Storia do Mogor 294.1
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 294.1
- Language
- English
294.1.1
To the Governor of Madras : I, Dom Gaspar Alfonso, bishop of the town of San Thome of Meliapur, member of his majesty's council, in the absence of Lucas Luiz da Oliveira, chief captain, deceased. We have learnt by a trustworthy report coming from the said fortress of Madraspatam that your lordship, upon the advice of his council, has made ready one or two ships fitted up with warlike instruments of destruction, intending to send them to this port to destroy the town of San Thome.
294.1.2
We are willing to believe that this is no more than a rumour, and that your lordship will not carry out what is talked about ; for this town belongs to the King of Portugal : it is under his flag, it has a bishop, a chief captain, a judge, and all the other officials usually found in a town governed by him. We trust your lordship will not break the peace existing for so many years between the crowns of the most exalted Kings of Great Britain and of Portugal, nor act contrary thereto. Principally we do so because the inhabitants of this town have given no occasion, but have conducted themselves under every circumstance that has arisen as trusty friends. However, if your lordship comes to the determination to act contrary to all these arguments, and break off the friendship between the two crowns and between us, we protest not once only, but several times, as is required by law, on behalf of the King of Portugal and on the part of the town, against all the injury and damage that may thereby result. Your lordship will have to render a full account thereof to the most exalted King of Great Britain, before whom our complaint will be carried, if your lordship acts to the prejudice of the King of Portugal and of this town. We ask him in all earnestness that he be pleased to accept this protest which we offer to him in all good faith, to the end of securing justice and our rights. At San Thome, this 22nd of February, 1702. Dom Gaspar Alfonso, Bishop of Meliapur.
294.1.3
On April 3 [1702] Da,ud Khan sent away the Dutch envoy, having treated him rather coldly and granted him none of the things he demanded. This gentleman had asked for some villages. The general gave an absolute refusal, causing them to part far from satisfied with each other. The investment of Madras continues, but in a very sluggish manner. However, Da,ud Khan gives out that he has no intention of abandoning it until he receives his king's orders to that effect. With regard to the protest of the Bishop of San Thome entered above, I feel bound to remark that the said town belongs rightly to the Mahomedans, let Monsieur de Meliapur say what he pleases. But to set forth the matter properly and the present condition of the town, it is necessary to know that it is of very great extent, that the Mahomedans occupy the most important and far the larger part of it, and that they wield the government, while the Portuguese hold but a narrow space, which, taking it at its best, would not be large enough for one notable parish in European towns.
294.1.4
It is quite true that their (the Portuguese) houses are built right in the centre of the town; all the same, they are no longer its masters; on the contrary, it may be said that they are besieged within it from all sides. They are unable to issue an order there of the most insignificant sort. Further, the Mogul and those who govern the Karnatik on his behalf do not regard it (San Thome) as belonging to the Portuguese any more than to the other European nations in India. This is clear from the Portuguese exercising no authority within it, their principal, not to say their sole, privilege being to fly their standard upon feast-days and Sundays. Hardly need we add that they are often interfered with even in this shadow of power, as I have already recorded (IV. 27, 28). There can, then, be nothing more unfounded than the pretensions of this bishop, who wants through his protest to hinder the English, when they find themselves unjustly oppressed by the Mahomedans, from attacking those infidels in their own territory. Thus no very great attention was paid to him; and if there had been the power, as there was the will, there can be no doubt that before this time the English would have forced them (the Mahomedans) by a counter-attack to raise the siege of this town (Madras).
294.1.5
On April 20, 1702, Da,ud Khan received a letter from the Queen of Terchenepali (Trichinopoly), tributary to the Mogul, wherein this ruler begged him to undertake in person to assist her in the war she was obliged to wage against the Prince of Aurapaliam (Udayar-palaiyam), another tributary of the Mughal. This man had already seized some of her towns. The letter stated with much exaggeration the iniquity of the rajah's proceedings, and was filled with humble words and prayers intended to influence the general to come to her aid. With it came some very fine presents to be sent on to Aurangzeb, some for Da,ud Khan and some for the diwan. They consisted in a number of valuable trinkets and precious stones for the king, twenty thousand rupees in silver coin for the general, and ten thousand for the diwan — a metal with more virtues in the eyes of these gentry than the most polished orations or the most loquacious tongues. Still, the present did not work all the effects that the queen might have anticipated. Maybe this was not from want of will, for Da,ud Khan at the time was involved in this siege of Madras, so he confined himself to sending her a few troops. In his reply he notified to her how grieved he was at not being able to do more for her relief.
294.1.6
After the general had sat some two months in front of Madras, he recognised that all his efforts and all his trouble did not advance very much his business or his designs, that the English troubled their heads very little about the exertions he was making to annoy them. All this forced upon him the secret thought that he must withdraw. But before taking any overt step he intimated to Governor Pitt through me that the orders about the English received from the court were very severe and very precise. In fact, the king had given him a distinct command to allow them no rest until they had made complete reparation for the damage done by the pirates to the Mahomedans. Still, he saw plainly for his own part that it was most unfair, and that they had neither art nor part in the thefts of these scourers of the ocean. As a consequence he felt constrained to secure them terms. If they would make him a substantial payment, he undertook to demonstrate their innocence in such a way to his majesty that inevitably they must be restored to his good graces. 'But,' added he, 'I cannot carry this out without a reward proportionate to the service which I undertake to render, for both my honour and my interests require that the thing take place in this way.'
294.1.7
To speak the truth, he was not far wrong in what he said, for nothing is more disastrous to the general of an army among the Mahomedans than to appear before a fortress for a siege and yet draw no profit therefrom. Still more is this the case when the siege has been actually begun and persevered in for some time. For it does not matter specially whether they succeed in taking the place or not; on the contrary, they do all they can to prolong a siege as much as possible. Provided it suits their own interests, they trouble themselves little about those of the king or the honour of his arms. Thus what would be held in Europe as cowardice and open treason counts among them, if not for an act of high policy and the conduct of an able man, at any rate for a venial fault, and a proof that a man is acute enough to work things to his own advantage. The amount asked by the general, to start with, was exorbitant, coming to nothing under five lakhs of rupees, which amounts to about two hundred and fifty thousand crowns (écus). The English rejected this proposal, as one may suppose, with a great deal of heat, and showed its injustice in emphatic terms. In the end, after other negotiations and much going back and fore between the two sides, it was agreed that they should pay twenty-five thousand rupees.
294.1.8
Governor Pitt was brought with difficulty to give his consent. He said it was money thrown away. Only six months ago he made these gentlemen a very fine present. They had then assured him of their friendship and their protection. If they had paid no heed to their first engagement, they would pay as little to the second they now proffered. It would be seen that time after time they would return to the charge, whenever they took it into their heads that they wanted some money. He thought it more in accordance with the honour and the interest of the company to let the siege go on until reinforcements arrived from Europe. When that happened, they could by force of arms compel these infidels to confine themselves within the conditions of any treaty then made with them.