Storia do Mogor 65.6.5

65.6.5

If Shahjahan was opposed to injustice, he also followed up thieves in a particularly rigorous manner, and never pardoned them. If their offence was a small one, for which they did not deserve death, he ordered them to be transferred to the other side of the river Indus, and exchanged for Pathan dogs. If it chanced that the thieves could not be caught, he forced the officials to pay. Thus did it happen in the year one thousand six hundred and forty-five at the port of Surat, when thieves robbed the Dutch factory at night. Although the loss was not great, the Dutch complained to the governor. He paid no attention to their complaint. They removed the best of what they had in their factory, loaded it on their ships, and blockaded the entrance to the river, allowing no one access or exit. They demanded from the governor a heavy penalty for having allowed them to be robbed within his jurisdiction. Shahjahan got notice of this affair, and he issued an order that the Dutch should be indemnified from his treasury, while the governor should be pestered and worried until he paid. On this occasion the Dutch made a profit of a thousand per cent., and up to this day it is the practice that whoever is in authority has to pay for loss by robbery.