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HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY. 47
whence they had retired to Lagundy, in the Straits of Snnda,
which had been taken possession of by Captain Swan, of the
Company's ship 'Charles,' who gave it the name of Prince
Charles' Island, though, owing to its nnhealthiness, they were
forced to abandon it, and returned to Bantam and Batavia. On
the Coromandel Coast the Company had factories at IMasulipa-
tam and Pulicat, which were, however, both abandoned ; and,
in 1628, they established themselves at Armagaum, and, in
1G40, Fort St. George was erected at Madrasapatam, now known
as Madras.
In consequence of the increasing importance of Surat, the Go-
vernment at Bantam was reduced to an agency dependent upon
the Presidency of the former city, which became the chief seat of
the Company's Government in India. The English had to
sustain at this time the commercial rivalry of the Dutch, who
outbid them at Surat, selling European goods cheaper than the
Company's agents, and, to conciliate their rivals, they engaged
to co-operate in a joint expedition against the Portuguese
possessions at Bombay—called by Pepys and other old writers,
Bombaim—and in the Red Sea. In the year 1627 the combined
lleet sailed from Surat for Mocha, but the Dutch Admiral,
Harman van Speult, a man of infamous character, died at that
port, when the expedition returned, the Dutch having lost their
largest ship, mounting forty-four guns. His successor, instead
of supporting the English against the Portuguese, refused them
his assistance in carrying into execution the orders of the Court,
who had directed the formation of an establishment at Bombay,
though the Dutch President proposed that, upon its reduction,
the island should be equally divided between the two nations,
and fortified, to make it independent of Native Powers. This
circumstance is of interest, as the first notice we have of the
Company's desire to obtain possession of Bombay, which, sub-
sequently, played so important a part in their history, and was,
for two centuries, the home of the Indian Navy. In 1628, the
President and Council at Surat granted a commission as com-
modore to Captain Swanley, who was ordered to proceed to the
Persian Gulf with a squadron of five ships, for the purpose of
endeavouring to revive and incnsase the trade with Persia,
and also of carrying on naval operations against the Por-
tuguese.
At this time the most amicable relations existed between the
English at Surat and the Mogul Government, for Bruce records
that Captain Swanley was ordered to take on board his ship,
Kherat Khan, who had been appointed by Shah Jehan, to
proceed as his ambassador to the King of Persia, and to treat
him, and the Mogul subjects in his suite, with attention and
respect. Captain Swanley was further ordered to seize on all
Portuguese vessels which he might meet on his voyage, and, in