Bharuch

Bharuch (listen^ⓘ), known in ancient times as Bharutkutccha, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District.

The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since times of antiquity. It was a ship building centre and sea port in the pre-compass coastal trading routes to points West and East, perhaps as far back as the 1st Century CE. The route made use of the regular and predictable monsoon winds or galleys. Many goods from the Far East and Far West (the famed Spice and Silk trade) were shipped there during the annual monsoon winds, making it a terminus for several key land-sea trade routes. Bharuch was known to the Greeks, the various Parthian Empire, in the Roman Empire, and in other Western and Eastern centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages and the other Middle Ages of the World.

In the 3rd Century BCE to 3rd Century CE , the port of Bharuch was mentioned as Barigaza.

During the 8th century, the town of Bharuch was ruled by King Mayura giving rise to the Chaudharya Dynasty. The king ruled the city for 50 years and was popularly known as the 'Ace of Bharuch'.

Arab traders entered Gujarat via Bharuch to do business. The British and the Dutch and others later noted Bharuch's importance and established their business centres here.

At the end of the 17th century CE, it was plundered twice, but recovered quickly and became wealthy again twice. Afterwards, a proverb was composed about it, "Bhangyu Bhangyu Toye Bharuch", which translates to "Even if it is broken, it is Bharuch". As a trading depot, the limitations of coastal shipping made it a regular terminus via several mixed trade routes of the fabled spice and silk trading between East and West. During the European times it was officially known as Bharuch.

Bharuch has been the home to the Gujarati Bhargava Brahmana community for ages. The community traces its lineage to Bhrigu and Parashurama who is an incarnation of Vishnu. The Bhargava community still administers a large number of public trusts in the city. However the present day Bhargava Brahmanas have migrated to Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and other countries like the France, Britain and Australia, New Zealand and many other nations in the world.

Being close to one of the biggest industrial areas including Ankleshvara GIDC, it is at times referred to as the chemical capital of India. The city has chemical plants, textile mills, long staple cotton, dairy products and much more. Gujarat's biggest liquid cargo terminal is situated 50 km to the west of Bharuch, in Dahej. It also houses many multinational companies, such as Videocon, BASF, ONGC Petro-Additions, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports & SEZ, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers & Chemicals, MRF Tires, Yokohama Off-Highway Tires, Jubilant, Aditya Birla Hindalco Industries, Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited, ISGEC Hitachi, UPL (company), Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited, Deepak Nitrite, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Petronet LNG, Godrej & Boyce, Piramal Group, Pidilite Industries, SRF Limited, Safari Equipments and Welspun Maxsteel Ltd. The industrial estate of Vilayat houses the companies of Aditya Birla Grasim, Kansai Nerolac Paints etc., Jhagadia houses DCM Sriram Chemicals, Saint-Gobain India Ltd., PepsiCo India Holdings Ltd. among others. Because of the distinctive colour of its soil (which is also ideal for cotton cultivation), Bharuch is sometimes referred to as 'Kanam Pradesham' (black-soil land). Bharuch is also nicknamed as 'Peanut City' for its salty peanuts, locally known as 'Khari Sing'.