On
Enquiring Into The State Of Our Business, And The Health Of Our Factory,
Mr Aldworth Informed Me That Paul
Canning and several others had died;
that Thomas Kerridge had long since been agent in his room at the court
Of the Mogul, and that the factory at Surat now only contained himself
and William Bidulph.
[Footnote 124: Mr Richard Stell, or Steel, had gone to Aleppo, to
recover a debt from a merchant of that city, who had fled to India; and,
following him through Persia, Mr Steel had arrived at Surat. On his
report, the factors at Surat made an experiment to open a trade with
Persia, which will form the subject of a future section of this
chapter. - E.]
In the morning of the 17th, I called a council to advise upon the best
manner of conducting our affairs here, and to consider who might be the
best person to send to Agraas resident. Then entering upon the six
interrogatories, inserted in the second article of our commission, I
required Mr Aldworth to give direct answers to every question. - 1. In
what favour was Paul Canning with the emperor and his council, and how
did he conduct himself at court in the business entrusted to him? He
answered, That on his first arrival at court, he was well respected by
the emperor, till the Jesuits made known that he was a merchant, and not
sent immediately from our king; after which he was neglected, as he
himself complained: and, as for his carriage and behaviour there, so far
as he knew, it was sufficiently good; - 3. Then demanding, whether it
were needful to maintain a resident at court? Mr Aldworth answered, That
it was certainly necessary, as the emperor required that one of our
nation should reside there; and therefore, that the person ought to be a
man of good respect, for preventing and counteracting any injuries that
might be offered by the Jesuits, our determined adversaries; as he might
also be extremely useful in promoting and directing the purchase and
sale of various commodities. - 6. Being questioned as to the expences of
a resident at court? he said, according to the estimate of Paul Canning,
it might be about L300 per annum; but, some time afterwards, his
estimate was found to extend to five, six, and seven hundred pounds a
year. - Being afterwards questioned, Whether he thought it fit that Mr
Edwards should proceed to court under the designation of a merchant,
according to the strict letter of the company's commission? his opinion
was, by the experience of the late Mr Canning, that such a resident
would not be at all respected by the king.
In the morning of the 24th, Coge Nozan came down to the water side, and
rested in my tent till I landed. I repaired to him, accompanied by all
our merchants, and attended by a strong guard, armed with halberts,
muskets, and pikes, having a coach to carry me from the landing place to
the tent. On alighting from my coach, Coge Nozan came immediately to
meet me. Before entering on business, he was told that a present for the
Nabob was to be delivered to him, which was brought in. This consisted
of a case containing six knives, two pair of knives, six sword-blades,
six Spanish pikes, one case of combs, one mirror, one picture of Mars
and Venus, one ditto of the Judgment of Paris, two Muscovy hides, and
one gilded case of bottles filled with strong rich cordials. I then made
the following present to himself: Six knives in single sheaths, four
sword-blades, two pikes, one comb-case, a mirror, a picture of Moses,
and a case of bottles, in consideration of the promise made by the nabob
to our people, that whatever Coge Nozan agreed to, he the nabob would
perform.
I then moved for the enlargement of our privileges, and lessening of our
customs, especially at Baroach, and that we might have a daily bazar or
market at the water side, where we might purchase beef for our people,
according to the firmaun already granted by the Mogul, and because
other flesh did not answer for them. He answered, that the nabob would
shew us every favour in his power, if we would assist him against the
Portuguese; that the customs of Baroach were out of his power to
regulate, as the king had already farmed these to another person at a
stipulated rent; and that we should have a regular market, but that
bullocks and cows could not be allowed, as the king had granted a
firmaun to the Banians, in consideration of a very large sum of money,
that these might not be slaughtered. In fine, I found he had no power to
grant us any thing; yet, willing to leave me somewhat contented, he
proposed that I should send some of our merchants along with him to the
nabob, where our business might be farther discussed.
I accordingly sent along with him, Mr Aldworth, Mr Ensworth, Mr
Dodsworth, Mr Mitford, and some others. Two or three days afterwards,
they had access to the nabob, to whom they explained our desires, as
before expressed. He then desired to know whether we would go with our
ships to fight for him against Damaun, in which case, he said, we might
count upon his favour? To this it was answered, that we could not on any
account do this, as our king and the king of Spain were in peace. He
then asked if we would remove our ships to the bar of Surat, and fight
there against the Portuguese ships, if they came to injure the subjects
of the Mogul? This likewise was represented to be contrary to the peace
between our kings. On which he said, since we would do nothing for his
service, he would do nothing for us. Several of the merchants of Surat
endeavoured to persuade our merchants, that I ought to give way to the
reasonable request of the nabob, and might still do what I thought
proper; as, notwithstanding of our ships riding at the bar, the
Portuguese frigates could go in and out on each side of me, owing to
their light draught of water.
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