| Evolution, growth and decline of cities and the making of their urban cultural landscapes have been an integral area of research in historical geography. Though the physical geographical factors have always been stressed as the drivers of urban change, the modern urban historical geography has emphasised the human politico-economic factors as the strong force triggering the urban dynamics. The similar factors also play a seminal role in the evolution and structuring of the cultural landscape of the cities. The urban cultural landscape, thus, is viewed more as a reflection of the dominant economic and political factors at work in the given period of time. Coastal Western India, i.e. coastal Gujarat and Konkan, has experienced various phases of urban growth and decline during the making of its urban cultural landscape. After the decline of the Mauryas and most importantly of the Buddhism during 3rd and 4th century AD, the region experienced its second phase of urban decline (first being after the fall of the Harappan system). Arabs emerged on the urban scene of the Coastal Western India during this period of urban decline and played an influential role in paving the way for the Indo-Islamic phase of urban cultural landscape. They not only infused life in the then dying urban landscape of the region but also got engaged in the rise of big cities like Cambay. A long period of residence of the Arabs in Coastal Western India marked the beginning of fresh set of cultural interaction between the locals and the Arabs. The Arabs fundamentally made a profound impact on the Gujarati and Marathi languages with the incorporation of Persian and Arabic loan words. The Arab cultural influence can also be seen in architecture, agriculture and industries of the then Coastal Western India. On this backdrop, the present paper attempts to gauge the nature of theArab influence on the making of the urban cultural landscape of Coastal Western India. |