Page 123 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

ENGLISH AND PORTUGUESE RIVALRY 123

with his ships for England within a week of the delivery
of the firman.
With the departure of the English ships the Portuguese
plucked up courage. In retaliation for the privileges con­
ceded to the English they seized a large Guzerat ship near
the mouth of the Tapti and carried it off to Goa. The
action, instead of intimidating the Mogul, aroused his
wrath. He instantly declared war on the Portuguese, and
followed up the declaration by seizing all subjects of the
Goa Government he could lay his hands on. Meanwhile,
Makarrab Khan was sent with a large force to besiege the
Portuguese settlement of Damaun on the Western India
coast south of Surat.
A splendid opportunity now offered for the English if
they had been in the position to avail themselves of it.
But for many months after Best’s departure the sole repre­
sentatives of the East India Company in India were a
handful of factors, with Thomas Aldworth as the chief
agent at Surat. Day after day during the season the
horizon was anxiously scanned for the familiar flag, but
no English ship appeared. As the season wore on without
the expected fleet the attitude of the Mogul authorities
changed. They treated the firman as of no binding force,
and without being actually hostile acted in such a way
as to sterilize completely the efforts of the Englishmen.
In spite of all Aldworth held tenaciously on to his posi­
tion and by so doing probably saved the situation. The
pied a terre which he defended and preserved, at all events,
was of inestimable value in the subsequent operations
which led directly up to the establishment of English
influence in India on a stable basis.
In the middle of October, 1614, the long and eagerly