Siyar al-mutaʾakhkhirin 42.3.5

42.3.5

The reason of all this ease and submission is, that the English having from longhand expected such a rupture, had not allowed the Hollanders to fortify themselves in such a manner in Bengal, as should render a military force necessary to subdue and expel them. The dissensions between the two nations arose from this event: The King of the English maintained these five or six years past, a contest with the people of America, (a word that signifies a New World), on account of the Company's concerns. By the word Company is understood an assembly of thirty or forty of the richest or most creditable men of the country of Inghilter, who joining their funds together obtain the privilege to trade into which climate soever they may choose out of the seven. Such a body, if even consisting of so few as thirty or forty of such creditable men, is called a Company; but there may be three or four hundred of such men in the Company we mean, which hold a rank and pre-eminence amongst all the merchants of that land. Nor does the King order anything about their concerns without consulting them first; for whatever he intends to do, he consults the Omrahs or Lords of his Court; and when the matter has been agreed amongst them, it is then proposed to the Council of the nation, which is composed of the principal merchants above, and of a number of other creditable and sensible men chosen, two by two, by each of the principal towns, cities, and countries of Inghilter.