History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c83.s6: § 11. Negotiations with the Mughal Government.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c83.s6
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§ 11. Negotiations with the Mughal Government.
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We now turn to the action of the imperial Court during these years, 1687—1689. The sack of Hughli (28 Oct. 1686) and the seizure of Hijli (Feb. 1687) by the English had been duly reported to Aurangzib, then engaged in the siege of Golkonda. The next provocation by the English had been the attack on his shipping in the Western Sea by the Bombay fleet (under the directions of Sir John Child.) The Emperor had immediately ordered the arrest of all the Englishmen, the occupation of their factories all over his dominions, and the prohibition of all trade or other intercourse with the audacious foreigners by his subjects. But the English were supreme at sea, and could stop the journey of pilgrim-ships to Mecca. The loss to his customs revenue through stoppage of their trade was also serious. Therefore, after a time he was inclined to come to terms with them. Shaista Khan had been removed from Bengal early in 1688, and his temporary successor, Khan-i-Jahan, sent (through the governor of Cuttack, on 1st Sep. 1688) a letter to the President at Madras "complaining much of Agent Charnock's irregular proceedings there and desiring some discreet person to be sent to treat with him, promising all just and courteous usage."
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This letter was received by the Madras Council on 3rd January 1689, and they replied to it on 25th February, offering to re-establish the English factory in Bengal. Meantime, on 12th February, Henry Stanley and James Ravenhill, the imprisoned factors of Balasore, wrote to Madras, complaining of the ill-usage to which they were subjected by the Mughal faujdar in retaliation for the injury done by Heath's squadron and begging the Madras Council to try for their release soon, as otherwise they would be sent to Dacca in chains, under orders of the subahdar.
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A few months later Ibrahim Khan,[*] a friend of the English, came to Bengal as permanent viceroy, and on 2nd July he wrote a letter to Madras (which was received there on 7th October), inviting the English to return to Bengal. Charnock praised the Khan (whom he had long known when governor of Patna), as a mild man of friendly disposition, whose word could be relied on, and he counselled the Madras authorities to re-establish the Bengal factory.
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∗ "The new Nawab was a man of peace. Without military abilities, he desired to administer justice with strict impartiality and to encourage agriculture and commerce." (E. Annals, i. 123.)
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§ 12. Emperor again permits the English to trade, 1690.
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In the meantime, the English prisoners lately set free by Ibrahim Khan had again, under new orders from the Emperor, been placed under restraint. But in this the subahdar had merely made a show of harshness, to please his master.* At last in February 1690, peace was finally concluded between the Mughal Government and the English on the West Coast. As Aurangzib wrote on 22nd Feb. 1690, "The English [of Surat] having made
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∗ "The Nawab has forborne to execute the Emperor's severe orders for extirpating the English in this country and demolishing their factories in Bengal. He had lately released the English captives and said, 'The late subahdar [Shaista Khan] wrote many stories against you [to the Emperor.]... You have many enemies, esp. the Dutch.'" [Letter from Bengal dated 25 Nov. 1689, recd. at Madras 23 Jan. 1690.]
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On 13 Sep. 1689, under the general orders of Aurangzib, his local officer in Telingana had seized the English factory at Vizagapatam, killing three of the factors and carrying off the rest to Chicacole. A little later, their Masulipatam factory was also seized. [Fort St. George Diary, 2, 7 and 10 Oct. 1689.]
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a most humble, submissive petition,...and [promised] that they would present the Emperor with a fine of Rs. 150,000,...and behave themselves no more in such a shameful manner,...His Majesty hath pardoned their faults and agrees...that they follow their trade as in former times."
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After this settlement, the Emperor also wrote to Ibrahim Khan, on the 23rd April following, to let the English trade freely in Bengal as formerly, without giving them any further trouble. [Stewart's *Bengal*, App. vii and vi.]
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On 25th July the Madras Council decided to send Charnock back to Bengal as Agent, and he arrived once more at Sutanati on 24th August. This was the foundation of Calcutta and of the British Power in Northern India. Ibrahim Khan's subordinates respected the traders, and on 10th February 1691 an imperial order (*hasb-ul-hukm*) was issued by the grand wazir to the diwan of Bengal, allowing the English to carry on their trade in that province without molestation on paying Rs. 3,000 a year in lieu of all custom and other dues. In the terms of this imperial rescript, Ibrahim Khan issued a circular letter (*parwana*) to all revenue and other officers in Bengal to "take, instead of custom, but Rs. 3,000 of the English yearly, and in their buying and selling take not a pice more ;...that ye assist their gumashtas in their lawful and just business upon all accounts ; and that no one, upon the account of *rahdari*, *jamadari* or *farmaish* &c., be suffered to defraud or molest them, it being forbidden by the Emperor.'' [Ibid, App. viii and ix].
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This was the final settlement of the English in Bengal.