Page 37 - Anglo Portuguese Rivalry in The Gulf_Neat

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it that Botelho had returned to Goa, their Persian fleets Shah Safi, had commenced his reign well enough by
sailed in company for Gombrun at the beginning of
1 breaking up the Turkish siege of Baghdad. Still, the
1629, prepared to encounter the galleons in the Gulf. .
Ottoman pressure on the western frontier of Persia
Needless to say nothing materialised, and the allied was a constant menace, and. the fortune of war did
ships were back at Swally by the end of March.1 not always favour Persian arms. In any case negotia­
The year 1629 likewise passed without any important
tions were opened by the Khan of Shiras, and an
alteration in the position of the contending parties in
agreement was speedily arrived at, whereby the
: the Persian Gulf, and the annual Persia fleets of the Portuguese were to be allowed to trade at the port of
!
English and Dutch Companies came and went at the
1 ■ Kung on tfie same terms as the English at Gombrun.
end of the year without any molestation from the
This agreement provided for the establishment of an
Portuguese.* As a matter of fact, these latter were
agency (or “ factory ” in seventeenth century parlance)
now busy elsewhere, for the Rajah of Achin had
in the port, with a resident Factor who was empowered
besieged Malacca with one of the most powerful 1
to issue passes to native vessels, and to receive a moiety
expeditions ever sent against that battle-scarred
of ail Customs dues on behalf of the King of Portugal.
stronghold; and although the besieging fleet and
It was further agreed that Kung should remain open
army was annihilated by Nuno Alvarez Botelho’s i to trade and commerce, even though the two parties
relieving force in December, the absence of the
should recommence hostilities in the Gulf at a later
Portuguese commander on this expedition prevented
date—a somewhat curious stipulation, but one which
any effective aid being sent to Muscat from Goa, and
was in fact observed. Ruy Freyre further endeavoured
compelled Ruy Freyre to limit his operations to to secure exemption from attack by Dutch or English
| harassing Persian coastal shipping in the Gulf.
vessels, of all ships trading to Kung under protection
So successful was the effect of Ruy Frey re’s
of the Portuguese flag or passes; but in this, naturally
if destructive raids, that by this time the Persians were enough, he was unsuccessful.1 The question of
‘ thoroughly exhausted, and . early in 1630 they made
1
overtures for peace. The death of Shah Abbas at the xThe conditions under which Ruy Freyre established the factory at Kungr
i beginning of 1629 may have had something to do with are mentioned in Foster, English Factories, 1630-1633, p. 140, and Dagh-
Register of Batavia for 1630-1634, p. 40.. A very confused, rambling and
this weakening Persian attitude, although his successor, unreliable account is given in Chapters 47 and a8 of the Commentaries, in
which the foundation of the factory is placed before the fights of February,
1625, instead of five years later. Another Portuguese source, the Diario of
1 Jonah, Hart, Christopher, Expedition, Hopetoell, Eagle and James the Conde de Linhares, written at Goa in 1634, states that the truce was
(English), accompanied by. the four Dutch ships Zeepaert, Brouwer shaven, made for six months in the vear only, hostilities to be continued during the
Negapatam and Zeeburgh, with the returning Persian Ambassador, Musa Beg. other half. There is the following curious reference to this treaty, contained
At the end of December, 1628, the President and Council at Surat had in a contemporary translation of a letter from the Viceroy Dom Pedro de
reported that M The Portugall forces are incerten, neither do wee knowe Almeida, wntten to King Charles II in November, 1677, d propos ofAnglo-
where they lye.” Actually, Botelho was cruising in the galleon Conceifdo off
i! Goa and the ilhas Queimadas, to protect local shipping from possible attacks Portuguese boundary disputes near Bombay: “. . . in Persia since the loss
of Ormuz, we never have had peace with that King, but for the port of
hy the Dutch or English. He remained on this station from October, 1628, Congo, by an accord made forty years agoe by General Ruy Brother (ric) of
till mid-January 1629. (Dois Capitdes da India, p. 120-121.) Andrade, with promise to pay half duty to this custom house, and never to
i! give passport except for this only port.’* (Public Record Office, C.O. 77,
1 Charles, Discovery, Rformation and Jonas (English) and Tholen,
i: Brouwershaven, Buren, Bommel and JVeesp (Dutch). Vol. XIII, folio 278, reproduced in Khan, Journal of Indian History, Vol. I,
!'!! Part III, September, 1922, p. 548.)
1 if 112
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