Rander (also known as Rahe Neer or the City of Mosques) is a town in Surat district in the state of Gujarat, India.

There are some historic indications that Rander was an important port of Western Hind in the ancient era that conducted trade with the Arabian heartlands, Egypt, Sudan and beyond.

[2] During the rule of Samprati in 200 AD, Jain, an important trading community in India worked here and built their temples in and around Rander.

It is believed that the Jain settlement dates back to earlier than 1200 AD when Rander was a small prosperous village that formed the hinterland of Suvali.

Suvali was a thriving port town back then that had connections with the Middle East owing to the trade of crockery, silver articles, wooden artefacts and furniture.

In 1514, the Portuguese traveller Duarte Barbosa wrote: Ranel (Rander) is a good town of the Moors, built of very pretty houses and squares.

It is a rich and agreeable place ...... the Moors of the town trade with Malacca, Bengal, Tawasery (Tannasserim), Pegu, Martaban, and Sumatra in all sort of spices, drugs, silks, musk, benzoin and porcelain.

The Moors of this place are white and well dressed and very rich they have pretty wives, and in the furniture of these houses have china vases of many kinds, kept in glass cupboards well arranged.

Mughal emperor Jehangir and his companions, on their way to Ahmedabad, stopped at this historic place near Jehangirpur which is now called Rander Eid-Gah.

[citation needed] In 1194, Qutb ud-Din Aibak, a general under Muhammad of Ghor, led a raid on Rander and Surat.

The early 15th century saw further political changes when Muzaffar Shah I became the Governor of Surat in 1411, although his son, Masti Khan, rebelled and was ultimately suppressed.

In 1573, the Mirzas rebelled against Akbar, prompting the Mughal emperor to march on Surat, lay siege, and capture it.

In 1623, Pietro Della Valle visited Surat, and from 1623 to 1626, Thomas Rastell served as the President of the English factory.

Maratha raids on the city continued in 1706, with disturbances led by Pilaji Rao Gaekwad in the Surat Aththavisi Parganas.

Dayaram, Teg Bakht Khan's Dewan, settled the dispute of the Nawab's revenue of Aththavisi with Damaji Rao in 1735.