Storia do Mogor 107: The Case of Thomas Plata (Pratt).

107

Aurangzeb received the above letter and the news of Mir Jumlah's death while he was in Kashmir. He appeared outwardly much disturbed at this misadventure, and at once sent orders to Da,ud Khan, who was, as I have said, governor of Patnah (II. 61), that he must proceed to Dhakah and take over charge of the Bengal province until he could send someone else. As Muhammad Amin Khan was at court, Aurangzeb sent for him and consoled him, saying that if he had lost his father, he (Aurangzeb) took his place and accepted him as a son. Then he ordered him to be invested with a valuable robe of honour [76], and increased his pay by one hundred thousand rupees, informing him that he might take possession of all his father's wealth. He was made Mir Bakhshi— that is to say, captain-general of the cavalry of the empire. In a short time, as Aurangzeb said he would do, he was deputed as Viceroy to Lahor ; in addition, two hundred thousand rupees were fixed as the annual pay of his son, Mirza 'Abdullah.
Upon Da,ud Khan's arrival at Dhakah, he began to issue orders. One day it happened that some soldiers interfered groundlessly with a neighbour of Thomas Plata, Englishman.
Thereupon the servants of Thomas Plata ran out to find the cause of the noise. They interceded for their neighbour, but the soldiers abused them. Thus it ended in their coming to blows, and the servants, being unable to resist the large number of soldiers who had congregated, beat a retreat into their master's house. Into it came the soldiers to renew the fight, breaking down the house-door. Upon this Thomas Plata seized his weapons, and aided by his servants and the Portuguese who had joined him, began to slay the men directly he saw them, paying respect to none of them. He did great execution, making use of a blunderbuss (espalhafato) carrying a good charge, and the courtyard being full of people, he discharged it without interval several times.
At last, seeing that the matter would not terminate until he was destroyed, he ordered the best of his goods to be carried to a boat, and passed out by a door in his house which opened upon the river. He took refuge in the boat with some others who elected to follow him ; then putting out into the open, he gave the city a bombardment, and retired to seek a refuge in Arakan. There he said that, if his words were listened to, they might take Dhakah and the territory of Bengal.
Da,ud Khan, who in addition to his own good judgment had been to school under Aurangzeb, had recourse to the usual deceptions of his master, and wrote a letter to Thomas Plata, telling him that it was now time for him to come back to Dhakah. But let him not forget the execution of his agreement to bring with him the head of the Arakan king ! He sent this letter in such a way that it should fall into the hands of the said king. When the king had read the letter, being ignorant of the falsehood of Da,ud Khan, he fancied that there really was such an agreement between Da,ud Khan and Thomas Plata, for he knew the Mogul king was very desirous to acquire Arakan. Therefore orders were given to remove the Englishman's goods out of his boat; all his men were to be bound, and the vessel, along with Thomas Plata, he and his, was to be sent to the bottom. Thus were they got rid of, and Da,ud Khan's mind was relieved of the anxiety given him by this man, knowing that he could do great injury to the province of Bengal if the King of Arakan listened to his proposals.