Storia do Mogor 292.4.6

292.4.6

When we arrived at Madras we went together to see the governor, and told him what the Mahomedans had charged us to say to him. To this he replied that he neither meant to go himself nor send any of his council. He declined to do so on several grounds, principally because neither the second nor the third, nor anyone else, could speak 'Maure' [the language spoken by Mahomedans]. But he urged me earnestly to return to the general [Da,ud Khan] along with Khwajah Ahmad, and explain the reasons which hindered him from complying with his request. If he had any negotiations to make with him and his council, he could conduct them safely through Khwajah Ahmad as their qualified procurator. The real reason why the governor declined to send anyone is that he feared the Mahomedans might oblige them by force to execute some writing, by which they undertook to be responsible for all piracies throughout the seas and on all the coasts of India. This is what they (the Mahomedans) had done at Surat to the other directors of the companies of France, Holland, and England. Or he feared they might be seized and constrained to pay considerable sums to recover their liberty. This was a customary enough act among the Mahomedans, and yet it would greatly injure their Company.