New History of the Marathas v1.c10.39

v1.c10.39

2. English Factors confined.—It is necessary here to revert to the story of the English factors captured by Shivaji at Rājāpur. The friction between them had a previous history, without which the present scuffle cannot be properly explained. English factory records now published throw full light on the affair. When early in 1660 Shivaji’s men came upon Dābhol, that port had in it three trading vessels belonging to Afzal Khan who had been cut down by Shivaji. Muhammad Sharif the Governor of Dabhol conveyed those ships quickly to Rājāpur at the request of Fazl Khan and delivered them for safety into the custody of the English factory, lest they should fall into Shivaji’s hands. As Shivaji was at war with Bijapur, he sent his agent to Rājāpur to take possession of those ships of his enemy. The British would not give them over on the plea that Fazl Khan owed them large amounts, which they wanted to recover out of the property contained in those ships. When Shivaji arrived at Rājāpur, the Chief of the factory, Remington, for fear of being seized, ran for safety out to the sea, but Doroji succeeded in seizing the goods and detaining the second Officer Gifford (20 January 1660). At this stage Rustam-i-Zaman pleaded with Shivaji for restoring the goods and releasing Gifford. Shivaji agreed and the affair was for the moment closed.³