History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c84.s1.t2.6

v5.c84.s1.t2.6

The Arracanese, and subsequently their agents, the Portuguese pirates of Chatgaon, were a pest to the riverside districts of East Bengal; but this evil was removed early in Aurangzib's reign (1666) by Shaista Khan, and thereafter there was nothing to check Bengal's natural power of recuperation, except occasional calamities,* which were however purely local in their effect. This peace and prosperity, the gift of the Mughal empire, was fully utilised by the European merchants, especially the English and the Dutch, whose trade grew by leaps and bounds from the middle of the century onwards and whose factories and purchase-agencies stimulated production and wealth in the country.