Surat is the gateway for journey and trade with West Asia via the Gulf of Ormuz.
I will make the following arrangements.
i) A confirmed reservation of seat in one of the ships travelling on the route to West Asia.
ii) Dry fruits in huge amount.
ii) Two sets of clothes and all other necessary items.
iii) Letter of approval to go that place.
iv) A life-saving jacket.
v) Medicines
vi) Water bottles
vii) Money

i) From the 8th century onwards several small towns emerged from larger villages. People come to mandapika (rnandi) and market streets (hatta) to buy and sell products. Besides, there were streets for different kinds of artisans like potters, oil pressers, sugar makers, smiths, toddy makers, stonemasons, etc. Some traders lived in the town, others travelled from town to town. People bought local articles and sold horses, salt, camphor, saffron, betel nut and spices.
ii) There were several guilds in South India, of them Manigramam and Nanadesi were very famous. There were business communities like Chettiars, Marwari Oswal, Gujarati traders including Hindu Baniyas and Muslim Bohras. They traded extensively with the ports of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, East Africa, South East Asia and China.
iii) European traders came to India for spices and cotton cloth which were highly demanded by the Europeans. The towns on the West coast were home to Arab, Persian, Chinese, Jewish and Syrian Christian traders. This had great impact on the lives of people in towns and villages both economically and politically.

Thanjavur is marked as a temple town. This temple town represents a very important pattern of urbanisation. In a temple town, temples were central to the economy and society. Rulers built temples to demonstrate their devotion to various deities. Pilgrims who flocked to the temples also made donations. Temple authorities used their wealth to finance trade and banking. A large number of priests, workers, artisans, traders, ere settled near the temple to cater to its needs and those of the pilgrims. Shops, markets grew near the temple. Thus, it was regarded as a great town.

In the 17th century, the Portuguese, Dutch, English had their factories and warehouses at Surat. According to the English Chronicler Ovington who wrote an account of the port in 1689, on average a hundred ships of different countries could be found anchored at this port at any given time. This shows that Surat was a very busy port in the 17th century. However, it began to decline towards the end of this century due to different reasons.

Water supply for the city of Thanjavur came from wells and tanks.

The city of Masulipatnam was centre of intense activity during the 17th century. Both the Dutch and the English East India Companies attempted to control this city as it became the most important port on the Andhra coast. Qutb Shahi rulers of Golconda imposed royal monopolies on the sale of textiles, spices and other items in order to prevent the trade passing into the hands of various East India Companies.
This led to a fierce competition among various trading groups like the Golconda nobles, Persian merchants, Telugu, Komati, Chettis and European traders. As a result, the city became populous and prosperous. 

i) Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese sailor, was one of those who sailed across the Atlantic to the African coast. He went round it, crossing over to the Indian ocean. He first set sail to the voyage and took a year in it.
ii) He reached Calicut in 1498 and returned to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. He lost two of his four ships and of the 170 men at the beginning of the voyage, only 54 survived.
iii) Inspite of inevitable hazards, the routes proved profitable to the English, Dutch and French sailors who followed his routes.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, European countries were in search of spices and textiles for European market. In Europe and West Asia, these commodities became popular. The English, Dutch and French formed East India Companies to expand their business in the East. Among the Indian traders, there were notable Indian traders like Mulla Abdul Ghafur and Virji Vora who owned a large number of ships. In the beginning, they competed with the English, Dutch and French Companies. But the European companies used their naval power to gain control of the sea trade and forced Indian traders to work as their Agents. Finally,the English emerged as the most successful commercial and political power in the subcontinent.