Administrative System of the Marathas c21.s2.7

c21.s2.7

The Angrias and other Maratha naval leaders have often been charged with piracy for capturing and detaining vessels of friendly nations that did not sail with their *dastak* or permit. This however was not regarded as an act of piracy by the Marathas. They were not a little guided by Portuguese precedents in their naval affairs, and the Portuguese deemed it necessary to assert their sovereignty of the sea by compelling every vessel to seek and carry their *Cartas*. Not only merchants of friendly nation but friendly potentates like the Sultan of Bijapur and the King of Canara had to secure the previous permission of the Portuguese government before sending their ships on a voyage in the Indian Ocean. The merchants had to pay a fee, which varied according to the capacity of their ships, and to acknowledge the Portuguese right of search before they could obtain a Cartaz. In a letter addressed to the Siddi of Janjira on the 16th of December, 1715, the Portuguese Viceroy pompously asserted, "There is no prince in Asia who is not aware that the Most High and Powerful King of Portugal is the sovereign of the Indian seas and the same is acknowledged by the Great Moghul King and the Magnificent King of Persia inasmuch as their vessels take Cartazes and observe all the conditions mentioned therein."⁷