arab traveller who came to India in 1030 refers to Rander as Rahanjul which, according to him, was a major port in this part of the South Gujarat known as Lat region at that time. During the two centuries that followed, Rander continued to become more and more prosperous day by day. As per many references to the city made by the renown Gujarati poet Padmanabh in his Kanhadade Prabanth, Surat existed in the 13th century and had started growing into a city. In 1225 an adventurous group of Kufani Arabs acquired control over the city of Rander. These people were Shiya Arabs that belonged to Kufa. They were expert nevigators and sea-faring people. They were known as Nawayta or Nayta because they were new-comers in Rander. They carried on trade with countries such as Malakka, China, Tenasarim, Pegu and Sumatra. The German treveller Mendleslow who came to
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