History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c83.s2.1

v5.c83.s2.1

The trade with Bengal was very prosperous. Raw silk was abundant; the taffetas were various and fine; the saltpetre was cheap and of the best quality; the gold and silver sent from England were eagerly taken up by the Indians. Such was the happy prospect in 1658. But the war of succession which broke out in that very year disturbed the country's peace and unsettled the administration everywhere, and most of all in a frontier province like Bengal. The viceroyalty of Mir Jumla (1659-1663) was entirely occupied by a series of campaigns which left him no time to settle the country and restore the civil government. Local officials began to make illegal exactions from the English traders, fearing no punishment for violating their former master's charter. Then followed the rule of a temporary acting viceroy*, which only increased the disorder and oppression, till Shaista Khan, the permanent subahdar of Bengal, arrived in March 1664.