Bharuch (formerly commonly known as Broach) (Gujarati: ભરૂચ) in India, is a district in the southern part of the Gujarat peninsula on the west coast of state of Gujarat with a size and population comparable to that of Greater Boston. The Narmada River outlets into the Gulf of Khambat through its lands and that shipping artery gave inland access to the kingdoms and empires located in the central and northern parts of the sub-continent of India.

The city of Bharuch and its surrounds--today's district -- has been settled far back into antiquity and was a major shipping building center and sea port in the important pre-compass coastal trading routes to points West, perhaps as far back as the days of the Pharaohs, which utilized the regular and predictable Monsoon winds or galleys. Many goods from the Far East (the famed Spice and Silk trade) were trans-shipped there for the annual monsoon winds making it a terminus for several key land-sea trade routes and Bharuch was definitely known to the Greeks, the various Persian Empires and in the Roman Republic and Empire and other Western centers of civilization right on through the end of the European Middle Ages.

Bharuch  pronunciation (help·info)(Gujarati: ભરૂચ), also known as Broach, is the oldest city in Gujarat, situated at the mouth of the holy river Narmada. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District and a municipality of more than 1,50,000 inhabitants. As Bharuch is a major seaport city, a number of trade activities have flourished here. Located between Vadodara and Surat, the city derived its name from ‘'Bhr̥gukachchha’' (Sanskrit: भृगुकच्छ, "Bhr̥gu's riverbank"), the residence of the great saint Bhrigu Rishi, which was later abridged to Bharuch. The city then became known as 'Bharukachch' and eventually Bharuch.

The priests of Bharuch were famous for their learning in the other regions too. As per the mythological stories, Agnihotri and Samvedi, the learned priests of Shukaltirtha were famous up to the Kashi in the northern India.

Bharuch is the hometown of the Gujarati Bhargav Brahmin community. The community traces its origins back to Bhrigurishi, Bhagwan Parshram the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and other rishis. The community has had Bharuch as their hometown for centuries. Some of the great men from this community include Kulapati K.M. Munshi, the great educationalist and founder of the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan.