History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c83.s7.5

v5.c83.s7.5

We have already seen the results of this policy of aggression in Bengal and Telingana from October 1686 to November 1689. On the West Coast, Sir John Child, in obedience to orders from Home, left Surat for Bombay on 25th April 1687, in order to be beyond the reach of the Mughals. The imperial governor of Surat disliked this retreat of the English to an independent position, as he thus lost the power of intimidating and fleecing the Company. Child's departure was justly taken to be a preparation for war, and the governor put troops round the English factory, with the effect that Benjamin Harris, the chief of the Surat Council, and Samuel Annesley, his second in office, could not go outside. This greatly hampered the Company's business.