"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٣] (١٧٨٢/١٥٦)

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13
ed in general terms by a Farman of the Mughal Emperor; and shortlj
afterwards, apparently in January 1613, an English trading Factory was
established at Surat in charge of Thomas Aid worth.
The local demand in India proving insufficient to relieve the Surat
Factory of an excessive quantity of broadcloth which had been ordered
from England, Aldworth was obliged to seek another market, and his
attention was directed by his enquiries to Bahrain and to Persia. His
principal informant appears to have been one R ichard Steel, a trader in
Persia, who had come to India in pursuit of a runaway debtor; but
Aldworth may have been influenced also by Sir Robert Sherley, who told
Kerridge, one of the Company's servants, that, " if the English did not
come to Persia, he would bring the Dutch." Accordingly, in 1615,
Steel himself and a Factor named John Crouther, having been furnished
with funds for their journey and with letters of introduction to Sir Robert
Sherley, left for Isfahan by land, vid Ajmir, partly to procure further
information in regard to Persian trade and partly to solicit a Farman
from the Shah a for the fair and peaceable entertainment of our men,
ships and goods in all such ports as they shall arrive at;" and it was
apparently intended that special arrangements should be requested for
trade at the port of Jashk. These two pioneers of English commerce
were successful in their mission; they obtained a Farman from Shah
Abbas, of which a copy reached Ajmir on the 10th of February 1616.
directing the governors of seaport towns in Persia to receive and assist
any English vessels that might present themselves; and they remained
in Persia, and continued to correspond with the Company, during a part
at least of the year of 1616.
While this preliminary mission was in progress, an important step of
a different kind was taken by the East India Company in London. Experi
ence had convinced them that their commercial interests in India would
be served hv the residence of a diplomatic representative of the King of
England at tie court of the Great Mughal; they accordingly suggested
that Sir Thmias Roe, a gentleman of eminent capacity with some
experience of "ravel and of courts, might be accredited by King James as
Ambassador :o the Mughal Emperor; and their request was at once
granted. Sir Thomas Roe, whose instructions precluded him from inter
ference in purely mercantile matters, arrived at Ajmir in December 1615;
and the copy of the Farman of Shah 'Abbas, mentioned above, together
with letters from Steel and Crouther which accompanied it, were opened
by him there^ as there was no Factor of the Company at hand.
The prestige and power of the Portuguese in the East, where—as
already explained—they represented Spain as well as their own country.
Mission of
Steel and
Crouther to
Persia, 1615-
16.
Embassy of
Sir Thomas
Roe to India,
1615-18.
Affairs of the
Portuguese