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 i. MA .T :4 BAR! 
 
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BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
BOMBAY IN THE 
 MAKING 
 
 BEING MAINLY A HISTORY OF 
 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF 
 JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE 
 WESTERN PRESIDENCY, 1 661-1726 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 SIR GEORGE SYDENHAM CLARKE 
 
 G.C.M.G., G.C.I.E., 
 GOVERNOR OF BOMBAY 
 
 BT 
 
 PHIROZE B. M. MALABARI 
 
 OF THE INNER TEMPLE 
 
 DEPUTY-REGISTRAR (APPELLATE SIDE) 
 
 HIGH COURT, BOMBAY. 
 
 T. FISHER UNWIN 
 
 LONDON : ADELPHI TERRACE 
 
 LEIPSIC: INSELSTRASSE 20 
 
 1910 
 
0.v-per>"fl*C/>^ 
 
 (All rights reserve,) 
 
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 TO 
 
 THE HON. THE CHIEF JUSTICE AND JUDGES 
 
 OP 
 
 THE HIGH COURT, BOMBAY, 
 
 WITH PERMISSION. 
 
 49S022 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 A SPECIAL fascination attaches to the story of Bombay, 
 which has been treated by many writers with varying 
 qualifications from varying points of view. The great Empires 
 of the world have generally been built up on the basis of 
 territorial acquisitions from which expansion directly resulted. 
 The fragile basis of British Dominion in India was the Factory, 
 which long served its purpose as a trading centre until inexor- 
 able external forces came into operation, and fierce rivalry with 
 France imposed upon the British people the alternative of a 
 forward policy, or acquiescence in French aggrandisement. 
 In the travesties of history which are too often retailed for the 
 misdirection of Indian minds, the dominating factors in the 
 establishment of British rule in India are commonly ignored. 
 Undoubtedly the European competition for trade, felt long 
 before the seventeenth century, was one of these factors ; but a 
 combination of great causes such as the rise of British Sea 
 Power and the disintegration of the Moghul Empire, each the 
 product of complex antecedent conditions, was required to bring 
 about a situation which has resulted in peaceful and orderly 
 progress throughout India. 
 
 Before the middle of the seventh century the followers of 
 Mahomed had conquered Syria, Persia, and Egypt, and were in 
 command of two great trade routes between India and the 
 West. The third route, from the Indus, along the Oxus to the 
 Caspian and thence to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, 
 became henceforth supremely important, and the fall of Con- 
 stantinople at the beginning of the thirteenth century may be 
 traced to the effort of the Venetians to monopolise the wealth 
 and power to be derived from the merchandise of India. The 
 discovery of the Cape route by Vasco da Gama at the end of the 
 fifteenth century not only brought the Portuguese to India and 
 
10 INTRODUCTION 
 
 later established them in a territorial capacity, but opened out 
 an all-sea trade route between West and East. Here was a 
 change fraught with vitally important results. If, as the years 
 passed on, the Portuguese could not hold their own at sea, their 
 hopes of becoming a great Power in the East were from this 
 time doomed. 
 
 For a century the Portuguese spread the network of their 
 trade and possessions across two oceans from Brazil to China ; 
 but their population and resources were alike inadequate to the 
 demands of colonisation and of territorial expansion on a large 
 scale, and to the development of the sea-power necessary to 
 retain the position of vantage which they were the first to secure. 
 Before the final downfall, Portuguese civilisation as introduced 
 into India had suffered eclipse, and in the latter half of the 
 sixteenth century the proceedings of the Inquisition had become 
 abhorrent not only to Indians but to public opinion in Europe. 
 Meanwhile other forces were let loose. The defeat of the 
 Armada in 1588 ended the menace of Spain, and the English 
 and the Dutch, left free to undertake maritime enterprise in 
 eastern waters, quickly came into conflict with the decaying 
 power of the Portuguese and subsequently entered upon a long 
 and bitter contest for naval supremacy. The gradual disappear- 
 ance of Holland from the roll of great Sea-Powers, and the entry 
 of France under Louis XIV. into the lists as the rival of Eng- 
 land for eastern dominion, were fraught with important issues 
 affecting the destinies of India. British supremacy, established 
 after the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, was again to be rudely 
 challenged in the long series of great wars which ended in 1814, 
 when for a time the fate of India hung in the balance. 
 
 Thus intimately, since the advent of the Portuguese, has the 
 history of India been bound up with that of the great forces 
 which convulsed the Western world, swaying from side to side, 
 but ultimately controlled by " the power of the sea " recognised 
 as a mighty agent in the affairs of nations by Thucydides twenty- 
 one centuries ago. 
 
 Bombay was not one of the many rich gifts of the sea to Eng- 
 land, although it must have passed from her hands if naval 
 supremacy had not been asserted at the periods of great national 
 crises. The finest harbour in the East became a possession of 
 the Crown on the marriage of Charles II. to Catherine of 
 
INTRODUCTION 11 
 
 Braganza, and was leased to the East India Company in 1669 
 for the modest rental of d610 per annum. Why this important 
 possession was selected by the Portuguese as part of the dowry 
 of their Princess is not clear ; but in 1662 the Viceroy of Goa 
 wrote to his King : "I see the best port your Majesty possesses 
 in India, with which that of Lisbon is not to be compared, 
 treated as of little value by the Portuguese themselves." If 
 the great importance of Bombay was not realised by its first 
 European owners, no clearer perception was vouchsafed to their 
 British successors for many years. As ships increased in ton- 
 nage and as the trade of India developed, Bombay inevitably 
 grew into a great maritime port, and the opening of the Suez 
 Canal made it at once the main gate of communication between 
 India and the Western world. 
 
 Bombay now has about one million inhabitants, and is the 
 centre of a great volume of valuable trade and of a most im- 
 portant mill industry. It is one of the best governed and 
 certainly the healthiest city in the East ; but this proud position 
 has been reached through many early struggles, some acute 
 vicissitudes, and much corruption and misgovernment. Mr. 
 Malabari's contribution to the story of Bombay covers the period 
 from the transfer to the Crown to 1726. Thus the early dififi- 
 culties with the Portuguese, the eventual severance from the 
 authority of Surat, the military mutiny under Captain Keigwin, 
 the Sidi invasion, and the depredations of the Angrias come 
 within the scope of Bombay in the Making. The times were 
 rough, and their roughness was reflected perhaps with exaggera- 
 tion in the early struggles of Bombay. The chapter entitled 
 " The Barbarity of the Age " shows the appalling severity of the 
 sentences meted out to offenders ; but, as Mr. Malabari admits, 
 the servants of the East India Company were probably more 
 humane than the contemporary dispensers of justice in other 
 countries, while the ancient criminal laws of India *' having 
 regard to the proverbially mild nature of the Hindus . . . strike 
 one as peculiarly atrocious." The " making of Bombay " during 
 the period under consideration was frequently hampered by the 
 appointment of the grossly unfit to high positions. The first 
 Governor of Bombay under the Crown was found guilty of grave 
 malpractices and was recalled after creating confusion in the 
 important question of land tenure not only by culpable neglect 
 
12 INTRODUCTION 
 
 to ascertain the rights of Government hut by granting fictitious 
 title deeds. 
 
 The personages who figured in the early administration of 
 Bombay do not form an attractive group ; but two notable 
 names emerge. George Oxenden, appointed Chief of the Fac- 
 tory at Surat in 1662, proved himself a gallant and resourceful 
 soldier when the town was threatened by the Marathas. The 
 duty of taking over Bombay on behalf of the Company fell to 
 him, and though he never seems to have resided there for any 
 length of time, his fine, upright character left an enduring mark 
 upon the early history of the city. Gerald Aungier, to whom 
 Mr. Malabari devotes a chapter, proved a worthy successor, who 
 till his death in 1677 laboured to bring order out of chaos and 
 to lay deep the foundations of British Justice. In Aungier's 
 prescient words Bombay was ** a city which by God's assist- 
 ance is intended to be built," and alike in the Convention 
 associated with his name and in his administrative acts 
 he showed rare clearness of vision and fearless integrity of 
 purpose. After his death decadence seems to have set in. A 
 population which had increased from 10,000 to 60,000 during 
 his period of office dwindled to 16,000 in the forty years 
 following, and during the last quarter of the seventeenth century 
 administrative chaos, leading to general lawlessness, prevailed. 
 The rising sun of Bombay suffered temporary eclipse. 
 
 In an interesting chapter on ** The Administration of 
 Justice " Mr. Malabari traces the rudiments of a judicial 
 system to Aungier, who divided the islands into two sections, 
 each with five unpaid justices, in order that, in the words of the 
 Government Resolutions, *' the inhabitants may have the 
 greater satisfaction in the execution of the laws, and that all 
 things may proceed the more regular." A salaried Judge 
 appeared in 1675, and after a series of vagaries was suspended 
 for wilful disobedience of orders. The Deputy- Governor and 
 Council constituted themselves a Court of Appeal, which was 
 doubtless as ignorant of law as the functionaries whose pro- 
 ceedings it revised. Under the provisions of the Royal Charter 
 of 1683, a Judge Advocate " learned in the Civil Law " was at 
 length sent out from England, arriving at the time when 
 Bombay was in the hands of the military mutineers headed 
 by Captain Keigwin. 
 
INTRODUCTION 13 
 
 ** Some Interesting Trials " serve to throw light upon the 
 administration of justice during the early years of British Rule 
 in Bombay, and incidentally afford glimpses of its social condi- 
 tions, which are supplemented by " Gleanings " from the 
 Minute Book of the earliest Court of Judicature. Unques- 
 tionably legal records may furnish valuable material to the 
 historian of morals and customs, and there are masses of 
 documents in the custody of the High Court of Bombay which 
 might well repay investigation before they have decayed beyond 
 the possibility of scrutiny. As Mr. Malabari points out, the 
 labour required would be immense ; but there is much force in 
 his plea that it should be undertaken before it is too late. The 
 chapter on "Landed Property" is interesting and important. 
 The progress of a great city depends largely on the handling of 
 the land problem in its early days. In the case of Bombay, 
 carelessness, or worse, has left an indelible mark, and the 
 citizens of to-day are heavily penalised by reason of the want of 
 foresight in the past. As the author justly remarks, " Landed 
 estate has been likened to an animal with its mouth always wide 
 open, and it was allowed to remain in that position till it 
 swallowed the greater portion of the most valuable property in 
 Bombay, the ownership of which was undoubtedly vested in the 
 East India Company. The result was that landholders as well 
 as tenants surreptitiously encroached upon property to which 
 they had no more right than the man in the moon." Town 
 planning is a comparatively modern ideal, though the city of 
 Washington is an early monument of what it can accomplish ; 
 but others besides Aungier must surely have been able to 
 foresee the great feature of Bombay and might have been 
 expected to carry on the work which he most wisely 
 attempted. 
 
 Nearly two centuries have passed since the end of the 
 period with which this volume deals, and Bombay has moved far 
 and fast. A noble city has arisen on the barren island ceded by 
 the Portuguese, and while there is still ample scope for progress 
 the British people may well feel proud of what has been accom- 
 plished. The maintenance of peace and order throughout India 
 has led to the creation of a vast trade of infinite value to the 
 people. The enrichment of Indians through the operation of 
 that trade is nowhere so conspicuous as in Bombay, where the 
 
14 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Parsis were the pioneers of Indian enterprises which are now 
 rivalled by those of Hindus and Mahomedans successfully 
 following in their footsteps. While the wealth of Bombay 
 tends more and more to flow to Indians of many classes, British 
 administration has left an indelible impress upon the great city, 
 although the guiding hand is now lightly felt. 
 
 Few traces now remain of the early days with which Mr. 
 Malabari deals, and man has laid a heavy hand upon the 
 natural beauties which many visitors have recorded. A thick 
 pall of smoke, the wasteful outpouring of numberless chimneys, 
 overhangs the island and obscures the splendid background of 
 the Western Ghats. Yet when the sunset paints the waters of 
 the harbour and tinges the sails of the old world craft that still 
 ply their trade unchanged since the time of the Angrias, or when 
 at night the necklace of lights embraces the noble sweep of Back 
 Bay under the stars, none can deny the fascinations of the great 
 Eastern Gate of India, of the city which, in Gerald Aungier's 
 words, was to be built " by God's assistance." 
 
 G. S. C. 
 
 Bombay, April, 1910. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 AN interesting account of the early history and growth of 
 the Calcutta High Court in the Calcutta Review, some 
 years ago, led the author to attempt a similar account of the 
 Bomhay High Court, as no such account has been written before. 
 His first idea was to write a brief essay on the subject and read 
 it before the then newly formed Bombay High Court Moot 
 Society. He mentioned this to Sir Lawrence Jenkins, the 
 late Chief Justice, who warmly approved of the idea. Thus 
 encouraged, the writer set to work, but he soon realised that the 
 task was beset with many difficulties. The initial difficulty he 
 felt was as regards the collection of requisite materials. He 
 was then doubtful of getting enough of them even for a brief 
 essay. But it soon became apparent that the materials were 
 more than ample, so copious indeed that he felt inclined to 
 expand the scope of his work and to write a series of articles on 
 the subject for East and West, As fresh materials came to 
 hand, however, the writer found it increasingly difficult to decide 
 as to what to retain and what to reject, until at last he made up 
 his mind to risk publishing an account of the history of the 
 Bombay High Court in its present book-form. At this stage 
 another difficulty presented itself. He felt that such an account, 
 if it ignored certain essential features of the establishment of 
 the British Empire in India, particularly in the Western 
 Presidency, would be not only uninteresting, but perhaps unin- 
 telligible. Then there were numerous landmarks in the legis- 
 lative history of this Presidency, which must of necessity find 
 place in a volume which professed to give a complete account of 
 the establishment and growth of the Bombay High Court. There 
 were besides hundreds of manuscript records lying in a state of 
 oblivion, which contained the history of the Mayor's Court, the 
 Recorder's Court, and the Supreme Court of Judicature in Bom- 
 
 15 
 
16 PREFACE 
 
 bay. It was impossible to ignore these altogether, equally so 
 to condense even the more important of them in one volume. 
 These reasons led to a further development of the original idea, 
 and the writer thought it best to deal with the whole subject in 
 four separate volumes, the first, namely the present, dealing 
 with the earliest period (1661-1726), the second with the 
 Mayor's Court (1726-1798), the third with the Recorder's 
 Court (1798-1826), the last bringing the account down to the 
 present day. This seems too ambitious an undertaking, and the 
 writer himself feels doubtful of his ability to carry it through. 
 But having gone so far, and having been encouraged by com- 
 petent friends, he feels emboldened to bring out the first volume, 
 taking his chance of publishing the subsequent ones as time 
 and opportunity permit. 
 
 It was the writer's intention to give a common title to the 
 whole series, namely, " A History of the High Court of Bom- 
 bay," each volume indicating the period it dealt with in the 
 main. But he soon found that such a title, particularly for the 
 first volume, would be a misnomer. For though it purports to 
 be mainly a history of the origin and growth of judicial 
 institutions in the Western Presidency prior to 1726, it also 
 deals with many episodes in the early history of this island-city, 
 which have rather a remote bearing on the subject proper. For 
 this reason the title of the present volume had to be changed. 
 The selection presented much difficulty, which was solved by Sir 
 Herbert Risley, who suggested the happy title the volume now 
 bears, "Bombay in the Making," the sub-title indicating the 
 primary object of the book. This title gives finality to the 
 volume which need not now be considered one of a series. 
 For the dream of a series of four volumes may never be 
 realised. 
 
 Being his first serious attempt of the sort, the writer has 
 ventured to bring out this book with the utmost diffidence. 
 Perhaps the reader will doubt the need of another volume giving, 
 more or less, an account of early Bombay, when so many 
 excellent books on the subject already exist. Hamilton, Fryer, 
 Anderson, and Bruce, of the older generation, and Campbell, 
 Da Cunha, Douglas, and Edwardes, of the present, have left 
 most interesting accounts of the rise and growth of this beauti- 
 ful city, and the present writer's indebtedness to these veterans 
 
PREFACE 16a 
 
 is acknowledged on almost every page of this volume. His 
 main object, however, was not to give an account of early- 
 Bombay, but to write a history of the origin and growth of 
 judicial institutions in the Western Presidency before the 
 establishment of the Mayor's Court. None of the above- 
 mentioned authors has dealt with this subject at any length ; 
 indeed, most of them have barely referred to it. It can there- 
 fore be said, without fear of contradiction, that until now no 
 work has existed describing in detail the various stages of 
 evolution through which the administration of justice in Bombay, 
 during the last two hundred years, has passed. It is to fill this 
 gap that the present volume has been published ; if it fulfils 
 that object, even in a small measure, it will not have been 
 written in vain. 
 
 At first sight the account will look inordinately long. It 
 could have been curtailed to an appreciable extent by omitting 
 from some of the chapters details which might perhaps be con- 
 sidered superfluous. For instance, the chapter headed " Some 
 Interesting Trials," as originally written, did not cover half the 
 number of pages it covers now. Most of the early writers have 
 referred to the trials of the Worshipful Lawrence Parker, Kama 
 Kamati, and Dalba Bhandari, but on a careful scrutiny of the 
 manuscript records containing the proceedings of these trials, 
 the writer found that many interesting details were left un- 
 noticed by them. These ancient records are now in such a 
 state of decay that, in the course of a few years, nothing will 
 remain of them but dust. The writer has, therefore, deemed 
 it advisable to give copious extracts from them even at the risk 
 of appearing prolix. Then there are the two chapters on 
 " Landed Tenures in Early Bombay " which, to the uninitiated, 
 may seem out of place in a book which deals primarily with the 
 origin and growth of judicial institutions. But land plays such 
 an important part in the making of a city, that to have omitted 
 them from the present account would have rendered it practically 
 incomplete. Indeed, some competent friends think that these 
 two chapters are, perhaps, the most valuable in the book. 
 
 There are other defects in the book of which the writer is not 
 unconscious. But much may be forgiven to an author who has, 
 for the first time, attempted a rather ambitious literary work in 
 a language not his own, and who has official and other duties 
 
 lA 
 
165 PREFACE 
 
 daily to attend to. His leisure was at times so scant that he 
 could not take up the MS. for months. The volume had, there- 
 fore, to he written by instalments, as it were, with the inevitable 
 result that it suffered from want of continuity of style. What- 
 ever its defects, however, the writer can honestly say that he has 
 spared no pains to make the account accurate and worthy of the 
 city whose name it bears. He has worked hard at it, devoting 
 almost the whole of four years' leisure to the book. At the same 
 time he has enjoyed writing it, for it has been a labour of love 
 to him. He does not regret for one moment the trouble and 
 cost it has entailed. 
 
 Though an attempt has been made in this book to give a 
 historical account of the origin and growth of the judicial 
 institutions of this city in the days that are no more, the author 
 by no means professes to be a historian. Bombay has had 
 many eminent historians, and all he has done is to follow them, 
 or rather to take from their pages what was useful to his 
 purpose, and to arrange the materials so collected in the order 
 which seemed to him best suited to such a publication. He has 
 tried, wherever possible, to introduce new and unpublished 
 matter, but the mine has been explored so thoroughly by abler 
 men before him that even the most diligent digging has dis- 
 closed few gems of real value. However, the writer hopes that 
 the pages describing the administration of justice under the 
 Portuguese in India will be found to contain something original 
 and specially interesting, and that the gleanings from an old 
 record, collected in the last chapter, will be found new by 
 most readers. 
 
 To the authors who have left the scenes of their labour the 
 present writer has already acknowledged his indebtedness ; he 
 is no less indebted to those who are happily living and who have 
 been ever ready to help and guide him. Many friends in 
 England and India have been good enough to glance at the MS., 
 offering valuable suggestions and evincing a sympathetic interest 
 in the undertaking, and but for encouragement from these, the 
 present volume would not have seen the light of day. If the 
 writer refrains from acknowledging his indebtedness to them 
 individually, it is not because he does not feel sufficiently grate- 
 ful to them, but because he fears that the list of his literary 
 creditors would be too long for such a modest volume, and also 
 
PREFACE 16c 
 
 because he feels that the creditors are too rich in literary fame 
 to care for formal acknowledgment from an unknown author. 
 It would be rank ingratitude, however, if the writer did not take 
 this opportunity of thanking his two English friends, Mr. H. D. 
 Kendall, I.C.S., Judicial Assistant to the Agent to the Governor, 
 Kathiawar, and Dr. Thomas Baty, D.C.L., LL.D., Barrister-at- 
 Law, for carefully revising the MS. and making valuable 
 suggestions for its improvement. He is particularly obliged to 
 Dr. Baty, for not only has he revised the MS. carefully, but he 
 has also furnished him with interesting and instructive notes on 
 certain obscure legal points occurring in this volume. There 
 is one more name which it is the writer's duty as well as privilege 
 . to mention, the name of His Excellency Sir George Clarke, who 
 has lent distinction to the volume by writing an introduction for 
 it. It is but fitting that His Excellency's name should be 
 associated with a book which describes the making of this 
 second city in the British Empire, for among the Makers of 
 Modern Bombay no Governor will have a higher claim to 
 recognition than Sir George Clarke. Those who read the 
 chapter on Gerald Aungier, one of the earliest and most 
 famous Governors of Bombay, will agree that in many respects 
 the present Governor resembles that great and good man. 
 
 This preface has already grown very lengthy — which is, 
 perhaps, in keeping with the volume. Before bringing it to a 
 close, however, the writer would like to make one thing clear. 
 There are most valuable records lying in the High Court which 
 could unfold many an interesting tale of bygone days, if they 
 were made to speak. But to invest them with the power of 
 speech is no light task. To show what this means, it may be 
 mentioned that several months were spent in scrutinising the 
 solitary record from which gleanings have been given in the last 
 chapter. And it is worth noting that this particular record was 
 the leanest of them all, most of the others being four times as 
 large. Think of the years of labour that would be required to 
 scrutinise the hundreds of records of the Mayor's Court, the 
 Recorder's Court, and the Supreme Court that are now lying 
 practically in a state of oblivion ! And besides the labour, there 
 is the question of cost, for research-work, even in the field of 
 literature, is rather expensive. The question arises whether it 
 is worth while incurring this heavy cost in order to bring to 
 
led PREFACE 
 
 light these records. An enthusiast would answer the question 
 in the affirmative. But putting enthusiasm aside, it seems 
 worth inquiring, from a practical point of view, if these records 
 would throw light on the laws and legal procedure of a bygone 
 age, as also on the customs and manners, on the actual life of 
 the people. It must be remembered that these are not mere 
 records of legal proceedings ; they, or at least the earlier among 
 them, cannot be very unlike the record that has been drawn 
 upon for the purpose of this volume. If this view is correct, it 
 becomes obvious that copious extracts from these records would 
 be well worth publishing, whatever the cost and the labour. 
 The question of cost might well be considered by the Govern- 
 ment and the High Court. And the sooner it is solved, the 
 better, for the records are fast crumbling to pieces, and, in the 
 course of a few years, they may be lost to us for ever. The 
 authorities probably take what care it is possible for them to 
 take, but the Kecord Room daily gets fuller, and the doctrine of 
 "the survival of the fittest" holds true even in the case of 
 records. Who knows but that some day a Government Resolu- 
 tion may sanction the destruction of this valuable raw material 
 to make room for present needs ? There is yet time to save these 
 literary relics from such a fate. 
 
 P. B. M. 
 High Court, Bombay, JunCy 1910. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTEB PAGE 
 
 I. A Eetrospeot . . . . . .17 
 
 II. At Surat ...... 59 
 
 III. The Acquisition of Bombay and its Cession to 
 
 THE Company . . . . .90 
 
 IV. Gerald Aungier ..... 115 
 
 V. The Administration of Justice in the Town and 
 
 Island of Bombay (1670-1726) . . .146 
 
 VI. The Decadence of Bombay and its Causes 
 
 (1677-1721) 183 
 
 VII. The Working of Judicial Institutions in Bombay 242 
 
 VIII. The Barbarity of the Age .... 265 
 
 IX. Some Interesting Trials . . . 289 
 
 X. Landed Property in Early Bombay . . 364 
 
 XI. Aungier's Convention and After . . 391 
 
 XII. Gleanings from an Old Eecord . . . 432 
 Index ...... 497 
 
 16« 
 
LIST OF REFERENCES 
 
 1. Anderson's " The English in Western India." 
 
 2. Auber's *' Analysis of the Constitution of the East India Company." 
 
 Both volumes. 
 
 3. "An Historical Account of the Settlement and Possession of 
 
 Bombay" (1781). Anonymous. 
 
 4. " Archivo de Kelacao de Goa." 
 
 6. Bruce's " Annals of the East India Company." 
 
 6. Birdwood and Foster's " The First Letter-Book of the East India 
 
 Company." 
 
 7. *' The Bombay Quarterly Eeview." Some old numbers. 
 
 8. The Bombay High Court Reports. Vols. IV. and V. 
 
 9. Cowell's " Construction of the Courts in India." 
 
 10. Campbell's "Bombay Gazetteer Materials." Vol. XXVI. In 
 
 three parts. 
 
 11. Da Cunha's *' Origin of Bombay." 
 
 12. Danvers' " Portuguese in India." Both volumes. 
 
 13. Douglas' " Bombay and Western India." Both volumes. 
 
 14. Edwardes' " Rise of Bombay." 
 
 15. Fryer's " Travels in the East Indies and Persia." 
 
 16. Forrest's " Selections from Records in the Bombay Secretariat." 
 
 17. Hamilton's " A New Account of the East Indies." Both volumes. 
 
 18. Hobson-Jobson. 
 
 19. nbert's " The Government of India." 
 
 20. Long's " Selections from the Records of the Bengal Government." 
 
 21. Le Messurier's " Report on Foras Lands in Bombay." Government 
 
 Selections, No. 3, N.S. 
 
 22. Morley's " Indian Digest." 
 
 23. Mill's " History of India." 
 
 24. Ovington's " A Voyage to Surat." 
 
 25. Perry's Oriental Cases. 
 
 26. Rajah Binaya Krishna Dey's " History and Growth of Calcutta." 
 
 27. Watt's " Law's Lumber Room." 
 
 28. Warden's " Report on Landed Tenures in Bombay." Government 
 
 Selections, No. 64, N.S. 
 
 29. An Old MS. Record of Judicial Proceedings (1726-1727). 
 And some others. 
 
 16g 
 
MAPLA POB OB AUNGIEE'S COUET HOUSE, 1677. 
 (Reproduced from Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi., part iii., p. 660.) 
 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS 
 
 THE title of a book usually indicates the subject therein dealt 
 with, while the sub-title indicates the writer's secondary 
 object. The present volume is, however, an exception to this 
 rule. Our primary object is indicated by the sub-title rather 
 than the title, namely, that it is an attempt to trace the origin 
 and growth of judicial institutions in the Western Presidency as 
 they existed at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the 
 eighteenth century. In view of the several excellent, though far 
 from exhaustive, books dealing with the early history of the 
 town and island of Bombay, it would be presumptuous on our 
 part to attempt another volume on the subject. On the other 
 hand, there is not a single book which describes, in any detail, 
 the various stages of evolution through which the administration 
 of justice in Bombay, during the last two hundred years, has 
 passed, or the several judicial institutions which were established 
 in it from time to time and which have contributed to build up 
 the great institution now known as "His Majesty's High Court 
 of Judicature at Bombay." But an attempt to trace the history 
 of the High Court from its foundation is beset with no small 
 difficulty. For the foundation was not laid in a particular year 
 or even in a particular decade. The growth of judicial institu- 
 tions in the country ran concurrently with the growth of the 
 British Empire in India. The history of the Indian Empire 
 is said to have commenced without a strip of territory. " A 
 warehouse," says Anderson, " was expanded into a province ; a 
 province into an Empire."* The growth of this Empire was so 
 gradual in the beginning as to be almost imperceptible. Equally 
 imperceptible was the growth of judicial institutions which came 
 into being and attained maturity in Western India with a develop- 
 ment proportionate to the needs of the time. The Custom 
 * The English m Western India, by Philip Anderson (1854). 
 
 16;^ 
 
l^l PRELIMINARY REMARKS 
 
 House of Bombay, where the "customers " first dispensed justice 
 in 1670, was expanded into Aungier's Fair Common House (now 
 known as "Mapla Por," or more correctly " Mapla Pol"), and 
 the latter into what was known for nearly a century as the 
 "Admiralty House" (the present Great Western Hotel), where 
 the Mayor's Court from 1726, the Recorder's Court from 1798, 
 and the Supreme Court from 1823 administered justice to the 
 town and island of Bombay and to the territories within its 
 jurisdiction. It was as lately as 1879 that the Bombay High 
 Court, constituted in 1862, was removed to the stately pile of 
 buildings which adorns the Esplanade to-day. 
 
 It is well known that the immediate predecessor of the Bombay 
 High Court, in its original jurisdiction, was the Supreme Court of 
 Judicature, established in 1823 on the abolition of the Recorder's 
 Court, while the old Sadar Diwani and Sadar Foujdari Adawlats 
 were merged into its appellate jurisdiction. A history of the 
 Recorder's Court, which came into being in 1798, would probably 
 present but little difficulty, for it is set forth in the two delightful 
 volumes of the Life of Sir James Mackintosh, the most eminent 
 Recorder of Bombay and one of the ablest judges this Presidency 
 has had. The records of this Court are still extant, and although 
 more than a century has elapsed since its abolition. Time seems 
 to have dealt with them tenderly. The Recorder's Court was 
 set up in place of the Mayor's Court, with certain improvements 
 to meet the demands which the state of society could then claim. 
 It is possible to write a coherent account even of this ancient 
 Court, for its records have been preserved to this day, though 
 many of them are crumbling to dust. The Mayor's Court 
 administered justice, or, to be strictly accurate, what passed as 
 justice at the time, for more than seventy years. The adminis- 
 tration of justice in Bombay in the eighteenth century was very 
 different from what it is in the twentieth. Mackintosh gives us a 
 glimpse into it when a Mayor and nine Aldermen sat as a Court 
 of Record to dispense justice to the inhabitants of the town and 
 island of Bombay and its immediate vicinity. Describing the 
 Court which preceded the one over which he himself presided 
 with such distinction, he writes; 
 
 ''Justice had previously been administered by the Mayor's Court — a 
 body consisting of a Mayor and Aldermen, chosen by the local Govern- 
 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS 16m 
 
 ment, generally from the civil servants of the establishment or the 
 leading merchants of the place ; men who, whatever might have been 
 their talents, could of course have had no legal education, and who could 
 possess little systematic acquaintance with the principles of law. . . . The 
 Judges, too, it may be supposed, were too much connected in trade, in 
 official business, or in private society, to be any check upon each other. 
 The Governor, who exercised the powers of the Government, had obvious 
 means of benefiting or injuring every one of them in his promotion or 
 his commercial interests. The attorneys practised also as counsel, but 
 had seldom had any training in a regular Court of Justice." * 
 
 The records of the Mayor's Court would unfold many an 
 interesting tale to the antiquary who cared to unearth them. 
 But he must walk with wary steps in the lumber-room and 
 exercise great care in deciphering the scores of volumes that lie 
 half-buried under the dust of nearly two centuries. For though 
 the records are, more or less, intact, the white ant has played 
 sad havoc with their contents, damp and neglect contributing 
 their quota to the work of destruction. In spite of this, however, 
 an attempt to write an account of the Mayor's Court ought not 
 to present any serious difficulty. The difficulty will arise only 
 when we go farther back and are confronted with a dearth of 
 materials regarding the origin and growth of judicial institutions 
 in Bombay at the end of the seventeenth century, when the 
 English had barely hoisted the Union Jack over the battlements 
 of the Fort of Bombay, a few years after the Marriage Treaty 
 between England and Portugal in 1661. It was in this memor- 
 able year that the Infanta of Portugal brought to King Charles II. 
 a rich dowry, including the port and island of Bombay. But 
 though a British possession from this date, it was only in 1669 
 that it was ceded by the Crown to the East India Company, 
 after a series of disputes between England and Portugal as 
 regards the boundaries of the newly- acquired territory. In this 
 connection, attention may be drawn to one important feature in 
 the history of Bombay, which distinguishes this Presidency from 
 the other Presidencies of India. The first settlement which the 
 East India Company established in this country was at Surat, 
 which could, at one time, boast of being the most important 
 factory in this country, holding sway even over Bombay and 
 other English settlements in India. Factories were in time 
 * Life of Sir James Mackintosh, i. p. 269. 
 
Un PRELIMINARY REMARKS 
 
 established at Calcutta and Madras. The natives in Bengal 
 were, for a long time, regarded as subjects of the Mogul, 
 though they were so but in name, and in Madras, in the words 
 of Sir Erskine Perry, an eminent judge who presided over the 
 Supreme Court about the middle of the last century, " a morning's 
 walk was sufficient to carry any native, who might desire to 
 implead his adversary, out of the precincts of the factory." On 
 the other hand, Bombay was never a factory, but a British 
 possession from the very first, and has remained so to this day. 
 Attempts were made to establish a factory here, but they all 
 failed. It was to this fact that the Municipal Corporation 
 alluded, with just pride, in an address to his Majesty the King- 
 Emperor on the occasion of his visit, as Heir-apparent, to this 
 city in November, 1877. "Bombay," said the Civic Fathers, 
 "may lay claim to the distinction of being a Royal City; for 
 this island first became an appanage of the Crown of England 
 through forming part of the dowry of Charles the Second's 
 Portuguese bride." And it was also to this significant fact that 
 Sir Erskine Perry made pointed reference in his learned judgment 
 in Perozhai v. Ardaseer Cursetji* where he had to decide, in 
 effect, as to who were British subjects in the town and island of 
 Bombay. 
 
 To write a history of the origin and growth of the early judicial 
 institutions in this Presidency without saying something as to 
 the origin of the island and its acquisition by the Crown would 
 be like describing the course of a mighty river without ascertaining 
 the sources from which it flows. Not only will it be necessary 
 to refer to the early history of the town and island of Bombay, 
 but in order to understand all the important events prior to the 
 cession of Bombay by the Crown to the East India Company, we 
 shall have to allude, even though briefly, to the formation and con- 
 stitution of this far-famed Company. The Company was practically 
 in its infancy when Catherine of Portugal brought Bombay with 
 her dower to her sovereign lord. The Charter by virtue of which 
 the Company was formed was granted by Queen Elizabeth in 
 1600. A certain vague legislative and judicial authority was 
 vested in the Company by this Charter, long before they possessed 
 any territory. It will, therefore, be necessary to refer to its 
 provisions bearing on this point. For, though it is not our 
 * Perry's Oriental Cases, p. 67. 
 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS 16o 
 
 purpose to write a history of legislation in the Western Presi- 
 dency, a history of judicial institutions cannot but, to some extent, 
 comprise a history of legislation as well. To separate the one 
 from the other would be to sever, as it were, the body from the 
 soul. Besides the Charter of 1600, we shall also have occasion 
 to refer to several other important charters, statutes, acts, and 
 other legislative enactments which will throw some light on 
 the history of the period dealt with in this volume. For 
 instance, when the Crown ceded the port and island of Bombay 
 to the East India Company in 1669, a Charter was granted 
 by Charles II. — a charter which Sir Erskine Perry has pro- 
 nounced as " the only solid basis for many of the most important 
 functions of government and of jurisdiction which have been 
 exercised not only in Bombay but in India generally."* Such 
 being the important character of this Charter, it will be necessary 
 to examine, in the proper place, its various provisions in some 
 detail. We shall also have to describe briefly the process by 
 which this imperial city was acquired by the Crown, in order to 
 understand the events that preceded its cession to the Company 
 and those that followed it. For without this knowledge it will 
 be difficult to comprehend some of the incongruous and peculiar 
 phases of the early history of Bombay. In our own days, when 
 the sphere of executive administration is so clearly marked oS 
 from that of purely judicial administration, and the demarcations 
 are guarded with so much jealousy, it seems incredible that the 
 Governor or the Deputy- Governor of Bombay, at tlie end of the 
 seventeenth and for the better part of the eighteenth century, 
 was Commander-in-Chief, Chief Justice, Port-Trust, Chamber of 
 Commerce, and Municipal Corporation all rolled into one ! f It 
 would also be difficult, without some knowledge of the circum- 
 stances and influences prevailing in those days, to account for 
 the fact that men in high authority were found guilty of mal- 
 practices, that even Governors were proceeded against for 
 
 • The Advocate-General v. Bichmond, Perry's Oriental Cases, p. 566. 
 
 t Bombay and Western India, by James Douglas, i. p. 61. 
 
 In this connection it is interesting to note that the centralisation of the 
 {)rincipal functions of government is not so rare as is popularly supposed. 
 For instance, the Governor of the Falkland Islands is to this day the Chief 
 Judge there. Until very lately, the Governor and Council of Hongkong were 
 the Appellate Court there, and up to 1855 the Governor and Councillors 
 constituted the Courts of the Straits Settlements. 
 
I6p PRELIMINARY REMARKS 
 
 corruption, and that the judges whose duty it was to suppress 
 crime were themselves found to be implicated in serious 
 offences. The loose morality of the age may be urged as an 
 excuse for such a discreditable state of affairs. The East India 
 Company began to trade during a reign when even the Lord 
 Chancellor of England was accessible to bribes, and a false 
 judgment could be purchased from "the most exquisitely 
 constructed intellect that has ever been bestowed on any of 
 the children of man."* Local circumstances will also explain 
 these ugly features of the early administration of Bombay better 
 than a dissertation on the corrupt practices which prevailed every- 
 where at the time. But before this explanation is furnished, 
 let us first take a brief retrospective survey of the early history 
 of the English in Western India. 
 
 * Macaulay's Essay on Lord Bacon. 
 
BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 A BETROSPECT 
 
 IT would be interesting to inquire into the origin and early 
 history of Bombay, but such an attempt would be beyond 
 the scope of our undertaking. Suffice it to note that the Hindu 
 period of sovereignty over Bombay is lost in obscurity. Bombay 
 did not of old consist of one island only, but formed one of a 
 group of seven islands described by Ptolemy as Heptanesia. 
 One may safely assert that in those days Bombay was too 
 obscure a place to have attracted the notice of the Hindu 
 sovereigns. They probably did not know its exact whereabouts 
 and did not care to. Even the Mahommedan rulers do not seem 
 to have felt any particular interest in it, and the Portuguese 
 noted the remarkable insularity of the place only after their 
 sovereign had made a gift of it to Charles II. Nor must it be 
 supposed that England was at all aware of the value of her new 
 possession. On the contrary, those who brought about the 
 Marriage Treaty were ignorant even of the geographical position 
 of Bombay. And when it was ceded to the Company the Court 
 of Directors were unwilling to exchange Surat for Bombay as 
 their premier factory in India. There was, however, one man 
 in the service of the Company who, with an almost prophetic 
 vision, foresaw its bright future. This was Gerald Aungier, 
 whose remarkable career will form the subject of a separate 
 chapter. Douglas says that without Aungier Bombay would 
 have been lost to the English nation, and what James Douglas 
 says of Bombay and the men who ** made " it, deserves considera- 
 
 2 IT 
 
18 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 tion. In 1676 Aungier spoke of Bombay as " the city which by 
 God's assistance is intended to be built" — and by God's assist- 
 ance he built it, or at least laid its foundation-stone. But the 
 development of Bombay was for a long time hampered by its 
 early obscurity and insignificance. Mackintosh compared Bom- 
 bay to a city of the dead, and Wellington wished to God he had 
 never had anything to do with it. Even at the present day one 
 sometimes hears the echoes of this dissatisfaction regarding 
 "the poor little island," as Pepys querulously spoke of it in his 
 Diary ; yet no one can deny the supreme importance, political 
 and commercial, which it has now attained, and no one doubts 
 that this imperial city will rise still higher in the future. 
 
 But let us go back to the early days. About the middle of the 
 fourteenth century the sovereignty of Bombay passed into the 
 hands of the Emperor of Delhi. Though this period is less 
 legendary than the one which immediately preceded it and 
 embraces more than two centuries, it has left no important 
 landmarks in history. The Mahommedan supremacy was never 
 very firmly established, and Mr. Edwardes surmises that it must 
 have been little more than theoretical and that the care of the 
 people and internal administration were practically in the hands 
 of tributary Hindu Rais or chieftains.* If, then, the Mahom- 
 medan rulers made no serious efforts to establish their sway over 
 this island, we may conclude that they must have shown even 
 greater indifference towards the administration of justice in it. 
 Not that under Moslem rule there was generally no system, how- 
 ever imperfect, whereby people were guaranteed some sort of peace 
 and order. As is recorded in the Ain-i-Akhari, which contains 
 a collection of the laws and regulations during the reign of the 
 Emperor Akbar, the old judicial system was thoroughly over- 
 hauled and a new one substituted to meet the requirements of 
 the times. Baber had no time to construct any sort of system, 
 for he was absorbed in settling religious differences and organis- 
 ing territorial conquests, and passed away like a whirlwind. 
 His successor, Humayoun, also, was allowed too little rest by 
 Shershah to attend to internal administration, and it was not 
 until Akbar had ascended the throne that a workable system 
 was eventually constructed. It may not be uninteresting or 
 out-of-place to give a brief outline of it here. In the early part 
 * The Rise of Bombay, p. 60. 
 
A RETROSPECT 19 
 
 of Akbar's reign the old system was followed, under which the 
 Shaikh-ul-Sadar* was regarded as the head of the judicial 
 administration. But when Abul Fazel and other learned and 
 liberal-minded men came to the Emperor's Court several impor- 
 tant changes were introduced. The system of dispensing justice 
 under the Mogals at that time was not unlike the present 
 judicial system of Persia. In every street and village there was 
 an officer known as the Meer Mahal f — that is to say, head of the 
 street, or village headman — who settled all petty disputes on the 
 spot and helped the Kotwal, his immediate superior, to maintain 
 peace and order. All the important civil suits went up to the 
 Kazi, who was specially delegated by the King for that purpose : 
 the Kazi tried the cause, and the Mufti, or Mir Abdul, as he was 
 otherwise known, passed orders therein. There were also the 
 Foujdars and the Sepahsalars,l who looked to the executive 
 side of judicial administration. In all cases, civil or criminal, 
 the aggrieved party had the right of appealing to the King him- 
 self, who sat daily in the Durbari' Am and personally heard and 
 decided all appeals. It was open to every one to state his own 
 cause to the Emperor. The dispensation of justice was extremely 
 summary. Bribery ruled both men and laws. There was no 
 check on the corruption or cupidity of the Kazis and the Muftis. 
 Devout Hindus were not seldom ordered to be beheaded on the 
 mere pretence of their having said something against the 
 Prophet. In fact, in religious matters the Shaikh-ul-Sadar 
 exercised higher authority than even the King, and it was with 
 great difficulty that Akbar succeeded in wresting spiritual powers 
 from his hands. Jehangir, though a careless monarch, followed 
 
 * The term Shaikh-ul-Sadar literally means " the chief priest " {Shaikh = 
 priest, and ul-Sadar = the chief). He was regarded as the head of all 
 Mussulmans, and his interpretations of the " Shra," or the divine law, were 
 supposed to be final. He could confer grants of lands, and was the head of 
 all the Kazis in the kingdom. 
 
 t The Meer Mahal {Meer = chief, and Mahal = street) was a sort of Bazar 
 Chowdhri, who settled all petty disputes. Though not a judicial officer in the 
 strict sense of the term, he wielded an authority which was something more 
 than merely quasi-judicial. 
 
 I Foujdars (meaning those who hold an army) and Sepahsalars (heads of 
 armies) were military rather than judicial officers. Their services were con- 
 stantly requisitioned for the collection of revenue, but they performed other 
 duties as well. And although they were supposed to look after the executive 
 side of judicial administration, they not seldom poached on the province 
 which was, strictly speaking, the Judge's. 
 
20 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 in his father's footsteps in dispensing impartial justice to his 
 people. But Aurangzeb, who was a rigid Moslem, decided 
 everything in strict conformity with Mahommedan law, accord- 
 ing to which there can be no courts of justice except those 
 established for the administration of the Shra, or the divine law. 
 Both Akbar and Jehangir administered what is known as 
 customary law, though it was open to the JJlema, or the clergy, 
 to decide ecclesiastical matters according to divine law. But if 
 there was some show of justice at the seat of government, no 
 system of judicial administration worth the name could have 
 been established in Bombay and generally in the Western 
 Presidency, where Moslem sovereignty was practically non- 
 existent at the time. It is true that we hear of a Kazi at 
 Thana, the headquarters of their kingdom in the fourteenth 
 century, to look after the civil affairs of the place. "Whether 
 there was a Kotwal and a Foujdar as well to administer criminal 
 justice, there are no means of ascertaining. Even if there were, 
 they could hardly have been kept busy. The administration of 
 justice under the Moguls in those days must have been extremely 
 lax. They were then too much occupied with territorial 
 aggrandisement to think of internal administration. They 
 could not attempt the consolidation of their dominion before 
 acquiring a sure footing on it. It was the Malik and not the 
 Kazi who reigned supreme. There is evidence to show that the 
 fountain of justice under the Moslem rule was far from being pure. 
 Hamilton, who has written an interesting account of the East 
 Indies, but who is not said to be absolutely reliable on all points, 
 seems to be right here. *' The Mahometans," he observes, 
 "have the law in their hands and distribute justice best to 
 those that pay best for it. The judge's fees are 25 per cent, 
 on all sums that he pronounces due to the party whose plea is 
 best supported with bribes or interest, for the justice of a cause 
 seldom prevails." * In this connection it is interesting to note, 
 incredible as it may seem, that the suitors at the Mayor's 
 Court, established by the Crown in 1726, were charged with 
 commission on the decision of their suits and that such com- 
 mission was actually appropriated by the members of the Court. 
 More incredible still is the fact that when the immorality, or 
 
 * A New Account of the East Ifidies, by Captain Alexander Hamilton, 
 i. p. 163. 
 
A RETROSPECT 21 
 
 rather the illegality, of the practice was pointed out to them, 
 they rose in open revolt ! 
 
 Let us now glance at the period of Portuguese sovereignty 
 over Bombay and its neighbourhood. It was, as is well known, 
 Yasco de Gama who, by doubling the Cape of Good Hope in 
 1497, opened the way to the East Indies. Portugal was then a 
 mighty empire, and its citizens were actuated by the spirit of 
 enterprise which was abroad in Europe at the time. By their 
 perseverance and skill they soon contrived to monopolise the 
 trade to the East Indies, and for a time succeeded in keeping 
 out the other European nations which had followed their lead. 
 At the beginning of the seventeenth century the Portuguese 
 had, among their other possessions in the East Indies, the fort 
 of Diu in Gujarat, a fortified factory at Daman and another at 
 Dabul, the town and castle of Chaul, the city of Bassein, the 
 island of North Salsette and the town of Thana. We hear of 
 them in "Western India early in the sixteenth century, but their 
 possession of Bombay may be said to date from the cession of the 
 island in 1534 by Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat. By the Treaty 
 of Bassein of that year, not only the island of Bombay but the 
 city of Bassein with its dependencies, Thana, Bandora and the 
 island of Mahim, became Portuguese territory.* Bombay 
 was then composed of seven villages, subordinate to two caqabes 
 or chief stations, at which customs duty was levied. These 
 villages were Mahim, Parel, Varella (Vadala) and Syva (Sion) 
 under the ca9abe of Mahim, and Mazagaon, Bombaim and 
 Varel (Worli), under the ca9abe of Bombaim. t Most of these 
 villages were leased at that time. Mr. Edwardes surmises, | 
 and with good reason, that the lack of pecuniary resources, due 
 to the difficulties which the Portuguese had to contend against, 
 may have necessitated the grant of lands as rewards for 
 meritorious services. In 1548 we find that the Ilha da Boa 
 Vida (" the Island of the Good Life "), as the Portuguese styled 
 Bombay, was made a gift of by the King of Portugal to Garcia 
 da Orta, an eminent Portuguese physician of the period, on 
 payment of a quit-rent. The famous Manor of Mazagaon was 
 actually created by a Royal Charter and Letters Patent. Maza- 
 gaon was at that time a district by itself, and not subordinate 
 
 * Edwardes' Rise of Bombay, p. 68. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 72. + Ibid. p. 69. 
 
22 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 to Bombay. Indeed, Bombay was then considered less impor- 
 tant even than the island of Mahim. It had not then attained 
 the distinction of a cagabe : it denoted merely the island whereon 
 once stood the shrine of the old Hindu goddess Mumbadevi * 
 (from which many derive the word *'Mumbai" which was 
 eventually anglicised into "Bombay").! It only remains to 
 observe here that under the Portuguese the juridical constitution 
 of the island was feudal, and the lord could claim the military 
 services of the tenants. In short, the tenure of land at the 
 time reflected the spirit of the age. 
 
 A survey of the administration of justice under the Portuguese 
 would be both interesting and instructive for our purpose, but 
 there is a strange dearth of materials. Dr. Gerson da Cunha 
 devotes nearly two hundred pages of his Origin of Bombay — a 
 book which displays much research and learning — to a detailed 
 description of the Portuguese period of the history of Bombay, 
 but there is hardly any reference in it which throws the requisite 
 light on their administration of justice. The learned doctor 
 refers at some length to the Portuguese tenure of land in Bombay 
 — a subject which will be considered in its proper place in this 
 volume — but he says little or nothing as to the way in which 
 his adventurous countrymen administered civil and criminal 
 justice in the Ilha da Boa Vida. The necessity for such a 
 survey, however, is minimised by the fact that, according to 
 Perry, C.J., there is not the least vestige of Portuguese law or 
 Portuguese courts in Bombay at any time after the cession of 
 the port and island by the King of Portugal to Charles II. t 
 " The broad fact remains," says he, " that the English law was 
 introduced into Bombay at the date of the cession, and has 
 
 * Edwardes' Rise of Bombay, p. 92. 
 
 t The etymological derivation of *' Bombay " from '' Boon-Bay," good 
 harbour, about which Fryer seems so positive, has been generally discredited. 
 Sir George Birdwood also discredits the derivation of the place-name 
 " Bombay " from a supposed Portuguese form " Bom-Bahia," which he cha- 
 racterises as " bad grammar and altogether unhistorical." Writing to the 
 Times on the subject recently, Sir George observes: " Bombay, in Mahratti, 
 Mumbai, that is, * Sister Mum,' takes its name from the primitive tutelary 
 of the island, Mumba Devi, * the Goddess Sister Mum,' whose temple 
 formerly stood on the Esplanade, but was transferred in the eighteenth 
 century to the native town. The name ' Bombay ' therefore means ' the 
 Town and Island of Our Lady Mumbai.' " 
 
 I The Advocate-Oeneral v. Richmond, Perry's Oriental Cases, 673. 
 
A RETROSPECT 23 
 
 since prevailed." This is fully borne out by the remarkable 
 distinction between the stipulations contained in the Marriage 
 Treaty of 1661 as to Tangier and those as to Bombay, to which 
 attention was drawn by Sir Michael Westropp in his most 
 elaborate and learned judgment in Naoroji Byramji v. Rogers * 
 By the terms of this treaty both Tangier and Bombay were 
 ceded to Charles 11., but whereas, in the case of the former, the 
 then existing laws and customs of the place were reserved to it 
 by a distinct stipulation, there was no such reservation in favour 
 of the laws and customs of the inhabitants at large, or Portuguese 
 inhabitants in particular, of Bombay.! But were it otherwise, 
 it seems doubtful if the English would have inherited any code 
 of laws and customs from the Portuguese. It is true that the 
 period of their sovereignty over Bombay extended over nearly 
 a century and a quarter (from 1534 to 1661), but they could 
 not have enjoyed much peace during that time. Ever since 
 they forced Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat to sue for peace, the 
 Portuguese remained embroiled with the Mahomedans. The 
 Dutch lost no time in following them to the East Indies, and 
 thus added to their difficulties. The English, too, must have 
 caused them much anxiety and annoyance from about the 
 middle of the seventeenth century. So that the Portuguese 
 had but little leisure for the consolidation of their power in 
 India, and even less inducement properly to look after the 
 internal administration of the territories under their sway. 
 We do hear of the Judge Ordinary, Manoel da Silva, the 
 attorney Antonio da Costa Raposo, the Mayor of the city, 
 Vicente Rebello d'Almeida, and the Factor and Magistrate, 
 Amaro de Azavedo, who, with others, witnessed, on behalf of 
 the Crown of Portugal, to the act of the possession and 
 delivery of the island of Bombay to the English about 1665.1 
 The services of one Semao Serrao were at this time engaged by 
 Sir George Oxenden to settle certain land disputes between the 
 Portuguese and the English, probably because he was well read 
 
 * Bombay High Court Reports, iv. p. 1. 
 
 t Cf. the absolute supersession of Spanish law in Jamaica (and, after a 
 melancholy period of utter confusion, in Trinidad) and that of French law in 
 St. Vincent. Dutch law has been more fortunate in British colonies. Very 
 few cases of an amalgamation exist. Either the old law is utterly abolished 
 or (as in St. Lucia and Quebec) English law gains no footing whatever. 
 
 I Da Cunha's Origin of Bombay ^ p. 261. 
 
24 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 in the civil and imperial laws. There is, however, one little 
 incident which throws a lurid light on the administration of 
 criminal justice under the Portuguese. We hear of a man 
 named Antonio de Sa, son of a priest and a nun from the city 
 of Porto, who was charged with two homicides in Bassein, but, 
 as the Magistrate would take no notice of his crime, he went 
 about unmolested.* We actually hear of the Bela9ao, or the 
 Supreme Court of Judicature, in Bassein about the middle of 
 the sixteenth century, t The Portuguese must have established 
 a Court of Judicature in Chaul also. Da Cunha testifies to 
 its existence in his History of Bassein and Chaul in the follow- 
 ing words : 
 
 " A little in front of these ruins (of the Church of the Augustins) are 
 the remains of the court-house of Chaul. It must have been a large 
 building, and its Ouvidor, or judge, was elected by the people of Chaul 
 — a privilege which was conceded to them after the fashion of that 
 enjoyed by the inhabitants of Goa in 1697. The duties and rights of 
 this obsolete order of judicial functionary are graphically described in 
 the Instituto Vasco da Gama (vol. iii. p. 162)." 
 
 But the Bela9ao at Bassein must have been a much more 
 imposing structure, and certainly a far more important sanctuary 
 of justice, than the Court in Chaul, for during more than two 
 hundred years that Bassein remained in the possession of the 
 Portuguese, it gradually rose to a state of grandeur and opulence 
 that earned for it the appellation of *' a Corte do Norte," or the 
 chief city of the north. It will not be out of place to mention 
 here some of the principal officers upon whom devolved the 
 administration of justice in Bassein and Chaul. " Next to the 
 Factor," says Da Cunha in the book referred to above, " came 
 the Ouvidor or Judge, whose salary was 100,000 reis a year.:^ 
 Then there was the * Meirinho,' a police officer, whose business 
 it was to apprehend criminals, his salary also being 100,000 reis. 
 Then followed * Alcaide do Mar,' or sea-bailiff. Then there 
 was the King's Solicitor and the * Provedor da Defunctos ' or 
 
 * Origin of Bombay, p. 94. 
 
 t It is said that the ruins of a Court of .Justice can still be traced in the 
 picturesque fort at Bassein, which was built by the Portuguese in 1532. 
 
 X One thousand Portuguese reis are equivalent to a little more than two 
 rupees. 
 
A RETROSPECT 25 
 
 administrator of intestates."* Garcia de Orta, the famous 
 physician mentioned above, refers to this Rela9ao in a letter he 
 wrote from Bassein to King D. Joao III., dated December 24, 
 1648. 
 
 " ' His remarks,' says Da Cunha, ' are pregnant with useful hints, 
 which give an insight into the manners and customs of the Society of 
 that time. He believed that since the establishment of this Court, 
 there had been more processes in law, and that wherever there were 
 such law-courts and lawyers, there were always more law-suits and 
 more strife. He advised the substitution of the courts by mesas and mor 
 algada, that is, boards of arbitrators or courts of jurisdiction under 
 civil magistrates.' " f 
 
 Garcia da Orta's fear of the increase of law-suits and strife 
 with the establishment of law-courts and the advent of lawyers 
 is well borne out by the experience of three centuries ! 
 
 The paucity of records illustrative of the history of judicial 
 administration during the Portuguese sovereignty of Bombay 
 does not necessarily reflect any indifference shown towards 
 perhaps the most important department of government by this 
 once powerful European nation in the East. That there must 
 have been records kept in the Rela9ao both at Goa and Bassein 
 seems certain. Even at the present day the archives of the 
 High Court of Goa must be full of interesting documents un- 
 folding the history of the rise and fall of the Portuguese empire 
 in the East Indies. Some of them have been collected and 
 published, but there are many more which have seen no other 
 light, for years past, than the dim light of the record-room. 
 Possibly many of the records were carried away to Portugal, and 
 are preserved to this day as precious heirlooms of an historic 
 past ; more probably a large number of them must have been 
 destroyed, either wantonly by those who brought about the 
 decline, and ultimate decay, of Portuguese sovereignty in India, 
 or by still more destructive agents — the moth and the white ant. 
 
 * History of Bassein and Chaul, p. 221. Da Cunha also adds, quoting 
 Gemelli Careri : " The Government is in a Captain, as they call him, or 
 governor, and the administration of justice in a Vedor and the Disembar- 
 gador, who is a gown-man (probably a doctor of laws), and Judge of Appeals 
 from all the Vedors of fthe northern coast, along which in every city there 
 are factors and treasurers for the revenue of the Crown of Portugal." 
 
 t Origin of Bombay, p. 111. 
 
26 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 No wonder, then, that even those books which deal exhaustively 
 with the period during which the Portuguese reigned supreme in 
 India have little to say about their judicial administration. One 
 of them, the most recent, we believe, speaks of the time when the 
 island of Bombay was leased to Garcia da Orta, the eminent 
 Portuguese physician and scholar. Its author, Count de Ficalho, 
 throws some light on the administration of justice at that time, 
 and as his account appears to combine originality with accuracy, 
 we shall take the liberty of gleaning a few interesting facts 
 from it.* 
 
 It seems that, in the sixteenth century, the system of judicial 
 administration under the Portuguese was very simple, it being 
 entrusted to a General-Justiciary, who was assisted by a few 
 subordinate officials. Who these officials were, and what were 
 their duties, it is difficult to say. The Ouvidor seems to have 
 been one of them. Ouvidores were the magistrates of the 
 districts of Goa, who had the power to entertain and dispose of 
 all cases, civil as well as criminal. They held, virtually, the 
 same position in India as did the Corregedores and the Pro- 
 vedores in Portugal. Appeals from the decisions of the Ouvi- 
 dores, in all cases where an appeal lay, were, before the estab- 
 lishment of the High Court of Goa, heard by a Chief Judge, 
 called the Ouvidor- Geral. Judicial officers of the higher grade, 
 such as the Judges of the High Court or of the Privy Council, 
 were styled Desemharg adores. There were also the Juizes 
 Ordinarios {i.e., ordinary or common judges of the people), who 
 were generally appointed for the term of one year. They were 
 the subdivisional judges of a district, but subordinate to the 
 Ouvidores, who were empowered to hear all appeals from their 
 decisions, and who were generally appointed from the class of 
 men who had made law their special study, though exceptions 
 were made to this rule by an order issued by the King of 
 Portugal in 1628. This order is included among the documents 
 
 * A Portuguese weekly published at Goa, called A India Portttgtiesa, re- 
 cently gave passages from this interesting book, under the heading " Garcia 
 da Orta, e Seu Tempo, pelo Condede Ficalho." Chapter VII., which deals 
 with Goa, gives a brief survey of the administration of justice under the 
 Portuguese, and was published in its issue of September 14, 1905. I have 
 been able to gather some materials from it, with the help of the Portuguese 
 translator and interpreter of the High Court, Mr. A. X. D'Souza, who has 
 kindly translated this portion for me. 
 
A RETROSPECT 27 
 
 collected by M. Garcia, a Judge of the High Court of Goa, and 
 published in two volumes in 1872. The order may be roughly 
 translated as follows : 
 
 " To Dom Francisco Mascarenhas, Viceroy of India, Friend. I, the 
 King, send you greetings. I recommend that when you have to fill up 
 the posts of ' Ouvidores ' of the Forts of this State, and which used to 
 be filled up by lawyers and in accordance with my ordinances, passed 
 [competent] lawyers may be appointed to the same, they being preferred 
 to others, and if there be no lawyers available, then persons of age, fit to 
 administer justice, should be appointed. They shall fill these posts for 
 three years, and so also shall the Captains act for three years, even 
 though they are appointed for life. Written at Lisbon this the 5th day 
 of April, 1628." * 
 
 A system which combined simplicity with efficiency worked 
 well so long as the Portuguese held limited sway in India ; but 
 when they overthrew Mahommedan supremacy and established 
 themselves firmly (at least on the western coast), the necessity 
 for the introduction of an improved system of judicial administra- 
 tion became apparent. A Supreme Court of Judicature was 
 established at Goa, several new posts were created and men of 
 law and learning were imported from Portugal. But paradoxical 
 as it may seem, this improved system was found to give less 
 satisfaction to the people than the one it replaced. It lacked 
 simplicity and despatch, and the introduction of Portuguese laws 
 and intricate rules of procedure made it singularly ill-suited to 
 the requirements of the native population. The semi-barbarous 
 people who came under the Portuguese sway required justice 
 which combined promptitude with strict impartiality. The 
 European processes of law, introduced into a country ignorant 
 of legal formalities, were beyond the comprehension of the subject 
 races, and the venality of those who executed them formed a 
 powerful incentive to corruption in the country. Such, at least, 
 seems to be the opinion of those who were in India when 
 Portuguese supremacy was at its height in the East. For 
 instance, a Jesuit priest, in his Oriente Conquistado, says : 
 
 " The judicial system of our courts and the ordinary procedure of law, 
 devised to govern Europeans, a people possessing more love for truth, 
 a greater sense of shame and more honest in their dealings, are not useful 
 
 * Archivo da Relacao de Goa (1601-1640), ISlo. 503. 
 
28 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 in India except to foment injustice and to drain the pockets of the 
 litigants. . . Our laws make the Hindus all the more litigious and 
 deceitful than they naturally are." 
 
 We quote this testimony only to show that the establishment 
 of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Goa was premature. The 
 verdict of this Jesuit writer is supported by some of his con- 
 temporaries who are equally outspoken in their condemnation of 
 the so-called improved system of judicial administration. Simao 
 Botelho, a man who commanded influence both with Government 
 and the public, wrote to the King in 1547 - 
 
 "About the Supreme Court established by your Highness in these 
 parts, the general complaint is that the legal business is transacted with 
 less despatch than before." 
 
 Another eminent citizen, D. Joao de Castro, was even more 
 emphatic : 
 
 " The Supreme Court of India," he wrote about the same time, " is the 
 most unnecessary thing that can possibly be, and in my opinion very 
 prejudicial to this country and still more to your Highness' service, for 
 these men of law who come here as Justices enter upon their duties in 
 such a state of starvation and so burning with avarice and desire for 
 amassing wealth, that they cherish no other purpose." 
 
 De Castro's mean opinion of the men of law is borne out by 
 independent testimony. The men who were sent by his Majesty 
 of Portugal at that time to carry on the administration of justice 
 in his Eastern possessions must have come out in the dual 
 character of lawyers and adventurers — more, perhaps, in the 
 character of adventurers than lawyers. Even at the commence- 
 ment of the sixteenth century the inhabitants of Goa bitterly 
 complained of there being too many advocates, solicitors, and 
 agents, who, they said, " rejoice in law-suits which provide them 
 the means wherewith to satisfy their gluttony [avarice]." De 
 Castro had openly to condemn the conduct of a judge, by name 
 Hieronymo Kodrigues, who, he said, "is so wanton, so bold, 
 and so shameless, that I am astonished he was not known as 
 such there [in Portugal]." It should, however, be added, in 
 fairness to these men of law, that they had often to perform 
 
A RETROSPECT 29 
 
 their duties in the teeth of bitter opposition and under circum- 
 stances which, in a way, excited their cupidity and partiality. 
 The hidalgos or the grandees in India could not divest them- 
 selves of the notion, long-cherished by their forefathers in 
 Portugal, that they could hang a king's officer who dared enter 
 their demesnes and manors without their express permission, 
 even though he did so only in the performance of his judicial 
 duty. They refused to submit themselves to the restraints pre- 
 scribed by law, and, in consequence, often came into conflict 
 with the authorities. There is at least one typical instance to 
 illustrate what we have stated above. It seems that one Antonio 
 de Macedo, who was the General-Justiciary of Goa at the time, 
 went to arrest a criminal who had taken refuge in the house 
 of an influential Portuguese gentleman, by name Diogo de 
 Silveira. When the latter returned from Mass, he became 
 quite furious, as his servants had not ofi'ered any resistance to 
 the Judge, and walked about the streets clamouring that they 
 ought to have " plucked the beard of that brat of a Jew whom 
 his Majesty had sent out to India as General- Justiciary ! " 
 Strange to say, even the then Governor of Goa, Nuno da Cunha, 
 is said to have openly sided with Diogo de Silveira ! 
 
 This is all the information that we have been able to 
 gather from the scanty materials at our disposal. It gives 
 one but a faint idea of the state of judicial organisation under 
 the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, not in the town and 
 island of Bombay, but in Bassein and Goa. For these were 
 the two principal cities in which the power and prestige of the 
 Portuguese in Western India were centred. As has been 
 observed elsewhere, Bombay, now the second city in the 
 British Empire, was then considered a very insignificant little 
 place, hardly known to the adventurers from the West. For 
 long it remained in the possession of a wealthy Portuguese 
 landlord, and continued to be under the jurisdiction of Bassein 
 till the arrival of the English. On the other hand, Goa and 
 Bassein had each a Rela9ao to supervise the judicial adminis- 
 tration of the districts subordinate to them. What the consti- 
 tution of these Courts was, and in what manner justice was 
 dispensed to those who sought relief from them, it is well-nigh 
 impossible to say. Certain rules and orders, imported from 
 Portugal with the necessary amendments to suit the require- 
 
30 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 ments of an Oriental country, were laid down for the guidance 
 of judges and other officers of the court. Some of these rules, 
 with other interesting documents relating to the administration 
 of Goa, have heen collected and published by M. Jose Ignacio 
 de Garcia, in the two volumes referred to above, and those 
 whose accomplishments include a knowledge of the Portuguese 
 language, and who are curious enough to know more of the 
 subject, may profitably turn to the pages of the Archivo da 
 Relagao de Goa. More pertinent to our purpose, however, 
 are a set of rules framed in 1586 for the guidance of the 
 Ouvidores of the Portuguese Forts in India. These rules seem 
 to have been embodied, with many others, in what is known 
 as the **Red Book of the High Court of Goa," still preserved 
 in the Eela9ao. Thanks to the courtesy of Dr. Alberto Osario 
 de Castro,* who was but lately the Procurer-General of the Court 
 of Appeal of Nova Goa, we have been able to get a long 
 extract from this book. A literal translation! of these rules, 
 which define the duties, powers and privileges of the learned 
 Ouvidores of the various Portuguese Forts in the country, is 
 given below. It is worth noting that, as stated in this 
 order, Bassein was included among the Forts in which these 
 rules were to be enforced, and as Bombay was then subordinate 
 to Bassein, the rules must have been applicable to the 
 Ouvidores of Bombay — if there were any such officers at the 
 time. The extract from the ** Red Book " runs as follows : 
 
 *' Rules for the learned Ouvidores of the Forts of India. 
 
 " Philip, by the grace of God, King of Portugal and of the Algarves on 
 the hither side of and beyond the sea in Africa, and Lord of Guinea, &c. 
 I hereby make it known to the Viceroy that now is and may hereafter 
 be, of the parts of India, that whereas there is an obligation imposed 
 upon me to have justice administered to my subjects, and whereas it is 
 very important for the good administration of justice that it should be 
 administered by men of learning and (good) conscience, I have com- 
 manded that trustworthy Ouvidores, selected by the Board of the 
 
 * I am obliged to Dr. Alberto Osario de Castro, not only for this interesting 
 extract, but for other useful information regarding the state of judicial 
 administration in Western India under the Portuguese. The learned doctor 
 is a great-grandson of the second Ouvidor-Geral of Goa. 
 
 t My acknowledgments are again due to Mr. D'Souza for translating these 
 
A RETROSPECT 31 
 
 Desembargadores* of my Privy Council be sent to some of the Forts of 
 Indiaf which are mentioned in my Provisions, and that they shall 
 observe the following rules : 
 
 " I. The said Ouvidores shall, within the local limits of their jurisdic- 
 tion, take cognizance of and inquire into all cases, both civil and 
 criminal, and shall, sitting alone, at the conclusion of civil cases heard in 
 their respective courts, pronounce judgments, admitting appeals to the 
 Eela9ao in cases which shall be beyond their jurisdiction; and the 
 appeals which are by virtue of my Ordinances admitted against their 
 interlocutory judgments shall be preferred to the High Court instead of 
 to the Ouvidor-Geral, as was hitherto done. 
 
 " II. And the said Ouvidores shall, sitting alone, conduct the proceed- 
 ings in criminal cases, and as soon as such proceedings shall have been 
 concluded they shall inform the Commanders (of the Fort) of the same, 
 and appoint a day and hour to meet in the house of the municipality of 
 the town in order to pass a sentence, and should there be no such house, 
 the Ouvidores and the Commanders shall meet in the Forts ; and in case 
 the Ouvidor and the Commander agree, a sentence shall be passed 
 which shall be written by the Ouvidor and signed by both and duly 
 executed, if the same be within their jurisdiction ; and in case they 
 differ, no sentence shall be passed, but a third person shall be called in, 
 who shall be the Vedor da Fazenda (Controller of Eevenue), and in his 
 absence the Feitor (Factor or Administrator) of the respective Fort, and 
 in case either of them is prevented from any cause, the senior Jidz 
 Ordinario who shall be holding office that year shall be summoned in 
 lieu of them, and sentence shall be passed according to what shall have 
 been agreed between two of them, and it shall be signed by all the three 
 and be duly executed in the manner aforesaid. 
 
 " III. And in criminal cases in which an appeal shall lie, the said 
 Ouvidores shaU, in conformity with my Ordinances, allow an appeal to 
 the Eelagao, where the Ouvidor-Geral shall finally dispose of the same. 
 
 " IV. To the said Ouvidores shall lie all appeals from the decisions of the 
 Jtdzes Ordinarios of the towns and cantonments situate within the local 
 limits of which they are Ouvidores, and they shall dispose of the same, 
 sitting alone ; they shall also allow appeals to the Relagao in those cases 
 which are beyond their jurisdiction (i.e., when the case admits of a 
 second appeal). 
 
 "V. And the said Ouvidores shall hear appeals preferred by the Juizes 
 Ordinarios and orphans in the same manner as the Corregedores and 
 Provedores of the Districts hear them, and transfer to themselves such 
 cases as the said Corregedores and Provedores can do under the rules 
 governing them ; and in everything else they shall observe the said rules 
 
 * As has been already noted, judges of the higher grade, such as the Judges 
 of the High Court or the Privy Council, were called Desembargadores. 
 
 f According to a marginal note made in the '* Red Book of the Eelapao," 
 it would seem that the Forts of India referred to here included those of 
 Mozambique, Ormuz, Diu, Bassein, Cochin and Malacca. 
 
32 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 for the Corregedores and Provedores of the Districts as far as the same 
 shall be applicable. 
 
 " VI. They shall grant Warrants of Protection and Security in cases in 
 which the Corregedores of the Districts can do so, and the Captains of 
 the Forts shall not grant the same, nor shall they interfere in the matter 
 in any way ; and the said Ouvidores shall not issue such "Warrants in 
 case of death nor in cases reserved for the Ouvidor-Geral of the Criminal 
 Court, who is governed by the rules made for the guidance of the Corre- 
 gedor of the Court, except that the Ouvidores of Mozambique, Ormuz, 
 Malacca, Moluco, and Macau shall grant such Warrants in all cases ; and 
 in cases in which the Corregedor of the Court grants such Warrants in 
 the Eela9ao under the rules made for his guidance, the said Ouvidores 
 shall issue such Warrants after hearing the opinion of the Captain as 
 well as of the Vedor da Fazenda, and if there be no Vedor da Fazenda, 
 the Feitor shall be called in for the disposal of the case, and where both 
 the Vedor and the Feitor are prevented from taking part, the senior Juiz 
 Ordinario holding office that year shall be called in in their place ; and it 
 shall be sufficient that two of them agree to grant or refuse to grant such 
 Warrants ; and the relief granted to the applicants shall be enforced in 
 the presence of the said Ouvidores. And I have been pleased thus to 
 order, having regard to the distance which lies between these (Forts) and 
 the city of Goa, where the High Court is situated, and the vexation that 
 would be caused if parties had to go to such a distant place in order to 
 lodge their applications. 
 
 *' VII. In Civil Causes the said Ouvidores shall exercise jurisdic- 
 tion, in cases of movable property, up to 40,000 reis, and in cases of 
 immovable property up to 30,000 reis, and those of the Forts of Mozam- 
 bique, Ormuz, Malacca, Maluco, and Macau shall have jurisdiction up to 
 80,000 reis in cases of movable, and 70,000 reis in cases of immovable 
 property ; and in all cases exceeding the said amounts an appeal shall lie 
 to the Rela9ao. 
 
 "VIII. And in Criminal Cases the said Ouvidores sitting with the 
 Commanders shall exercise the same powers which are exercised by 
 the Commanders of my possessions beyond [the seas ?] as declared in 
 the Ordinance of Book II., Title 47, both over the Portuguese and the 
 natives, and the sentences passed by them, in cases falling within their 
 jurisdiction, as defined by these rules and the aforesaid Ordinance, shall 
 be duly executed. 
 
 " IX. And as regards any of the cases mentioned in the aforesaid 
 Ordinance, imder which their jxurisdiction is extended to cases of natural 
 death, any sentence that shall be passed by them shall not be put into 
 execution where the convicted persons are esquires, knights of my house- 
 hold or noblemen of a higher rank, but before it is executed the same shall 
 be reported to the Viceroy and put into execution in conformity with his 
 directions. 
 
 " X. And the said Ouvidores shall have power to award punishment 
 which may involve the imposition of fines to the extent of 2,000 reis for 
 defraying the expenses of the Court, and no appeal shall lie from such cases. 
 
A RETROSPECT 33 
 
 " XI. And the said Ouvidores shall not issue warrants of arrest in any 
 case without taking summary evidence in the first instance, in accordance 
 with the provisions of the new law for the reform of justice, which they 
 shall observe in this as well as in all other particulars dealt with by the 
 same. 
 
 " XII. They shall hold such sittings as the Corregedores of the Dis- 
 tricts are obliged to hold in public places where the judges usually hold 
 their sittings, and not in their private residences. 
 
 " XIII. And the said Ouvidores shall examine witnesses in all cases in 
 which the Corregedores of the Districts are bound to do so under my 
 Ordinances, the Extravagants'^' of this kingdom, and shall be liable to 
 the penalties contained therein where the same shall be applicable. 
 
 "XIV. They shall have power, under the Extravagants, to fill up 
 judicial posts which may have fallen vacant, until the same are filled 
 up by the Viceroy, and such appointments shall not be made by the 
 Commanders. 
 
 "XV. And the said Ouvidores shall cause a book to be kept by each of 
 the clerks of their respective courts, wherein shall be registered all the 
 civil and criminal cases, appeals, and other matters of which the said 
 Ouvidores shall have taken cognizance, each of the clerks entering in his 
 book such cases only as shall have been assigned to him, and which may 
 have been instituted not only by the Crown, but also by parties. 
 
 " XVI. And each of the said Ouvidores shall keep a book numbered 
 and signed by him, wherein he shall cause to be entered all the fines 
 expended by him in defraying the expenses of the Court, or in paying 
 the same to the opposite parties in conformity with the Extravagants. 
 
 " XVII. These expenses shall be incurred by the orders of the said 
 Ouvidores and not of the Commanders, and on the said Ouvidores resign- 
 ing their offices, accounts shall be taken of such expenses and fines in 
 order to ascertain whether the fines have been paid to those to whom 
 they were awarded and whether the expenses sanctioned by them were 
 reasonable. 
 
 " XVIII. And the said Ouvidores shall not be liable, during the tenure 
 of their office, to be arrested or summoned before a Court in either a 
 criminal or civil case, except under the orders of the Viceroy or of the 
 Rela9ao. 
 
 " XIX. And inasmuch as it is important for the good administration 
 of justice to invest the said Ouvidores with the authority which it is 
 expedient to attach to offices which are bestowed upon them by me, and 
 inasmuch as from the subordination of the said Ouvidores to the Com- 
 manders there arose many difficulties [inconveniences] and the said 
 Ouvidores became so oppressed as not to be able to discharge their 
 duties with integrity and freedom, I am pleased, in my desire to remedy 
 this evil, to command that the said Commanders shall exercise no juris- 
 
 * Extravagants are said to be certain Portuguese laws enacted from time 
 to time without any method or arrangement, as the exigences caUed them 
 into being. Hence their name. 
 
 3 
 
34 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 diction or authority whatsoever over the said Ouvidores nor shall they 
 interfere in any matter which shall be within the province of the said 
 Ouvidores. 
 
 " XX. And in the event of the said Ouvidores committing crime or 
 excesses which the Commanders should think proper to report to the 
 Viceroy, they shall do so by means of letters which the Viceroy shall 
 submit to the Eelacao in order to proceed against them according 
 to law. 
 
 "XXI. And the said Ouvidores shall affix their signatures [take 
 fees for signing ?] as the Corregedores of the Districts do, according to 
 their rules and my Ordinances. 
 
 " XXII. And in the event of any of the Ouvidores, from absence or 
 some other cause, being prevented from personally discharging his 
 duties, he shall have power to appoint a person to discharge the duties in 
 his stead ; and in the event of his dying without making such appoint- 
 ment, the Vedor da Fazenda shall discharge such duties, and there 
 being no Vedor or he being prevented, the Feitor ; and these persons 
 shall act until the Viceroy shall have filled up the vacancy, as aforesaid, 
 and the Viceroy in selecting a person shall have regard to his learning 
 ajid other quaUties becoming the office ; all such persons shall be guided 
 by these rules. 
 
 " XXIII. And as regards the proceedings instituted against the said 
 Ouvidores suspected ^^' in any cause or action of which by virtue of their 
 office they shall be entitled to take cognizance, I am pleased to direct 
 that the same shall be conducted in the following manner. As soon as 
 such proceedings as aforesaid shall have been instituted by any party of 
 whatever rank or condition, the Ouvidor not admitting the suspicion 
 imputed to him shall remit the papers and proceedings relating to the 
 case in which he is so suspected, to the senior Juiz Ordinario, who shall 
 have held office the preceding year, for the disposal of the same accord- 
 ing to law ; but the said Ouvidor shall nevertheless proceed with the 
 case in which such proceedings were instituted, till judgment, sitting 
 jointly with one of the judges for that year who shall be holding office in 
 the Fort of which he is the Ouvidor, provided that the said judge is not 
 challenged as suspected ; and he being challenged, some other judge 
 shall be selected, and both being suspected, the senior member of the 
 municipality shall be called in, and he too being challenged as suspected, 
 the next senior member shall be called in, and the second also being 
 challenged, the third shall be summoned, who shall not be challenged as 
 suspected ; and I further command that the acts done by them in this 
 behalf shall be held valid as if no proceedings as aforesaid had been 
 instituted ; and in case the said Ouvidor if adjudged as not suspected, he 
 shaU proceed with the case alone as he would have done if no such pro- 
 ceedings as aforesaid had been instituted ; but if the suspicion imputed 
 
 * These were a peculiar kind of judicial proceedings taken against a judge 
 by any party to a cause who seeks to transfer the case from that judge, on the 
 ground of his partiality, prejudice, or personal interest in the case. 
 
A RETROSPECT 35 
 
 to him be proved, he shall not proceed with the case any further, but 
 another judge shall be appointed in his place who shall dispose of the 
 case in conformity with my Ordinances. 
 
 " XXIV. And so I am pleased to direct that when in the manner 
 aforesaid any of the said Ouvidores shall have been challenged as 
 suspected, and the party challenging shall not be satisfied with his 
 evidence and should desire to adduce further evidence, such party shall 
 deposit 4 Crusados before he is allowed to adduce the said proof, which 
 amount he shall forfeit for the benefit of the pauper convicts of the gaol 
 of the Fort situate within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the said 
 Ouvidor, if he shall be adjudged not suspected. 
 
 "XXV. The said Ouvidores shall get 200,000 reis a year as their 
 stipend,"^' which amount shall be paid to them at the Factories of the 
 respective Forts in which they shall have been serving, by the Factor at 
 every quarter of the year, and the said Factor shall make these pay- 
 ments in the first place (i.e., before defraying other expenses) in order to 
 secure to the said Ouvidores a good remuneration, upon their respective 
 clerks certifying the business done during the quarter; and upon the 
 production of such certificates and receipts of the said Ouvidores, the 
 accounts of the Factors of the moneys disbursed in such payments shall 
 be passed. And a copy of these accounts shall be registered in the 
 Factories by their respective clerks. This pay shall be drawn by the 
 learned Ouvidores alone. 
 
 " XXVI. And the said Ouvidores shall get allowance for the main- 
 tenance of two men who shall attend upon them and serve them on 
 judicial business ; and such allowance shall be paid to them every 
 quarter out of my Treasury as has hitherto been done, on the production 
 of a certificate from the clerks of the respective Factories showing on 
 what business the said two men are employed by the said Ouvidores and 
 whether they serve in the manner aforesaid. 
 
 " I am pleased to command that these rules be henceforth put in force 
 in the manner stated therein, and that the said Ouvidores shall observe 
 them in spite of any other rules to the contrary. And these rules shall 
 be entered in the Books of the Eelagao and the Eegisters of the Fort. I 
 hereby make it known to the Viceroy of the State of India and to 
 the Desembargadores of the Rela9ao and to the Captains and Ouvi- 
 dores and to all ofiicial courts and persons of those parts, and command 
 them to observe and follow these rules and cause the same to be observed 
 and followed in every particular as herein contained, without any demur 
 or objection whatever, for such is my wish. Written by Pero de Seixas, 
 at Lisbon, on the 28th of February in the year of the birth of Our Lord 
 Jesus Christ 1586." 
 
 * By an earlier order, dated 1552, the salary of the Ouvidor was fixed at 
 100,000 Reis, Da Cunha mentions this amount in his book, from which we 
 have already quoted. It would seem that by this order the Ouvidor's 
 salary was doubled. 
 
36 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 There is yet another reason why the Portuguese records are 
 silent about the administration of justice. The Portuguese 
 ventured out to the East Indies with two main objects in view, 
 namely, the establishment of trade and the propagation of 
 Christianity, or, to be strictly accurate, the propagation of 
 Christianity and the establishment of trade. The policy adopted 
 by them during more than a century of their sovereignty over 
 Bombay and other parts of India may be conveniently summed up 
 in the historic remark of Vasco de Gama, " Vimos buscar Chris- 
 taos e especiaria'' ('' We come to seek Christians and spices"). 
 Notice the preference given to Christaos over especiaria. This 
 was the keynote of their policy — and it also proved their ruin. 
 Hardly had they set foot in India when they began to make con- 
 verts of the natives, not so much by means of persuasion as by 
 force of arms. Soon after landing on this island, they com- 
 menced the destruction of Hindu temples and constructed their 
 own churches on the debris. Little wonder, then, that the 
 Portuguese did not endear themselves to the inhabitants of 
 Bombay. 
 
 " Had the Portuguese Government," observes Mr. Edwardes, " been 
 able to restrain the troublesome and wanton acts of oppression which 
 their religious orders occasionally practised under the cloak of prosely- 
 tising zeal, the population of Portuguese territory would not only have 
 not decreased, but might also have increased simultaneously with an 
 increase of the island's trade-relations." ^' 
 
 As long as there was no rival in the field all went well with 
 the Portuguese. But such a state of affairs could not last long. 
 The Jesuits became arrogant with their wealth and the unlimited 
 power they exercised, and they even went so far as to deny that 
 the King of Portugal was lord of his possessions in India, 
 openly neglected his mandates, and generally intrigued against 
 the Government to which they were properly subordinate.! 
 They also arrogated to themselves magisterial powers, and, in 
 defiance of the courts of justice, dealt out penalties to members 
 of their congregations before their churches. Portuguese 
 trade consequently deteriorated, for converts were preferred to 
 spices. It was not the Flag which went before the Cross, but 
 
 * Bise of Bombay, p. 75. f Ibid. p. 80. 
 
A RETROSPECT 37 
 
 the Cross swept everything before it. The religious zeal of the 
 Jesuits often brought the other European nations in India into 
 trouble. On one occasion they captured two vessels belonging 
 to certain Moors and made prisoners of the whole crew. *' The 
 prisoners," wrote a Jesuit father at the time, "were all sen- 
 tenced to death, and six died without any one asking them if 
 they would exchange the Koran for the Gospel." Such treat- 
 ment alienated not only the subject races from the Portuguese, 
 but estranged even the Dutch and the English from them. The 
 policy of the English in this respect stands out in marked 
 contrast to that of the Portuguese. Ever since they set foot 
 on Indian soil they have shown the greatest respect for the 
 religious beliefs of the natives. They have even tolerated their 
 superstitions and refrained from interfering, as far as possible, 
 with their customs. In illustration of this, there is an inter- 
 esting passage in a letter the Company wrote to the Court of 
 Directors in 1650, when the Portuguese had incurred the dis- 
 pleasure of the natives of their establishment at St. Thome, 
 because one of their padres there had refused to allow a 
 Hindu procession to pass by his church. Referring to the 
 impracticability of overcoming the religious prejudices of the 
 natives, they observe : 
 
 *' By this you may judge the lyon by his paw, and plainely discerne 
 what small hopes, and how much danger wee have of converting these 
 people, y* are not like ye naked and brut Americans, but a most subtle 
 and politique nation, who are so zealous of their religions or rather their 
 superstitions, y* even amongst their owne differing castes, is grounded 
 an irreconcilable hatred, w°^ often produceth very bloodie effects."-^ 
 
 The English judged wisely '' the lyon by his paw," and their 
 judgment has stood them in good stead to this day. 
 
 The question has been asked more than once : Why did the 
 Portuguese, who were earlier in the field, fail to establish an 
 empire in India while the English have so well succeeded in 
 accomplishing this object? To this the late Sir William 
 Hunter gives the following convincing reply : 
 
 "The Portuguese," says he, "had neither the political strength nor 
 the personal character necessary to maintain such an Empire. Their 
 
 * Bruce's Annals of tlie East India Company, i. p. 455. 
 
38 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 national temper had been formed in their contest with the Moors at 
 home. They were not traders but knights-errant and crusaders who 
 looked on every pagan as an enemy of Portugal and of Christ. Only 
 those who have read the contemporary narratives of their conquests can 
 realise the superstition and cruelty with which their history in the 
 Indies is stained."^' 
 
 The Inquisition also did considerable harm to the Portuguese 
 Empire in the East. The King of Portugal had himself to 
 complain to the Viceroy '* of a very common practice in India 
 to shoot people without the Courts of Justice putting a stop 
 to it." Both Fryer and Hamilton testify to the unspeakable 
 torture and cruelty to which the natives of India were at times 
 subjected by the Portuguese. Speaking of their prisons and 
 executions, Fryer writes : 
 
 " Going the next morning to the Palace stairs, we saw their Sessions 
 house, the bloody prison of the Inquisition ; and in a principal market- 
 place was raised an engine a great height, at top like a gibbet, with 
 a pulley, with steppings to go upon, as on a flagstaff, for the Stra^pado^ 
 which unhinges a man's joints ; a cruel torture." f 
 
 Hamilton is more plain-spoken still : 
 
 '* The religion," says he, " established by law, is Eomish, and here are 
 the most zealous bigots of it ; and the Laws of the Church (but not of 
 their country) are rigorously observed, and there is a severe Inquisition 
 Court to punish any whom the Inquisitors have the least suspicion of, 
 which awes both clergy and laity to such a complacency that I question 
 if there is such a pack of notorious hypocrites in the world." | 
 
 But let us drop the curtain over this period, which is stained 
 with the blood of innocent natives. A country which prefers 
 converts to spices, and which attempts to govern its foreign 
 possessions by the laws of the Church rather than by those of 
 the State, cannot exercise a long-lived supremacy. The wonder 
 is that Portuguese sovereignty in the East Indies lasted for so 
 long as a century and a quarter. § 
 
 * Imperial Gazetteer of India. 
 
 t Travels in the East Indies and Persia, by Dr. John Fryer, p. 155. 
 
 X A New Account of the East Indies, by Captain Alexander Hamilton, 
 i. p. 250. 
 
 § It is but fair to add, however, that the Portuguese seem to have improved 
 in the eighteenth century, and the administration of justice under them had 
 
A RETROSPECT 39 
 
 Before following the English into India and tracing the slow 
 process by which the foundation of the British Empire was laid 
 at Surat, let us glance at the trend of events in England in the 
 latter part of the sixteenth century. The discoveries made in 
 the preceding century in mathematics, physics, and astronomy 
 facilitated distant navigation, and the practical results may be 
 traced in the discovery of America by Columbus, and that of the 
 route to India by Vasco de Gama. These brought large acces- 
 sion of strength to Spain and Portugal, and the spirit of enter- 
 prise which had made these events possible soon made its way 
 to England. There it found a congenial soil, for commercial 
 associations sprang up to facilitate experiments for extending 
 the trade of the realm. Great was the activity of commerce 
 during the reign of the " Virgin Queen," and the expeditions 
 of Drake and Cavendish stimulated the spirit of enterprise. 
 Wild stories of the fabulous wealth of India, and the success of 
 the Portuguese and the Dutch in the East Indies, induced 
 some adventurous Englishmen to turn their thoughts eastward. 
 As early as 1589 several London merchants presented a 
 memorial to Queen Elizabeth for permission to send out three 
 ships on a voyage to India, and although the petition was 
 favourably received at the time, it was not till ten years later 
 that an association was actually formed and a charter of privi- 
 leges 'granted. Elizabeth was quick enough to see that the 
 object which the merchants had in view would bring England 
 into collision with the other European nations in the East 
 Indies, with whom the English were then on friendly terms. 
 It was probably due to her sagacity that the condition was 
 imposed in the Charter of 1600 that the East India Company 
 was not to interfere with the factories or trade of the European 
 
 then become more humane and their laws were divested of much of their 
 unnecessary harshness. Such, at least, seems to be the opinion of a writer 
 who has recorded it in the following terms : "The reforms then lately made 
 in the management of the affairs of that nation (the Portugueze) had 
 rendered them a much more respectable power than they had been ; their 
 marine was increased, both in number and the size of their ships; the 
 Inquisition was abolished, and liberty of conscience given to all that settled 
 at Goa or in its dependencies ; the useless riches of the churches were 
 declared to belong to the King, and were applied to public uses ; the adminis- 
 tration of justice was put on a firm footing, and carried on by persons sent 
 from Lisbon, unconnected with the inhabitants of Goa." — An Historical 
 Account of Bombay (1781), p. 73, footnote. 
 
40 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 nations in alliance with England. At a general meeting of the 
 Merchant Adventurers held on September 24, 1599, a resolution 
 was passed to apply to the Queen for her royal assent to a pro- 
 ject " intending for the honour of their native country, and the 
 advancement of trade and merchandize within the realm of 
 England, and to set forth a voyage this year to the East Indies, 
 and other islands and countries thereabouts."* Policy, how- 
 ever, appeared to counsel delay, as a treaty was then pending 
 between England and Spain. Just one year after, another 
 general meeting of the Adventurers was held at the Founders* 
 Hall, at which it was agreed ** that, for the honor of their native 
 countrie, and the advancement of the trade of merchaundize, 
 they have undertaken to sett forth a voiage for the discovery of 
 the trade of the East Indies " ; and having obtained the Queen's 
 consent, they boldly set forth on their adventurous voyage. 
 Among the preliminaries that were settled we may notice only 
 one. It was decided that the factors were each to give security 
 for their fidelity, and that they should abstain from all private 
 trade, that being deemed, even at that early stage, the most 
 fruitful source of breach of trust. The events that will be 
 described later will show how well-grounded this fear was, and 
 how many a brilliant career was wrecked by men succumbing 
 to this temptation of prohibited private trade. We need not 
 dwell at any length on the constitution of the East India 
 Company, or the different voyages it undertook for the honour 
 of its country and the advancement of trade. Suffice it to note 
 that the direction of the Company's business, under the charter, 
 was entrusted to twenty-four committees, under a Governor, and 
 that these committees were the immediate predecessors of what 
 was afterwards better known as the Court of Directors. But 
 after it was united into one corporate body, and the privilege 
 of exclusive trade was conferred by legislative authority, the 
 supreme power was vested in the Court of Proprietors, who were 
 assisted by a number of committees. This Court wielded 
 legislative power, and all laws and regulations, all determina- 
 tions of dividend, and all grants of money, were made by it. 
 Of the several committees, the most important for our purpose 
 was that of law-suits, whose business it was to deliberate and 
 direct in all cases of litigation, and to examine the bill of law- 
 * Bruce's Annals, i. p. 111. 
 
A RETROSPECT 41 
 
 charges. Mill expresses surprise that there should be work 
 of this description sufficient to engross the time of this com- 
 mittee ; it certainly could not have been overworked when the 
 Company was yet in its infancy. There is an amusing incident 
 which is worth noticing in this connection, for it throws a flood 
 of light on the independence of the newly-formed Company and 
 on the ideas and aspirations of the times. When the Company 
 was about to send out an expedition to the East Indies, Govern- 
 ment suggested the employment of Sir Edward Michelbourne. 
 But the Company, though yet in its cradle, objected to the 
 appointment, not because Sir Edward was unfit for the post, but 
 because he happened to be a gentleman! They stated it as 
 their resolution, in all seriousness, " not to employ any gentle- 
 man in any place of charge," and requested *' that they may be 
 allowed to sort their business with men of their own qualitye, 
 lest the suspicion of the employm* of gentlemen being taken hold 
 uppon by generalitie, do dryve a great number of the adventurers 
 to withdraw their contributions."* Happily, our idea of a 
 gentleman has been much enlarged since the formation of the 
 East India Company! 
 
 Let us now examine some of the more important provisions of 
 the Charter of 1600 which brought into being this world-famous 
 Company. Bruce observes in the preface to his Annals that 
 the East India Company was recognised, by a series of Acts 
 of the Legislature, to have a real property in their chartered 
 rights, " which are perpetual, and with succession." f This 
 recognition may be said to date from the grant of the first 
 charter. From the spirit and terms of this charter, it would 
 appear that the " London East India Company trading to the 
 East Indies " — to give the Company its full title — was created 
 a body corporate capable, by the laws of the realm, of purchasing 
 and holding property as real rights, and of suing or being sued 
 for the same, in all competent courts of law, and that, as such, 
 they were to be held legal proprietors. The most valuable 
 privilege which was granted to the Company was that of the 
 exclusive right of trading between geographical limits which 
 were practically the Cape of Good Hope on the one hand and 
 the Straits of Magellan on the other. This is neither the 
 
 * Mill's History of India, i. p. 23. 
 t Bruce's Annals, i. p. vii. 
 
42 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 place nor the occasion to question the legality of such a 
 privilege. 
 
 " Neither at the beginning nor at the end of the seventeenth century," 
 observes Sir Courtenay Ilbert, "was any doubt entertained as to the 
 expediency, as apart from the constitutionality, of granting a trade 
 monopoly of this description. Such monopolies were in strict accord- 
 ance with the ideas, and were justified by the circumstances, of the 
 time." =<^ 
 
 It was nearly a century later that the exercise of this pre- 
 rogative was formally declared to be illegal as transcending the 
 powers of the Crown. There is only one restriction placed on 
 their exclusive right of trading, which is already noticed, namely, 
 that in the exercise of this right the Company were not to 
 interfere with the corresponding rights which other European 
 Powers might have acquired in the East Indies, so as to give 
 rise to disputes between the Queen and her European allies. 
 Even this limitation establishes the right of the Company to 
 acquire factories, or seats of trade, from any of the Native Powers 
 or States to whose dominions they might resort, and it was by 
 virtue of this right that the Company entered into a treaty with 
 the Chief of Acheen in 1602 and with the King of Bantam in 
 1603. Although the Company's right of trade was exclusive, 
 they were at liberty to grant licences to traders. Unauthorised 
 traders were made liable to forfeiture of their goods, ships, and 
 tackle, and to '* imprisonment and such other punishment as to 
 us, our heirs and successors, for so high a contempt, shall seem 
 meet and convenient." 
 
 We have noticed above some of the important clauses of the 
 Charter of 1600, dealing with the constitution and privileges of 
 the East India Company. But there is one more provision 
 which grants the Company certain legislative powers and m 
 which may be traced the earliest judicial authority vested in 
 the Company, even before they acquired any territory. As this 
 is, for our purpose, perhaps the most important clause in the 
 famous charter, we reproduce it here. The whole charter is 
 given in Birdwood and Foster's First Letter-Book of the East 
 India Company (1600-1619), and this particular clause, which 
 
 * Ilbert's Oovernment of India, p. 9. 
 
A RETROSPECT 43 
 
 will be found at page 175 of that treasure-house of early records 
 relating to the Company, runs as follows : 
 
 " AND further o' will & pleasuer is and by theis present (> for vs o"^ 
 
 heires and successors we doe graunte vnto the said Gourno'^ & Company 
 
 of m'chaunt(7 of London trading into the East Indies and 
 
 Comp : may *° their successors, that yt shall & may be lawfuU to and 
 
 assemble in for the said Gourno' & Company of m^'chaunto of London 
 
 any con- tradinge into the East Indies & their successors from tyme 
 
 venient place. ... , . "^ 
 
 to tyme to assemble themselues for or aboute any the 
 
 matters, causes, affaires or busines of the said trade in any plnce or 
 
 places for the same convenient during the said te:iiin cl fUfkone ycp.res 
 
 w*hin o"^ dominions or elswheare, & there to ho.d Courte f6r the said 
 
 Companie and the affaires thereof, & that alsoe yt phali ': may be lawful! 
 
 to & for them or the more pt^ of them being soe assembled, & that 
 
 shall then & theare be present in any such place or places whereof the 
 
 Gourno'^ or his deputie for the tyme being to be one, to 
 Authoritie to make, ordeine, & constitute such and soe many reasonable 
 S)lelawes°by l^wes, constitucbns, orders & ordenaunces as to them or 
 the greatest the greater pt^ of them being then and theare present shall 
 part of a seeme necessarie and convenient for the good gournm* of 
 
 assembly. the same Companie & of all ffactors, mr^, Mariners & other 
 
 Officers ymployed in any of their voyagQ, and for the better 
 advauncement & continuance of the said trade and traliique, and the same 
 lawes, constitucbns, orders and ordenaunces as by them or the greater 
 pt® of them shall be thought necessarie being soe made to putt in vse & 
 execucbn accordinglie, & at their pleasuer to revoke or alter the same, or 
 any of them, as occasion shall requier, and that the said Gournor & 
 Companie soe often as they shall make, ordeine, or establish any such 
 lawes, constitucbns, orders & ordenances in forme aforesaid shall & may 
 lawfullie ympose, ordeine, lymitt, & p"ide such peines, punishment^ and 
 . Penalties by ymprisonm* of bodie, or by fynes or 
 
 offenders amercement(7 or by aU or any of them vpon & against all 
 
 eyther in body Offenders contrary to such lawes, Constitucbns, orders and 
 the^same be^^ ordenances or any of them as to the said Gournor & Com- 
 not contrary panic for the tyme being, or the greater pt® of them then & 
 to the lawes of there beingjpresent, the said Gournor or his Deputie being 
 
 alwaies one, shall seeme necessary, requisite and Con- 
 venient for the observac"6n of the same lawes, constitucbns, orders, and 
 ordenances, & the same fynes, & amercemtj), shall and may levy fyne, 
 take & haue to the vse of the said Gournor and Companie & their 
 successors w*hout the ympedim* of vs o"^ heires or successors or of any 
 the Officers or mynisters of vs o'^ heires or successors, or w%out any 
 accomp* to vs o' heires or successors to be rendered or made. All & 
 singular w'=^ lawes, constituc'bns, orders, and ordenances soe as aforesayd 
 to be made we will to be dulie observed and kept vnder the peines and 
 penalties therein to be conteyned: Soe alwaies the said lawes, Con- 
 
44 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 stitucbns, orders, ordenanc^, ymprisonmen*(), fynes and amercem*^ be 
 reasonable & not contrary or repugnant to the lawes, statutes or Customes 
 of this o' ReaJme." 
 
 It was thus ordained that the Company might assemble them- 
 selves in any convenient place, " within our dominions or else- 
 where," and there '*hold court for the Company and the affairs 
 thereof," and, being so assembled, might 
 
 " mckke, ordain, and constitute such and so many reasonable laws, con- 
 stitutions, orders, and ordinances, as to them, or the greater part of them 
 being then and there present, shall seem necessary and convenient for 
 the good government of the said Company, and of all factors, masters, 
 mariners, and other officers, employed or to be employed in any of their 
 voyages and for the better advancement and continuance of the said 
 trade and traffic." 
 
 Cowell points out that they were also empowered to put in 
 use and execute such laws, " and at their pleasure to revoke and 
 alter the same or any of them," as occasion shall require. * 
 They might also impose such pains, punishments, and penalties 
 by imprisonment of body, or by fines and amerciaments, as might 
 seem necessary or convenient for the observation of these laws 
 and ordinances. But their laws and punishments were to he 
 reasonable, and not contrary or repugnant to the laws, statutes, 
 or customs of the English realm. We have italicised the last 
 words in the legislative clause of this charter, for they seem the 
 most important, and recur in several subsequent charters granted 
 to the East India Company. This power to legislate, which, by 
 the way, contains no express reference to factories or territories, 
 as was pointed out by Sir Michael Westropp in the case already 
 referred to, was, therefore, strictly limited. And under the 
 circumstances in which the servants of the Company found 
 themselves in India — their position being extremely anomalous, 
 for although their factories were part of the dominion of the 
 Mogul, their own law was made applicable to them — such a 
 precaution would seem to be absolutely necessary. The Com- 
 pany, or their agents in India, could make laws and bye-laws of 
 their own, but these were to be reasonable and not contrary or 
 
 * TJie History and Constitution of the Courts and Legislative Authorities 
 in India, by Herbert Cowell (Tagore Law Lectures), p. 13. 
 
A RETROSPECT 45 
 
 repugnant to the laws of England. This will be a convenient 
 place to inquire as to what was meant by this oft-recurring 
 phrase in the early charters. What were the exact meaning 
 and import of the restriction placed on the legislative powers of 
 the Company ? We need make no apology for quoting at length 
 the learned exposition of this proviso as given by Mr. Sergeant 
 Spankie, who was for several years Advocate- General at Calcutta. 
 Sergeant Spankie, while arguing, on behalf of the Bengal 
 Government, an important appeal against a rule, regulation, and 
 ordinance issued at Fort William on April 4, 1823, for regu- 
 lating the press at Calcutta, observed : 
 
 " The meaning of the qualification ' not being repugnant to the laws of 
 England ' is, that laws to be made by the Colonial legislatures shall not 
 contradict the laws of England in cases for which the law of England 
 has provided, for that would be a power to repeal the laws of England. 
 They shall not introduce anything so absurd as a conjiictus legum, by 
 the inferior legislature enacting anything contrary to what the supreme 
 legislature has enacted in the same matter. They shall not enact any- 
 thing that is contradictory and repugnant to the general laws and 
 statutes of the realm, meant for universal application, and founded 
 on principles of permanent imperial policy. But where the law of 
 England is silent, where local circumstances demand local remedies, 
 where the ends of good order and civil government require new laws, 
 the local legislative power is competent to enact such laws for the public 
 safety, and the legislative authority was granted to afford a prompt and 
 present remedy in unforeseen cases, for which the laws of England had 
 not provided." * 
 
 It may be supposed that, under the legislative and judicial 
 authority granted by this charter, the Company must have 
 enacted certain laws for the good government of their territories 
 in India. But it is doubtful if any such laws, rules, or regula- 
 tions were made. None seem to have been published, and no 
 trace of them now exists. The agents of the Company were for 
 the most part concerned with the development of their commer- 
 cial interests at the time ; they were probably well occupied 
 with preserving their trade monopoly and resisting interference 
 with it. As we have already noticed, the charter was granted 
 to the Company before they had any territorial possession in 
 India; they had first to acquire territory before availing them- 
 
 * Auber's Analysis of the Constitution of the East India Company, p. 23. 
 
46 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 selves of either their judicial or legislative authority. Moreover, 
 some driving power was required to set this bare authority 
 in motion. 
 
 " Unless supplemented by judicial and punitive powers," says Ilbert, 
 " the early legislative powers of the Company could hardly have been 
 made effectual for any further purpose. But they are of historical 
 interest, as the germ out of which the Anglo-Indian codes were ultimately 
 developed." '•' 
 
 How ineffectual these powers were is testified by the fact that, 
 although the Company were empowered to punish offenders by 
 fine or imprisonment, this authority proved insufficient for the 
 punishment of grosser offences and for the maintenance of 
 discipline on long voyages. The Company were, therefore, 
 obliged to seek an expedient. " They were in the habit," says 
 Ilbert, " of procuring for each voyage a commission to the 
 
 * general ' in command, empowering him to inflict punishments 
 for offences such as murder or mutiny, and to put into execution 
 
 * our law called martial.' " 
 
 One of the earliest instances of such a commission is recorded 
 at p. 48 of Birdwood and Foster's Letter-Book. A commission 
 was issued to Henry Middleton, Esq., who was sent out on 
 a voyage to the East Indies in 1601. The following passage 
 occurs in the commission : 
 
 " We doe heereby straightlie chardge and Commaund all & eury 4pson 
 & psons ymployed, vsed or shipped in this voyadge, in any of the said 
 ships, to giue all due obedience and respect vnto you dureing the said 
 voyadge, & to beare them selues therein one towardes another in all 
 good order & quietnes for avoideing any occasion that might breede 
 Mutinie, quarrells or discention amongest them to the hindraunce of the 
 good suckcess w°^ is to be hoped for by God^ prouidence of the said 
 intended voyadge, & in default of such dutie and obedience to be 
 pformed towardes you & for the correcc'bn & quenching of all such 
 Mutenie quarrells or discention, that shall or maye growe or be moued 
 by the disorder, euill dispoticbn or pversnes of any of the said psons. 
 We doe heereby aucthorize you Henrie Middleton Genra" dureing the 
 said voyadge or durejng soe longe tyme as you shall liue in the said 
 voyadge. And in Case of yo"^ decease w<^^ God forbid, we doe then like- 
 wyse hereby aucthorize you the said Christopher Colthurst, to chastice 
 correct and ponnish all Offenders and Transgressors in that behalfe 
 according to the qualitie of their Offences w*^ such ponishm* as are 
 
 * Ilbert's Government of India, p. 10. 
 
A RETROSPECT 47 
 
 Comonlie vsed in all Armyes by Sea when the offences are not capitall. 
 
 And for Capitall Offences as wilfull murder w''^ is hatefuU in the sight of 
 God, or mutenie w'^'^ is an offence that maie tend to the ourthroue of the 
 said voyadge, the same being trulie & iustlie proued agaynst any of the 
 pson or psons aforesaied. We doe heereby giue vnto you the said Henrie 
 Middleton during all the tyme of the said voyadge, or dureing soe long 
 tyme as you shall Hue in the said voyadge. And in Case of yo' decease 
 we doe giue to you Christopher Colthurst full power and aucthoritie to 
 vse and putt in execution o"^ lawe called Martiall in that behalfe and 
 theis o"" Pes shall be vnto you sufficient warranto and dischardge for the 
 doing & executeinge of all & singular the p''misses." 
 
 Similar commissions were issued to Captains Best and 
 Downton, but in investing the latter with " full power & 
 authoritye to use & put in execution our law called Martiall 
 lawe " the following significant provision was made : " But that 
 therein you doe expresly use the advise & counsell of the two 
 principall Masters & of the two principall Merchants appoynted 
 for the tyme being, or of any two of them." 
 
 It must not be supposed that the commission was granted 
 merely for the sake of formality. It was enforced, and the 
 commissioners were empowered to punish and execute offenders 
 by martial law. Kaye gives an instance of a sentence of capital 
 punishment awarded to an offender under one of these com- 
 missions. It will be interesting to cite it here, not merely 
 because it illustrates the power vested in the commissioners, 
 but also because it is, perhaps, the earliest authentic account of 
 judicial proceedings in India under the regime of the East 
 India Company. This is how the record runs : 
 
 " Consultations held on board the ship Charles, dated Swalley Eoad, 
 Feb. 28, 1616. Present Captain H. Pepwell, Chief Commander of the 
 Fleet, &c. 
 
 " Whereas Gregory Lellington had on Sunday the 16th of February 
 last past, in or near the town of Surat in the dominions of the Mogul, 
 killed Henry Barton, Englishman, and belonging to the Company of the 
 good ship the James, then riding in or near the road of Swally, it was 
 concluded by the Coiuicil aforesaid, that the said Lellington should be 
 called to answer for the said murder ; which being effected, the King's 
 Majesty's Commission, under the Great Seal, in point of authority and 
 power to punish and execute by martial law, where need required, was 
 read publicly before the prisoner and that done it was laid to his charges 
 as f oUoweth." (Here follow the Ust of offences with which he was charged.) 
 " Wherefore the said Gregory Lellington being convicted by his own 
 
48 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 confession, it was generally resolved on, that as well in respect of the 
 offence itself as for example and prevention of others in the like, that he 
 should suffer pains of death whereof he received judgment by the mouth 
 of the Chief Commander which was (according to his own desire), that 
 he should the next day be conveyed ashore, and by the musketeers of 
 the guard be shot to death — and so the Lord have mercy upon his soul. 
 Signed Henry Pepwell (Chief Commander of the Fleet). Thomas 
 Kerridge, Chief of the Factory, &c." — MS. India House Eecords.''' 
 
 It may be noted here that, although in regard to all the 
 
 transactions with the native inhabitants the English were 
 
 subject to the judicial tribunals of the country, they had no gi-eat 
 
 liking for the native courts and a violent dislike for Moslem justice 
 
 j^ in particular. Whenever possible they took the law into their 
 
 I own hands and settled disputes in conformity with their own laws. 
 
 Cowell mentions that when the English, before the end of the 
 
 seventeenth century, built fortifications at Madras and Calcutta 
 
 and were there settling down, the Naw^ah was about to send a 
 
 Kaji, or Judge, to administer justice to the natives, but that the 
 
 V Company's servants bribed him in order to abstain from this 
 
 proceeding ! t 
 
 This method of punishing culprits for gross offences by the 
 issue of commissions under the Great Seal — whether legal or 
 not — was followed for only a short time, when, by a royal grant, 
 the power of issuing commissions embodying this authority was 
 given to the Company, subject to a proviso requiring the verdict 
 of a jury in the case of capital offences. 
 
 By Letters Patent dated December 14, 1615, the Company 
 were empowered to grant commissions to their commanders 
 (under a seal expressly appointed for that purpose), conferring 
 upon them the power to punish offenders, &c. " This," say 
 Birdwood and Foster in a footnote at p. 493 of their Letter- 
 Book, " obviated the necessity of obtaining a royal commission 
 for this purpose for each voyage, as had formerly been the 
 practice." The Letters Patent form one of the most interest- 
 ing documents in this book, and we take the liberty of 
 reproducing the following passage from it : 
 
 " To all to whome this present writinge shall Come to be seene read 
 or heard. The Gouerner and Companie of Merchant^ of London 
 
 * Kaye's Administration of the East India Company, footnote at p. 66. 
 t Constitutio7i of the Courts in India, p. 16. 
 
A RETROSPECT 49 
 
 tradinge into the East Indies, send greetinge in our Lord God ever- 
 lastinge. Whereas our most gratious Soveraigne Lord lames by the 
 grace of God of England, Scotland, ffrance and Ireland, Kinge 
 
 defend' of the faith, &c., duely waighinge and Con- 
 Commission sididringe [sic ?] that noe voyage or enterprize wherein 
 at large from multitude of menne of seurall qualities and dispositions are 
 their Capne to be vsed and employed, Can bee performed and accom- 
 & cheife Com- plished w*^^ hope of good successe except some amongst 
 th*^ b o d ^^ them bee sufficientlie authorized to restraine and punish 
 seale, mutinous and disorderlie persons accordinge to their 
 
 desert, by his Highnes L^res patent bearinge date the 
 first giuen to fourteenth daye of December in this Thirteenth yeere of 
 poSTin y^e^" ^^^ Raigne of England, fErance and Ireland, and of Scot- 
 Ho^e. land the Nine and fortieth, At the humble suite of the 
 
 said Gouerner and Companye gratiouslye tenderinge the 
 good successe of their voyages into the said East Indies, hath giuen and 
 graunted vnto the said Gouerner and Companie full power and authoritye 
 at all tyme and tymes then after to nominate, Chuse and employ in any 
 and every their voyages then after to bee made, one or more Captaines 
 or principall CommaUnders to rule and governe all and everie his 
 highnes Subiect() in such voyages in due obedience for the observinge 
 and executinge of all such good orders and constitutions as the said 
 Companie shall thinke meete to ordaine and make for the furtherance 
 of such voyages and to give Comission direction and Instruction vnto 
 the said Captaines and Coffiaunders for their owne Carriage as also for 
 punnishinge of offenders in the said voyage, And that such Captaines 
 and Comaunders so nominated Chosen and employed to goe on the said 
 voyag() haueing Comission and direction from the said Gouerner and 
 Companye vnder the seale of the Companie appointed for that purpose 
 shall haue full power and authoritye for punnishinge offences and 
 executinge of Marshall Lawe, namely, to Chastize Correct and punnish 
 all and every such person to be emploied in such voyages w*=^ shall not 
 give dewe obedience, and respect toward^ the said Captaines and princi- 
 pall Comaunders, or not beare them selues one toward^ another in good 
 order and quietnes, for avoydinge of any occasion that might breed 
 quarrell or dissention amongst them to the hindrance of the good 
 successe, w*=^ is to be hoped for by God() providence in any such voyage 
 accordinge to the qualitie of their offences w^^ such punishmt^ as are 
 comonlye vsed in all Armyes at sea when they are not Capitall, and 
 for Capitall offences as wilful! murther and mutinye w**^ may tend to 
 the overthrowe of such a voyage the same beeing iustly and truely 
 proued against any the person or persons aforesaid to vse and put in 
 execution the Law Called Marshall Law, And Neurtheless by the 
 verdict of twelue of the Companie sworne therevnto for the tryall 
 of such offenders, as to such a case appertaineth And the said Lefes 
 patent() to bee a warrant, and discharge for the doeinge of all and everie 
 the premisses ; His Majestye thereby strictly charginge and Comaunding 
 the said Captaines or principall Commaundrs so to bee Chosen and 
 
 4 
 
50 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 employed to folio we and punctuallie to obserue in all thing (> such 
 Comission instruction and directions as they shall receaue from the 
 said Gouerner and Company vnder the foresaid seale and in noe 
 wise to Contrarie the same as they will answeare the Contrary at 
 their perrills." 
 
 We have omitted to mention the charter granted by James I. 
 in 1609, which merely confirmed, in almost identical language, 
 the provisions of the charter of 1600, the only difference being 
 that whereas the charter of Elizabeth had granted to the East 
 India Company the enjoyment of its privileges for the term of 
 fifteen years, the charter of James I. made this enjoyment 
 perpetual, subject to certain conditions. The next charter 
 worthy of note is that mentioned by Sir Michael WesLropp, 
 of which he was unable to procure a copy. This was dated 
 ..February 4, 162^. .mpowering the Company "to chastise and 
 correct all English persons residing in the East Indies and 
 committing any misdemeanour either with martial law or other- 
 wise." * In spite of these additional powers the agents of the 
 Company in India often found themselves helpless adequately to 
 punish the guilty. This was an age of lawlessness everywhere. 
 Even in the best regulated countries in Europe the science and 
 art of government were so imperfect as to be unequal to the 
 suppression of heinous crimes. The increase in the number of 
 their settlements and the disorderliness of their servants drew 
 the Company's attention to the need for further coercive powers. 
 So, in 1624, the Company applied by petition to the King for 
 authority to punish their servants abroad by martial as well as 
 common law. Accordingly, James I., by a grant in the same 
 year, gave the Company the power of issuing commissions to 
 their Presidents and other chief officers authorising them to 
 punish in like manner offences committed by the Company's 
 servants on land, subject to the like proviso as to the sub- 
 mission of capital cases to the verdict of a jury.f This grant 
 
 * Naoroji Byramji v. Rogers, 4, Bombay High Court Reports, p. 28. 
 
 f May not Sir Michael Westropp be referring to this grant when he speaks 
 of the charter of 1622 ? The provisions in both appear to be almost identi- 
 cal. This surmise is strengthened by the fact that the learned judge, who 
 has been most careful in tracing the judicial and legislative authority of the 
 East India Company from the first charter of 1600, was not likely to omit an 
 important grant like that of 1624:. His most able and informing judgment 
 
A RETROSPECT 51 
 
 would seem to have armed the Company with sufScient authority 
 to enforce obedience in their servants in India. But in 1651 
 we again find them presenting an address to the Council of 
 State, praying that powers might be given, under the Great 
 Seal of England, to their Presidents and Councils in India 
 to enforce obedience in all Englishmen resident within their 
 jurisdiction, and to punish offenders conformably to the laws 
 of England, on the ground of their having been for years without 
 proper authority to enforce obedience in the English subjects 
 within their limits.* The next important charter which 
 strengthened the constitutional and legislative powers of the 
 Company was that granted by Charles II. in 1661. It con- 
 ferred on them new and important privileges. They were 
 given " power and command " over their fortresses, and were 
 authorised to appoint governors and other officers for their 
 administration. The Governor and Council of each factory 
 were empowered ** to judge all persons belonging to the said 
 Governor and Company or that shall be under them in all 
 causes, whether civil or criminal, according to the laws of 
 this kingdom, and to execute judgment accordingly." And 
 the chief factor and Council of any place for which there was 
 no Governor were empowered to send offenders for punishment, 
 either to a place where there was a Governor and Council or to 
 England. Moreover, the Company were empowered to erect 
 fortifications, and " to transport and carry over such number of 
 men, being willing thereunto, as they shall think fit," to govern 
 them in a legal and reasonable manner, to punish them for 
 misdemeanour, and to fine them for breach of orders. They 
 might also seize unlicensed persons and send them to England, 
 
 in Naorqji Byramji v. Rogers is a monument testifying to his great learning, 
 industry, and research in the realm of law. It is said that Sir Michael 
 sometimes gave offence to the profession by what appeared to be undue 
 delay on his part in delivering judgment in important cases, and there was 
 an amusing story current at the time that, in one instance, the learned 
 judge handed over his judgment from the gangway of a homeward bound 
 steamer on board of which he was a passenger. But his judgment in 
 Naorqji Byramji v. Rogers, which covers more than a hundred closely- 
 printed pages of the fourth volume of the Bombay High Court Reports, 
 affords a telling answer to the critics who attributed the delay to dilatory 
 habits on the part of the then Chief Justice. Only a lawyer can appreciate 
 the value of such a judgment. 
 * Bruce's Annals, i. p. 469. 
 
52 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 punish persons in their employment for offences, and in case of 
 their appealing against their sentence, seize them and send 
 them as prisoners to England, there to receive such condign 
 punishment as the merits of the offender's cause should require 
 and the laws of the nation should allow.* This is one of the 
 most important of the early charters granted to the East India 
 Company, for it actually created courts of justice in British 
 India, directing, as it did, that the Governor and Council, not 
 only of the factories and centres of trade which the London 
 Company then possessed, hut also of those which they should 
 subsequently acquire, should be courts of justice in all causes, 
 civil and criminal ; and that the laws to be administered in those 
 courts, not only to the persons belonging to the Company, but 
 also to " persons who shall live under them," should be "the 
 laws of this kingdom" — i.e., England.! 
 
 Let us now hasten back to the western coast of the Indian 
 peninsula. Soon after the Portuguese founded settlements in 
 India, rumours of the great wealth amassed by some of them 
 led the English to venture out to the gold-laden East. As early 
 as 1563 we hear of one Master Caesar Frederick somewhere 
 about Cambai and also at Ahmedabad, but he seems to have had 
 an inhospitable reception, for he was plundered by the natives 
 and managed to escape in the same state of nature in which he 
 was ushered into the world. We tread on firmer ground when 
 we make the acquaintance of Thomas Stephens, a Jesuit, w^ho 
 arrived at Goa in 1579 and lived there for many years. It 
 was probably the letter he wrote at home, descriptive of the 
 gorgeous pageantry of the Eastern Court and the excellent 
 prospects of trade in the Indies, which gave a fresh stimulus to 
 adventurers in England. In 1583 Leedes, Kalph Fitch, John 
 Newberry, and some others landed at Goa. The Portuguese 
 were extremely jealous of outsiders, and particularly of those 
 who were bent on trade. The strangers were made welcome in 
 a prison, for rumour had gone abroad that they were com- 
 mercially inclined. But as the Portuguese preferred the pro- 
 pagation of their faith even to the prosperity of their trade, the 
 Englishmen were '* examined whether they were good Christians 
 or no," and, as they did not hesitate to tell a lie, their Christianity 
 
 * Ilbert's Government of India, pp. 17-18. 
 
 f Naoroji Byramji v. Rogers, 4, Bombay High Court Reports, p. 29. 
 
A RETROSPECT 53 
 
 was approved.* Soon after this, the East India Company was 
 formed and several missions were sent out, all on commerce 
 bent. Mildenhall was sent out by a commercial association in 
 1599, with the object of obtaining a firman from the Emperor, 
 authorising the English to trade in his dominions, and Captain 
 Hawkins also came out with a similar object. The latter had a 
 message to deliver to the Great Mogul from King James, and 
 after overcoming the jealousy of the Portuguese and the perils 
 on the way, he was at last able to stand in the august presence. 
 The wily monarch affected to be much flattered, but instead of 
 granting a firman, offered the hawker-ambassador a pension and 
 a wife from his well-stocked harem — to both of which tempta- 
 tions, we regret to say, Hawkins easily succumbed. But let it 
 be said to his credit that he remained true to the interests of his 
 country, as also to his Indian wife. In the meanwhile, the 
 factors at Bantam, the earliest English factory established in 
 India, recommended that trade should be opened with Surat 
 and Cambai, and no time was lost in establishing a factory at 
 Surat. Captain Best fought a desperate naval battle at Swally 
 about 1612 and routed the Portuguese. It was this victory 
 which, according to some, is said to have laid the foundation of 
 the British Empire in India. The Emperor was much impressed 
 with the prowess of the English, and sent Best a firman 
 authorising his countrymen to trade at Surat. This wise 
 Englishman, making the most of his opportunity, stipulated in a 
 treaty with the Mogul that " in all questions, wrongs, and 
 injuries that shall be offered to us and to our nation, we do 
 receive from the judges and those that be in authority speedy 
 justice, according to the quality of our complaints and wrongs 
 done us, and that by delays we be not put off or wearied by time 
 or charge." t The factors at Surat spread their net wide, for 
 we find them, even at that early stage of their settlement, both 
 at " Baroche " (Broach) and Ahmedabad. Best was followed by 
 one Captain Downton, another intrepid Englishman, who, with 
 the true John Bull instinct, wanted a beef-market to be estab- 
 lished at Swally. He must have been considerably surprised on 
 being told that this was not possible, as the hanyas of the place 
 had paid a large sum of money for the preservation of animal 
 
 * Anderson's English in Western India, p. 4. 
 
 t Kaye's Administration of the East India Company, p. 65. 
 
54 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 life. Here is another proof of the considerateness which the 
 English, even at the beginning of their career, showed for the 
 susceptibilities of the natives — though, in this instance, the hanyas 
 must have found the privilege a dear pennyworth. The next 
 incident of importance which deserves a passing notice in this 
 rapid review of events is the famous embassy of Sir Thomas 
 Roe in 1615. Much has been written on the subject, and the 
 ambassador himself has left a valuable account of his visit to 
 the Great Mogul. It will suffice to note that this was the 
 first real embassy, and that Sir Thomas Roe was the first 
 ambassador in the sense in which the term is understood to-day. 
 By a lavish distribution of cheap presents, consisting chiefly of 
 pictures and looking-glasses, knives and sword-blades, gloves 
 and nightcaps, and by a wonderful display of patience, sagacity, 
 and judiciousness, Sir Thomas succeeded beyond expectation. 
 He was sent with a double object : to arrange for the terms of a 
 treaty, and to recover, if possible, large sums of money due to 
 the Company from persons at the Mogul Court. It was only in 
 1618 that a treaty was finally concluded, the most important 
 clauses of which, for our purpose, being that the English should 
 enjoy the free exercise of their religion and be governed by their 
 own laws, and that in any disputes between the English and the 
 natives reference was to be made to the Governor and his 
 officers, who should decide speedily and justly, but disputes 
 among themselves were to be decided by their own factory.* In 
 1652, another factor was sent from Surat to apply to the Mogul 
 for protection against the Dutch. He, too, succeeded in his 
 mission and obtained a firman^ two of its provisions being that 
 the servants of the Company were to be permitted to recover 
 their debts agreeably to the laws of their country, and that, in 
 the event of death, their property was to be preserved and 
 delivered to the representatives of the Company, f The solicitude 
 of the English to be governed by their own laws is noticeable in 
 almost all their treaties with Native Princes. The example of 
 the Ottoman " capitulations " was ready to hand, and Europeans 
 had probably learnt, even at that early date, to appreciate native 
 justice at its true value. Not that they themselves conformed 
 strictly to the letter and the spirit even of their own laws. 
 The men who then came out to build up the British Empire in 
 * Bruce's Armals, i. p. 204. f ^d- P- ^72. 
 
A RETROSPECT 55 
 
 India, or rather to increase the trade of the Company — for an 
 Empire in India was probably not even dreamt of at the time — 
 were mostly men of mediocre ability. The early chapters in the 
 history of the British Empire in India are, according to Anderson, 
 " annals of mediocrity and weakness, sometimes of drivelling 
 baseness." Little wonder, then, that affairs in India at the 
 time were far from satisfactory, and that the administration of 
 justice was at a discount. Kaye well describes the situation in 
 his well-known work thus : * 
 
 " We traded," he says, " we conquered, we governed. It was long 
 before this matter of government came very palpably before us. At first, 
 all that we had to do was to govern ourselves, and this we did in a very 
 loose manner — rather according to laws of power and impulses of passion 
 than to principles of justice and reason." 
 
 About this time the Company found it most difficult to com- 
 pete successfully, on a footing of individual adventures, with 
 the Portuguese and the Dutch. It thereupon resolved that 
 voyages should be on the joint- stock account, hoping thus to 
 give a more efficient organisation to the trade of England with 
 the East. This, however, only served to intensify the opposition 
 of the Dutch. The interest taken in the affairs of the Company 
 by the English people at this time finds a parallel only in the 
 indifference shown by them to the efforts of their merchants to 
 establish trade relations with the East Indies. There occurred 
 an event, however, which stirred the patriotic spirit of the whole 
 country in support of the interests of the Company. This was 
 the Massacre of Amboyna, in 1622, which has left a blot on the 
 history of the Dutch in the East Indies. According to Sir 
 George Birdwood, this event is the real turning-point in the 
 history of the rise and progress of the British Empire in India. 
 The plan of this massacre seems to have been carried out with 
 deliberate cruelty, and the latent cause of it was the bitterness 
 of feeling which then existed between the Dutch and the English. 
 The Dutch Governor first made the unfortunate prisoners con- 
 fess, by subjecting them to slow torture, and then executed 
 Captain Towerson, nine English factors, nine Japanese, and one 
 Portuguese sailor. The memory of this incident long rankled in 
 * Admimstration of the East India Company j p. 64. 
 
56 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the hearts of the English both at home and in India ; and it is 
 worthy of note, as evidencing the tardy course of justice, that 
 the Company was unable to obtain redress, in spite of repeated 
 petitions, till more than thirty years afterwards. 
 
 / We have already seen how the English factory at Surat was 
 established in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and how 
 it gained strength, thanks mainly to the efforts of Best, Downton, 
 and Eoe. It would be interesting to describe the manner in 
 which the factors conducted the business of the English house, 
 and how they kept control over the other factories in India 
 subordinate to it. For convenience' sake, however, we shall 
 reserve this for another chapter. The English factors had 
 almost insuperable difficulties to contend against. They had 
 to ingratiate themselves into the favour of the native Governor 
 of Surat and his underlings. It sometimes happened that a 
 firman obtained from the seat of the Mogul Empire, hundreds 
 of miles away, was not worth the paper it was written 
 upon in the city of Surat. The English often came in conflict 
 with the native officials, and these conflicts at times assumed 
 serious proportions. Then, there were the Portuguese and 
 the Dutch, who fought every inch of the ground that was 
 fast slipping away from under their feet. The power of 
 the Portuguese was even then decaying, but the Dutch were 
 still powerful. The English had enemies in their own camp, who 
 gave the President and Council at Surat much trouble. The 
 number of interlopers was fast increasing — a fact which did not 
 add to the reputation of the factory. Deeds of violence and 
 dishonesty were committed almost daily. There are cases on 
 record which show that even the commanders of vessels belonging 
 to the Company did not hesitate to perpetrate robberies on the 
 high seas or on shore when they stood in no fear of retribution.* 
 \ There seem to have been, at that time, no law and no decency, 
 / neither system nor uniformity. Justice was often administered 
 
 / in the most summary fashion, without conforming to even the 
 essential processes of law. For instance, when a Dutch seaman 
 had killed an English gunner, the enraged countrymen of the 
 latter insisted upon having the Dutchman executed at once. In 
 vain did the latter beg that the proper forms of justice might be 
 observed. Nothing, however, would satisfy the factors but 
 * Anderson's The English m Western India, p. 32. 
 
A RETROSPECT 57 
 
 immediate execution. The President of the factory seems to 
 have had unlimited powers, which he used or ahused according to 
 his own inclination. The " General" commanding the fleet, to 
 whom a commission was issued by the King under the Great 
 Seal, also interfered in the affairs of the factory, to which 
 interference the factors took strong exception. For a succinct 
 account of the manner in which justice was administered at the 
 English factories in India during the greater part of the seven- 
 teenth century, we must again turn to Kaye : 
 
 " Collisions," he says, " whether civil or criminal, with the natives of 
 the country, subjected our people to the decisions of the native tribunals ; 
 and when we fell out among ourselves in matters affecting property or 
 person, our disputes, if of the former character, were settled by the 
 President, or if of the latter, a Court was held, under the King's Com- 
 mission, probably on board one of the vessels in the roads, and the 
 offender was dealt with as its members, consisting of the chief naval and 
 mercantile functionaries, might determine and decree." ^ 
 
 For all that, the factory at Surat was growing in importance 
 and prestige, and its fame spread throughout the Indian penin- 
 sula. The factors were traders then, and they remained traders 
 for a long time to come. They had strict injunctions from their 
 masters to remain true to their commercial mission and let 
 territorial acquisition severely alone. But the Company was 
 soon obliged to widen its horizon and to abide by the circum- 
 stances which forced upon it the establishment of an empire in 
 India. In vain did it try to limit the number of its factories, 
 for the number increased in spite of all efforts. The history of 
 the East India Company presents the curious phenomenon of an 
 empire which was built up, imperceptibly as it were, almost 
 against the will of its founders. 
 
 "Expansion," says Kaye, "seemed to be the natural law which 
 governed our position in the East. From the Bombay coast, where 
 the Company's factors first settled themselves, they made their way by 
 land to Agra, then rounded Cape Comorin, settled themselves on the 
 coast of Madras, and soon stretched up the Bay of Bengal, to establish 
 themselves in that rich province." 
 
 But although the Company's factors had first settled them- 
 * Administration of the East India Company^ p. 318. 
 
58 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 selves on the Bombay, or rather the western coast, it took 
 them more than half a century to make then- home in the town 
 and island of Bombay. It was as early as 1626 that the English 
 and the Dutch at Surat unsuccessfully attempted to form an 
 establishment on the island of " Bombaya." They were even then 
 attracted by the secure position of the island, and as they had 
 long felt the necessity of an isolated spot, difficult of access from 
 outside, had cast longing eyes upon it. In 1652 the English again 
 realised the insecurity of their position, for in case of civil war, 
 or in the event of an enemy attacking them, their factories would 
 be practically defenceless. So they gave it as their opinion to 
 the authorities in England that, for a reasonable consideration, 
 the Portuguese might allow them to take possession of Bombay 
 and of Bassein, but it did not commend itself to the latter. They 
 made a similar request to Oliver Cromwell in 1654, and repeated 
 it five years after, but still in vain. It was ordained, however, 
 that the East India Company was to get Bombay, not merely as 
 a factory, but as an Imperial possession direct from the Crown. 
 For in 1661 the Infanta Catherine of Portugal brought it in dower 
 to the English monarch, and in 1668 the Crown ceded it to the 
 East India Company. 
 
CHAPTEK II 
 AT SUEAT 
 
 AS, at the present day, the historic city of Surat is reduced to 
 a shadow of its former self, mainly owing to the ravages of 
 flood and fire, it is hard to realise that it was once the premier 
 city in Western India, and that all the English settlements were 
 subordinate to it in the early part of the seventeenth century. 
 And yet the fact is so. Not only was it the first and the most 
 important English factoiy in India, but, for several years, the 
 Imperial city of Bombay was actually governed by a President 
 and Council at Surat. It would be interesting to note the 
 vicissitudes of power through which the capitals of the three 
 presidencies in India have passed in the course of the history of 
 the British Empire in the East. Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras 
 have each in turn had the distinction of being the premier city 
 in India. But Surat may lay claim to a greater distinction still 
 — the distinction of being the most important and promising city 
 in India, when Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras were hidden in 
 three obscure corners of the Indian peninsula. 
 
 As British Empire in the East may be said to have taken root 
 in the historic soil of Surat, an attempt to trace the growth of this 
 city from early times will not be out of place here. The proverbial 
 fertility of the province of Gujarat aroused Akbar's cupidity, and 
 at the end of the sixteenth century it fell to his arms without 
 much opposition. For nearly two centuries after this Gujarat was 
 subject to the House of Tamerlaine. Akbar, however, concluded 
 a treaty with the Portuguese which made them virtual masters 
 of the Surat seas. It brought them a welcome accession of 
 strength, and they were keenly alive to the importance and value 
 of the seaport town at the mouth of the Tapti. But they were 
 
 BO 
 
60 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 not destined to enjoy their acquisition long, for the Dutch 
 harassed them a good deal, and the English filled their cup of 
 woe to the brim, till in January, 1615, was fought the memorable 
 naval battle at Swally,* when Captain Best routed the Portuguese 
 completely and laid the foundation of the British Empire in 
 Western India. 
 
 When the English landed at Surat they found much oppres- 
 sion and corruption rampant in the town. The Mogul Empire 
 was powerful and extensive, but the very extent and greatness 
 proved an obstacle in the way of good government. Surat was 
 governed by an officer appointed by the Emperor, and so long as 
 this officer could bribe the Court he could misrule and oppress 
 the ryot with impunity. Hamilton, speaking generally of the 
 laws prevailing in India at the time, says : 
 
 " Indeed, as to their laws, their Kings or Princes being all arbitrary, 
 the law is lodged in their breasts, who make and repeal [them] when 
 they please ; but for the ease of [the] populace, they have national 
 customs and courts to manage distributive justice, and that runs in a 
 pretty even channel, when it is not interrupted by the Prince's order or 
 stop'd by bribes to those governors or judges who have the distribution 
 of them." f 
 
 We have already cited Hamilton's mean opinion of the Moslem 
 method of administering justice, namely, that " they distribute 
 justice best to those that pay best for it." It is easy to picture 
 to ourselves the lawless and unsettled state of afi'airs which must 
 have presented itself to the English on their first establishing 
 a factory at Surat. There must have been some show of justice, 
 no doubt, but in reality it was often worse than rank injustice. 
 It is said of that able but cruel monarch, Mahmud Begarra, that 
 when sitting in judgment he used to condemn criminals to death 
 by the simple process of squirting at them the juice of the betel 
 he was in the habit of chewing, a sentence which was carried out 
 even before the juice had time to dry.J The English factors 
 had not to wait long before they had some idea of what Moslem 
 
 * Swally was the seaport of Surat, a village situated about twelve miles 
 west of the city. It was, at that time, an important port. Most of the 
 letters from the Surat Council were addressed from Swally Marine. 
 
 t Hamilton's A New Account of the East Indies, i. p. x. 
 
 \ Anderson's The English in Western India, p. 39. 
 
AT SURAT 61 
 
 justice at the time was like. On one occasion, says Anderson, 
 a party of dancing girls refused to appear before the Governor of 
 Surat, as they had been ill-requited on a former occasion. The 
 Governor administered to them justice (?) in right Moslem 
 fashion. They were dragged into his presence and beheaded in 
 sight of the company, which included several English factors. 
 The latter were struck dumb with horror, but the Governor 
 seemed to enjoy their discomfiture. Fryer is responsible for the 
 following instance of punishment, which shows the severity of a 
 sentence passed by the Mogul Governor. A goldsmith was 
 found guilty of coining copper rupees, and was made to atone 
 for the crime in the following manner: — 
 
 *' First, they shaved his head and beard ... then, putting a fool's cap 
 on his head, they sat him on an ass with his face to the tail which is led 
 by an Halencore (Halalcore ?), and one of the drums is beat before him, 
 which is an affront of the highest degree. . . . Being brought back to 
 prison, they cut off his hand, and let him lye during the Governor's 
 pleasure." 
 
 Instances like these must have considerably lowered the ideal 
 of justice among the English at Surat, who were men of 
 mediocre ability, and were possessed of rather elastic con- 
 sciences. They were themselves lawless, and the lawlessness 
 of the people they came in contact with could not have made 
 them more law-abiding. Honour was at a low ebb everywhere 
 and justice at a discount. Intemperance was rife, and the 
 wines drunk were extremely pungent. Akbar knew their failing, 
 for although the selling of wine was prohibited at Surat, he had 
 ordered a decree to be published permitting intoxicating spirits 
 to be sold to Europeans, because, as he shrewdly observed, 
 " they are born in the element of wine, as fish are produced in 
 that of water, and to prohibit them the use of it is to deprive 
 them of life." We wonder if the worthy factors took this as a 
 compliment ! 
 
 Ovington says that Surat was reckoned "the most fam'd 
 emporium of the Indian Empire." It had a large trade with 
 many towns in India and elsewhere, and was renowned for the 
 traffic of commodities throughout Asia. He also gives us an 
 insight into the internal administration of the place under the 
 
62 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Mogul Governor and his officers. There were, in fact, two 
 Governors, one of whom was called the Governor of the Castle, 
 " who is always confined a prisoner within its walls," and the 
 other was the Governor of the City, '* to whose management and 
 care is committed the trust of all civil afi'airs." ** He does not," 
 adds Ovington, " peremptorily arbitrate in cases of moment, but 
 when any matter of consequence is brought before him he seldom 
 determines it without the consultation and concurrence of other 
 ofl&cers of the city, the Cogy, the Vacanavish, and Catoual.''* 
 These were evidently the principal Mogul officers who looked 
 after the internal administration of the place. The Cogy, or 
 Kazi, was a person learned in the law, who acted as judge, and 
 was consulted in all civil matters concerning the affairs of the 
 city. The Vacanavish was a sort of public intelligencer who 
 kept the Court informed of all important occurrences in the 
 State. The Catoual, or Kotwal, was an officer who somewhat 
 resembled a justice of the peace. His business it was to 
 suppress all crimes and enormities in the city. The Kotwal's 
 office at the time was no sinecure, for, according to Ovington, he 
 was obliged to ride the streets at night, " attended with several 
 peons and souldiers arm'd with swords, lances, bows and arrows, 
 and some with a very dreadful weapon, a rod of iron about a 
 cubit's length, with a large ball of iron at the end, which is able 
 with ease to dash out the brains or break and shatter the bones 
 at once." There was another officer under the Great Mogul, 
 who, with the Kazi and the Kotwal, remains with us to-day. 
 This was the Foursdar, or Fojdar. What the Kotwal was to the 
 city, the Fojdar was to the country, for he used to look after the 
 highways and prevent the commission of thefts and robberies. 
 
 After this cursory glance at the administration of civil and 
 criminal justice at Surat under the Mogul officers, let us hasten 
 to the English house, or factory, which was just established 
 there. It must be noted that the first English factory in India 
 was at Bantam, and it was the factors at Bantam who first drew 
 the attention of the Company to the possibilities and prospects 
 of trade at Surat. Kerridge was the first factor who opened 
 trade with Surat in 1612, and became eventually the Chief at 
 Surat. According to Kaye, he seems to have been a man of 
 great integrity and ability — which cannot be said of many who 
 * Ovington's Voyage to Suratt, p. 228. 
 
AT SURAT 63 
 
 followed him. The history of the Surat factory in the first half 
 of the seventeenth century is more or less obscure. But there 
 still remain ample materials which are well authenticated. 
 Besides the Chief, or President, as he was afterwards styled, 
 there were several factors, mostly young and inexperienced men, 
 who looked after the business of the house. In obedience to the 
 letter and spirit of their mission, as well as to their natural 
 instincts, their chief concern was to increase the trade of the 
 Company. They left the conversion of the natives to the Portu- 
 guese, the acquisition of territory to the Dutch. And it is a 
 remarkable testimony to the character, resoluteness, and courage 
 of the Englishmen that, while proselytising zeal wrought the 
 ruin of the Portuguese, and the Dutch signally failed to acquire 
 a permanent footing in India, the British merchants gradually 
 built up an empire which excites the admiration of the world 
 to-day. The principal officers who supervised the factory at 
 Surat were four in number. There was first the "Accomptant," 
 then came the Warehouse-keeper, then the Purser Marine, and, 
 lastly, the Secretary. The last was perhaps the most important 
 officer, in some respects next only to the President. Fryer 
 sums up the Secretary's duties thus : 
 
 " He models all consultations, writes all letters, carries them to the 
 President and Council to be perused and signed. . . . The affairs of India 
 are solely under his regulation ; from him issue out all orders ; by him 
 all preferment is disposed, by which the Council are biassed by his 
 arbitrament." "^ 
 
 The factors were paid too little for the work they were called 
 upon to do. The President himself was paid the princely salary 
 of dG300 a year, with the permission, says Ovington, of free trade 
 in certain commodities, a permission which was extended to 
 other factors also. But this seems to be inconsistent with the 
 express provision in the early charters that the factors should 
 not engage in private trade. The danger of such a temptation 
 was foreseen even before the first East Indiaman set sail for 
 these shores. Indeed, the servants of the Company were 
 required to give security for their good faith, and undertook not 
 to engage in private trade. But there cannot be the least doubt 
 * Fryer's East Indies and Persia, p. 84. 
 
64 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 that the factors, from the President down to the youngest writer, 
 ignored this condition, and so long as a conspiracy of silence 
 was maintained all went well with them. But in 1634 the 
 Surat house appears to have heen divided against itself, for the 
 fraud was discovered, and the factors were called upon to give an 
 explanation. The only explanation that they could give was a 
 confession of their guilt, coupled with, we suppose, a solemn 
 undertaking not to repeat the offence. The authorities, however, 
 were at last constrained to raise the salaries of the factors, at 
 the suggestion of that far-sighted ambassador. Sir Thomas Koe, 
 which was conveniently ignored at the time. The President's 
 salary was fixed at £500 a year — Captain Jeremy Blackman 
 having been appointed President at Surat in 1650 on the higher 
 salary, *' as a compensation for not being allowed to engage in 
 private trade " — and the factors were also paid a little more, to 
 keep them out of the way of temptation. But in spite of these 
 expedients, warnings, and threats, the factors long continued to 
 derive large profits from private trade. Instances are on record 
 where, though the fixed salary of the factor did not amount to 
 even sSlOO, his annual income ran into four or five figures. 
 Occasionally windfalls came the way of the factors, and 
 materially strengthened their financial position. For instance, 
 early in the eighteenth century, the Surat factory having 
 received Rs. 9, 05, 000 by the payment of some debts which had 
 been long outstanding, it was ordered that 5 per cent, should be 
 presented to the Governor and 2 per cent, be divided amongst 
 the members of Council. We have seen that the President was 
 paid none too well for the high post he held — the highest, pro- 
 bably, in the gift of the Company at the time, at least in India 
 — still he managed to live and move about like a mighty Oriental 
 potentate. The factors, too, lived in a style which greatly 
 impressed the people. Here is a description given by Dr. Fryer 
 of the manner in which the President at Surat kept up the state 
 and dignity of his office : 
 
 " The President has a large Commission, and is Vice-Begis ; he has a 
 Council here also, and a guard when he walks or rides abroad. . . . He 
 has his chaplains, physicians, chyrurgeons, and domestics, his linguist 
 and mint-master. At meals he has his trumpets usher in his courses 
 and soft music at the table. If he move out of his chamber, the silver 
 staves wait on him; if downstairs, the guards receive him; if he go 
 
AT STJRAT 65 
 
 abroad, the Bandarines and Moors, under two standards, march before 
 him."* 
 
 The present salary of the Governor of Bombay runs into five 
 figures, but even he does not enjoy a tithe of the dignity which 
 the President at Surat claimed by virtue of his ofiice. We are 
 living in a prosaic age. Time seems to have worn away the 
 picturesqueness of those early days ! 
 
 It has been observed that the early founders of the Indian 
 Empire were, with few exceptions, a set of lawless men, 
 unprincipled and uneducated, with but a vague notion of justice 
 and little respect for law. But it should not be supposed that 
 the Company did nothing to bring home to the factors the 
 serious responsibilities of their charge. Owing to the long 
 distance between them, and a voyage which took months to 
 perform in those days, they were helpless in keeping the unruly 
 factors constantly under control. They tried their best to en- 
 force the observance of certain rules and regulations which 
 they had firamed for the conduct of their affairs in the East 
 Indies. Religion was not the strong point of the English 
 factors at Surat, and the Company were painfully conscious of 
 the fact. 
 
 "Lest all the care and instruction of a minister," writes Ovington, 
 *' might be inavailable for reclaiming the dissolute and refractory among 
 the English, the Company have interposed their own authority, and 
 publisht their orders and injunctions in these following words : ' The 
 Governor, Deputy, and Committees of the East India Company, having 
 been informed of the disorderly and unchristian conversation of some of 
 their factors and servants in the parts of India, tending to the dishonour 
 of God, the discredit of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
 shame and scandal of the Enghsh nation : And being desirous as much 
 as in them lies, for the future to prevent the like, and reduce all their 
 people in their several Factories and Colonies not only to a civil, but also 
 to a religious and pious comportment, that may render our nation 
 honourable, and the religion we profess amicable in the sight of those 
 heathens, among whom they reside: Have thought fit to require and 
 enjoin a strict observation of the ensuing rules and orders, to which they 
 do expect from all their factors and servants a due compliance.' " 
 
 Here follow certain rules enjoining a strict observance of the 
 Sabbath and of public and private prayers. But more interest- 
 * East Indies and Persia, p. 68. 
 
 5 
 
66 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 ing to us are tlie following rules, orders, and injunctions framed 
 by the Company and published under their authority : 
 
 "That the Agents and Chiefs in their several Factories take care to 
 prevent all profane swearing, and taking the name of God in vain by 
 cursed oaths ; all drunkenness and intemperance, all fornication and un- 
 cleanness, and that if any wiU not be reformed, and do not abstain from 
 these vices, but after admonition and reprehension, shall be found guilty 
 again, that then such punishment shall be inflicted on them, consistent 
 with the laws of God and this Kingdom, as the Agent and Council shall 
 find their crime to deserve, and that if after such punishment inflicted, 
 he or they will not amend, or be reformed, then the Agent is strictly 
 enjoined and required to send home for England by the next ships such 
 person or persons so unreclaimable, that they may not remain in India, 
 to the dishonour of God, the scandal of religion, the discredit of our 
 nation, and perverting of others."* 
 
 From the above quotation it will be seen how strict were the 
 injunctions, and how zealous were the Company for the honour 
 of God, the observance of religion, and the credit of their nation. 
 The Council at Surat, and also at Bombay and other places, 
 seem to have availed themselves freely of the option, or rather 
 the strict injunction, of sending home factors past reclaiming, 
 and the early records teem with instances of those who were 
 thus summarily sent back. As regards the religiousness of the 
 factors, Anderson says that where the execution of human laws 
 was so vague and uncertain, the milder influences of religion 
 were the more required. It is the common experience of 
 humanity that men think of their Creator most when they are 
 in difficulty, or when they are about to launch upon an enter- 
 prise. So it was with the English at Surat. Kerridge and his 
 companions seem to have been a pious community. The in- 
 mates of the factory regularly attended devotional services, and 
 there was always a chaplain at hand. Indeed, every Portuguese, 
 Dutch, and English vessel of large size had its minister on 
 board. The factors were too busy settling their own affairs 
 to think of the conversion of the natives. Not that the ques- 
 tion was regarded without some interest and hopefulness by 
 certain pious Christians. One of them, Joseph Salbank, im- 
 plored the Directors to send preachers and ministers who might 
 ** break unto the Factors the blessed manna of the Heavenly 
 * Ovington's Voyage to Suratt, p. 407. 
 
AT SURAT 67 
 
 Gospel." The natives had their own views on the subject. 
 They had already formed a mean estimate of Christianity — 
 which reflects no credit on the religion of the Europeans then 
 in India. It was not uncommon, says Anderson, to hear them 
 at Surat giving utterance to such remarks as: "Christian re- 
 ligion, devil religion; Christian much drunk; Christian much 
 do wrong, much beat, much abuse others." This sentence sums 
 up, though not without exaggeration, the history of Christianity 
 soon after the establishment of the English factory at Surat. 
 Even the little Christianity that was once observed at the 
 factory disappeared, as the factors settled down comfortably 
 in their house, after overcoming most of the difi&culties. They 
 thought less of their God, the prayers were practically forgotten, 
 and the devotional services on Sundays gave place to debauchery 
 and profanity. 
 
 Almost from the day when the English factory was estab- 
 lished at Surat, the Governor and other ofi&cers under the 
 Mogul had regarded the topeewallahs with peculiar jealousy, 
 and did all they could to make their lives miserable. "The 
 English had some just cause," says Ovington, "of murmuring 
 and complaint, from the treatment they had from the Mogul's 
 officers at Suratt, very different from what they might in reason 
 and equity expect." The firman from the Emperor, which 
 enabled the English to establish a house at Surat, had also 
 given them permission of free trade on the payment of 2J per 
 cent, customs duty on all goods imported and exported. But 
 the English had not been long in Surat when the Governor 
 raised the duty to 4 per cent. Indeed, the amount of duty 
 payable, and the goods on which it had to be paid, were arbi- 
 trarily fixed by the Governor. Ovington gives rather an amusing 
 instance of the unfair treatment to which the foreigners were 
 habitually subjected. 
 
 " The very plate gold buttons," he says, " which the Chief Factors 
 wore upon their cloaths, were demanded to be paid custom for, as often 
 as they cross'd the river of Suratt. This, to the Purser Marine particu- 
 larly, was insufferable, whose employment engages him frequently at 
 Sualy to which he must always pass the river ; inasmuch as in a short 
 time, the very intrinsick value of his gold buttons would be spent in 
 custom." * 
 
 * Ovington's Voyage to Suratt, p. 160. 
 
68 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Wonderful must have been the forbearance of the factors 
 under these trying circumstances. Coming from the land of 
 freedom and justice, and unaccustomed to such servility and 
 injustice, one cannot but admire the equability of temper 
 they showed in those days. They bore all the ajffronts and 
 insults for the honour of their masters (the Company) and repute 
 of their nation. They knew the weakness of their position, and 
 realised that any serious opposition might endanger the privileges 
 obtained with such difficulty. But even the patience of the 
 factors had a limit. From an entry in the Consultation in 
 Surat dated July 23, 1661, we find the President and Council 
 strongly protesting against "the intolerable injuries sustained by 
 us from time to time from the Governors of this towne." The 
 charges made out by the English against the Mogul's officers 
 may be briefly enumerated as follows: 
 
 " (a) Did violently assault us in the open street, to the endangering 
 of our lives, without any cause given in our peaceable passage to our 
 garden. 
 
 " (6) Did forceably halt on shoare the Honble Comp*^ boats and vessailes, 
 when their occations required them. 
 
 "(c) Did prohibit the Pr. to pass to the^Marine when the Comp*^ occa- 
 tions especially required his presence there. 
 
 " (d) Did detayne our horses denying us the use of them. 
 
 "(e) Did disgracefully and unjustly detaine in Custome Howse severall 
 goods belonging to the Honble Comp* contrary to our articles of Agree™* 
 and equited amongst merchants." * 
 
 But Mustapha Khan, the then Governor of Surat, was not 
 satisfied with the detention of horses and goods. He had the 
 audacity to trifle even with the persons of the factors them- 
 selves. For we find in the entry under the same date another 
 very serious charge, which is recorded as follows: 
 
 " Lastly. On the 17th cur'* did inhumanly, contrary to the law of 
 nations, confine us to our howse, block upp our gates, surrounded our 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 192. The execrable spelling employed in these 
 diaries shows how ill-educated and uncultured were the early founders of the 
 British Empire in India. But, in fairness to them, it must be pointed out 
 that the factors did not profess themselves to be learned either in the litera- 
 ture or law of their realm ; they were simple, unsophisticated traders, who 
 excelled in the counting-house, but cut a sorry figure in any other capacity. 
 
AT SURAT 69 
 
 howses with armed men, both day and night, and hath to this day 
 detained 42 persons of us, without any manner of sustenance." 
 
 And how did the factors avenge themselves for this inhuman 
 conduct? They bitterly resented these " unsufferable injuries," 
 bore them for the honour of their masters and repute of their 
 nation, and contented themselves hy merely sending a copy of 
 these charges to the Moslem Governor. No wonder that the 
 relations between the factors and the Mogul's officers at Surat 
 continued strained. We find this bitter complaint recorded in 
 the diary for 1662 : 
 
 " It hath been," runs the entry, "ye constant practice of the Governor 
 of this towne to abuse our Nation, whereof wee have been sensible in a 
 higher degree than any of our predecessor. Our last yeares imprison- 
 ment and restraynt from food, the attempt of our deathes with many 
 other sordid abuses, cryes vengance on these infidelles. And because our 
 complaynts at home for justice cannot be heard therefore are wee y® 
 scorne of those people, and o' privilledges and honour trampled imder by 
 force in y^ absence of o' shipping." ^' 
 
 But we have quoted enough to show that the establishment and 
 growth of the English factory at Surat was beset with diflBi- 
 culties which only British pluck and perseverance could have 
 overcome. 
 
 Let us now take a rapid glance at some of the diaries kept by 
 the Surat factors and the letters they wrote to their masters at 
 home or to their subordinates at Bombay and elsewhere, f It is 
 not the administrator or the lawyer, the politician or the his- 
 torian who speaks the loudest from these records of the past. 
 The voice of the trader runs predominant through almost all the 
 diaries and letters. They are full of calculations and computa- 
 tions made with the view of furthering the commercial interests 
 of the Company in the East Indies. We often find the President 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 203. 
 
 t The two vohimes of Mr. Forrest's invaluable Selections from the Letters, 
 Despatches, and other State Papers preserved in the Bombay Secretariat will 
 be our only source of information. The letters date back as far as 1630, but 
 there seems to be a gap of more than thirty years, for immediately after 
 the letter dated November 23, 1630, comes a postscript dated February 4, 
 1663. The Surat diaries in the first volume cover a period of more than a 
 century (1660-1781), with several intermittent gaps. 
 
70 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 and Council wrangling over the price of camphor or turmeric, 
 shell lack or cinnamon. We have culled the names of the 
 following mercantile commodities mentioned in a single letter : 
 
 "Lead, copper, broadcloth, corrall, allnm, brimstone, quicksilver, 
 vermelion, elephant's teeth, tynn, anchours, yellow amber, seedlack 
 and sticklack, tincall and coho seed, saltpetre and mirh, chints and 
 quilts, necanees and brawles, alloes sockratina and allocs hepatica or 
 gebelly." 
 
 He must be a wonderfully well-informed man of business who 
 can define and identify all these commercial commodities of a 
 bygone age. But there are several matters of great import 
 mixed up with "turmeric and seedlack." The factors were 
 then very hopeful about their connection with Persia, and were 
 also trying to create markets at Mocha, Bussora, and Acheen. 
 In the letter from which the names of the above-mentioned 
 goods have been selected there is reference made to the factories 
 of Agra and Ahmedabad, of Carwarr and Porquatt. The factors 
 also render thanks to their masters at home 
 
 " for your spirituall care of our soules in supplying us with a Minister, 
 hee hath now lived some monthes amongst us to om* great comfort, his 
 comportment being sober and becoming his function and call to divine 
 and holy orders that wee doe not att all question our future comfort and 
 happiness from his piety and soUid behaviour." * 
 
 Then there is reference to " Sevagy," "the grand rebell of 
 Deccan," who was then giving much trouble to the English. 
 In a letter dated 1663 they speak of the devastation of the city 
 of Surat by " Sevagy," whose 
 
 *• cruelty hath been so great in cutting off hands and heads, that the 
 terrour of his name is become so great to his people, yt even upon 
 every rumour of his coming, the people will bee apt to leave ye towne, 
 if ye King take not care to secure y^ with an army." f 
 
 * The minister was then paid the small salary of £50 a year and he had 
 to behave himself in order to earn gratuity. For in the account of salary due 
 to the servants of the Company in India we find this remark made against the 
 reverend gentleman : " Gratuity if found deserving." 
 
 t Forrest's Selections, i. p. 14. 
 
AT SURAT 71 
 
 The Company's account-books at Surat were evidently not kept 
 in a regular and proper manner, for we find John Goodier 
 humbly desiring his masters 
 
 " would please to consider his great paines, having laboured more extra- 
 ordinaryly in the setling and stating ye accot** w''^ were both erronious 
 and falce, that the confusednesse of them did constraigne him to goe 
 back to Anno 1658," &c. 
 
 Master John Goodier thought this too good an opportunity to 
 miss, and persuaded the President and Council to recommend 
 him to a higher salary " for his encouradgment to goe on chear- 
 fully and honnestly in your businesse." There is yet another 
 paragraph in this long letter which deserves to be quoted, for it 
 refers to a remarkable Englishman, about whom we shall have to 
 speak more fully hereafter. 
 
 " In the next place," they write, " Gerard Aungier is yor humble 
 supplyant that you would please to consider him in his gallery, as his 
 quality doth merritt, and ye place wherin hee ojfficiate as warehouse- 
 keeper, that hee may receive the same incouragemt from you as you 
 have thought good to allow others y* have serv'd you in his quality, and 
 hee promised none shall exceed him in duty and ffaythfuU service." * 
 
 Let it be said to the credit of the Company that not only did 
 they "consider him in his sallery," but soon gave him the 
 highest post in the country, viz., that of the President of the 
 Surat factory and Governor of the town and island of Bombay. 
 Although the factors were not too particular in the observance 
 of rules and regulations laid down by the Company for the con- 
 duct of their affairs, private and public, they did not hesitate to 
 punish those who were either wilfully neglectful of their duties 
 or disobedient to the orders of their superiors. In the diary for 
 1660 we find the instance of one Matthewe Gray, who was dis- 
 missed the Company's service and sent home for disobedience 
 and disrespect. Gray seems to have wilfully absented himself 
 from his post on suspicion that he was about to be sent to 
 Persia, where he did not care to go, 
 
 " asserting his own abihtyes, to be more and bett' than any in the 
 ffactorye to serve as Secretary here, and for no other reason, he would 
 not goe." 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 28. 
 
72 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Gray having — so runs the entry — 
 
 "ever since behaved himself proudly and scornefully towards us the 
 said Presid* and Councell, wee therefore for the reasons afores^ have 
 discarded him from the place of Secretary, and if he continue refractorye, 
 we shall also the ComP" service." -i" 
 
 And as Matthewe Gray continued to be refractory, he was packed 
 off home to repent of his disobedience at leisure. One of the 
 earliest records of a murder and the proceedings consequent 
 thereon is to be found in the diary dated April 19, 1661. This 
 entry is in the form of a protest made by the President and 
 Council of Surat on behalf of the East India Company against 
 the Director and Council of the Dutch East India Company 
 concerning the murder of two Englishmen, Joseph Goodson and 
 John Jones, alleged to have been killed by some Dutchmen 
 somewhere near Surat. It seems that a party of four English- 
 men went into a punch -house kept by a Parsee and there 
 assaulted — probably during a drunken brawl — some Dutchmen 
 with sticks, '*but the Dutch," runs the entry, "on the con- 
 trary opposed them with swordes drawne in soe much that basely, 
 malitiously, cowardly and unworthily they murdered 2 of the 
 aforesaid 4 Englishmen." The English lost no time in seeking 
 redress, but the Hollanders prevaricated and even tried to justify 
 the murders. The former had the depositions of the two 
 Englishmen who escaped unhurt recorded and sent copies 
 thereof to the Dutch. This, however, had no effect on the 
 latter, for by way of reply they put the English certain questions, 
 
 "the answeare being accordingly grounded uppon the examinations 
 given in and taken from the prementioned two Englishmen surviving, 
 but nothing of any thinge putt by them as Administrt'^ of Justice, but 
 defendors of the murderers, putting answeare of words into their mouthes 
 by their manner of questioning." 
 
 And this is how the President and Council conclude their firm 
 protest : 
 
 "Wee conclude this our protest w*^ ye clearing ourselves of the 
 blood of any Dutchman whatsoever that may happen to be spilt, and 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 185. 
 
AT SURAT 73 
 
 y* w* soever dammage or dammages, abuses or affrontes, arise or pro- 
 ceed for and by reason of ye prementioned . . . cause given, wee declare 
 in the presence of God and ye whole world that neither ourselves or any 
 of our nation be guilty thereof, wee having done our dutyes to demand 
 and to give reasons why justice ought to be executed, you the 
 Commandore and Councell being wholy and solely guilty of all the pre- 
 mentioned damadges &c, y' may happen, and consequently of the persons 
 murdered, breach of correspondence between both nations and ourselves 
 for the reasons rehearsed, clear as wee make no doubt but will appear to 
 all ye world." * 
 
 The depositions of the two Englishmen, Robert Hatch and 
 Edmund Greenleafe, must be regarded as highly interesting 
 documents, for they are probably the earliest records of their 
 kind. They are both attested by credible witnesses, the attes- 
 tation on the deposition of the former running as follows : 
 
 " That the afores** Kobert Hatch doth attest the truth of ye afores"* 
 premises and every part thereof, on his corporall oath, is witnessed by 
 us whose names are subscribed, 
 
 "Wm. Jesson. 
 
 "EOGBR MiDDLETON. 
 "KOBERT SaINTHILL. 
 
 " Ffran. Anderson, Secretary. 
 " SwaUy Marine, 9th Aprill, 1661." 
 
 The attestation of Muckadam Moncka Persee, the keeper of the 
 punch-house where the affray took place, has also an interest all 
 its own and is worth quoting in full : 
 
 " Into my house at Morah there came in first some Dutchmen, and 
 about one quarter of an houre after, there came in also some English. 
 The EngUsh with stickes stroke the Dutch, but the Dutch did not give 
 backe, and after three or foure blowes there lying a sworde on the cotte, 
 whereon the Dutch satt, they drewe them, and killed 2 Englishmen, and 
 then fleed. 
 
 " Subscribed, 
 
 " MONKA. 
 
 " That Muckadam Monka doth attest the premises above written, is 
 witnessed by us, 
 
 " Droldas. 
 
 " CULLIAN. 
 
 " Naunboy. 
 " Jemposiex." 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 189. 
 
74 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 It may be noticed that whereas the depositions of the tvo 
 Englishmen were attested by four European witnesses, that 
 of the Parsee was attested by four native witnesses. The 
 Parsee's deposition was naturally relied upon by the Dutch, 
 particularly as he said that ''the Dutch did not give backe." 
 The English equally naturally refused to believe Muckadam 
 Monka, and even accused the Dutch of " willyfying our nation 
 in preferring the word of a Persee and heathen before that of 
 two Christians." 
 
 It is interesting to observe that the factors at Surat all lived 
 and messed together in one house; in fact, they were like 
 members of one family. But, as it sometimes happens in the 
 best regulated families, there were quarrels and dissensions 
 amongst them. We find that in 1661 Henry Gary, the Chief 
 in Acheen (who subsequently became the Deputy Governor of 
 Bombay), was charged with certain offences by John Wid- 
 drington, Benjamin Clopton, and John Atkins, which appeared 
 to the President and Council so criminal that they called upon 
 Gary to vindicate himself. As his written statement was not 
 found fully satisfactory 
 
 " wee summon'd his appearance before us, and examined him on each 
 Article of his said charge, who gave us ample and satisfactory replyes, 
 making his innocency appear the more plaine unto us by severall 
 bookes of accompts, attestations and other papers w"** he brought from 
 Acheen." 
 
 The President did not drop the matter at this stage. Actuated 
 by a sense of the wrong done to his innocent colleague, he 
 called upon the accusers to bring further proofs of their charge, 
 
 " for it cannot enter into us that their malice or impudence should swell 
 to the accumulating so many aspersions, even to the ruine of a person of 
 his quality ; we doe therefore leave the conclusion of this business untill 
 their arrivall, in the meane tyme appointing Mr. Gary to the manage- 
 ment of the Hon'ble Comp* afifaires in degree to his quality." * 
 
 John Widdrington and his companions evidently found them- 
 selves in a fix, for they did not bring forward further proofs, 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 198. 
 
AT SURAT 75 
 
 though more than once summoned, and we find the following 
 entry made in the diarj for May 20, 1662 : 
 
 " Wee see no reason Mr. Garyes innocense appearing by his vindica- 
 tion (and much more by their refusall to come hither) why hee should 
 longer lie under a suspition, but rather be preferred according to his 
 abilityes, w'=^ at this meeting we have regard unto by conferring on him 
 the place and dignity of one of the Councell of India," &c. * 
 
 It is due to the President and Council of the Surat factory 
 to add that in dealing with this delicate matter they did justice 
 to the innocent factor with an impartiality which would not 
 have been excelled even in these days, though one would 
 have liked to know if the accusers were made to atone for the 
 malice and impudence they showed in " accumulating so many 
 aspersions." 
 
 Many of the early diaries contain instructions embodied in 
 the commissions which the President and Council gave to com- 
 manders of vessels leaving Swally Hole for another port. " Wee 
 having had experience of your abilitye," runs an entry, '* do now 
 appoint and confirme you Master of the Swally Pinnace," &c. 
 The instructions were explicit and were rigidly enforced. They 
 always seem to anticipate the death of the commander, for " in 
 
 case of mortalitye, which God forbid, wee enorder Mr. to 
 
 succeed in command, and that ye shippes Company give obser- 
 vance accordingly, which with wishes for a speedy and safe 
 voyadge periods our desires at this tyme." The President 
 and Council would not tolerate any deviation from the rules 
 laid down for the captains in charge of the Company's ships. 
 One of them seems to have been remiss in his duties, and 
 this is how Matthew Andrewes and John Lambton took notice 
 of his remissness : 
 
 "The slighting and dispising of the P". orders, and abuse in dis- 
 honouring a person of his quality, in wearing his fiflag in disrespect to 
 the Company, when they have two shippes of their owne in the road, 
 refusing to strike it although so commaunded by the President, and when 
 the P^ was on board the Comp*^ shipp his not lowering his iSag, nor 
 saluting him with a gunn, and putting out a piece of a torne ancient, are 
 things not unregarded even by the natives here, and very much con- 
 ducing to the disrepute of the Company, whom hee represents." f 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 201. t ^^^- 
 
76 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 In those days, and for a considerable time after, the factors 
 were obliged to do most of their business through native brokers. 
 They were generally Hindus, though Parsees seem to have been 
 sometimes employed. These served their masters well — but 
 often served their own interests better. Taking advantage of 
 the factors' ignorance of native languages and of their want 
 of experience in Indian trade, the brokers did not hesitate to 
 swindle the English. They also used to set the factors and the 
 Mogul's officers by the ear by representing the same matter to 
 them in different lights. The English were conscious of their 
 helplessness, and resigned themselves to the vagaries and bad 
 faith of their brokers. But sometimes the worm turned. For 
 instance, in the diary for 1661, we find the President and 
 Council referring to the villainies of Tockersee, which were so 
 reprehensible " y*long since wee tourned him out of the Hon'ble 
 Comp^^ Employ""* and then sent for him to repaire hether y* hee 
 might have justice done him, as on ye side also of the Hon'ble 
 Company." But Master Tockersee did not show his face 
 again — and very wisely too. In his place another broker was 
 sent for, named Suntockee Vetcher, '* having had experience of 
 his abilityes, both here and there also, as good security for his 
 truth, therefore shall recommend him unto you for his encourage- 
 ment." * 
 
 * In a volume recently published by the Hakluyt Society there is, among 
 other manuscript documents, a letter written by a factor named Master, 
 from which it appears that in 1663 one Bhimji Parakh was the Company's 
 broker at Surat, who had a brother named CuUian Parakh. Both these 
 Banias were exceedingly shrewd and subtle, particularly CuUian Parakh, and 
 the following story is related by Master of his outwitting the lawyers on one 
 occasion. We reproduce the story as given in the Bombay Gazette for 
 August 4, 1906: "There was, about the year 1663, as I remember, a com- 
 mission sent out of the Court of Chancery for examination of witnesses in 
 India upon a suit of law between Sir George Oxenden and others, wherein 
 some of the Banians could give good evidence, wherefore, when the Com- 
 mission came to be exercised, the Banians were produced to give in their 
 evidence, and thereupon the parties whom their evidence would have 
 prejudiced put cross-interrogatories to them to invalid their evidence 
 according to the laws in England, little thinking the Banians were so little 
 confined in their opinions as they are, for they asked them whether they 
 believed in God and His Son Jesus Christ, and whether they believed the 
 Holy Gospel of our Saviour Jesus Christ to be true, to all which they pre- 
 sently answered they did believe, and said there was no difference between the 
 English religion and theirs, only the English killed cows and ate flesh, which 
 they did not do. They were also asked whether they would swear, according 
 
AT SURAT 77 
 
 The factors were, however, kind masters, and did not neglect 
 their native servants in times of trouble. This is abundantly 
 made clear by a sympathetic entry in the diary dated 
 August 6, 1662 : 
 
 " At the humble request of poore Tulsidas, a ffaithful and industrious 
 servant of the Hon'ble Companyes, the President conveened his Councell, 
 presented them with his (indeed) deplorable condition. That having 
 lived many years in great repute, abounding w*^ riches, much respected 
 for his ffaithful dealing, hee is reduced now (by reason of the great 
 debts oweing unto him by some of our Nation) to so great povertie, his 
 condition so meane, y* the small proffit hee reaped by his employm* in 
 the Hon'ble Companyes service (w'^'^ is his whole dependance) is not 
 sufficient for the subsistance of his ffamily. Wee being verry sensible 
 of the truth hereof, called to memory y* many years since, when he was 
 in a flourishing condicion, he had an annuity of 500 Mamodoes * allowed 
 bun by the Company, w^^ we doe now againe revive, not doubting our 
 Masters approbation thereof, since 'tis great charity, and no less then 
 his contynnuall attendance on the Companyes affaires merritts." f 
 
 It has been observed above, on the authority of Kaye and 
 other writers, that the administration of civil affairs was 
 entirely in the hands of the President, though he was assisted 
 by his Council. Perhaps the most difficult question which the 
 President was then called upon to decide was as regards the 
 administration of the estate of a deceased person, as is evident 
 from a letter written by the President to the Company at home, 
 dated April 4, 1664. About this time Mr. John Lambton (who 
 was apparently Second in Council at the time) seems to have 
 passed away, leaving some property behind him. As soon as the 
 President (Sir George Oxenden) was made aware of this sad 
 
 to their custom, by laying their hands on a cow or a calf's head, that they did 
 believe in God and Jesus Christ and His Gospel and so all the articles of the 
 Apostles' Creed, to which they said they would do ; for they said their 
 religion taught them that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and they believed 
 the English religion to be true. This, Sir, I say passed here [at Surat] in 
 the year 1663, the Banians being very eminent and intelligent persons, by 
 name Bimgee Barrack, the Honourable Company's Broker, and his brother, 
 Cullian Barrack." 
 
 * "Mamoodoes," says Fryer, "are current only in Surat and parts 
 adjacent ; they are worth somewhat less than an English shilling, but are so 
 accounted in the Company's books ; and among merchants in the country, 
 2^ mamoodoes is reckoned a rupee." — Fryer's East Indies and Persia^ p. 205. 
 
 t Forrest's Selections, i. p. 204. 
 
78 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 event, he summoned the two brothers of the deceased, and in 
 their presence locked and sealed up the doors of his chamber. 
 They were then called upon to make good their claims to the 
 property, which, having been carefully scrutinised, were duly 
 admitted. The President took all possible care to administer 
 the property of the deceased John Lambton with strict 
 impartiality, but, notwithstanding this, some unworthy person 
 misrepresented the facts at home and cast various aspersions on 
 his integrity. The mother of the deceased. Lady Lambton, 
 thereupon petitioned the King, at whose direction the Company 
 called upon the President for an explanation. Hence the letter 
 referred to above. Sir George Oxenden fully justified his 
 conduct and made a defence which would have done credit to 
 an able lawyer. He repudiated the charges brought by Lady 
 Lambton, at the instigation of a mischiefmaker, and added that 
 in order to see fair dealing on all sides, 
 
 " there hath been appointed Mr. Gerald Aungier and Mr. Charles 
 Smeaton for the perfecting the accot^ which were indeed in peece 
 meales, and broken loose papers, hard to be understood, and that your 
 Presid' (as the Lady pretends) hath not medled with them, or the estate 
 of her Sonne John," &c.*j 
 
 This letter shows how easy it was to throw dust in the eyes 
 of the authorities at home and to bring discredit on persons 
 whose integrity was above suspicion. 
 
 Long as is the list of Presidents of the Surat factory, begin- 
 ning with Kerridge in 1612 and ending in 1686, when the seat 
 of government was removed from Surat to Bombay, it can 
 hardly be said to be one deserving of permanent record. As 
 Anderson observes, there is little to admire in the pioneers of 
 the British Empire in the East ; indeed, some of them were 
 " amongst the meanest of mankind." And yet there were some 
 among them who may be ranked with the noblest. There 
 were even then men who knew the right and did it, " men who 
 kept alive the spirit of just acts, the spirit of forbearance and 
 toleration, and above all the spirit of liberty and freedom 
 inherited from their ancestors." They were true to their 
 mission, the mission of trade, but they were also true to the 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 40. 
 
AT SURAT 79 
 
 mission of justice, liberty and forbearance — a mission which has 
 enabled England to assert her powerful influence in every part 
 of the world. The voice of the trader was the loudest, but it 
 did not hush the voice of the just administrator or the wise 
 ruler. In warehouses of turmeric and seedlack there were stored 
 also the fruits of wisdom and uprightness. There were some 
 men even then who held the scales of justice as evenly and 
 efficiently as the scales in which they weighed out pepper and 
 spices. We shall pick out only two such men, Sir George 
 Oxenden and Gerald Aungier. It may be asked why only these 
 two Presidents of the Surat factory are assigned a place in this 
 account and what part they played in the development of early 
 judicial institutions in the Western Presidency. In the first 
 place, as has been observed, a President in those days was much 
 more than even the Governor of Bombay at the present day. 
 He was Judge, Commander-in-Chief, and several other func- 
 tionaries by virtue of his office. As Judge, he administered 
 civil justice absolutely, and in criminal matters he had 
 important powers vested in him. As Mill says, the powers 
 exercised by the President included those which authorised him 
 to seize his countrymen, even those who were not in the service 
 of the Company, to keep them in confinement and send them to 
 England, " an extent of authority which amounted to confisca- 
 tion of goods, to imprisonment, and what to a European consti- 
 tution is the natural efi'ect of any long confinement under an 
 Indian climate — actual death."* Besides these general reasons, 
 there are others which more particularly claim a little 
 space here for the record of the lives and careers of these men. 
 For from Oxenden and Aungier may be said to have flowed 
 the fountain of justice in Bombay, which has to-day grown 
 into a mighty river. They, and more particularly Aungier, 
 helped to build up the first Courts of Judicature in this city, 
 at which the '* customers " presided and administered justice to 
 its ten thousand inhabitants. They may therefore justly claim 
 to be the pioneers of judicial administration in Bombay, and, as 
 such, deserve from us more than a passing notice. In this 
 chapter we shall confine ourselves to a brief sketch of Sir 
 George Oxenden' s career, as Gerald Aungier, though without 
 a title, deserves a chapter all to himself. 
 
 * Mill's History of India, iii. p. 13. 
 
80 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 George Oxenden, third son of Sir James Oxenden, of Dene, 
 was born in 1620, in Kent. Of his early years very little is 
 known, except that he seems to have spent his youth in India 
 and the greater part of it at Surat. He must have come out as 
 a servant of the East India Company at an early age, and, 
 like other factors, must have gone through the period of 
 apprenticeship as usual, attaining the highest post step 
 by step. It was as late as 1662 that Oxenden was appointed 
 Chief of the Surat factory, a post he held with great ability 
 till the end. A man of considerable ability and high char- 
 acter, he seems to have conducted the affairs of the Com- 
 pany to the entire satisfaction of his masters. But Oxenden's 
 path in India was not strewn with roses. He did not pass his 
 days in luxury and ease. Those were trying times indeed, 
 when the Chief of the factory had to contend against almost 
 insuperable difficulties. He had to nurse the whims of an 
 arbitrary Mogul Governor, and try to make peace with the 
 Portuguese on the one hand and the Dutch on the other. 
 Then there were his own countrymen, unprincipled and unruly 
 many of them, who were a constant source of anxiety. Add to 
 this the depredations of that " grand rebell of the Dekkan, 
 Sevagy," and we can have some idea of the troubles which 
 beset Oxenden. Born of a fighting family, one of his ancestors 
 having held high command at the battle of Poictiers in 1356, 
 Oxenden probably welcomed the advent at Surat of Sivaji, for 
 whom he proved more than a match. In the long letter the 
 President and Council wrote to the Company on January 28, 
 1663,* there are several interesting passages describing the 
 terror struck in the hearts of the Mogul's officers by this 
 intrepid Mahratta warrior. The Governor of Surat and his 
 underlings delighted in harassing the English because the 
 latter refrained from taking up arms against them. But no 
 sooner did Sivaji make his appearance at Surat than these 
 Moslem heroes took to their heels. " This suddaine surprise," 
 wrote Oxenden, " strucke such a terrour into all, both men, 
 women and children, that this Governor and ye rest of the 
 King's Ministers and eminent merchants betook themselves to 
 ye Castle." The brave factors at Surat behaved themselves 
 very differently. Men and ships were at once gathered together, 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 14. 
 
AT SURAT 81 
 
 "and having drawne y™ out in ranke and file with drum and 
 trumpett, yo'" Presid* in the head marcht through ye body of ye 
 towne to ye Greene before ye Castle, where ye Governour was 
 ready to pop in upon the first notice of their approach." Sivaji 
 at first pretended to seek the friendship of the English, but the 
 astute President was quick enough to see through his object. 
 Oxenden openly avowed him " a rebelle and a thiefe," and 
 challenged him to fight. Enraged at this, Sivaji did all in his 
 power to ruin the city of Surat, burnt many of the houses, and 
 but for the gallant defence of Oxenden and his crew, would have 
 razed the town to the ground. He even caught hold of one 
 Anthony Smith, an Englishman, whom he imprisoned and 
 would not release without a substantial ransom. Poor Smith 
 nearly lost his head, for, if the ransom was not forthcoming, 
 Sivaji used to demand the hand or the head, according to the 
 quality of his victim. He seems to have sent an ultimatum to 
 Oxenden that if he did not surrender he would raze the factory 
 to the ground and spare not a soul. The President's reply was 
 worthy of a true warrior and loyal servant of the Company. 
 " We replyed," he wrote to his masters, " wee were here on 
 purpose to maintaine your house to ye death of ye last man, and 
 therefore not to delay his coming upon us." But Sivaji did 
 delay his coming upon the English, and dared not measure arms 
 with them. The Mogul Governor of Surat was so well pleased 
 with the assistance rendered by Oxenden that he insisted upon 
 presenting him with a vest and a horse, and would have girt a 
 sword about him. Oxenden's reply is again characteristic of the 
 man. " But yo"^ Presid* told him," runs the letter, " these were 
 things becoming a souldier, but wee were merchants, and expected 
 favour from ye King in our trade." Not that he was not a 
 soldier. He came of a fighting stock, and could fight as well 
 as any man in the Surat factory. But even in the hour of 
 his victory he forgot self and thought only of his mission. The 
 Great Mogul was so favourably impressed with the bravery of 
 the English and the leadership of their Chief that, besides ofier- 
 ing Oxenden a serpaio (a robe of honour from head to foot), he 
 gave them certain concessions, one of which was that the whole 
 customs of the merchants were to be remitted for one entire 
 year. While informing his masters of the abatement of customs 
 to 2^ per cent., Oxenden significantly added, *' And this when 
 
 6 
 
82 BOMBAY IN THE MAKINa 
 
 by our endeavours wee shall effect, wee shall hope for a suitable 
 reward from you our masters, whilst the thing it selfe shall 
 remaine as a lasting memoriall of our active willingnesse to 
 promote your interest." The grateful masters, says Fryer,* in 
 token of the high sense they had of his valour, presented him 
 with a gold medal, with the device Non minor est virtus quam 
 queer ere parta tueri. 
 
 The early factors at Surat were God-fearing men, men who 
 had the name of God on their lips before undertaking any serious 
 task and strove to conform themselves to the Ten Command- 
 ments. But no factor feared God more than Oxenden. He 
 seems to have been a deeply religious man, and ever since he 
 was placed in command at Surat it was his aim to infuse the 
 spirit of his Master into all he came in contact with. Almost 
 his first concern after becoming the Chief of Surat was to set 
 apart a place of worship and adorn it decently, with a library 
 containing several volumes of the Holy Bible in different 
 languages. He wrote to his masters at home 
 
 "to send us out a large table in a frame, gilded and handsomely 
 adorned with Moses and Aaron, holding the two tables containing the 
 ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer and the Creed, written in letters 
 of gould, and in ye midst at ye topp in triangles, Gods name writt in as 
 many of these easterne Languages as Arabic, Persian, &c., as can be 
 procured." f 
 
 Oxenden may be said to be one of the founders of the 
 Bombay Cathedral. At any rate, the outline upon which the 
 structure was raised was the design of this remarkable man. 
 *' This was the man," enthusiastically observes James Douglas, 
 who knew Bombay as no other man of his time, or perhaps of 
 any time, did — 
 
 " whose wisdom and prescience grasped the rehgious requirements of 
 the future of his Church in Bombay ; for it may be said with truth that 
 the conception of the seventeenth century does no disgrace whatever 
 to the architectural ideas or exigencies of the nineteenth." | 
 
 * East Indies and Persia, p. 87. 
 
 t Forrest's Selections, i. p. 31. 
 
 I Bombay and Western India, by James Douglas, ii. p. 243. 
 
AT SURAT 83 
 
 Unfortunately, Oxenden did not live to see the completion 
 of the edifice, which was raised by subscriptions chiefly with 
 the help of the Rev. Mr. Cobbe, the Chaplain, Aislabie 
 (Governor, 1708-1715) and Boone (Governor, 1716-1720). 
 The Cathedral would have remained only on paper after 
 the death of Oxenden but for the active support of these 
 men. For '^ when Sir George died," writes Hamilton, " Piety 
 grew sick, and the building of Churches was grown unfashion- 
 able." * But the spirit of George Oxenden still hovered over 
 the site where the Cathedral was finally erected, f 
 
 The presidentship of Oxenden was signalised by an event 
 which must be recorded as the most important in the early 
 history of Bombay. Indeed, Bombay may be said to have 
 come into existence, at least as a possession of the English 
 Crown, with the occurrence of that event. This was the 
 marriage of the Infanta of Portugal with Charles II. in 1661, 
 the dowry she brought to her sovereign lord including the 
 port and island of Bombay. Oxenden was not then the Chief of 
 the Surat factory; he was probably in England at the time, for 
 we find that he was knighted at Whitehall on November 24, 
 1661.1 We shall deal with the acquisition of Bombay as a 
 possession of the Crown and the events immediately following it 
 in some detail in the next chapter. It may only be noted here 
 that with its acquisition the position of the Company became 
 rather peculiar. For although Bombay lay within the Company's 
 territories, they had no jurisdiction over it. But the Court of 
 Directors in March, 1661, resolved to restore their trade in the 
 East Indies, and desired to make the acquisition of Bombay 
 by the Crown serve their own interests. Accordingly, they 
 appointed, on March 19, 1662, § Sir George Oxenden to the post 
 
 * Hamilton's A New Account of tJie East Indies^ i. p. 187. 
 
 t Speaking of this Cathedral Mr. Edwardes writes: "The oldest relic of 
 the early British period, yet in existence, is the ruined Court House ; next in 
 point of age, if we exclude the remains of the fortifications, is the Cathedral. 
 They seem to us to sjTiibolise the two strongest bulwarks of our dominion in 
 India — justice for all men, and the clemency that cometh of true Christianity. " 
 — Rise of Bombay, p. 139. 
 
 \ Dictionary of National Biography, xliii. p. 9. 
 
 § Douglas says Oxenden was appointed Chief of the Surat factory on 
 September 18, 1662. This date probably refers to his actually taking over 
 the reins of government at Surat, the difference of six months being accounted 
 for by the time occupied by the voyage in those days. 
 
84 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 of President and Chief Director of all their affairs "at Surat, and 
 all other their factories in the north parts of India, from Zeilon 
 to the Eed Sea." * On his arrival in India, Oxenden found the 
 position of the Company very critical. Its trade was confined 
 to the presidencies of Surat and Fort St. George and to the 
 factory at Bantam. France and Holland conspired to arrest the 
 growth of the Company's trade, in which conspiracy even the 
 Mogul's officers seem to have joined. The affairs in the island 
 of Bombay were also in a very unsettled state. Oxenden held 
 out for some years against heavy odds. At last the Crown was 
 obliged to cede Bombay to the Company in March, 1667, and 
 the latter commissioned Oxenden to take possession of the 
 island of Bombay. In August following the Court of Directors 
 appointed him Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bombay, 
 with power to nominate a Deputy-Governor to reside on the 
 island, the latter being placed under the control of the President 
 and Council at Surat. Speaking of Bombay at this period, 
 Ovington says : 
 
 "In this one of the Company's Factors always resides, who is 
 appointed Governour to inspect and manage the affairs of the Island ; and 
 who is vested with an authority in Civil as well as Military matters, to 
 see that the several Companies of soldiers which are here, as well as 
 Factors and Merchants, attend their various stations, and their respec- 
 tive charge." f 
 
 On September 21, 1667, the island was formally made over 
 to the new Governor, in which year also Oxenden, who was 
 then a knight, was created a baronet, probably in token of the 
 distinction he had received as the first Governor of Bombay. 
 But though the first Governor under the Company's rule, he 
 does not seem to have resided for any length of time in Bombay. 
 Probably he preferred to stay at Surat, where he had passed the 
 best part of his life, and which was then the premier presidency 
 in India. Hamilton says the President was obliged to stay at 
 the Surat factory, to which, in 1657, all the other presidencies 
 and factories in the East Indies were made subordinate. On 
 the receipt of the Royal Charter transferring Bombay to the 
 
 * Dictionary of National Biography, xliii. p. 10. 
 t Ovington's Voyage to Suratt, p. 147. 
 
AT SURAT 85 
 
 East India Company, Oxenden felt the great delicacy and 
 difficulty of his task. The Crown had already appointed a 
 Governor in Bombay to look after its affairs, and Oxenden feared 
 lest these royal officers might not be disposed to acknowledge 
 the authority of a few mercantile agents to receive the transfer 
 of the island on behalf of the Company. He sent Messrs. 
 Goodyer, Master and Cotes to settle all affairs peaceably, 
 which they did in September, 1668. Next year the President 
 himself visited the island, and appointed five commissioners to 
 manage its affairs. It was during this historic visit, all too brief, 
 that Oxenden had certain rules published in Bombay for a more 
 efficient management of its affairs, and framed a set of regula- 
 tions arranging and completing codes for the civil and military 
 administration of the island. Beyond the fact of their publica- 
 tion, nothing is known about either their contents or nature. 
 But it does not seem improbable that they included the estab- 
 lishment of a judicial tribunal, called for by the advent of the 
 English and the influx of the natives from the neighbourhood. 
 Even at this early stage in the history of Bombay we read of 
 many and bitter disputes regarding the possession of land, the 
 greater part of which was vested in the Portuguese settlers. 
 The subject of the claims of the Portuguese inhabitants to lands 
 was discussed by the Commissioners, and in order to facilitate 
 the discussion the services of one Ramsimar (Ramchandra 
 Shenvi), a Portuguese scrivan, " so necessary for his knowledge 
 of all the affairs of the island by his so-long residence here," 
 were engaged, and another Portuguese resident, Simao Serrao, 
 "well read in the civil and imperial laws," also helped the 
 English in discovering their just rights and privileges. 
 
 Oxenden died at Surat on July 14, 1669, soon after his 
 return from Bombay, when he was not quite fifty. An early 
 chronicle thus sums up the life and life-work of this remarkable 
 Englishman : 
 
 " A man whose probity and talents had enabled the Presidency (of 
 Surat) to preserve the Company's rights and commerce, and who, to the 
 esteem of their servants, united the respect of the Dutch and French, as 
 well as of the native government and merchants of Surat." 
 
 Had he been spared a few years longer, he would have 
 
S6 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 left Bombay more settled and prosperous. As it was, anarchy 
 set in soon after he passed away. But his mantle fell on no 
 unworthy shoulders. Gerald Aungier filled the vacant masnad, 
 both at Surat and in Bombay, and it may be truly said that 
 there are few pages in the history of Bombay which contain a 
 finer record than those which speak of Aungier and his work. 
 Two monuments, one in England, the other in India, are still 
 extant, preserving the memory of George Oxenden. There is 
 a portrait at Broome's Park, Kent, the seat of the Oxendens 
 firom the seventeenth century, representing our hero in a long 
 flowing white wig and a blue coat with the Company's brass 
 buttons, and a baton in his hand, with an Indian scene in the 
 background. The monument in India is more enduring and 
 stately. His grateful masters would not let him lie under a 
 simple, unadorned tomb. Speaking of some of the magnificent 
 tombs of the European settlers at Surat, Ovington says : " The 
 two most celebrated Fabricks among the English, set off with 
 stately Towers and Minorets, are that which was erected for Sir 
 John [George ?] Oxonton, and the other for the renowned and 
 Honourable President Aungers [Aungier]." * On this mauso- 
 leum may still be noticed the following inscription : 
 
 " Insulse Bombayensis Gubernator, 
 
 Vir 
 
 Sanguinis splendore, rerum usu, 
 
 Fortitudine, prndentia, probitate, 
 
 Pereminentissimus." f 
 
 Let us conclude this brief sketch of our first Governor by one 
 more quotation. 
 
 • Ovington adds : " The two most noted among the Dutch is one, a noble 
 pile raised over the body of the Dutch Commissary, who died about three 
 years ago ; and another less stately, but more famed ; built by the order of 
 a jovial Dutch Commander, with three large Punch-Bowls upon the top of it, 
 for the entertainment and mirth of his surviving friends, who remember 
 
 him there sometimes so much, that they quite forget themselves." 
 
 Voyage to Suratt, p. 405. A sad commentary on the social habits of the 
 day. 
 
 t We have quoted this inscription from Douglas's book. It is only a part 
 of the inscription ; the inscription on Oxenden's tomb is much longer. The 
 original is still easily decipherable. 
 
AT SURAT 87 
 
 " Patriarchal, simply as the first of the Company's race of Governors," 
 quaintly observes a writer in the Monthly Miscellany, " is that Sir 
 George Oxenden, whose virtues known and felt during his lifetime, 
 and mausoleum at Surat — the scene of his demise — still celebrates 
 by force of the sculptor's chisel independent of the style of the 
 historian." {Sic.) * 
 
 We have tarried long at Surat: we must now turn our 
 attention to the town and island of Bombay. Its acquisition by 
 the Crown did not immediately threaten the pre-eminence of the 
 Surat factory, but its cession to the Company must have given 
 rise to suspicion and jealousy in that quarter. So long as 
 Bombay remained inconsiderable, so long was Surat supremely 
 content to be reckoned the premier city in India ; but it could 
 not boast that title very long. Aungier spoke of Bombay as 
 " a city which by G-od's assistance is intended to be built," and 
 Child prophesied its bright future. Surat soon realised that 
 the authority it had so long exercised was dwindling. The 
 factors, however, remained faithful to the old haunts as long 
 as they could. Ten years after the acquisition of Bombay, the 
 President and Council, in reply to advice from home that they 
 should not think of leaving Surat, but continue to be on a fair 
 understanding with the Mogul Governor, wrote : *' We declare 
 unto you that we are farr from having any thoughts of leaving 
 Surat, that we judge it your interest to continue as firme a 
 settlement and large a trade as ever, notwithstanding your 
 Island Bombay." At the same time they added that " our 
 eyes and thoughts are as sincerely fixed on the raise of your 
 Island Bombay as becomes us." And those eyes and thoughts 
 were so intently fixed *' on the raise of your Island Bombay " 
 that Surat was soon obliged to accept a subordinate position. 
 Its fate was sealed in 1687, when Bombay was made the seat of 
 Government and the President and Council settled down on 
 the island, which was then raised to the high-sounding but little- 
 meaning dignity of a Regency. The effect of this transfer on 
 the administration of justice, such as it was at the time, is^thus 
 noticed by Fryer : 
 
 " What irregularities are committed against only the Presidency or 
 Company, in case of non-submission, the persons offending are to be 
 
 * This passage does not read correctly, but we have quoted it as we found it. 
 
88 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 sent home, and dismissed their employments for refractoriness ; but if 
 an higher court lay hold of them in case of murder or any capital crime, 
 then they are to be sent to Bombaim, there to have a legal trial according 
 to the laws of England, as the President is created the Governor of His 
 Majesty's Island. " " 
 
 But though the importance of Surat as a presidency decreased, 
 it long retained its supremacy as a factory. Indeed, its com- 
 mercial prosperity seems to have increased by leaps and bounds. 
 Even as late as 1771, when Forbes visited the place, he found 
 it a most thriving city. For he declared that the riches and 
 splendour of Surat reminded him of the description of Tyre by 
 the Prophets. 
 
 " The bazaars were filled," he wrote, " with costly merchandise and 
 with picturesque and interesting groups of natives on elephants, camels, 
 horses and mules from all parts of the globe in their respective costume : 
 Turks, Persians and Armenians on Arabian chargers, European ladies 
 in splendid carriages, Asiatic females in hackeries drawn by oxen, 
 crowded the streets." 
 
 But only a brief decade after we have a picture set before our 
 eyes, which is painted in sombre colours, with a dismal back- 
 ground. Almost the next sentence reads thus : 
 
 " Neither Hindoo nor Mahomedan pageantry now enlivened the 
 public streets, and the war which had so long raged in Europe and 
 India, affected the Asiatic commerce in general, but was most^sensibly 
 felt at Surat. Her dockyards, storehouses, and bazaars indicated little 
 of that life and spirit formerly likened to the glowing -picture i of ancient 
 Tyre ; all was now comparatively silent and forsaken." 
 
 And from that time forward the city of Surat became more 
 and more forsaken and forlorn. Soon after, a terrific storm 
 visited the place, practically desolating it. ** The scenes of 
 distress that are around us," wrote the then President of Surat 
 to the Government of Bombay, "call for every aid of pity and 
 commiseration." But Surat was doomed, and almost every 
 year there was marked deterioration. Only one point remains 
 to be noticed. We have already seen that a dual Government 
 existed at Surat after the establishment of the English factory. 
 Such a system had obvious inconveniences. Though the 
 * East Indies and Persia^ p. 87. 
 
AT SURAT 89 
 
 English grew to be more or less supreme, they could not inter- 
 fere to a sufficient extent in the details of administration as 
 long as the whims of an Oriental Nawab had to be studied. An 
 opportunity presented itself in 1799 to abolish this impossible 
 system. In that year the reigning Nawab died, and the 
 English were compelled to interfere in the appointment of a 
 successor in order to put an end to the exactions, oppressions, 
 and corrupt administration of the Nawab's Durbar.* On May 
 13, 1800, a treaty was concluded with the new Nawab, by which 
 
 ••the management ;and collection of the revenues of the city of Surat 
 and of the territories, places and other dependencies thereof, the 
 administration of civil and criminal justice, and generally the entire 
 government of the said city and its dependencies, shall be vested for 
 ever wholly and exclusively in the Hon'ble English Company." 
 
 It was further announced by a Proclamation that 
 
 •• the motives and object of the British Government in taking on them- 
 selves the full and entire government of Surat have been and are to 
 procure thereby a just, wise, and efficient administration for the security 
 of the lives and properties and the promotion of the happiness of all its 
 inhabitants, of which with God's blessing the good eiffects may soon be 
 rendered manifest." f 
 
 Under this treaty the Chiefship and Council of Surat were 
 abolished and a Lieutenant-Governor of the Castle was ap- 
 pointed. Its administration was entrusted to a Judge, who was 
 also Magistrate, and a Collector of Revenue and a Collector of 
 Customs. Three years later the title of Lieutenant-Governor 
 was changed into " Agent of Government at Surat." Although 
 the treaty of 1800 marks an important epoch in the history of 
 Surat, it does not restore it to its former glory. Its only effect 
 was to free it from the vagaries of an irresponsible rule. From 
 being the premier presidency in India, lording it even over 
 Bombay, Surat has to-day become a mere district of the 
 Bombay Presidency. Both Nature and man seem to have 
 dealt with it unkindly — Nature even more unkindly than man. 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. rcdv. f ^^^' i- P- ^48. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY AND ITS CESSION TO 
 THE COMPANY 
 
 THE Treaty of Marriage between Charles II. and the Infanta 
 of Portugal is dated June 23, 1661, and was ratified 
 a couple of months after. It consists of twenty articles, 
 besides the secret article about which much unnecessary fuss 
 has been made. By this article the King of Great Britain 
 bound himself to exert all his power to establish a solid and 
 lasting peace between the Most Serene King of Portugal and 
 the States- General of the United Netherlands ; whilst in the 
 event of a rupture England guaranteed the defence and protec- 
 tion of the Portuguese possessions in the East Indies against 
 the Dutch. Douglas regrets that " such a disgraceful document 
 should smudge one page of the History of England." "Both 
 lawgiver and historian unite in common," he adds, "to treat it 
 as a dead-letter and consign it to oblivion." Whether the 
 secret article deserves such summary condemnation or not, is 
 no concern of ours. Suffice it to note that it soon gave rise to 
 mutual animosity and discord, as did some of the other articles 
 of the Marriage Treaty. The article which is of the greatest 
 importance and interest to us is the eleventh, and will bear 
 quotation in full : 
 
 " That for the better improvement of the English interest and com- 
 merce in the East Indies, and that the King of Great Britain may be 
 better enabled to aid, assist, defend and protect the subjects of the King 
 of Portugal in those parts from the power and invasion of the States of the 
 United Provinces, the King of Portugal with the assent and advice of his 
 Council gives, transfers, and by these presents grants and confirms unto 
 the King of Great Britain, his heirs and successors for ever, the Port and 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 01 
 
 Island of Bombay in the East Indies with all the rights, profits, terri- 
 tories and appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging, and together 
 with all income and revenue, as also the direct and absolute Dominion 
 and Sovereignty of the said Port and Island of Bombay and premises, 
 with all their royalties, freely, fully, entirely and absolutely. He also 
 covenants and grants that quiet and peaceable possession of the same 
 shall, with all convenient speed, be freely and effectually given and 
 dehvered to the King of Great Britain (or to the persons whom the said 
 King of Great Britain shall depute for this purpose) for his own use. In 
 pursuance of their cession the inhabitants of the said island (as subjects 
 of the King of Great Britain, and under his Commands, Crown, Juris- 
 diction and Government) shall remain therein and enjoy the free 
 exercise of the Eoman Catholic religion in the same manner as they 
 now do : This must be understood as it is now declared once for all that 
 the same regulation respecting it shall be observed for the exercise and 
 preservation of the Eoman Catholic religion in the City of Tangier, and 
 in all other places which by the King of Portugal shall be granted 
 and delivered to the King of Great Britain in the same manner as were 
 covenanted and stipulated in the delivery of Dunkirk to the English 
 gentlemen. And when the King of Great Britain shall send his fleet to 
 take possession of the port and island of Bombay, the English shall 
 carry instructions to treat the subjects of the King of Portugal in the 
 East Indies in the most friendly manner, and to help, assist, and protect 
 them in their trade and navigation there." 
 
 The first point worth noticing in this place, which suggested 
 itself to Sir Alexander Anstruther, the Recorder of Bombay in 
 1814, in Doe d'Antonia de Silveira v. A. P. Texeiria,* and 
 which was afterwards elaborated by Sir Michael Westropp in 
 the monumental judgment already referred to, is the silence the 
 eleventh article observes regarding the laws of the Portuguese 
 in Bombay. This important point has already been touched 
 upon elsewhere, but it will bear a little amplification here. The 
 dowry which Catherine of Braganza brought to King Charles II. 
 included not only the port and island of Bombay, but also the 
 city and castle of Tangier. The same provisions governed the 
 transfer of these two places, with one very significant exception. 
 After providing for the free exercise of the Roman Catholic 
 religion in Tangier, the third article recited that "they (the 
 inhabitants of the City and Fort of Tangier) shall be ruled and 
 governed by the same laws and customs as have hitherto been 
 used and approved in the aforesaid town and castle." Now the 
 Portuguese inhabitants of Bombay were also governed by certain 
 * 2, Morley's Digest, p. 247. 
 
92 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 laws and customs peculiar to them. But a similar provision 
 was not made in the eleventh article. Why this distinction? 
 Sir Michael Westropp points out that only two months and 
 twenty days had elapsed between the granting of the Charter of 
 1661 to the East India Company and the signing of this treaty 
 which made Bombay a possession of the Crown. As already 
 noticed, the Charter of 1661 empowered the Company to 
 establish courts of justice in India, and enacted that the laws 
 of England should prevail in all the factories and settlements 
 subordinate to it. 
 
 "It is not too much to suppose," adds the learned Chief Justice, 
 "that the advisers of King Charles II. thought that it would be too 
 glaring an inconsistency that the laws of England should prevail in the 
 factories and settlements of the Company in India, and that the Portu- 
 guese, or some other laws not English, should prevail in the territory of 
 the Crown in the same country." 
 
 Considering that several eminent men, who were famous both 
 as lawyers and statesmen, had entered into the treaty on behalf 
 of Charles II., it is not to be wondered at that such an 
 inconsistency was avoided.* 
 
 Although the provisions of the eleventh article seem to be 
 specific enough, it is highly improbable that even these emi- 
 nent men fully understood their true import. They certainly 
 could not have known where and what Bombay was. It is 
 not a little amusing to notice that Lord Clarendon, one of 
 the signatories to the treaty, wrote of the " Island of Bombay 
 with the towns and castles therein which are within a very little 
 distance from Brazil " ! My Lord Clarendon may have been 
 learned in the law and clever in the art of legislation, but his 
 knowledge of geography left something to be desired. And as 
 regards the " towns and castles therein," they were the creations 
 of his lordship's too fertile imagination. It was perhaps a 
 mercy that Charles II. did not send him out to take possession 
 of Bombay on his behalf, for the disillusionment would have 
 been startling. Even in the body of the treaty the same lack of 
 
 * A somewhat striking parallel is afEorded by the cession of Malacca early 
 in the nineteenth century. An established system of Dutch-Malay law 
 existed there, but it is held to have been supplanted by English law as 
 prevailing in the Straits Settlements previously acquired. 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 93 
 
 accurate knowledge, combined with looseness of expression, is 
 exhibited. For the eleventh article gives and transfers to the 
 King of Great Britain " all rights, profits, territories and 
 appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging." These high- 
 sounding words must have provoked laughter in those who knew 
 the Bombay of the period. The greater part of the island was, 
 more or less, submerged in the ocean, and the little soil that 
 remained above water was mostly barren and was not considered 
 worth cultivating. Bombay had not then attained the distinc- 
 tion even of a ca9abe or chief station. Mahim was a more 
 important town, and even the Manor of Mazagaon was more 
 valuable. A Portuguese chronicler gives the following meagre 
 description of Bombay as it then was : 
 
 " Bombay Castle consists of a bastion, nothing more than a plat- 
 form, the fortified place being four- sided, about ten walking paces 
 from each side. The village of Bombay is a small thing; has eleven 
 Portuguese families and with the blacks make up a force of seventy 
 mosquiteers." 
 
 So miserable were the resources of the place that it was with 
 considerable difficulty that an annual revenue of j62,800 was 
 raised some years after, and as late as 1728 the whole of 
 Malabar Hill was let on lease at the magnificent annual rental 
 of Rs.130 ! Those who complain of the exorbitant rents on 
 Malabar Hill to-day may well look green with envy. If England 
 gained anything by this bargain, it was the splendid harbour of 
 Bombay. But what was the harbour to the English without the 
 island ? They had to take both, or neither. 
 
 In order to gain possession of the port and island of Bombay 
 with the ** territories and appurtenances " belonging thereunto, 
 Charles II. despatched, in March, 1662, a fleet of five men-of- 
 war, under the command of the Earl of Marlborough. There 
 were on board five hundred troops commanded by Sir Abraham 
 Shipman, who was appointed General on shore. Antonio de 
 Mello de Castro, Viceroy of the King of Portugal, accompanied 
 the fleet, and was commissioned to deliver over to the English 
 the peaceful possession of the island. The King's fleet arrived 
 at Bombay on September 18, 1662, and the Earl of Marlborough 
 demanded, in the King's name, the cession not only of the port 
 
94 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 and island of Bombay, but also of its dependencies, conformably 
 to the provisions agreed upon. Ever since the date of the 
 Treaty, the Portuguese were trying to find out means to thwart 
 the English in their legitimate object. They had the prescience 
 to see that the loss of Bombay would deprive them of no small 
 amount of prestige and profit. For in spite of " the inconsider- 
 ableness of the place Bombaim," they found it well suited to 
 their requirements and an easy prey to their proselytising zeal. 
 They were anxious not so much for the trade of the place as for 
 the safety of their converts. In a letter written by the Portuguese 
 Viceroy, who had accompanied the King's fleet, to his royal 
 master, the fear that they might be forced to renounce the 
 Boman Catholic religion was set forth as a reason for not giving 
 up Bombay to the English. 
 
 " I see in the Island of Bombay," he wrote, '* so many Christian souls 
 which some day will be forced to change their religion by the EngUsh. 
 How will they allow the Catholics to reside in their territories when 
 they hand over Catholics in the island of Anjuanne to the Moors ! " 
 
 But, as Mr. Edwardes observes, the Viceroy's fears were not 
 well grounded; *' for, from 1665 onwards, no authentic instance 
 exists of any native of India, Christian or otherwise, fleeing 
 from persecution by the British as the Brahmans of Bandora 
 did in 1677 from the illiberal actions of Portuguese mission- 
 aries." * There were other reasons why the Portuguese authori- 
 ties fought hard against the transfer. The landowners in 
 Bombay were mostly Portuguese ; they did all in their power to 
 prevent the terms of the Marriage Treaty being carried out, for 
 they were afraid lest the advent of the English might interfere 
 with their rights in the soil. Their fears were well grounded, 
 and but for Gerald Aungier they would have sufi'ered more. 
 Then there was the splendid harbour of Bombay, "the best 
 port," wrote the Portuguese Viceroy, "your Majesty possesses in 
 India, with which that of Lisbon is not to be compared." For 
 these reasons the Portuguese delayed carrying out the terms of 
 the Marriage Treaty on pretexts which were childish at times, 
 and always futile. The main objection raised was that the 
 eleventh article gave to the English only the port and island 
 * Rise of Bombay, p. 98. 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 95 
 
 of Bombay without any of its dependencies. Mr. Edwardes 
 agrees with Douglas * in holding that the dependencies were 
 included ; on the other hand, Da Cunha is convinced that the 
 island of Bombay alone was ceded.! Be that as it may, the 
 absence of any specific mention of the dependencies in the 
 eleventh article gave rise to a series of disputes. When Marl- 
 borough found the Portuguese unyielding and his position on the 
 western coast insecure, he contented himself by demanding the 
 cession of the port and island of Bombay alone, which were 
 strictly within the terms af the treaty. But as Sir Abraham 
 Shipman had not arrived with the fleet, the Portuguese Governor 
 awaited his arrival, refusing Marlborough permission in the 
 meanwhile to land his troops on the island. When Sir Abraham 
 arrived and produced his credentials, which included a sealed 
 letter written in Latin and Letters Patent in English, the 
 Viceroy objected to the letter as it contained some defects, and 
 also to the Letters Patent as they were not signed by the King. 
 These difficulties were not foreseen by the English plenipoten- 
 tiaries, and they were greatly embarrassed. Having no suitable 
 place to land their troops at, they applied to Sir George Oxenden, 
 who was then Chief of the English factory, for permission to 
 land them at Surat. But the advent of the English fleet had 
 aroused the jealousy of the Mogul Governor, who was not then 
 
 * Douglas is emphatic on this point. *' There can be no manner of doubt," 
 he says, " that Salsette was included in the arrangement, as it was distinctly 
 traced out in the map submitted to the commissioners as part of the territory 
 to be ceded when the Marriage Treaty was being drawn up." — Bombay and 
 Western India, i, p. 87. 
 
 t Regarding the action of the Portuguese and the construction they put 
 on the wording of the eleventh article, the following entry from Pepy's Diary, 
 dated May 15, 1663, is interesting : " The Portuguese have choused us in the 
 island of Bombay in the East Indies: for after a great charge of our fleets 
 being sent thither with full commission from the King of Portugal to receive it, 
 the Governor by some pretence or other will not deliver it to Sir Abraham 
 Shipman, sent from the King, nor to my Lord of Marlborough, which the 
 King takes highly ill, and I fear our Queen will fare the worse for it. . . . 
 Above all things it seems strange to me that matters should not be understood 
 before they went out. And also that such a thing as this, which was ex- 
 pected to be one of the best parts of the Queen's portion, should not be better 
 understood ; it being, if we had it, but a poor place and not really so as was 
 described to our King in the draught of it, but a poor little island ; whereas 
 they made the King and Lord Chancellor and other learned men about the 
 King to believe that that and other islands which are near it were all one 
 
96 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 in a pacific mood. So, though Marlhorough had proceeded with 
 his troops to Swally Hole, Oxenden was obliged to beseech him 
 to repair abroad, "since the jealousy of the Moors was such that 
 unless they did, they vowed the Factory a sacrifice." The 
 royal officers were, therefore, forced to retrace their steps. There 
 was only one wretched little place, the uninhabited island of 
 Anjediva, south of Goa, which was available, and there the five 
 hundred troops were landed. A more unhealthy spot even on 
 that sickly coast could not have been selected. The result was 
 that nearly three hundred of the troops died through the effects 
 of a deadly climate — though Fryer adds that several of them died 
 through their own intemperance.* This was the first instalment 
 of the price paid by the English for the acquisition of Bombay, a 
 sacrifice which then seemed too great for the object to be gained. 
 In the meanwhile, a long and bitter correspondence had ensued 
 between England and Portugal, and between these countries and 
 their accredited agents in India. Charles II. was greatly in- 
 censed at the conduct of the Portuguese, and the King of 
 Portugal again wrote to the Viceroy to give over to the English 
 peaceable possession of Bombay with as little delay as possible. 
 In order to remove any doubt as to the person to whom Bombay 
 should be handed over, ICing Charles issued the following com- 
 mission in favour of Sir Abraham Shipman, which, after the 
 usual recitals, said : 
 
 " Be it therefore known, that, confiding in the prudence and integrity 
 of the faithful Abraham Shipman, our beloved subject, Kjiight of the 
 Golden Ensign and Gentleman of our Privy Coimcil, we have made, 
 ordained and deputed, and do by these presents make, ordain, constitute, 
 and appoint our true and indubitable Commissary Deputy and Attorney 
 to take possession of the said port and island of Bombay, giving and 
 granting unto the said Abraham Shipman our true and lawful powers 
 and authority to receive in oiu: name and for our use the said port and 
 island of Bombay, together with the fortress and other things belonging 
 to us by the contract." f 
 
 * A later writer seems to support Fryer in this view. " But during his 
 (Marlborough's) absence," he observes, " the unhealthiness of the climate, 
 seconded by intemperance, had made havoc among the unfortunate persons 
 who had been carried to Angediva ; three hundred of them had perished ; the 
 few who remained were admitted in the year 1664." — An Historical Account 
 of the Settlement and. Possession of Bombay by the English East India Company, 
 1781. 
 
 t The Portuguese m India, by F. C. Danvers, ii. p. 340. 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 97 
 
 By virtue of this commission, Sir Abraham Shipman appointed 
 Humphrey Cooke, his own Secretary, Vice-Governor, on April 
 5, 1664, and forwarded a copy of his orders, duly certified and 
 attested by proper officers, to Goa. The Portuguese Viceroy 
 felt that his supremacy over Bombay was fast slipping away, and 
 the time had come when not only the port and island of Bombay, 
 but even its dependencies, must be handed over to the English. 
 He made one last effort to retrieve the position. He suggested 
 the purchase of the island, and put the maximum price at 
 ^6125,000. That Viceroy had in him something of the prophetic 
 spirit of Gerald Aungier, for he knew and appreciated the value 
 of Bombay, and must have built high hopes on its future. But 
 his almost pathetic appeal fell on deaf ears. 
 
 " I confess at the feet of your Majesty," he wrote in January, 1665, 
 " that only the obedience I owe your Majesty, as a vassal, could have 
 forced me to this deed [i.e., the cession of the island], because I foresee 
 the great troubles that from this neighbourhood will result to the 
 Portuguese; and that India will be lost the same day in which the 
 English nation is settled in Bombay." 
 
 The Viceroy could not have pitched his appeal in a more 
 earnest tone, but it was of no avail. The death of Sir Abraham 
 Shipman in 1664 gave another opportunity to the resourceful 
 Viceroy to put off the evil day. The Commissioner seems to 
 have breathed his last at Anjediva, a place forsaken alike by 
 God and man, except for the few soldiers who had to fight hard 
 against disease and isolation. He had made his will, but could 
 not appoint his own successor to the post he then held. The 
 Portuguese Viceroy thereupon addressed himself to the Supreme 
 Court of Goa, to inquire to whom he should give lawful posses- 
 sion of the town and island of Bombay, as the Eoyal Commis- 
 sioner had died and the powers delegated to him by the King 
 of England were not extended to any one else. The Court 
 replied that as Humphrey Cooke had been appointed Vice- 
 Governor by Sir A. Shipman by virtue of his commission, the 
 island should be handed over to him. The Viceroy had no 
 alternative but to abide by this decision. Cooke was also 
 pressing hard for the possession of Bombay. Portuguese 
 chroniclers had the audacity to trifle with his name and mutilated 
 
 7 
 
98 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 it horribly. Indeed, it was actually disputed if" Inofre Coque," 
 as he was styled by the Portuguese, was the same person as 
 Humphrey Cooke ! Cooke was losing patience — and no wonder. 
 For nearly two years he had to remain on the island of Anjediva 
 because the Portuguese would not conform to the terms of the 
 Marriage Treaty, and also because the President could not allow 
 him to approach the Swally Hole and land the troops at Surat. 
 Cooke has been blamed for accepting the possession of the island 
 of Bombay without its dependencies, and with the conditions 
 which the Portuguese imposed upon him. But he had to choose 
 between this and perhaps the total loss of the men under his 
 command. 
 
 " It may have reasonably occurred to Cooke," says Mr. Edwardes, 
 " that by insistence upon the full terms of the marriage-treaty he was 
 likely to indefinitely prolong the negotiations, and might even be obliged 
 to return to an island, the climate of which had already slain a large 
 number of his compatriots: that, under these circumstances, it was 
 better policy to take Bombay with all the restrictions and dis- 
 advantages that the Portuguese might impose, and trust to over- 
 throwing or counteracting them, after he and his men had the island 
 in their grasp." * 
 
 It is easy to find fault with the motive underlying this action 
 after the lapse of two centuries and a half, but, under the 
 circumstances in which Cooke found himself, he is deserving of 
 pity rather than blame. The preliminaries of the Instrument of 
 Delivery and its Articles were at length settled, and Cooke 
 entered upon the possession of the port and island of Bombay 
 early in January, 1665. This was an event the importance of 
 which was not lost sight of by the English, in spite of the 
 difficulties and humiliations they were subjected to. After the 
 death of Sir Abraham Shipman, Cooke became " Governor of 
 all the Forces of His Britannic Majesty in the Island of Bombay 
 in the East Indies " — rather an imposing title, but sadly divested 
 of its dignity by the death-roll at Anjediva. There was no 
 triumphal arch raised to welcome to Bombay its first Governor 
 under the Crown : neither did trumpets announce his entry nor 
 guns proclaim the coronation of this uncrowned king. Never- 
 
 * Eise of Bombay, p. 103. 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 99 
 
 tlieless, the manner in which he took possession of the island 
 was most effective, if not picturesque. Cooke 
 
 " took himself personally the possession and delivery of the said port 
 and island of Bombay, walking thereupon, taking in his hand earth and 
 stones, entering and walking upon its bastions, putting his hands to the 
 walls thereof and walking also on the said island, taking into his hands 
 the earth and stones thereof, and making all other like acts which in 
 right were necessary without any impediment or contradiction." * 
 
 Imposing as was this ceremony, it was also humiliating. For 
 Cooke did not get all that the Earl of Marlborough and Sir 
 Abraham Shipman had contended for under the terms of the 
 Marriage Treaty. He was practically forced to enter into a 
 Convention which reflects little credit on the bond fides of the 
 Portuguese. They found him in a situation peculiarly difficult, 
 and took advantage of it. Under the terms of this Convention 
 only the port and island of Bombay, without any of its depen- 
 dencies, passed into the hands of the English. The result was 
 that the Portuguese harassed them by inflicting heavy imposts 
 upon all boats which passed Karanja or Thana, and these proved 
 so burdensome that Cooke was obliged to resist their unjust 
 demands. The loss of three hundred souls at Anjediva seemed 
 too heavy a price to pay for the possession of " a poor little 
 island," as Pepys peevishly described Bombay in his Diary. It 
 was at one time doubtful if even Mazagaon, Parol, and Yarli 
 could be considered as part and parcel of Bombay. Colaba was 
 certainly out of the question, and as Sion, Dharavi, and Vadala 
 formed part of the separate estate of Mahim, the English had 
 no right to them. Salsette, Trombay and Karanja, and the 
 Elephanta, Butcher, and Hog Islands were equally outside the 
 purview of the Articles of Delivery. But this was not the only 
 humiliation : the Convention contained other terms equally dis- 
 advantageous to the English. It would be tedious to refer to 
 them in detail : the most important of them may be conveniently 
 summarised as follows : 
 
 "That the Portuguese, or others, may freely come, sell, buy, and 
 trade at their Islands and Countries through their port of Bombay, and 
 be free of all payments ; that the said freedom of trade shall be particu- 
 
 * Da Cunha's Origin of Bombay, p. 261. 
 
100 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 larly understood at Bundura [Bandora] and other the Creeks of Salsette, 
 though under the English Artillery; that the runaways shall be pro- 
 tected ; that the English shall not meddle with matters of religion, on 
 pain of forfeiting their right in the island of Bombay ; that the 
 inhabitants shall enjoy or sell their estates ; that no runaways shall be 
 admitted or detained upon the pretence of changing their religion, on 
 either side ; that the Lady * in whom the Government of Bombay was, 
 may yet freely enjoy her estate ; that no inhabitants shall lose their 
 right, either patrimonial or what is held from the Crown, but it shall 
 descend and they may alien, unless they forfeit, according to the laws of 
 Portugal ; that the ecclesiastics shall not be molested, but shall have 
 their churches free ; and that the inhabitants who pay their tribute to 
 the ELing shall pay no more to the King of England." f 
 
 One has only to glance at these terms to know how totally 
 unfair they were. It is easy to trace in them the hand of the 
 Portuguese landholders and missionaries in Bombay, who were 
 extremely jealous of any infringement of their rights, and 
 fought with all their might against the English taking posses- 
 sion of the island. The Convention was never ratified by either 
 the Crown of England or the King of Portugal. Charles II. 
 was constrained to disavow it, twelve years after, in terms which 
 were as unequivocal as they were strong. In a letter addressed 
 to the Viceroy of Goa, dated March 10, 1676, his Majesty 
 expressed the hope that 
 
 "our sovereign rights in the Port and Island of Bombay and their 
 Dependencies, will be vindicated from that very unjust capitulation 
 which Humphrey Cooke was forced to submit to at the time when that 
 place was first transferred to our possession : Which capitulation 
 neither he, Humphrey, was empowered to come into, nor any one else 
 to impose upon him, in contravention to a compact framed in so solemn 
 and religious a manner. We therefore are determined to protest 
 against the said capitulation as prejudicial to our Royal Dignity, and 
 
 * This was the Portuguese lady named D. Ignez de Miranda, widow of 
 D. Rodrigo de Monsanto, who was the sole proprietress of the capabe of Bombay 
 when it was made over to Humphrey Cooke. She was well-known at the 
 time as the •' Senhora da Ilha," the Lady of the Island, and so greatly 
 respected that the Portuguese made it a condition of the delivery of the 
 island that she should be allowed free enjoyment of her estate as before. It 
 was at her historic house, over the " delicate garden " of which Fryer goes 
 into such raptures, that the Instrument of Delivery was signed. 
 
 t From the MS. Book presented by Sir Michael Westropp to the Bombay 
 High Court Library. 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY X0\ 
 
 derogatory to our Right, which we hold in the higher estimation for 
 coming to us in part of the Dowry with our aforesaid dearest Consort." * 
 
 In the same letter the King drew attention to the hardship 
 entailed upon his subjects by the Portuguese inflicting heavy 
 imposts on them at Thana and Karanja, "which are not less 
 inconsistent with our Koyal Sovereign Right than contrary to 
 the Laws and Customs of all Nations." It took twelve years 
 for the King to disavow Cooke's Convention : t its unfortunate 
 author, however, repudiated his own contract within a much 
 shorter period. Cooke's object in acceding to these unjust 
 terms was to save himself and his men endless misery and pro- 
 bable death at Anjedeva. Once he had the upper hand and held 
 
 * With regard to this and some other quotations bearing on the point, a 
 free use has been made of a MS. Book in the High Court Library, which 
 bears on the cover the following inscription: "Presented to the High Court 
 Library by Sir M. R. Westropp, a.d. 1882." It is probable that Sir Michael 
 had this bulky volume prepared soon after deciding the case of Naoroji 
 Beramji v. Rogers, for he must have found considerable difficulty in writing 
 his judgment for want of proper materials. 
 
 t Another attempt was made by the Portuguese, in 1699-1700, to induce 
 the Government of Bombay to form a treaty recognising this Convention, but 
 it completely failed (4, Bombay High Court Reports, 35). The proposed 
 treaty contained five articles, all of which were rejected. These articles, and 
 the reasons for their rejection, have been summarised by Anderson as follows : 
 *'By the first it was to be engaged that such conditions should be observed as 
 had been accepted by Captain Humphrey Cooke when he took possession of 
 the island. This was refused because the conditions had been made by Cooke 
 under compulsion, and were subsequently disallowed by Charles II. By 
 the second article an offensive and defensive alliance was to be established 
 between the English and Portuguese, such as had been arranged between the 
 two Crowns in the original articles of capitulation : but it was declared that 
 those articles were cancelled when the King of Portugal had refused to assist 
 the King of England in his war with the French and Dutch. The third 
 declared that the lands of Portuguese residents in Bombay which had been 
 confiscated should be restored : this was refused on the ground that the pro- 
 prietors had run away and assisted the Siddi in making war against the 
 English. The fourth proposed that the English should cease to demand 
 customs from such subjects of the King of Portugal as imported goods from 
 Bandora : this was refused because the English claimed the customs as one 
 of the royalties ceded to them by the Crown of Portugal. According to the 
 fifth, all coolies and other natives who should run away from Salsette or 
 Bombay were to be given up by the contracting parties ; but as the English 
 did not see why they should send back to a state of slavery such as were 
 discontented with the evils of Portuguese rule, this article was also 
 rejected." — The English in Western India, pp. 164-166. 
 
,j02 .; ; ;' . Bombay in the making 
 
 Bombay in his grip, he repudiated the terms, one by one, with 
 all speed. Almost his first act after signing the Convention was 
 to seize some land contiguous to the island on the flimsiest of 
 pretexts. Eef erring to this, the Portuguese Viceroy wrote to his 
 royal master : 
 
 " The first act of Mr. Huraphrey, who is the Governor of that island, 
 and whom I knew in Lisbon as a grocer, was to take possession of the 
 island of Mahim in spite of my protests, the island being some distance 
 from the island of Bombay, as your Majesty will see from the map 
 which I send herewith. He argues that at low tide one can walk from 
 one to the other, and if this is conceded your Majesty will be unable to 
 defend the right to the other Northern islands." 
 
 Not only was this conceded, but Cooke's action was upheld 
 and the King of Portugal found himself unable to retain 
 possession of the other islands. Sion, Dharavi, and Vadala 
 passed out of the hands of the Portuguese, and at the end of 
 Cooke's career the port and island of Bombay included all the 
 lands except Colaba and Old Woman's Island. Cooke must 
 have had some capacity as an administrator. For he felt that 
 territorial acquisition would be of little practical use without 
 men to populate and cultivate the barren lands. So he induced 
 outsiders to settle down in Bombay, and promised them security 
 of life and property and also religious freedom. This forms the 
 keynote of the policy of the early Governors of Bombay. They 
 wanted to make it " the flourishingest port in India," and 
 employed these two excellent devices for the purpose. But 
 while Cooke was consolidating what little power he then 
 possessed and extending the boundaries of the island, he was 
 digging his own grave. His Convention had exasperated the 
 authorities in England, and they made him atone for it by 
 instant dismissal. He had incurred the displeasure of the 
 Portuguese by openly violating the terms of the Convention. 
 Moreover, his action in inviting people to settle down in Bombay 
 had excited the jealousy of the Moors and found little favour 
 with the English factory at Surat. The Mogul Governor did 
 not contemplate the removal of the factory from Surat to 
 Bombay with anything like equanimity, and Cooke's action 
 must have made him uneasy. It was for this reason that the 
 President and Council disapproved of it, for the Mogul Governor 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 103 
 
 might have again vowed the factory a sacrifice. They even 
 recommended the Court of Directors to solicit the King's per- 
 mission to build a factory at Bombay, explaining at the same 
 time that this project would be impracticable unless proper 
 arrangements were introduced for the government of the island, 
 and persons appointed duly qualified to administer its affairs 
 under fixed regulations. But the royal city of Bombay refused to 
 submit itself to the indignity of being turned into a mere factory. 
 One might have felt some commiseration for the ignominy in 
 which Cooke's after-career was enveloped if a humiliating Con- 
 vention had been the only charge preferred against him. He 
 had to contend against heavy odds, and a less determined and 
 bold man might have broken down. Unfortunately, however, 
 Cooke succumbed to temptations, soiled his reputation, and 
 brought disgrace upon himself and his countrymen. When he 
 took over Bombay in 1665, after signing the improvident Con- 
 vention, or the Treaty of Surrender, as it is otherwise known, he 
 had neglected to take the obvious precaution of ascertaining the 
 King's rights in the large estates on the island, and the rights of 
 the landholders in them. This led to much confusion in the law 
 relating to land tenures in Bombay, and there were endless 
 disputes between the King's officers and the Portuguese estate- 
 holders, which were settled by the masterly Convention of Gerald 
 Aungier in 1672. Sir Gervase Lucas, the Governor appointed 
 by the Crown in 1666 to succeed Cooke on his recall, referred to 
 this difficulty when he observed in his report that, from the 
 indefinite conditions on which Cooke had received the island, 
 " it was impracticable to ascertain which of the inhabitants were 
 legally possessed of sufficient titles to their estates, no stipula- 
 tion having been made relative to the King's sovereignty of the 
 soil, as some of the best estates in the island refused to pay 
 rent, and produced titles which could not be disputed, though 
 believed to be fictitious.* There is evidence to show that 
 Humphrey Cooke, the first Governor of Bombay, had a large 
 hand in granting these fictitious title-deeds, and according to 
 Douglas, " the manufacture of which was connived at by Cooke 
 himself, and for which he had taken bribes." Cooke must have 
 made a respectable fortune by these malpractices, but it did not 
 
 * Proceedings of the Bombay Geographical Society, iii. (June-August, 
 1839), p. 4. 
 
104 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 help him to escape the fate that overtook him. He was charged 
 with fraud and embezzlement of a daring character. On an 
 inquiry instituted by Sir Gervase Lucas into the proceedings 
 and conduct of Mr. Cooke, it was found, among other acts of an 
 improper nature, that, instead of carrying the revenues to his 
 Majesty's account, he had extorted the sum of 12,000 xeraphins 
 from the inhabitants and converted it to his own private use, as 
 was proved by his receipts. Almost the first act of Sir Gervase 
 on taking over the reins of government was to throw Cooke into 
 prison for his mismanagement of Sir Abraham Shipman's estate.* 
 It seems incredible that the first Governor of Bombay appointed 
 by the Crown should have been found guilty of such serious 
 delinquencies, but the fact is beyond dispute. On dismissal 
 Cooke seems to have turned a rebel, for he went over to Goa 
 and placed himself under the protection of the Jesuits. The 
 last we hear of him is on the death of Sir Gervase Lucas on 
 May 21, 1667, when he claimed the right to succeed him in the 
 Government of Bombay. He was laughed at and summarily 
 ejected by the Council. Thereupon he went over to Bandora, 
 where he was welcomed by the Jesuits, for they meditated 
 revenge on the English, as Sir Gervase Lucas had confiscated 
 certain lands belonging to them on the ground of their treason. 
 With their help Cooke organised a levy for the capture of 
 Bombay, but was frustrated in the attempt. He was proclaimed 
 a rebel and a traitor, and refused any countenance or protection 
 by Sir George Oxenden. Thus ends the chequered career of 
 Humphrey Cooke, the first Governor f of Bombay under the Crown. 
 Sir Gervase Lucas, a staunch Royalist, assumed the governor- 
 ship of Bombay on November 5, 1666, and appointed Mr. 
 Henry Gary Deputy-Governor. His period of ofiice lasted for 
 only a few months, and, although it is not signalised by any 
 event of far-reaching importance, his time must have been fully 
 occupied. The affairs in Bombay at the time were all out 
 
 * Da Cunha's Origin of Bombay, p. 269. 
 
 t Douglas says he was not a pukka Governor. He made himself Governor, 
 and a most kachha one at that. This is how the oft-quoted historian of 
 Bombay summarises the evil deeds of Humphrey Cooke : •' He purloined the 
 revenues, he accepted bribes, he manufactured title-deeds, he became a rebel 
 against the Government he had sworn to defend, and, worst of all, when poor 
 old Shipman died, leaving £4,420 after his three years' service, Cooke, who 
 had been his Secretary, charged his widow 15 per cent, on the estate " 
 {Bombay and Western India, i. p. 60). 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 105 
 
 of joint, thanks to the cupidity and villainy of Cooke. But his 
 successor was a man of marked ability and determination, who 
 grasped the situation well and faced it manfully. He must have 
 been a man of action too, as evidenced by the forfeiture of lands 
 belonging to the Bandora Jesuits as a punishment for their 
 rebellious conduct. Sir Gervase was, however, vouchsafed too 
 short a lease of life to settle all the affairs in Bombay and put 
 the government of the island on a firm basis. His relations 
 with Sir George Oxenden were rather strained, but we may con- 
 clude that these two Governors, one under the Crown and the 
 other appointed by the Company, must have come to a happy 
 understanding, in view of the sympathetic reference made by 
 Oxenden to Sir Gervase's death, " expressing his regret for the 
 loss of an officer whose exertions and probity had been highly 
 honourable." Captain Henry Gary, the Deputy-Governor, 
 installed himself at Bombay on Sir Gervase's death, but his 
 rule, too, was short-lived. He fell out with the President and 
 Council at Surat over the issue of navigation passes. He ques- 
 tioned their right to issue these passes, and they more than 
 doubted his. In reply to the haughty demand of Gary, *'the 
 Governor of the Island of Bombaim and Commander in Chiefe 
 of all His Majesty's Fforces in India," calling upon the Presi- 
 dent and Council at Surat not to issue passes, the latter said, 
 " wee cannot lay downe this so ancient a custome and privilledg," 
 though they promised not to be profuse in giving them " untill 
 the Company give us their order to ye contrary." But Bombay 
 persisted, and Surat remained stubborn. The result was an 
 impasse. Much bitterness is noticeable in the correspondence 
 that ensued on the subject. It was referred to the authorities 
 in England, who were weary of the whole affair. Even then 
 they were doubtful as to the ownership of the port and island of 
 Bombay. For in reply to the report of Sir Gervase Lucas, 
 which was submitted to a committee for consideration, they gave 
 it as their opinion that it would be improper to incur any great 
 expense, '* from the uncertainty whether the island of Bombay 
 was in possession of His Majesty or not." * The King was at a 
 
 * CampbeH's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part i. p. 23. This 
 seems rather inexplicable, for even the Portuguese did not contend that the 
 island of Bombay did not belong to the King of England by virtue of the 
 Marriage Treaty. Only the boundaries of Bombay were in dispute, not 
 the island itself. 
 
106 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 loss to know how best to get out of the difficulty. Somebody 
 wiser than his compeers suggested the transfer of Bombay to the 
 East India Company. A similar suggestion was hinted at in a 
 letter written by the President and Council at Surat to the Court 
 of Directors. We may be sure that Charles II. was only too 
 delighted to part with Bombay. Diflferent motives have been 
 assigned by different writers for the transfer, but Mr. Edwardes' 
 surmise is perhaps nearest the mark. 
 
 " The true motive," he says, " probably was the complete indifference 
 of the King to the value and welfare of his lately-acquired possessions, 
 and the very keen desire of the Council at Surat, firstly to put an end to 
 the quarrels which had arisen between themselves and the Bombay 
 Governors on the question of the issue of the navigation passes, and 
 secondly, to obviate the hostilities with the natives of India, which 
 were occasioned by the high-handed actions of the Crown representa- 
 tives, and for which the powers in India held the Company responsible." * 
 
 Whatever the real motive, however, suffice it to note that by the 
 ^ Koyal Charter of March 27, 1668, the port and island of Bombay 
 were, with all the necessary formalities, transferred to the East 
 India Company, f 
 
 * Rise of Bombay, p. 106. 
 
 t The following statement of the revenue of the island, submitted to the 
 King by Mr. Gary, may not be uninteresting, as showing the money- 
 value of the grant of Bombay to the East India Company: — 
 
 Amount of Rent in 
 Rupees. 
 
 Rent of Mazagaon ... 
 
 Mahim 
 
 Parel 
 
 Vadela 
 
 Sion 
 
 Veroly 
 
 Bombaim 
 
 • Tobacco staut or' 
 
 ( Frame ... 
 
 Taverns 
 
 The account of Customs 
 
 Cocoanuts 
 
 More may be advanced 
 
 Total 75,000 
 
 Which at 13 xeraphins for 22s. 6d. sterling amounts to £6,490 17s. 9d. 
 (The above statement has been taken from the MS. copy presented to the 
 Bombay Geographical Society.) 
 
 6,438 
 
 2 13 Ren 
 
 3,321 
 
 1 69 
 
 1,645 
 
 3 54 
 
 1,203 
 
 1 20 
 
 547 
 
 40 
 
 395 
 
 1 48 
 
 4,392 
 
 1 80 
 
 6,611 
 
 2 16 
 
 1,661 
 
 2 16 
 
 12,261 
 
 2 16 The 
 
 12,261 
 
 2 16 
 
 50,640 
 
 88 
 
 801 
 
 3 58 Moi 
 
 Total 61,542 
 
 46 
 
 Xeraphins. 
 
 9,300 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 4,797 
 
 2 
 
 45 
 
 2,377 
 
 1 
 
 56 
 
 1,738 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 790 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 571 
 
 1 
 
 34 
 
 6,344 
 
 2 
 
 61 
 
 9,555 
 
 
 
 
 
 2,400 
 
 
 
 
 
 18,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 18,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 78,870 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 1,129 
 
 1 
 
 62 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 107 
 
 A careful study of this charter, which marks another epoch in 
 the history of the East India Company, will not only be interest- 
 ing, but most useful for our purpose. It confers, for the govern- 
 ment of the island, the fullest powers which any form of words 
 could convey. In short, it concedes to the Company both 
 imperium as well as jurisdictio, and forms a model on which 
 the legal establishments should be framed to meet the require- 
 ments of the country. It is on the provisions of this charter 
 that many of the most important functions of government and 
 of jurisdiction, exercised not only in Bombay but in India 
 generally, were based. The point that struck Sir Erskine 
 Perry most forcibly in it was the freedom which it allowed the 
 grantees in governing and legislating for the various communities 
 of India. 
 
 " Indeed," observes the learned Chief Justice, " it displays such 
 comprehensive views of the powers which should be necessarily con- 
 ferred for the government of a distant, already peopled, dependency, 
 and contrasts so favourably with the obscure language of some of the 
 later charters of justice, that I think we should do right in ascribing (it ?) 
 to the pen of Sir L. Jenkins, or some other of the eminent civilians of 
 the day." * 
 
 In the opinion of Sir Courtenay Ilbert, the Charter of 1668 
 marks the transition of the Company from a trading association 
 to a territorial sovereign invested with powers of civil and 
 military government.! Sir Michael Westropp also refers to 
 it in detail in his well-known judgment in Naoroji Beramji 
 V. Rogers, as it very clearly defines the rights and powers of 
 the local authorities, on the one hand, and the rights and 
 obligations of the inhabitants on the other. To begin with, 
 this charter first of all recites the Marriage Treaty of 1661, 
 by which the island was ceded in full and perpetual sovereignty 
 to the Crown, and gives, grants, transfers, and confirms to the 
 London Company the port and island of Bombay, ** with all 
 the rights, profits, territories, and appurtenances thereof what- 
 soever, and all and singular royalties, revenues, rents, customs, 
 castles, forts, buildings, and fortifications, privileges, franchises, 
 
 * Perozbai v. Ardeseer Cursetji, Perry's Oriental Cases, p. 64. 
 t Ooverrwient of India, p. 20. 
 
108 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 pre-eminences and hereditaments whatsoever " in as large a 
 manner as the Crown of England enjoyed or ought to enjoy 
 them under the grant of the King of Portugal in the treaty 
 of 1661, " and not further and otherwise," and created the 
 London Company '' the true and absolute Lords and Pro- 
 prietors of the Port and Island and premises aforesaid, and of 
 every part and parcel thereof," which appertained to the Crown 
 of England by force of the grant of the King of Portugal, " and 
 not further or otherwise " (saving the allegiance due to the 
 Crown of England, and its royal power and sovereignty over 
 its subjects in and over the inhabitants of the port and island) 
 " to have, hold, &c.," the said port and island," &c., " unto 
 them," the said Company, " to the only use of them," the 
 said Company, " their successors and assigns for evermore to 
 be holden of us, our heirs and successors, as of the Manor of 
 East Greenwich, in the County of Kent, in free and common 
 socage, and not in capite, nor by Knight's service," at the 
 yearly rental of i>10, payable to the Crown. The latter 
 clause was inserted in the charter for the obvious purpose 
 of maintaining the ultimate reversion in the Crown, as indi- 
 cated by the feudal tenure, as well as the "eminent domain" 
 or sovereignty, and to secure the Crown's right of escheat, in 
 case of the dissolution of the Company or otherwise.* It will 
 be noticed that a curious phrase occurs in this clause, " as 
 of the Manor of East Greenwich." What did the Crown 
 exactly signify when it allowed the Company to have and hold 
 the port and island of Bombay '*as of the Manor of East 
 Greenwich " ? The whole idea of a manor is bound up with 
 history and rests on custom. We do not generally hear of a 
 manor until we hear at the same time that it existed from time 
 immemorial. When once a manor is shown to exist its limits 
 are finally ascertained, and the lord of the manor can do nothing 
 to extend them by purporting to grant other land which may 
 belong to him ** as of the manor " in question. The Crown 
 could not, therefore, make Bombay part of its manor of East 
 Greenwich, and the words "as of " do not mean " as part of," 
 but " as though of." Their sole object was to define exactly 
 what the incidents of tenure were to be. In this connection 
 the following brief note on the original history of manors, kindly 
 * Eex V. Cowley 2 Burr, p. 834. 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 109 
 
 furnished by Dr. T. Baty, D.C.L., LL.D., Barrister-at-Law, 
 Honorary Secretary of the International Law Association, will 
 be found interesting : — 
 
 ** The relations of an English king to English land are twofold. Let 
 us use the convenient formula, ' the Crown,' as meaning the king under 
 the restraints of constitutional convention. Its rights relating to land 
 are (1) the ' eminent domain ' or international ownership, i.e., its rights 
 to do as it pleases with its own territory, and all persons therein, so far 
 as foreign nations are concerned ; (2) the ultimate reversion, within the 
 limits of English law, of the civil ownership of all English land. This 
 latter right may mean in practice very little, since the land is generally 
 in the hands of tenants in fee who are practically absolute owners. 
 These are in some cases, but by no means usually, freeholders of 
 Crown manors. A manor is difificult to define because of its purely 
 historical origin. Manors grew up wherever a powerful lord (whether 
 king or vassal) settled his followers around him to hold their land as his 
 feudal vassals and on terms of doing him feudal military and judicial 
 service. They have, since legal memory {i.e., 1189 a.d.), been limited in 
 number and extent. It has for seven hundred years been impossible to 
 create a new manor, or to extend the bounds of an old one. How and 
 why did the Crown purport to grant Bombay ' as of the manor of East 
 Greenwich ' ? Let us look at the charter. The ' eminent domain ' 
 came over to Charles II. from Portugal, and we may assume that the 
 Carolingian lawyers never doubted but that the municipal right of an 
 ultimate reversion in the soil came along with it — indeed, they did not 
 clearly distinguish between the two — though it may be that the civil 
 law of Portugal gave its king no such proprietary right in the soil. The 
 • eminent domain ' includes the right of legislation, a royal ' franchise ' 
 with which we are now very familiar, and it is apparently this ' eminent 
 domain ' over Bombay which the charter first grants to the Company, 
 and then it creates them ' lords and proprietors ' of the port and island, 
 thereby dealing with the lesser proprietary right of the Crown — i.e., its 
 ultimate reversion according to law. It spHts up this reversion, grant- 
 ing a fee-simple tenancy (expectant on the cessation of the estates of the 
 actual owners) to the Company, while retaining the nominal reversion 
 (shadow of a shade) still in itself. But this does not explain the manor 
 of East Greenwich. A Crown grantee need not be a freeholder of a 
 Crown manor ; and such manorial freeholders have few (if any) special 
 obligations. Yet in the case of a manor the scanty and half-obsolete 
 obligations of its freeholders are at any rate known and defined (if only 
 by the steward of the manor), and the process for the recovery of quit- 
 rents is familiar. (It is rare, but not unknown, for freeholders within a 
 manor to be subject also to the payment of ' heriots,' and — as in Corn- 
 wall — to have no right to minerals.) At all events, it seems always to 
 have been regarded as advisable to conclude all question, by reference to 
 some particular set of customs. As early as James I. the charter of 
 
110 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the grantees of Virginia specified that the holding should be ' as of 
 the manor of East Greenwich,' and as late as George III. (in 1800) the 
 same stipulation was made regarding Sierra Leone.* Most of the 
 American States were originally granted on charters containing a 
 similar clause. Pennsylvania and Maryland were held ' as of the 
 manor of Windsor in the cty. of Berks," Georgia as of the manor 
 of Hampton Court in Middlesex, whilst New York and New Jersey 
 (granted to the King's brother, the Duke of York) were held without 
 any such definition."! 
 
 But this is a digression. Let us resume our examination of 
 the terms of the charter. After this clause comes the usual 
 reservation of the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion 
 to the inhabitants of Bombay, followed by the proviso that 
 ** the said inhabitants, and other our subjects in the said Port 
 and Island, shall and may peaceably and quietly have, hold, 
 possess, and enjoy all their several and respective properties, 
 privileges, and advantages whatsoever which they lawfully had 
 or enjoyed, at the time of the surrender of the said Port and 
 Island to us as aforesaid, or at any time since, anything in 
 these presents contained to the contrary notwithstanding." 
 Sir Michael Westropp was of opinion that this proviso did 
 not confer upon the inhabitants of the island any other or 
 higher rights than they were entitled to under the Marriage 
 Treaty of Charles II. The next two clauses of the charter 
 are of more direct importance to us. The first of these recites 
 that, as the island is granted to the Company as aforesaid, " it 
 is therefore needful that such powers, privileges, and jm-isdic- 
 tions be granted unto them as be requisite, for the good 
 government and safety thereof"; and therefore enables the 
 Company, *' as a general court, to establish under their 
 common seal, any laws whatsoever for the good government 
 of Bombay, and the inhabitants thereof, and the same to 
 revoke, as they think fit," and it further empowered the 
 Company ** to ordain, make, establish, and under their 
 common seal to publish any laws, ordinances, and constitu- 
 tions whatever for the good government and other use of the 
 said fort (port?) and island of Bombay and the inhabitants 
 thereof," and also " to impose and provide such pains and 
 
 * Clarke's Colonial Law (London : Sweet & Maxwell, 1838). 
 t Story, Ccmstituiion of the U.S., §§ 42, 69, 61, 82, 87, 96, 104, 122, 131, 
 and 172. 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 111 
 
 punishments by fines, amercements, imprisonment of the 
 body, and, when the quality of the offence shall require, by 
 taking away life and member, as to the said Court shall seem 
 fit," provided always " that the said laws, pains, penalties, 
 &c., be consonant to reason, and not repugnant or contrary,* 
 but, as near as may be, agreeable to the laws of this our 
 realm of England, subject to the provisos and savings herein- 
 before contained" (referring to the proviso securing the free 
 exercise of the Koman Catholic religion to Portuguese sub- 
 jects, which, though repugnant to the then law of England, 
 the Company was thus disabled from repealing). 
 
 A separate clause provides that it shall be lawful for the 
 Company "by themselves, or by their Governor or Governors, 
 officers and ministers, &c., according to the nature and limits of 
 their respective offices and places within the said port and island 
 of Bombay, the territories and precincts thereof, to correct, 
 punish, govern, and rule all and every the subjects of Us, our 
 heirs and successors, that now do or at any time hereafter shall 
 inhabit within the said port and island, &c., according to such 
 laws," &c., as by the said Company **in any general Court or 
 Court of Committees as aforesaid, shall be established, and to 
 do all and every other thing and things which unto the complete 
 establishment of justice do belong, by Courts, Sessions, forms of 
 judicature, and manners of proceedings therein like unto those 
 established and used in this our realm of England, although in 
 these presents express mention be not made thereof and by 
 Judges and other officers," by the Company, or by the ''Chief 
 Governor or Governors of the said port and island of Bombay to 
 be delegated to award process, hold pleas, judge and determine 
 all actions, suits, and causes whatsoever, of any kind and nature 
 whatsoever, and to execute all and every such judgment, so 
 always as the said laws, ordinances, and proceedings be reason- 
 able, and not repugnant or contrary, but as near as may be 
 agreeable to the law^s, statutes, government, and policy of this 
 our Kingdom of England, and subject to the provisos and 
 savings herein." The same clause sanctions the use of military 
 
 * " Repugnancy " in this and similar charters, of course, means little else 
 than repugnancy to the fundamental nature of law as understood in England, 
 and does not extend to even the most salient departures from positive English 
 precept. 
 
112 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 law for military purposes, or in case of rebellion, mutiny, or 
 sedition. The next proviso referred to by Sir Michael runs as 
 follows : That it shall be lawful for the Company, their agents, 
 factors, and servants "to have, hold, exercise, enjoy, and execute 
 all and singular the jurisdictions, powers, liberties, privileges, 
 benefits, and advantages whatsoever within the said port and 
 island of Bombay," &c., as they or any of them ** may or can 
 hold, use, exercise, enjoy, and execute by force and virtue of the 
 Charter 13 Car. II., "in any other place or places of the said 
 East Indies, or touching any other their plantations, &c., and 
 servants, &c., &c., comprised or mentioned, or intended to be 
 comprised, within our said Charter or letters patent, in as large 
 and ample manner, to all intents, constructions, and purposes, 
 as if the said jurisdictions, powers, liberties, &c., &c., were 
 herein particularly mentioned and expressed." It may be 
 noticed here that the large powers conferred upon the Company 
 by this and other important clauses of the Charter of 1668 were 
 to extend to all such places as they should subsequently acquire 
 within the limits of their charter; and Perry, C.J., observes 
 that " they form a sufficient foundation on which to rest any 
 legislation that may have been exercised by them as to the 
 Mofussil, up to the 13 Geo. III., c. 63." Only one more clause 
 remains to be noticed before we close this rapid survey of a 
 charter which has had such far-reaching results. This was the 
 clause which provided that " all and every the persons being our 
 subjects" (excluding, therefore, mere sojourners or aliens) "which 
 do or shall inhabit within the said port and island, and every of 
 their children and posterity, which shall happen to be born 
 within the precincts and limits thereof, shall have and enjoy all 
 liberties, franchises, immunities, capacities, and abilities, of free 
 denizens and natural subjects within any of our dominions to 
 all intents and purposes, as if they had been abiding and born 
 within this our Kingdom of England." This clause, it will be 
 observed, expressly confers the rights of denizenship on all his 
 Majesty's subjects, which do or shall inhabit, and the rights of 
 natural subjects on all who shall be born, within the island of 
 Bombay.* 
 
 A few events subsequent to the grant of this charter have 
 been already noticed above. For instance, we have seen how 
 * Perry's Oriental Cases, p. 64. 
 
THE ACQUISITION OF BOMBAY 113 
 
 Sir George Oxenden felt the delicacy of his task in taking 
 possession of Bombay from the officers of the Crown, and 
 how warily he proceeded to take over the reins of government. 
 We have also followed the Commissioners, Messrs. Goodyer, 
 Master, and Cotes (Gerald Aungier would have been one of 
 them, but he could not be spared, as he was then filling the 
 important post of warehouse-keeper), to Bombay, and seen the 
 admirable manner in which they dealt with the unsettled affairs 
 of the place. Their time must have been fully occupied, for in 
 a letter they wrote to their esteemed President they deferred 
 writing about certain important matters, " having been so busily 
 employed in several various affairs, and talking so much as some 
 of us have lost our voices! " There is a gleam of pathos as well 
 as humour in this little sentence. We would fain believe that 
 they talked not in vain ; they certainly seem to have regained 
 their voices soon. Sir George Oxenden 's all too brief visit to 
 Bombay, and his personal management of its affairs and earnest 
 efforts to establish good government on the island, have been 
 noticed in the previous chapter. His successor, Gerald Aungier, 
 will have a chapter (a volume would better describe the achieve- 
 ments of this sagacious and far-seeing Governor) all to himself. 
 But before describing his career, let us see how Captain Henry 
 Gary, the self-appointed Governor of Bombay under the Crown, 
 and Captain Heniy Young, the first Deputy- Governor of Bombay 
 appointed by the Company, fared. With a heavy heart did Gary 
 part with the possession of Bombay, and, as he himself wrote to 
 the Secretaries of State, ** though the unexpected change had 
 much troubled him, he hoped that they would make the Governor 
 and Committees of the East India Company sensible of his 
 fidelity, and that he was deserving of remuneration." But it 
 was the good fortune of Bombay that Gary was not allowed to 
 lord it over her inhabitants for long, for he turned out as great 
 a scamp as Cooke. The Portuguese must have hailed his down- 
 fall with delight, for in him they had found " an awful heretic " 
 and a "great enemy of their nation." " Inofre Coque " was bad 
 enough for them, but Gary was worse still. After the transfer 
 of Bombay to the Company, Gary seems to have secured the 
 Second Seat in Council, and was afterwards Judge of the 
 island. Vain, headstrong, intriguing, and overbearing, it is 
 easy to imagine what sort of judge he must have proved. There 
 
 8 
 
114 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 is a story told of him, vouched for both by Philip Anderson and 
 James Douglas, men who may be safely relied upon for the 
 accuracy of their accounts, which shows the way in which he 
 must have administered justice to the inhabitants of Bombay. 
 It is said that he once summoned a man to appear before his 
 Court on a Friday, although he had been executed, according to 
 the Judge's own sentence, on the previous Tuesday. ** The 
 Court waited," observes Anderson, " but death was guilty of 
 contempt, and no prisoner appeared in spite of the fuddled 
 Judge's mandate." * After Oxenden took charge of the govern- 
 ment of Bombay, we hear little of Gary, though he seems to 
 have hovered about the island whilst Sir John Child was 
 Governor- General. He was roundly abused by the enemies of 
 this unpopular Governor for the support he gave him in mis- 
 ruling the island. Of Captain Henry Young, the Deputy- 
 Governor, we know even less. According to Anderson, he was 
 "a drunkard, scoffer, and avowed despiser of the Christian re- 
 ligion." As Oxenden stayed in Bombay only for a few months, 
 Young presumably administered its affairs till he was made to 
 atone for his misdeeds a little later. As Deputy- Governor he 
 must, no doubt, have administered justice to the inhabitants ; 
 but a judge who is "a drunkard and scoffer" cannot be said to 
 be an ornament of the bench. The records are, however, happily 
 silent about his administration of justice, the only fact known 
 being that on January 22, 1669, he was tried and found guilty 
 of serious charges. Of his trial we shall speak in another 
 chapter. Suffice it to note here that he was despatched to 
 England as soon as the trial ended. 
 
 Under such inauspicious circumstances began the government 
 of the port and island of Bombay by the East India Company. 
 Soon after, however, there came on the scene a man who not 
 only justified the transfer by the Crown to the Company, but 
 left a legacy behind him the benefits of which may be felt even 
 
 to-day. 
 
 * The English in Western India^ p. 97. 
 
CHAPTEE IV 
 GEBALD AUNGIER 
 
 IT has been remarked that the world does not know its great 
 men. That part of the world which constitutes the town 
 and island of Bombay certainly does not know much about one 
 of its most famous and successful Governors — a man who 
 towered above all the mediocrities who governed the island at 
 the end of the seventeenth century. No history of Bombay 
 can be said to be complete without a sketch of Gerald Aungier, 
 under whose wise administration this city became the established 
 seat of the Company's dominion. And an account such as this 
 would fail of its purpose if it omitted to describe the efforts 
 Aungier made to establish Courts of Judicature on the island, to 
 appoint judges and other judicial officers to supervise the admin- 
 istration of justice, and to hold the scales evenly between his 
 own countrymen and the heterogeneous mass of semi-civilised 
 people he was called upon to govern. It was during his regime 
 that the fountain of law first began to flow, pure and untainted, 
 though it lost its purity soon after his death. Aungier seems to 
 have discharged the duties of Chief Arbitrator at the time, and 
 so keen was his sense of justice and so impartial and sound 
 were his decisions that not a single instance is said to be on 
 record in which either the plaintiff or the defendant had reason 
 to be dissatisfied with his award. Aungier was, by virtue of his 
 office, the Chief Justice of Bombay ; he and his Council formed 
 the Court of Appeal. There is no evidence to show that he was 
 a lawyer, but his career furnishes ample testimony to the fact 
 that he had in his youth imbibed those principles of justice and 
 equity which are the birthright, so to say, of every righteous 
 man. Were we to restrict our sketch of thiB remarkable man to 
 
 116 
 
116 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 his achievements in the sphere of justice, only a few words would 
 be required. But such a restriction would be doing injustice to 
 the man without doing justice to our undertaking. For, besides 
 establishing Courts of Judicature, Aungier was the author of a 
 series of reforms which directly affected the welfare of the 
 inhabitants of Bombay, and indirectly the administration of 
 justice on the island. For instance, when he modelled the 
 several races inhabiting the town and island of Bombay into so 
 many orders or tribes, appointing over each a chief or consul to 
 manage their affairs ; in short, when he raised the fabric of self- 
 government by the inauguration of the Panchayat system, he 
 gave the people the means of procuring justice for themselves. 
 For this and other reasons we propose to give a brief sketch 
 of the life and life-work of Gerald Aungier, in the confident 
 hope that it may not be considered uninteresting or out of place 
 in an account such as this. 
 
 The fact that strikes us at the outset in this connection is 
 the obscurity in which Aungier has been allowed to lie in an 
 unknown corner of Surat for more than two centuries, when 
 lesser men, with their comparatively insignificant achievements, 
 have been made known to the world. This is all the more curious 
 when we find that almost every writer who has left an account 
 of Bombay speaks of the man in terms of the highest praise. 
 Hamilton, Fryer, Anderson, Da Cunha, Douglas, and others 
 may be said to vie with one another in their appreciation of 
 " that chivalric and intrepid man." Perhaps the most remark- 
 able testimony is that of Alexander Hamilton, the sea-captain, 
 who traded in the Indian seas for five-and-thirty years (1688- 
 1723). We say "the most remarkable" because it is the least 
 open to the charge of exaggeration. For Hamilton was an 
 ** interloper," and there was no love lost between him and the 
 East India Company or its servants in this country. About the 
 year 1674, he writes : 
 
 " President Aungier, a gentleman well -qualified for governing, came to 
 the chair, and, leaving Surat to the management of Deputies, came to 
 Bombay and rectified many things that were amiss and brought the Face 
 of Justice to be unveiled, which before lay hid in a single person's breast, 
 who distributed her favours according to the Governor's direction. He 
 erected a formal Court where Pleas were brought in and debated." * 
 * A New Account o/ the East Indies, i. p. 188. 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 117 
 
 And on the next page he observes : 
 
 " The name of Mr. Aungier is much revered by the ancient people of 
 Surat and Bombay to this day. His justice and dexterity in managing 
 affairs got him such esteem, that the natives of those places made him 
 the common arbitrator of their differences in point of traffick. Nor was it 
 ever known that any party receded ever from his award." 
 
 The value of this testimony is heightened by the fact that 
 these words were written forty-six years after the death of 
 Aungier. The '* ancient people " of Surat and Bombay knew 
 how to sift gold from dross — how to forget the evil deeds of 
 Gerald Aungier' s unworthy predecessors and to enshrine in their 
 hearts the memory of the man who toiled all his life with the 
 single aim of ensuring their welfare. Fryer* is not less enthusi- 
 astic in his appreciation. Speaking of the period during which 
 Aungier personally looked after the affairs of the city, he says : 
 
 " He came and took the Government in 1671, where these three years 
 he has regulated affairs with that prudence that whereas he found a 
 disaffected and incongruous Council, he has now knit them into a bond of 
 at least seeming friendship, and does daily study to advance the Com- 
 pany's interest and the good and safety of the people under him." f 
 
 Anderson also refers to him as a man of high character, 
 though he accuses him of " much Protestant zeal, but little 
 Christian love." 
 
 The anonymous writer of An Historical Account of Bombay 
 pays a glowing tribute to the administration of this wisest and 
 most successful of her early Governors. 
 
 " Mr. Angier," he says, *' president of the factory of Surat, being also 
 disgusted by the arrogance of the Mogul Governor of that town, changed 
 his residence and established himself at Bombay, where his prudence 
 quashed the dissensions, his good management advanced the Company's 
 interest, and his activity secured the island ; insomuch, that in the 
 Spring of 1672 the Dutch attempting a surprise, found the Fort so well 
 guarded and everything in so good a condition that they immediately 
 gave over the enterprise." 
 
 * Dr. Fryer came to Bombay about the time when Aungier was Governor. 
 It is not improbable that the latter helped him in his professional career in 
 India, which was so successfiil. 
 
 t East Indies and Persia, p. 66. 
 
3 
 
 118 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 The same writer, referring to Aungier's broadmindedness and 
 religious toleration, observes : 
 
 "Many were invited by the freedom granted to all religions and the 
 mildness of the Government ; (that of the English, even when pushed to 
 what would seem tyranny at home, appearing gentle to those who had 
 felt Mahometan insolence and Portugueze bigotry) in-so-much, that from 
 ten thousand souls, the utmost of its inhabitants when in possession of 
 these, they were in the year 1764 augmented to sixty thousand." 
 
 Da Cunha, Douglas and Mr. Edwardes are modern writers whose 
 works are easily accessible to all who care to know something 
 about the early history of the island on which they live. Among 
 these writers, Douglas deserves the greatest credit for portraying 
 Gerald Aungier as he was, and devoting more than one chapter 
 of his two highly interesting volumes on Bombay and Western 
 India to a detailed description of his career as President of the 
 Surat factory and Governor of Bombay. There are few pages 
 in these volumes more interesting than those which speak of the 
 life and work of Aungier. Douglas waxes eloquent over the 
 qualities alike of head and heart of this good man, over his 
 wisdom and farsightedness, his tolerance and sagacity, integrity 
 and independence, ability and singleness of purpose. What was 
 Aungier's great work, he asks : 
 
 " To weld," he answers, " into one homogeneous mass the discordant 
 materials of Asiatic nationalities, to solve the problem which had never 
 been solved before, as to how a great multitude of men of diverse 
 religions and races should live together in peace and harmony, free from 
 discord within and aggression from without — this was the work he set 
 himself to do, and he did it." 
 
 Again, at p. 84 of the first volume, our historian observes : 
 ** The figure of Aungier stands out in bold relief on the page of 
 history — the first man in India who taught us the art of self- 
 government and the wisdom of dealing with our neighbours — 
 sage in counsel and bold in action." But let us come to the 
 man's own deeds, which will depict him better than the 
 historian's pen. 
 
 Little is known of the early years of Gerald Aungier in India, 
 much less of his childhood and youth in England. His name 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 119 
 
 enables Douglas to surmise that he came from Angers,* in 
 France, and that his forefathers, who were probably Huguenots, 
 had fled to England after the terrible massacre of the Pro- 
 testants on the eve of St. Bartholomew in 1572. Of his 
 parents nothing more is known than that they came of a good 
 stock. Young Gerald was in all likelihood trained in England, 
 bred in the school of Cromwell rather than in the soft and 
 silken manners of Charles II., as some of his actions later in 
 life testify. He must have had a fairly good education, for the 
 countless letters he wrote to his masters in England and his 
 subordinates in Bombay and elsewhere display an extensive and 
 wholesome reading. His allusions to Biblical and other authorities 
 show that he was more or less familiar with classical literature, 
 and could quote from it with telling effect. Douglas notices the 
 change for the better in the letters and diaries written by 
 Aungier after he succeeded Oxenden — a change representing 
 the newer spelling and purer and freer style. He, too, like Sir 
 George Oxenden, must have come out to India in the service of 
 the Company at an early age, and risen in rank, step by step, 
 till he attained the highest position in the gift of his employers — 
 the governorship of the town and island of Bombay. In 1663 
 (it is impossible to say how old he was then, for the date of his 
 birth is not known and there is no likeness nor any description 
 of him now extant from which this can even be guessed) we find 
 him occupying the post of warehouse-keeper — a post which has 
 but little significance to-day, though it was of considerable 
 importance then. Even as a factor Aungier seems to have 
 made his mark and impressed his personality on all he came in 
 contact with. Oxenden must have been favourably inclined 
 towards him, for in a letter in that year he writes to his 
 masters : " Gerard Aungier is yor humble supplyant that you 
 would please to consider him in his sallery, as his quallity doth 
 merritt." Aungier must have been in Bombay in 1662, ten 
 years before he again visited it as Governor. For he was 
 deputed by the Surat factory to accompany the Earl of Marl- 
 borough when the latter claimed the town and island of Bombay 
 
 * Angsrs is the name of a French town. Almost all French names, adds 
 Douglas in a footnote at p. 72 of his first volume, since the Norman Con- 
 quest have been slightly altered on their introduction into England. In some 
 early records Aungier is sometimes written Angers. 
 
120 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 on behalf of his Majesty the King of Great Britain. He had to 
 go back to Surat with his dignity not a little ruffled and his 
 opinion of the Portuguese by no means improved. But he had 
 seen Bombay and was fascinated by the place. It was probably 
 during this brief visit that he was struck with the possibilities of 
 the island, and the historic hope was kindled within him of a 
 splendid future for "the city which by God's assistance is 
 intended to be built." He had probably formed this intention 
 during his first sojourn in Bombay — and he adhered to it loyally. 
 Not only did he build Bombay, but he founded it on a fabric 
 which has withstood the ravages of more than two centuries, and 
 has made it to-day one of the greatest cities in the world. The 
 seven years that elapsed between this visit and the death of Sir 
 George Oxenden on July 14, 1669, Aungier must have passed 
 in the warehouse at Surat, ably discharging his duties as its 
 keeper. On the occurrence of the latter event he became 
 President of the Surat factory, a post which then carried with 
 it the governorship of the port and island of Bombay. 
 
 In those days it was not an easy thing for the President to 
 leave the factory and visit Bombay. There were many difficulties 
 in the way, the greatest being to get the consent of the Mogul 
 Governor, for without this it would seem that not even the Chief 
 of the factory could leave the place. However, President 
 Aungier managed to embark at Surat on January 11, 1670, 
 and arrived in Bombay a few days after. Of his work in Bom- 
 bay at the time, Campbell says that no details have been traced 
 even in the Secretariat Records. But there are references to 
 him and his work in the Surat diaries and letters which are 
 highly interesting. On arrival it became his painful duty to 
 investigate the accusations brought against Captain Henry 
 Young, the Deputy- Governor, who was conducting himself in 
 the most singular fashion. The next thing that engrossed his 
 attention was the civil and military administration of Bombay. 
 He was wise enough to see that without framing certain rules 
 and regulations for the proper management of affairs it would be 
 useless to initiate important reforms, and his first idea was that 
 the island needed absolute peace and security. He therefore 
 decided to establish Courts of Judicature which would inspire the 
 confidence of the people in the bona fides of the new Government. 
 The few months' administration of Bombay by Deputy- Governor 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 121 
 
 Young had set people seriously doubting the wisdom of the 
 transfer of the island from the Crown to the Company. Aungier 
 knew this, and knowing it, at once applied himself to removing 
 all just causes for apprehension and distrust. 
 
 On February 2, 1670, he convened a meeting at Bombay 
 Castle, and issued certain orders for the administration of 
 justice which will be noticed in detail in the proper place ; only 
 a brief summary of them will serve our purpose here. First 
 of all he had a list made of the Englishmen who were on the 
 island at the time, and ascertained their qualifications. Those 
 who were found worthy of such trust were created justices and 
 were asked to dispense justice to the inhabitants on specified 
 days and at a particular hour. For this purpose he had the 
 whole island divided into two parts, the first consisting of 
 Bombay, Mazagaon and Girgaon, the other of Mahim, Parel, 
 Sion, Warli and the Puckreys (Pakhadis or hamlets). The first 
 bench of justices met in the Custom House of Bombay (near 
 the present Town Barracks) on every Friday at 8 a.m. and the 
 second in the Custom House of Mahim on every Wednesday at 
 the same hour, three forming a quorum. They were empowered 
 to hear suits and determine actions for sums not exceeding the 
 value of 5 xeraphins (Rs.3J). Aungier knew well the sort 
 of justice these '* customers " would dispense, and by way of 
 precaution he empowered the Deputy- Governor and Council to 
 hear appeals in all suits exceeding in value 200 xeraphins, as 
 well as in all actions treasonable, felonious, capital or criminal. 
 In the Court of Appeal all trials were to be by a jury.* Aungier 
 also made the most of the materials that were ready at hand. 
 For instance, he arranged for the appointment of "Perbes" 
 (Parbhu clerks) and other officers to look after the details of 
 administration. He also decided to make use of a Portuguese 
 resident, by name Simao Serrao, a man well read in the civil 
 
 * A Bombay Consultation dated January 31, 1670, refers to an order of the 
 Honourable Company that all cases of difference between the English and 
 the Portugals be decided by a jury, half English, half Portugal. At the same 
 Consultation it was decided to publish a Code of Laws, no trace of which is 
 now to be found. But it is worth noting that these laws were ordered to be 
 translated into Portuguese and Kanarese. The preference given to Kanarese 
 over the other vernaculars then in vogue in Bombay is explained by Mr. 
 Edwardes by the fact **that the early population of these islands was to a 
 large extent of southern or Dravidian origin " {Rise of Bombay, p. 2), 
 
122 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 and imperial laws, and one who by his experience and practice 
 in the laws and customs of the Portuguese was eminently 
 qualified to render the Company competent service in discover- 
 ing their just rights and privileges. The English must indeed 
 have found him of great help to them in the settlement of the 
 land disputes between themselves and the Portuguese estate- 
 holders in Bombay. Gerald Aungier remained in Bombay only 
 for a short time during this visit, but he worked so hard and 
 well] that on his departure all the important affairs were vir- 
 tually settled and the inhabitants felt secure in the enjoyment 
 of life and property. Besides *' unveiling the Face of Justice," 
 as Ovington picturesquely describes Aungier's efforts to establish 
 Courts of Judicature, he found time to strengthen the fortifica- 
 tions, to reduce the military establishment, and to have a survey 
 made of the whole island with the view of ascertaining its total 
 land revenue. He left Bombay for Surat in February, 1670, 
 after appointing Mr. Matthew Gray Deputy- Governor, with a 
 Council of four factors. 
 
 Once in Surat, Aungier found it most difficult to leave it for 
 another visit to Bombay. Early in 1671, when he was about to 
 embark, the Mogul Governor created such a disturbance that he 
 was obliged to give up the idea. A month later it was the 
 advent of Sivaji which prevented the English Governor from 
 leaving Swally Marine. He was so long balked in his object 
 that he felt anxious about the peace and security of Bombay, 
 and suggested to the Directors that the seat of government 
 should be removed thither from Surat. Fryer assigns another 
 reason for this suggestion which seems probable : he says that 
 Aungier was "distasted at the insolencies of the Mogul's 
 Government at Surat and feared a second confusion of Govern- 
 ment at Bombaim."* Whatever the reason, he wrote to the 
 Court of Directors on February 3, 1671 : 
 
 "And for that it hath unfortunately happened that for two years 
 together y°' P' hath bin hindered from going to Bombay to his owne 
 trouble and no small detriment to your Island, we have thought it our 
 dutys upon serious consideration of y°' affairs to offer you our humble 
 advice, that it now seems consistent with your interest to settle your 
 chiefe Government on your Island Bombay, and to that end you 
 would please to order yor Presi*^* to reside there constantly, except 
 
 * East Indies and Persia, p. 66. 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 123 
 
 extraordinary emergencys may require his repair to Surat or else- 
 where."* 
 
 But it was not till sixteen years after, in 1687, that this 
 wise suggestion was acted upon by the Court of Directors. 
 Had it been acted upon earlier, the Company might have saved 
 themselves much humiliation. In the same letter Aungier 
 made certain proposals for the improvement of the town and 
 island of Bombay which bring out perhaps the best qualities of 
 the man. For it is in these proposals that we see his liberality 
 and farsightedness, combined with his great tolerance and 
 wonderful mastery of affairs. We have space here to refer to 
 only a few of them. But even this brief reference will, we hope, 
 show to the reader that we are underestimating rather than 
 exaggerating the character of this remarkable man. Aungier, 
 during his first visit, found that the cost of maintaining the 
 island far exceeded its limited revenue. He therefore pro- 
 posed the imposition of a tax on the inhabitants to meet all 
 charges, but was careful to point out that it must be levied and 
 proportioned 
 
 " in such nature as may be least burthensome to ye people and 
 may not discourage strangers from coming to live with us ; that it be 
 levied only on land and not on any goods or merchandise, and the 
 rather for that the land bears no charge at all nor hath don since it was 
 in the Eng^ possession." 
 
 Aungier proposed that certain charges be defrayed out of the 
 collection of this tax, one of which was for 
 
 ** building a fair Common House f wherein may be also appointed 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 50. 
 
 f The remains of this Fair Gonmion House are with us to this day, known 
 as the " Mdpla Por." " Mdpla Per," writes Mr. Edwardes, " as it is named, 
 that is to say, the gated enclosure of the Maplas, or half- Arab Mussulmans 
 of the Malabar Coast, stands about 300 yards north of the north-west corner 
 of the modern Elphinstone Circle on the west side of Borah Bazaar Street, 
 immediately beyond its meeting with Gunbow Lane." This huge pile of 
 buildings was designed by Aungier himself, and so good is the material used 
 that, according to the same authority, ** its ruined plinth and staircases con- 
 stitute to-day one of the most ancient monuments of British dominion in 
 this island " {Rise of Bombay , p. 112). A sketch of the " Mdpla Por " will be 
 foimd reproduced at the commencement of this volume. 
 
124 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 chambers for the Courts of Justice, warehouses or Granerys for corne, 
 ammunition, &c., as also prisons for several offenders. 
 '• Sallarys or wages for Pubhck officers, towitt 
 For the Governor \ 
 T>. Gover°^ I 
 
 Treasurer >- and his Assistants. 
 Accountant 
 Councell j 
 For the Secretary and his Assistants. 
 For y® Jadge of y^ Courts of Judicature and his ofi&cers. 
 For a Procurator Gen" and his clerks. 
 For a Publick Notary. 
 
 For a Sheriff or Chiefe Constable and so many officers under him 
 necessary. 
 
 For such other officers as shall be upon serious consideration thought 
 as necessary." * 
 
 Aungier was very hard on those who broke the laws either of 
 God or man, and visited such breach with condign punishment. 
 But he was never unreasonably hard even on the worst of 
 offenders. He erected the Fair Common House right in the 
 heart of the bazaar, so that the unfortunate prisoners could beg 
 for alms of the passers-by. Oblivious of self, he was always seek- 
 ing the good of others — even of those who deserved ill of him. 
 When he had finished building this house, the Company wrote 
 to him to the effect that in their opinion he was not managing 
 the affairs of Bombay as economically as he should. There- 
 upon he sent in reply an able defence, pointing out the necessity 
 which had urged him to undertake these reforms and justifying 
 every penny that had been expended on the improvement of the 
 island. But if even this reply did not satisfy his masters, he 
 expressed his willingness to defray the cost of the Fair Common 
 House out of his own private purse, provided the Company paid 
 him reasonable rent for the time that it was used as a Court of 
 Judicature. So much for the sturdy independence and disin- 
 terestedness of Gerald Aungier. Closely allied to his scheme 
 for the distribution of justice was his proposal to establish a 
 sort of Panchayat, where even the poorest might find the means 
 of procuring justice for themselves. He must have felt that the 
 European " customers " would not be within easy reach of the 
 poor, and that even if they were, ignorant natives would be too 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. pp. 51-52. 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 125 
 
 terrified to seek redress from them. Some device had to be 
 found whereby justice could be guaranteed to such as these. 
 Even a man of his ability and acumen must have been puzzled 
 at the sight of the heterogeneous mass of population which then 
 inhabited the town and island of Bombay. It numbered only 
 ten thousand souls, but was drawn from many different com- 
 munities, following various occupations and diverse creeds. 
 How to govern them well and harmoniously was the problem 
 which he set himself to solve early in his career as Governor of 
 Bombay. Quick to discern good in everything, and never 
 refusing to take advantage of it from whatever quarter it came, 
 he found a key to the problem in the system of the Panchayat, 
 which must have been in vogue in the country at the time, and 
 his proposal was an improvement upon it. We must state it in 
 full, for it is a corollary, as it were, of the system of judicial 
 administration which was established by Gerald Aungier during 
 his first visit to Bombay. In order to preserve the Government, 
 he wrote, 
 
 " in a constant regular method free from that confusion which a body 
 composed of so many nations will be subject to, it were requisite y* ye 
 severall nations at pre^' inhabiting or hereafter to inhabitt on the 
 Island Bombay be reduced or modelled into so many orders or tribes, 
 and that each nation may have a Chief or Consull of the same nation 
 appointed over them by the Govr & Councell whose duty and ofl&ce 
 must be to represent ye grievances v^^ Moors or any of the s^ nation 
 shall receive from the Christians or any other, as also to answere for 
 what faults any of the said nation shall committ, y* the offenders be 
 brought to punish*^ and that what dutys or fines are due to the Comp* 
 may be timely satisfied ; his office may be also to arbitrate and deter- 
 mine all controversys w*''^ may arise between said nation, in case the 
 partys are so agreed, otherwise they are to be brought before the 
 Courts of Judicature. . . . Now as to the choice of these Consulls, it 
 seems necessary that they be chosen yearly or at most every third year ; 
 that at their election they take an oath of fidellity, in such tearms as 
 the Hon'ble Comp* shall please to impose on them, that such who meritt 
 well from the Hon'ble Comp* by good service, advancing of trade, 
 inhabitants or shipping or bring any considerable proffitts and emolu- 
 ments to the Island, be rewarded by some particular honours and 
 speciments of the Hon'ble Comp* favour towards y" that others also 
 may be invited to deserve in the same nature." * 
 
 Such a proposal could have emanated only from the resource- 
 
 * Forrest's Selections^ i. p. 64. 
 
126 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 ful mind of a Gerald Aungier. By one masterly stroke of the 
 pen — almost a flash of genius — he made each order or trihe 
 responsible for the good behaviour of the members constituting 
 it. He was, in fact, rearing, though perhaps unconsciously, 
 the fabric of self-government. Anyhow, he seems to have 
 solved this problem in a manner which reflects the greatest 
 credit on his sagacity and resourcefulness. Remarkably keen 
 must have been Aungier' s power of observation. One sweep of 
 his eagle eye measured the situation with all its intricacies of 
 detail. Nothing escaped his notice. Though French blood 
 coursed in his veins, he was loyal to the soil on which he is said 
 to have been born and bred. He was the servant of an English 
 company, and the East India Company never had a servant 
 more faithful and devoted than he. Always on the alert to 
 strengthen English interests, he never missed an opportunity of 
 adding to the prestige and popularity of England in the East 
 Indies. But to return to our point. On the establishment of 
 the Courts of Judicature in Bombay he found that the records 
 were kept in the Portuguese language, as it was difficult to 
 get clerks who could write them in English. This was not 
 as it should be, he thought, so he made the following pro- 
 posal : 
 
 *' Whereas hitherto for want of sufficient number of Englishmen able 
 quallified thereunto, wee have been forced to serve ourselves of the 
 native Portugese for Justices, Constables and other publick offices, 
 especially in the lower Courts of Judicature, who not understanding 
 English language, the proceedings of your said Courts, as also of upper 
 Courts, have been hitherto on necessity don in the Portugese language, 
 w<^^ is not only dishonb^^ in its selfe, but also exposes the Governmn* 
 and proceedings of s"^ Courts to many inconveniencys, wherefore for y® 
 preventing thereof it is indispensibly necessary that all proceedings in 
 said Courts of Judicature be don altogether in y^ English language, for 
 y® better managem* whereof, y* the Comp* would be pleased to send out 
 yearly a convenient number of p. sons well quallified for said offices 
 whose charges and sallarys must be paid out of the ffees, fines and 
 amerciaments w**^ shall arise from the s<* Courts, w'^^ will be a good liveli- 
 hood for y™ so that they not be any charge to y^ Comp*, having free- 
 dom to trade to improve their stockes to y' most advantage. This will 
 be a means to strengthen the English interests on the Island, w^^ at 
 pres* is low and weake and consequently not so much esteemed by the 
 natives as it ought to be." * 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p 55. 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 127 
 
 Aungier respected laws and ordinances, not in their breach, 
 but in the strict observance of them. There was no one more 
 zealous than he for the fair fame of justice and the majesty of 
 law. He was the first to unveil the Face of Justice in Bombay, 
 and never tired of admiring its beauty. It was with the view of 
 rigidly enforcing all the rules and regulations that had been 
 framed for the good government of the island that he made the 
 last proposal in that important letter. 
 
 "For ye more strict observation," he wrote, "of all laws and 
 ordinances already made, or hereafter to be made by the Honn'ble 
 Comp* for the Island Bombay, and for the more regular and exact 
 paym*, keeping an acco* of all fines, forfeitures and amerciaments 
 due to the Honn'ble Comp* on any acco* whatsoever, that a certains 
 person be appointed of honest reputation having the power and office of 
 a Kecorder, whose duty must be to take care that all penall laws are put 
 in execution and all forfeitures, fines and amerciaments rec^ from all 
 without respect of p. sons and to keep an exact register thereof to 
 be sent y^ Comp* every yeare, the s*^ Eecorder also may have the office 
 of an Escheater to Escheat, condemne and seize to the Comp* use all 
 lands, houses and tenemt^ w<^^ in time either by the failing of y^ lives of 
 the present incumbents or possessors or otherwise, shall accrew by right 
 in law to the Honn'ble Comp*." * 
 
 Aungier believed in the wholesome effect of sumptuary laws. 
 He hated all show and vanity, and was a staunch Swadeshist. 
 He therefore proposed : 
 
 " That for the encouraging good husbandry, by preventing the vaine 
 and moderate [immoderate ?] excess of apparrell, as also for y® greater 
 consumption of our owne native manufactures, a standing law be estab- 
 Hshed by y® Hon'ble Comp* that no apparell or outward garments, to 
 wit, Tunicks, Vest, Doublet, Breeches, be used or worn by any Christian 
 inhabitants of y® said island, those of y^ Eastern Church excepted, of 
 what quallity, nation and condition soever, but such as are made of 
 English manufactures or brought out of England in our owne shipping 
 whether of silke, wooU or cotton." 
 
 He also ordered the soldiers to wear certain kinds of apparel 
 only, and **for the better confirmation and continuance of this 
 law, that certaine fines and penaltys be inflicted on any whom- 
 soever, whether English or other, that shall attempt to make 
 breach thereof." It must have shocked this good Christian to 
 * Forrest's SelectionSt i. p. 56. 
 
128 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 see the irregular lives led by many of his countrymen in 
 Bombay. The population then consisted chiefly of vagabonds 
 and fugitives, and drunkenness, gambling, and other vices were 
 rampant. Aungier set himself to put these down, as far as 
 possible, with a strong hand. It grieved him to see the sad 
 straits to which several of his countrymen were reduced by 
 marrying low-class Portuguese women and the consequent decay 
 of the Protestant religion. This is how he proposed to remedy 
 the evil : 
 
 " Whereas, for want of Eng" women, many of the English and others 
 protestant soldiers sent out, doe marry with Portugese mestise women, 
 natives of y^ land who are Boman CathoHcks, by w*'^ means the children 
 of the s*^ protestants are through their fathers' neglect brought up in the 
 Roman CathoUck principles to the great dishonour and weaking the 
 Protestant religion and interest, wherefore for the preventing the evill 
 consequences w'^'^ may in time accrue therefrom, that the Comp* would 
 please not only to encourage the sending out of EngUsh women, but also 
 to establish a standing order y' the children of all protestant fathers 
 shall be brought up carefully in the protestant religion, though the 
 mothers thereof be Roman CathoUcks, and that severe penaltys be 
 infflicted on all offenders, especially on the Padrees who shall endeavour 
 to baptise the said children or any way attempt to inveigle or intice 
 them away from the protestant faith." * 
 
 Unfortunately, some of these Englishwomen were not as 
 modest and well-behaved as the President could have wished. 
 Indeed, their mode of life created a scandal which at last came 
 to the ears of the Governor. Hard as he was on the ill-behaved 
 Portuguese women and the Padrees, whose licentiousness was 
 notorious, he was no less stern in dealing with his own country- 
 men and women who transgressed the laws of society. And if 
 there was a sting in the punishment he awarded, there was 
 strict impartiality in the justice meted out. On this subject he 
 wrote to the Bombay Council from Surat in 1675 : 
 
 " And whereas you give us notice y* some of y® women are growne 
 scandalous to o' nation, religion and Governm* wee require you in the 
 Hon'ble Compa^ name to give y™ all faire warning y* they do apply 
 y™selves to a more sober and Christian conversation, otherwise y^ 
 sentence is y^ y* they shall be confined totally of their liberty to goe 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 66. 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 129 
 
 abroad and fed with bread and water till they are embarqued on board 
 ship for England." * 
 
 In some of the other minor proposals we seem to hear the 
 voice of the political economist. For instance, he would have 
 artizans only of the reformed religion, and would bind married 
 men to live in Bombay for ten or seven years at least, on pain 
 *' of a considerable penalty on all who shall oflfend herein." The 
 trader, English or native, was not forgotten in these proposals. 
 Aungier was prepared to give him every reasonable facility, 
 for he knew that commerce must play an important part in 
 the development of the town and island of Bombay. Certain 
 privileges and immunities were given to those who settled 
 down on the island for purposes of trade, not the least 
 important of which was the granting of loans. " That 
 for the greater advance of trade," he proposed, " the Comp* 
 would please to give order for the lending out certaine sums 
 of money to the said society and other honest merchants, 
 they paying interest for the same." t And in support of 
 his proposal he cited an instance to his masters, that " This 
 course and poUicy was practised formerly Ijy the Dukes of 
 Florence with very remarkable success, to y® raising the trade 
 and much enriching the Port of Leghorne and consequently to 
 the great increase of his Customs and revenus." For the pro- 
 motion of the same laudable object he suggested that the 
 Company should attract artificers and handicraftsmen to settle 
 with their families on the island, by allowing them a year's pay 
 in advance ; and amongst those he particularly asked for were 
 carpenters, weavers in silk and cotton, gunsmiths and lock- 
 smiths, as well as " armores, bakers, cooks, shoemakers, talors, 
 diers, barbers, button-makers, ribbond-weavers, butchers, haber- 
 dashers of a small ware," &c. 
 
 The foregoing proposals were made by Aungier while he was at 
 Surat. He would have returned to Bombay long before this but 
 for the obstinacy of the Mogul Governor in withholding his con- 
 
 * After quoting this passage, Anderson ejaculates : "Of Gerald Aungier ! 
 In all this affair you had much Protestant zeal, but little Christian love." 
 {The English in Western India, p. 102). 
 
 t The system of granting loans inaugurated during the administration of 
 Gerald Aungier was continued long afterwards, for we find instances of the 
 grants of such loans in the records of the Mayor's Court. 
 
 9 
 
130 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 sent, and other unforeseen circumstances. He had heard evil 
 reports from Bombay of disobedience to lawful authority bordering 
 on sedition. It had grieved him to hear of 
 
 " y® unparrelled affront used to y® Hon'ble Comp* authority & likewise 
 y® seditious practice committed by these irregular speritts y* like flies 
 will never leave fluttering about y^ candle till they have burnt their 
 wings and leave a noisome stinck behinde y™." 
 
 In April, 1672, Aungier determined to leave Surat, and asked 
 for the consent of the Mogul Governor ; but no amount of 
 reasoning or pleading prevailed with him. Emboldened by the 
 authority vested in him by the Emperor, the Governor even 
 demanded a round sum of money as the price of permission to 
 the President to go to Bombay. But this was too much for the 
 patience of Aungier. 
 
 "... Takeing into consideration," he wrote to the Company, "ye 
 injustice of his demand & y® evill consequence would accrew to your 
 affaires should wee consent thereunto, wee resolved [not ?] only not to 
 give him any money ; but also y® P' should write him a lett"^ (for he will 
 not be visited by any of y^ Chrristians) and in y^ s"^ lett' give him leave to 
 understand y* in regard he was a serv* and under obedience to ord' he 
 must obey, y* he is a free merch' and no slave or prison'." 
 
 But even these words fell on deaf ears. Though a free 
 merchant and no slave or prisoner, Aungier must have felt the 
 irksomeness of his position. He had to resign himself to the 
 inevitable, and wound up the above letter thus : 
 
 " We know not yet w* y* issue of this business will be ; but we trust in 
 God no evil but much good will accrue to y' settlem*, both here and at 
 Bombay, in y® conclusion : but it will be effect of time, patience, resolution, 
 and a provident care to provide for imexpected accidents, in all w'^'^ wee 
 begg God's gratious assistance to direct and prosper us in all ye 
 difficultys w'^^ wee shall encounter in your affaires." * 
 
 Unable to tolerate the opposition of the Mogul Governor any 
 
 longer, Aungier seems to have left Swally Marine towards the 
 
 middle of May, 1672. The monsoon was about to burst, and 
 
 few ships ventured out in the open sea. The factors must have 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 60. 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 131 
 
 implored their Chief not to embark at such an unseasonable 
 hour. They all loved him and respected him, as they did no 
 other President before. But the intrepid Chief was deaf to their 
 entreaties and blind even to the fury of Nature. Affairs in 
 Bombay had gone from bad to worse, and his presence was 
 urgently required there. So much so that, as the factors 
 wrote, *'no consideration could divert him from running the 
 greatest hazards to serve his honourable masters." High winds 
 and wild waves could not hold him back. For a fortnight and 
 more the factors had no news of his arrival. Great anxiety 
 prevailed at the factory, deepened by terrible stories of ship- 
 wrecks in the Surat seas. 
 
 "Wee then," they wrote on the 21st of June, " began to despaire of y' 
 safety ; but it pleased God to comfort us. Ye next day being Sunday, as 
 wee satt at dinner, we re^"* his Honr« leW to o"^ infinite contenf"' w*^ ye 
 comfortable news of his safe arrival on ye island ye 7tli cur'*. After 
 such eminent and great dangers as he encountered, for w°^ wee rend' 
 thanks to Almighty God, and as in such cases wee ought to signifie also 
 to ye world o' gladness, the next day the whole family remembered so 
 great a blessing at Mirza Mosums Garden." * 
 
 We have no doubt much good wine was drunk on the occasion, 
 for the "family" must have celebrated the safe arrival of the 
 President in right royal fashion. The factors had a very high 
 opinion of their President, to which they testified in a letter 
 they wrote to the Company, via Persia and Aleppo, as follows : 
 
 " They (y« Presid* & his Councell in Bombay) have discoursed to you 
 in brief y® state of y' Island ; w''^ we assure you in y* short time w'''^ y"^ P' 
 hath resided there is very much improved, Courts of Judicature, and 
 many other importent affaires settled, and ye Almighty blessing his 
 endeavours, w*'^ are wholly bent to make y' yo'^ Collony happy and 
 flourishing ; we shall find w* further time he shall spend there will be 
 very advantageous to y' Interest in y*^ farr great"^ improvem* of y' 
 place." f 
 
 And again, in a letter to the Bantam factory, dated 
 January 31, 1673, they wrote : 
 
 " Since the latter end of May last our President hath been in his 
 government of Bombay. He had returned to us in September last had 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 67. t Ibid i. 69. 
 
132 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 not the war broke out. But his presence by animating the people being 
 so absolutely necessary and the great good he hath done by establishing 
 the English laws and Courts of Judicatm:e, and still doth in strengthening 
 the island, is of such force that he prefers his honours in maintaining the 
 place before any other interest." * 
 
 The factors were not mistaken in their estimate of the work 
 and worth of their Chief, for, as we shall presently see, the three 
 subsequent years that Gerald Aungier spent on the island of 
 Bombay were most advantageous to its affairs and most beneficial 
 to its inhabitants. 
 
 During this second visit the problem that demanded much 
 care and forethought was not concerned with the freedom of 
 trade or encouragement of native industries, but related to the 
 rights of the Company, on the one hand, and of the Portuguese 
 estate-holders, on the other, in the lands situated in the town 
 and island of Bombay. We have already touched upon the 
 disputes that had arisen between the English and the Portuguese 
 since the grant of the Charter of 1668. The tenure of land was 
 in a state of utter confusion. Nobody seemed to know for certain 
 whether a particular plot of land belonged to the Company or a 
 private individual, and, in the case of the latter, whether he held 
 it under a good title. The blame for this attaches largely to 
 Humphrey Cooke. His unjust capitulation made matters worse, 
 and his own corruption added not a little to the difficulties of the 
 situation. 
 
 " A sheaf of fictitious title-deeds," says Douglas, *' and forged 
 documents, the manufacture of which was connived at by Cooke himself 
 and for which he had taken bribes, were made to do duty with wonderful 
 alacrity in the interests of this new proprietary who were now so anxious 
 to foist their claims on the English." 
 
 The result was that the Portuguese claimed possession of 
 lands over which they had no more right than the man in the 
 moon, and the English, on their part, deprived most of them 
 even of their just rights on the pretext that they did not show 
 good title. The Court of Directors had sent orders that 
 restoration should be made to all who could, on examination of 
 their titles, establish their right to the property they claimed. 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part i. 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 133 
 
 This examination was beset with considerable difficulty, for who 
 was to decide whether a title-deed was genuine or fictitious? 
 Those were days when solicitors were conspicuous by their 
 absence in Bombay, and the handwriting expert was an unknown 
 person. Mr. Edwardes puts the situation in a nutshell. 
 
 " The Portuguese," he observes, " powerless to resist the inroads of the 
 English, had done their utmost to minimise the value of the ceded 
 territory by declaring that most of the lands of any value were the 
 property of private individuals and could not, therefore, under the articles 
 of delivery, be considered as the property of the Crown or Company. 
 The earlier Governors, as we have seen, retaliated by seizing such 
 properties on the most trivial pretexts, with the result that a feeling of 
 irritation and unrest prevailed widely throughout the islands."* 
 
 The Deputy-Governor and Council felt that they were unable 
 to save the situation. It required a man of exceptional tact and 
 resourcefulness to find a way out of the difficulty. Such a man 
 had already left Swally Marine and was now in Bombay. 
 
 Aungier appreciated the position at a glance. He heard both 
 sides patiently and carefully, for he was not a man to rush 
 through an affair of such far-reaching importance. It was 
 probably brought to his notice that the people were desirous 
 that their titles should be distinctly fixed by a regulation, rather 
 than weakened by the scrutiny which the Court of Directors had 
 suggested. Many of them were too poor to afford the expenses 
 of this scrutiny. They were therefore willing to agree to a 
 pecuniary compromise for the permanent security of their 
 property. In the spontaneous expression of this desire Aungier 
 found his opportunity. On October 1, 1672, there was held 
 at the Castle a general assembly of the chief representatives of 
 the inhabitants of Bombay, at which certain articles of agree- 
 ment were submitted for the consideration of the Governor in 
 Council. Exactly a month later, another general assembly, 
 "whereunto all the people in general interested in this affair 
 were invited to appear " was convened, and the famous Con- 
 vention or " composition between the Honble. East India 
 Company and Inhabitants of this Isle of Bombay & Mayim, 
 subjects of the said Company, and others, that having lands 
 of inheritance on this isle are living in other places," was 
 * Rise of Bombay^ p. 109. 
 
134 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 agreed to.* At this meeting there were present Governor 
 Aungier and his five members of Council, amongst whom stands 
 out prominent the name of Mr. James Adams, " Attorney- 
 General for the Honble. Company"; whilst the inhabitants 
 of Bombay were represented by several Portuguese and English 
 landlords who commanded some influence at the time. This 
 Convention consists of several articles which will be noticed in 
 detail in a subsequent chapter. We shall content ourselves by 
 referring here to two or three of the most important provisions, 
 testifying to the wisdom, tact, and judgment of the man who 
 brought about this amicable settlement of a dispute which had 
 become serious of late, and might have caused the Company 
 much trouble had it not been put an end to at the time. These 
 clauses may be summarised as follows : 
 
 " That for the better way of agreeing in the express charges that the 
 Company have for the defence of this isle, the inhabitants and others 
 aforesaid do offer to the Honourable Company 20,000 xeraphins 
 (Rs. 13,850) yearly, including in this sum the quit-rents that they did 
 pay formerly. That the estates that are seized on shall be delivered 
 again to the old possessors of what conditions soever. That for the time 
 to come if any estates on the isle come to the Honourable Company by 
 any title whatsoever, or likewise by cutting any tree or seizing any parts 
 or batty-grounds for the use of building the city or other ground for the 
 defence of it or any other fortification, that the quantity that amounts to 
 the said estate with the quit-rents shall be deducted according to the 
 value of the palmieras or the ground." 
 
 There is one more clause, perhaps the most important, which 
 deserves notice here. The town and island of Bombay at the 
 time consisted of Mazagaon, Sivri, Parel, and Varli, these having 
 come into the possession of the English by the Marriage Treaty, 
 
 * It is a curious circumstance that neither Bruce nor Fryer refers to this 
 epoch-making event in General Aungier's administration of Bombay, although 
 they are both almost prolix in describing other important events of the period. 
 It is not easy to account for their silence. The credit of unearthing the Con- 
 vention in 1814 is due to Mr. P. Warden, the then Chief Secretary to Govern- 
 ment, who refers to it in his admirable Report on Landed Tenures in Bombay. 
 *' At this early period therefore," he writes, " were the inhabitants secured in 
 their possessions ; all who now hold property subject to the payment of what 
 is called pension (pensao) possess it by a tenure of which the Government 
 cannot deprive them unless the land is required for building 'cities, towns, or 
 fortifications,' when reasonable satisfaction is to be made to the proprietors." 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 135 
 
 and also Mahim, Sion, Dharavi, and Vadala, which were smuggled 
 in by the astute Humphrey Cooke. But Colaba was still beyond 
 the Company's jurisdiction. Aungier assessed the value of this 
 little island at its proper worth and made up his mind to tack it 
 on to the town and island of Bombay. Hence we find the clause 
 in the Convention — 
 
 "that in regard to the little isle Colio (Colaba), reaching from the outer 
 point westwardly of the isle of the Paccari (Pakhadis) or parish called 
 Polo (Palav = Apollo) will be of great use to the Honourable Company, 
 in the good design which they have for the security and defence of this 
 whole isle, it is hereby agreed that it shall be totally and wholly reserved 
 for the use of the said Company, they making such reasonable satis- 
 faction to the persons interested therein as hereafter is expressed." 
 
 A spirit of compromise runs through every article of this 
 Convention. If Aungier gave way in certain matters, he also 
 held out for the Company in others. Before signifying their 
 assent to these clauses " out of their earnest and unfeigned 
 desire to promote the public good, peace, and tranquillity of 
 the isle," the Governor and Council stipulated for certain 
 conditions. The principal of these were : 
 
 " That all royalties, rights, privileges, and immunities which did 
 formerly belong to the Crown of Portugal of Foras and Royal Rents 
 of what nature or condition so ever shall be reserved as of right they 
 belong to the Honourable Company ; that there shall be reserved for the 
 Honourable Com*°y all grounds on the water side within the compass of 
 the isle to be disposed of in necessary occasions for the public, excepting 
 such grounds wherein there are at present planted gardens of cocoanut 
 trees or rice-grounds, as also churches, houses or ware-houses of stone ; 
 and that whensoever for the pubhc good it shall be necessary to make 
 use of any of the said places or properties the Government and Council 
 shall make satisfaction to the interest in a reasonable manner." 
 
 The last article declared that the Governor and Council 
 established and ratified the agreement as perpetual and irre- 
 vocable between the Company and the people, and contained a 
 promise by the Governor in Council to prevail upon the Company 
 *'to establish and confirm the same by a patent made under 
 their hands and seals." But it does not seem to have been 
 formally ratified by the Court of Directors, though it was never 
 
136 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 repudiated. Regarding this point, Sir Michael Westropp observes 
 in his judgment : 
 
 " In the answer of the Company to the memorial of the Portuguese 
 Envoy, relative to the services of the Portuguese inhabitants of the island 
 of Bombay, dated 18th March, 1691-92, it appears to have been referred 
 to as a valid and subsisting arrangement. There is not any doubt 
 that it has been acted upon by the Government of Bombay and the 
 inhabitants." * 
 
 The fact that the annual payment of 20,000 xeraphins, which 
 was the foras or quit-rent fixed by this agreement, continues 
 under the name of pension is abundant proof of the validity ot 
 Governor Aungier's famous Convention. About two years sfter 
 it was signed by the Governor of Bombay and his Council on 
 behalf of the Company, and by " one hundred and twenty of the 
 eminents of the Povo (" people") on behalf of the whole Povo of 
 the Isle," some discontented persons t attempted to make out 
 that the Convention was unjust. Thereupon the intrepid 
 Governor called another meeting on July 16, 1674, and 
 desired them 
 
 " to declare their minds freely, without the least apprehension of fear, 
 concerning their sense of the said contract and whether they owned their 
 exclamations against it, declaring further that they were at their own 
 Uberty whether it should be disannulled or made void or be confirmed. 
 Whereupon the Povo in general said they never exclaimed against the 
 said contract but were thoroughly satisfied therewith, and of the justice 
 thereof, it being an affair of their own request and seeking after, and 
 desired that the Governor in Council would be pleased to ratify and 
 confirm the said contract unto them, which was unanimously on both 
 sides agreed on." J 
 
 It is difficult to think of a more spontaneous agreement than 
 this. It stands to-day as a monument perpetuating Aungier's 
 
 * 4, Bombay High Court Reports, p. 46. 
 
 t Curiously enough, it was some of Aungier's own countrymen who made 
 this unworthy attempt. They probably wanted to be exempted from the 
 conditions imposed by the Convention. But to Aungier the colour of the 
 skin made no difference. The same law, he thought, should govern the 
 English and the native. He was inexorable, and would on no account 
 yield. 
 
 I 4, Bombay High Court Reports, p. 45. 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 137 
 
 memory better than any mausoleum that could have been erected 
 over his resting-place at Surat. It has been asked if Aungier 
 could not have secured for his masters better terms under 
 the Convention: if, for instance, he could not have raised the 
 price at which the Povo of Bombay purchased their security in 
 property. As regards the latter point, it will suffice to remark 
 that the lands in Bombay at the time were not considered worth 
 purchasing, as they were mostly submerged in water and unfit 
 for cultivation. It is true that on the very lands which were 
 bartered away by Aungier at the yearly quit-rent of only d6 1,200 
 stand to-day majestic piles of buildings worth several crores of 
 rupees. But it must be remembered that more than two hundred 
 and fifty years have elapsed since the date of the Convention. 
 After mature consideration, Douglas has come to the conclusion 
 that, *' instead of being a bad bargain for us, the Convention of 
 Aungier was a great, a wise, and a statesmanlike measure ; that 
 it is not only the basis upon which the lands afi'ected by it rest, 
 but that upon it rests a goodly part of the wealth, population, 
 and commercial greatness of our city." Aungier might have 
 refused to enter into any sort of Convention with the Povo of the 
 island, or he could have imposed terms upon them more advan- 
 tageous to his masters. He might also have made a clean sweep 
 of the landlords on the ground of bad title or forged title-deeds. 
 He might have adopted various other devices to defeat the just 
 claims of the people, but, let it be said to his lasting credit, he 
 did ample justice to them. "No contemplation of human passion 
 or ambition," to quote the words of the historian above referred 
 to, "could seduce Aungier from his allegiance to the one path of 
 duty on which he had entered, and no accusation can be brought 
 against the English for using their authority unjustly."* 
 
 Aungier 's watchwords were " Toleration and Progress." We 
 have already seen what efi'orts he made for the progress of 
 Bombay. The greatest liberty was to be allowed to native 
 traders. Their beliefs, even their superstitions, were to be 
 respected. He recognised the equality of all religions in the eye 
 of the law. No man did more for the growth of religious tolera- 
 tion in Bombay than he. For instance, when the Mahajan 
 of Surat asked for certain privileges in 1671, he persuaded his 
 masters to accede to their request. And when, in 1677, one 
 ♦ Bombay and Western India, i. p. 92. 
 
138 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Neema Parrack, a Banya from Div, petitioned to the Governor 
 for permission to settle down in Bombay on certain conditions, 
 he met the petitioner more than half-way. In fact, he entered 
 into a sort of compact with the Banyas in general whereby the 
 latter secured not only for themselves, but for their descendants 
 and successors for all time to come, the boon of religious liberty 
 as their inalienable birthright. So important a compact deserves 
 fuller notice. Neema Parrack, an eminent merchant of Div, 
 had expressed a desire to settle with his family in Bombay for 
 purposes of trade, provided a patent was granted to him under 
 the Company's seal " containing certaine favours w^^ he begs in 
 relation to liberty and security in ye exercise of religion, trade, 
 property and reputable residence on s* Island." In recognition 
 of his eminent worth and high reputation, Governor Aungier 
 and his Council were pleased to grant him certain privileges, the 
 chief of which may be noted below : 
 
 " (2) That he w*^ ye Brahminees or Ver of his cast shall enjoy ye free 
 exercise of their religion w*h^° their owne houses w*hout ye molestation 
 of any person w*soever, that noe Eng^man, Portuguez, or other Chris- 
 tian, nor Mahomitan, shall be permitted to live w*^ in their compound, 
 or offer to kill any living creature there, or doe ye least injury or 
 indignity to y™, and if any shall presume to offend y"^ w*^ in ye limits 
 of their said compound upon their complaint to the Gov' or Dep*^ Gov'^ 
 ye offenders shall be exemplary punished ; y* they shall have liberty to 
 burn their dead, according to their custome and also to use their 
 ceremonies at their weddings, and y* none of their profession of w* age, 
 sex or condition w*ever they be, shall be forced to turne Christians, nor 
 to carry burthens against their wills. 
 
 " (4) That in case there falls out any difference or suite in law between 
 him or his Vakeell or attorneys or ye Banians of his cast, and any other 
 persons remaining on the Island, ye Gov' or Dept^ Gov' shall not suffer 
 him or y"" to be publiquely arrested, dishonoured or carryed to prison with- 
 out first giving him due notice of ye cause depending, y* he or they may 
 cause justice to be done in an honest and amicable way, and in case any 
 difference happen between him or his attorney, or any Banian of his 
 owne cast, they may have liberty to decide it among themselves w%out 
 being forced to go to law. 
 
 " (7) That in case any person be indebted to him and also to other 
 Banians, and be not able to pay all his debts, his right may be preferred 
 before other Banians. 
 
 " (9) That he or any of his ffamily shall have Uberty of egress and 
 Ingres to and fro ye ffort or residence of ye Governor and Dept^ Gov', 
 y* they shall be received w*^ civil respect and be permitted to sit downs 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 139 
 
 according to their qualities; y* they shall freely use coaches, horses 
 or pallanqueens and quitasals for their conveniency w*hout any disturb- 
 ance ; y' their servants may weare swords and daggers, shall not be 
 abused, beaten, or imprisoned except they offend ag^' ye law, and y* in 
 any case of his kindred or friends shall come to visit him or them from 
 any other parts, they shall be used with civility and respect.'"^ 
 
 It may be noted here that the Bombay Council apparently 
 forwarded their opinion on this patent of privileges to the 
 Court of Directors on April 3, 1677, in the course of which 
 they say : 
 
 " The 4th Article is indeed a privilege, but no more y° Girder, the 
 Moody, and some others have, w**^ does not in ye least exempt y™ from 
 the hands of ye law or justice, but does only ask that justice be done 
 respectfully, w°^ he need not doubt of, and for matter of differences 
 among y^^selves there is already His Hon" Patent authorizing y"= to 
 decide such things. 
 
 " As to the 7th, our law is such y* if a person be indebted to severall 
 men, whosoever gets a judgment first in Court will be paid his full debt, 
 but no man can be agrieved at y*, nor can any creditour have any pre- 
 tence to w* is once paid, and w" judgm* is given it is already paid in 
 law, so y* he is no longer proprietour of it ; but w° a person is indebted 
 to two men and ye first sues him, and upon y* ye second comes in and 
 sues him to, w*^ w* justice can wee pay all ye Debt'^ estate to ye second 
 creditour. Only of this he may be assured y* all justice shall be done 
 him w*^ speed according to o' law and the party forced to pay ye full 
 debt if able, and ly in prison for ye rest till hee pleases to release him, 
 w*^'* wee suppose may well content him." 
 
 The liberality and toleration of Gerald Aungier are nowhere 
 seen to greater advantage than in the privileges secured by the 
 fortunate Neema Parrack. Another Governor less large-minded 
 than he might have rejected the Banya's petition on the ground 
 that the latter wanted too much, thereby showing his own weak- 
 ness. The greatness of Aungier lay in the strength of his 
 character. 
 
 So far we have pictured Gerald Aungier as a man of peace, 
 the man who loved peace and preached and practised it wherever 
 he went. But he was a man of action too. There is no 
 evidence to show that, like Sir George Oxenden, he came of a 
 fighting stock. But there are instances to prove that he could 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 112. 
 
140 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 fight, and was always prepared to do so. Almost the first work 
 he took in hand during his visit to Bombay in 1672 was to 
 strengthen the fortifications of the castle. And he did this 
 not a day too soon. For, immediately after, a Dutch fleet 
 arrived in Bombay and threatened to attack the island. The 
 Dutch had six thousand men on board, whereas Aungier had 
 barely a thousand who could fight. But, undaunted, he gathered 
 all the available forces around him, and placed them so skilfully, 
 particularly the Bhandaris armed with clubs, that the enemy 
 took fright and sailed away. On that occasion, says Orme, 
 Aungier exerted himself " with the calmness of a philosopher 
 and the courage of a centurion." No higher testimony is needed 
 to the bravery of this man of peace. The * grand rebel " of the 
 Dekkan was also very troublesome,* but Aungier always kept 
 him at bay, and Sivaji soon discovered that neither strategy 
 nor stratagem was of much avail. It was during Aungier's 
 administration that an embassy was sent to Sivaji, or, as he 
 was sometimes styled by the early writers, Baja Seva Gi, with 
 the object of entering into a commercial treaty with him. The 
 astute Governor believed in taking time by the forelock, for 
 finding that their gallant behaviour in repulsing an attack which 
 Sivaji had made upon Surat had created a favourable impres- 
 sion upon him, Aungier lost no time in preparing the embassy, 
 with the object of securing certain privileges for the East India 
 Company. An anonymous historian thus sums up the result of 
 the embassy : 
 
 " Except making the English coin current in his dominions, and 
 restoring wrecks of ships perished on his coasts, the whole that was 
 demanded was granted, with this compliment, that with great satisfac- 
 tion he embraced our friendship, promising to himself and his country 
 much happiness by our settlement and trade." f 
 
 There were, however, more formidable enemies than the 
 Mahrathas. The Dutch, the French, and the Portuguese each 
 attempted to oust the English from their supremacy in Bombay 
 and at Surat. But Aungier, the Commander-in-Chief of His 
 
 * On October 3, 1670, Sivaji's soldiers invaded and pillaged Surat, carrying 
 away immense treasure, but Aungier secured the lives of the English and the 
 property of the Company. 
 
 f An Historical Account of Bombay ^ 1781, p. 25. 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 141 
 
 Majesty's Forces in the East Indies, proved more than a match 
 for them all. He had a very mean opinion of the Portuguese, 
 and considered them hardly worth fighting. On hearing of 
 "the ridiculous pride and vanity of ye Portuges in threatening 
 and mustering forces for warr," he wrote to the Bombay Council 
 as follows : 
 
 "And therefore wee require you boldly and manfully to oppose al 
 such proud, vaineglorious, and malitious attempts w*'^ the Portugese 
 may designe against you, returne words with words, designe with 
 designe, violence with violence, embargo with embargo, and let them 
 and all y°^ neighbours know publickly that wee value not their fiEriend- 
 ship nor f eare their enmity ; and in regard wee understand that some 
 Padrees were more busy than became them in this afifaire in casting out 
 evill slanderous reports to the encouragement of the inhabitants, wee 
 require you to give us a strict ace* what Padrees they were, and what 
 they did, and particularly of that Jesuite Padree at Parell, and the 
 Padrees at Mahim, that we may give such directions as are necessary 
 therein for the preventing the mischiefs they may doe us." * 
 
 The Siddy had also brought out his fleet, but he proved prac- 
 tically harmless during Aungier's governorship of Bombay. 
 Although he was refused quarters on shore, the President wrote 
 to the Bombay Council to be civil to him. 
 
 " Wee would have you be," he urged, " very civill in your discourses 
 & arguments to the Siddy and all the officers, representing the imrea- 
 sonableness of their requests, the trouble w°^ wee have already sustained 
 & the evill consequences that may follow, and faile not to supply them 
 with what they may want, wood, water and provisions, and let them have 
 noe just complaint against you in that manner, but suffer none of their 
 vessells to hale on shore by any meanes if you can prevent it." 
 
 Such conciliation and tact probably contributed towards his 
 success as much as the calmness and courage which he invari- 
 ably showed in dealing with his enemies. 
 
 Aungier's life was meanwhile ebbing away. He was growing 
 old and weak. The climate of Bombay, which had the unen- 
 viable reputation of being considered a charnel-house for Euro- 
 peans, had probably told on his health. About the end of 1675 
 he must have returned to Surat, for we find him spending the 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 85. 
 
142 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Christmas of that year in that historic city. Before he left 
 Bombay, however, he is said to have drawn up a long and 
 elaborate report upon the condition and prospects of Bombay for 
 the information of the Court. 
 
 " This information," Da Cunha writes, " written during the season of 
 1673-74, was in fact a statistical account of the island, specifying the 
 division of it into the districts of Bombay and Mahim, with an account 
 of its inhabitants, the extent and magnitude of its fortifications, and the 
 strength of the garrison." -!' 
 
 Aungier lived for only two years after his departure from 
 Bombay, but, though he was far from well and felt the burden 
 of his age, he was as active as ever. He once expressed a wish 
 to retire, but death would not allow him the gratification of his 
 wish. He died in harness, with the sword by his side and the 
 quill in hand. Wasted with dysentery and occasionally bled by 
 the doctors, as was the barbarous fashion in those days, he had 
 lost the use of his limbs. But his mind had not lost its elasticity 
 nor his heart its goodness. Almost till the last he was anxious 
 about ajQfairs in Bombay. It was his favourite city, for had he 
 not built it, as he intended, by God's assistance ? Propped up 
 in bed and with the shadow of death hovering about him, he 
 wrote to the Bombay Council "to build a street of houses on 
 Bombay, reaching from Judge Nicholls house to ye water-side." 
 But he did not wish to mulct the Company in cost if they did 
 not approve of the suggestion. The spirit of independence was 
 as strong within him as of yore. 
 
 "If you judge," he had it added, "in any wayes inconvenient to ye 
 Company to buy the said ground for their ace", then he desires you 
 y* you would buy the said ground for his own ace**, causing ye writing 
 to be firmely established by the law, y' he may have a sufl&cient title 
 thereunto, desiring yo' answer by the next cossett." 
 
 He was grieved to hear about the misconduct of the Judge of 
 the island, to which we shall have occasion to refer hereafter. 
 Owing to the increase of sickness and mortality in Bombay the 
 
 * Origin of Bombay, p. 290. In this respect Dr. Gerson da Cunha com- 
 pares Gerald Aungier to the well-known Portuguese civilian, Simao Botehlo, 
 the Overseer of the Revenues of Bassein, who in 1554 wrote the Tombo do 
 Estado da India and several letters to the King of Portugal. 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 143 
 
 Deputy-Governor had suggested that the Court House should be 
 temporarily turned into a hospital, as there was no such institu- 
 tion then on the island. The Governor approved of the sugges- 
 tion and also of the proposal to use Mr. Petit's house as the 
 Court of Judicature, but he counselled economy and asked for 
 its valuation. He considered Rs. 2,400 "to be a deare penny 
 worth," and recommended that the house should be occupied 
 without the garden and ground adjoining it. He was ill satisfied 
 with the adjustment of accounts in Bombay and enjoined greater 
 care in this respect. His love of the Padrees grew less every 
 day. He had heard of the Padrees from Goa leaving their 
 cloisters on purpose to lead licentious lives in Bombay and to 
 incite the people to disorder and disaffection. This sorely tried 
 him, and he wrote to the Bombay Council " that if such Padrees 
 are upon the island, you give them convenient notice to repaire 
 to Chaule or where else they please to disguise themselves, for 
 yt wee are not well satisfied with their contynuance there." * 
 But if his heart was adamant against malpractices, social or 
 religious, the milk of human kindness flowed from it freely on 
 occasions deserving of pity or help. Certain widows — to wit, 
 Mrs. Shaxton and Mrs. Wilcox — were the recipients of his 
 bounty. In Aungier was united the courage of a man with the 
 tenderness of a woman. His last great act was, as we have 
 seen, the Magna Charta of religious toleration which he granted 
 to the Banyas through their eminent representative, Neema 
 Parrack, in 1677. Only a month after this compact was signed 
 Gerald Aungier died. A writer in the Monthly Miscellany 
 states that he breathed his last within the precincts of this 
 city, but that seems to be a mistake. For in the letter dated 
 June 30, 1677, the Surat Council wrote to Bombay : 
 
 " It hath pleased God to our great sorrow after a tedious sickness to 
 take out of this life o' worthy Presid*, Gerald Aungier, who dec^ this 
 morning between four & five of ye clock, of w"^ wee thought good to 
 give you this timely notice, y* you might prevent ajl innovations or dis- 
 turbances upon y^ Island." 
 
 The news of this sad event spread like wildfire, and deep and 
 widespread must have been the grief occasioned by it. The 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 107. 
 
144 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 early historians of Bombay are not agreed as to the place where 
 this great man was buried. But it seems clear that Aungier 
 was laid to his final rest at Surat, for the factors, in concluding 
 the above letter, say: "Our thoughts are now taken up in giving 
 orders and directions for ye descent burial of ye defunct, whom, 
 God willing, wee intend to interr on Munday next, in such 
 manner ye time and place will admit." * Aungier must have 
 been buried in grand style, with the flags over the Castle and the 
 factory half-mast high. But it may be truly observed that " no 
 man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." Statues have 
 been erected over the tombs of lesser men — but Aungier lies 
 under a simple grave untouched by the art of the sculptor. The 
 former had statues erected to them after death and by other 
 hands ; Aungier erected his own monument during life. The 
 Panchayatf the Convention with the Povo of Bombay, the com- 
 pact with Neema Parrack — each of these and many more similar 
 acts enshrine his memory as no stone or marble could. It is 
 perhaps in the fitness of things that such a man should lie in a 
 nameless grave, t But if Surat possesses not a single relic of 
 one of her most famous Presidents, Bombay can boast of a 
 possession reminding her that there lived a good and great 
 Christian more than two centuries and a half ago, who strove 
 hard for the honour of his religion without in any way attempting 
 to bring dishonour on other religions. There is a silver chalice, | 
 religiously preserved at the Bombay Cathedral, which Aungier 
 presented to the Christian community of Bombay in 1675, when 
 there was no trace of a cathedral on the island. This precious 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 116. 
 
 t According to Campbell there is a tomb in Surat, without an inscription, 
 which is supposed to be that of Aungier. 
 
 I The chalice bears the following compact inscription : 
 
 "Hunccalicem 
 
 Eucharistse sacrum esse 
 
 voluit 
 
 Honorabilis Geraldus 
 
 Aungierus, Insulae Bombaise 
 
 Gubernator, ac pro rebus Honorabilis 
 
 Anglorum Societatis Indicis 
 
 Orientalibus mercatorum agentium Praeses, 
 
 illustrii 
 
 serse Christianee 
 
 anno 1675." 
 
GERALD AUNGIER 145 
 
 possession serves not only to perpetuate the memory of the 
 greatest of our early Governors, but may also be reckoned as 
 " the oldest tangible memorial of the existence of an English 
 settlement in Bombay." The Bombay Council could not 
 adequately express their sense of sorrow at the death of their 
 esteemed chief. 
 
 "Wee cannot rightly express," they wrote on July 11, 1677, "ye 
 reallity of our grief wee conceived at ye perusall of ye deplorable news 
 of the death of our late noble President. Multiplicity of words may 
 multiply ye sence of our loss, but cannot depaint its greatness and ye 
 knowledge wee have of ye true worth and integrity of his successour, and 
 it shall be our continuall prayers for a blessing on your great affairs." * 
 
 His masters in England could not have felt his loss less keenly, 
 though there is nothing on record to show how they expressed 
 their sense of sorrow. The King had not offered him a title, 
 nor the Company any special reward. But it is a significant 
 fact that the authorities at home, on hearing of his death, 
 reduced the salary of his office in the case of his successors from 
 £500 to £300. Douglas justly observes that Providence, as a 
 rule, does not raise up men like Aungier twice in a generation. 
 But Bombay had to wait much longer than a generation before 
 she knew another Governor with the wisdom, tact, and courage 
 of Gerald Aungier. 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 133. 
 
 10 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE IN THE TOWN AND 
 ISLAND OF BOMBAY 
 
 (1670-1726) 
 
 IN tracing the history of the administration of justice in the 
 town and island of Bombay from the beginning, we must go 
 back to the time when Aungier was its Governor. For it was 
 he who passed certain orders at a Consultation held on February 
 2, 1670 — a date which must be considered ever memorable in 
 the history of the Bombay High Court — to regulate the adminis- 
 tration of justice in it. 
 
 " The Governor in Council," so runs the Consultation, *' in pursuance 
 of the Honourable Company's order concerning a Court of Judicature for 
 deciding of differences between party & party, as also concerning justices 
 of the peace & constables for the cause & ends therein specified, has 
 seriously considered the present state of affairs within this island, 
 together with the number and qualifications of Englishmen thereon, who 
 being able for such a trust can be spared for other necessary service. 
 Likewise the convenience in this juncture of time and promulgation of 
 new laws of suiting the present Government to the natives by a con- 
 currence with Englishmen in matters of smaller importance to the end 
 that justice may be duly administered, that the inhabitants may have 
 the greater satisfaction in the execution of the laws, and that all things 
 may proceed the more regular. After mature deliberation and debate, 
 they resolve and conclude as follows : The island of Bombay to be 
 divided into two distinct precincts, one comprehending Bombay, 
 Mazagon, and Girgaon ; and the other Mahim, Parel, Sion, and Worli, 
 and the Puckreys (Pakhadis or hamlets) thereunto belonging. In each of 
 these precincts there shall be five justices who besides the particulars 
 expressed in the laws shall have power to receive, hear, try and deter- 
 mine all bills, plaints, petitions, and actions for sums of money 
 not exceeding the value of five xeraphines (Es.3|). To this end 
 
 146 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 147 
 
 those of the first precincts shall convene in the Custom House of 
 Bombay [near the present Town Barracks] every Friday at eight o'clock 
 in the morning, and those of the second precincts in the Custom House 
 of Mahim on every Wednesday at the same hour. Provided always that 
 the respective customers [Custom officers] of Bombay and Mahim being 
 Englishmen be always present and preside as chairman in these respec- 
 tive Courts and three to make a quorum." * 
 
 It will be seen from the above that for the purposes of 
 administration of justice the town and island of Bombay was 
 divided into two parts or precincts, and that in each of these five 
 iustices, all EnglisJimen,\ being qualified for the purpose, were 
 appointed to administer justice, three forming a quorum. They 
 were all unpaid officials, for it had first been ascertained that 
 they could spare time for the discharge of their honorary duties. 
 It was not till 1675 that a special salaried official was appointed 
 to preside over the Courts of Judicature, and was given the title 
 of Judge. The "customers" were, however, given certain 
 privileges of trade, probably to compensate them for the loss of 
 their time and in recognition of their trouble in discharging 
 their onerous duties. There are, unfortunately, no records to 
 show the nature of the justice meted out by them. These 
 ** customers " were chiefly traders, sublimely ignorant even of 
 the rudimentary principles of law. Nor were there presumably 
 any barristers or solicitors to plead the cause of litigants then, 
 for there was not much litigation in Bombay. But to return to 
 the deliberations of the Council. Aungier made the most use of 
 the materials at hand. Hence we find the following provision : 
 
 " Further, that the said Court shall choose their own Perbes (Prabhu 
 clerks) and other officers necessary : and appoint them such moderate 
 fees as shall not be burdensome ; and shall keep an exact register of all 
 their sentences, resolutions, executions, and judgments whatsoever ; and 
 deliver authentic copy thereof quarterly to the Deputy Gov"^ & Council. 
 Moreover, that in every parish within either of these precincts above 
 mentioned there shall be one constable who for an ensign of his office 
 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. 
 
 f Natives were not then appointed justices, probably because they were not 
 considered fit for such a trust. But on the establishment of the Mayor's 
 Court in 1726 we hear of what were termed " black justices," so called in 
 order, perhaps, to distinguish them from " white justices." {Vide footnote at 
 p. 159.) 
 
148 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 shall CEirry a staff tipped with silver * and the Company's arms there- 
 upon engraved, and shall attend those Courts as necessity requires." 
 
 Aungier was wise enough to see that the experiment of 
 entrusting the administration of justice to a few traders, ignorant 
 of law and devoid of any legal training, was fraught with con- 
 siderable danger. He therefore decided to have a Court of 
 Appeal. 
 
 "And lastly," concludes the above Consultation, "in regard there is 
 no other Court of Judicature for decision of other cause and difference 
 between party and party through want of men able and understanding 
 in the laws, the Deputy- Governor and Council shall convene in Court 
 every Tuesday from 8 to 11 in the forenoon and from 1 to 3 in the after- 
 noon within the fort then and there to receive, try and decide all appeals 
 (if any shall be made) from inferior Courts, as also all actions treason- 
 able, felonious, capital or criminal, which in any way relate to the public 
 Government and civil polity of the island and the Company's interest 
 and estate thereupon, as well as all suits and actions whatsoever between 
 man and man for lands, goods, and sums of money above the value of 
 200 xeraphins.f In this Court as provided in the laws, all trials shall 
 be by a jury, and exact registers of their proceedings shall be kept that 
 the equity thereof may appear to all whom it may concern." J 
 
 The Deputy- Governor and Council constituting themselves a 
 Court of Appeal, " through want of men able and understanding 
 in the laws," was an act of presumption delightful to a degree. 
 It might lead one to suppose that the members of the superior 
 Court were learned in the law : but we regret to say this was far 
 from the case. The Court of Appeal was probably formed as a 
 sort of check on the vagaries and illegalities of the " customers." 
 In point of legal training there was, we suppose, little to choose 
 between the superior and the inferior Courts. The superior 
 Court was evidently entrusted with the administration of criminal 
 justice. Consequently, it must have been well occupied with 
 the trial of offenders, for the town and island of Bombay was 
 
 • The office of tip-staff to the Judges was abolished but recently. 
 
 t There is one point which seems to us inexplicable here. The inferior 
 Courts were empowered to try suits, &c., not exceeding in value 5 xeraphins. 
 The superior Courts took cognisance of all suits, &c., above the value of 
 200 xeraphins. Query : Which Courts were to try suits, &c., the value of 
 which was between 5 xeraphins and 200 xeraphins ? (See footnote at p. 159.) 
 
 I Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 2. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 149 
 
 then infested by thieves, vagabonds, and other disreputable 
 characters. Those were times when neither mercy nor refine- 
 ment was shown in the sentences awarded to the culprits. They 
 were tried summarily and punished with a severity that fills one 
 with horror to-day. 
 
 In this wise was the first Court of Judicature inaugurated in 
 Bombay in 1670. One would think, were it not for the experi- 
 ence of Penang a century or two later, that it must have 
 administered justice in accordance with the laws of England ; 
 though, indeed, a special Code was published in that year for its 
 guidance. Unfortunately, no trace of this Code seems to be 
 extant. We should not have known even of its publication but 
 for the following entry in the Consultation Book : 
 
 "It is unanimously resolved that those laws which concern the 
 administration of justice and common right, the form of judicature, and 
 the penalties appointed against profaneness, breaches of morality and 
 civil government shall be translated into the Portuguese and Kanarese 
 languages and be pubUshed with all convenient speed, and the others 
 deferred till further consideration." 
 
 Two years after, an attempt was made to frame a sort of 
 Procedure Code. For in a letter from Surat, the Governor and 
 Council write to Bombay : 
 
 " Mr. Geo. Wilcox hath informed y*^ he hath drawne up a forme of 
 Legall proceedings w*'^ he intended to present him w*^ on his arrival at 
 Bombay, w^^ forme wee would have him send up hither y* wee may 
 debate and consider thereof." -'- 
 
 Here is another interesting document lost to the legal world 
 of Bombay, for, beyond the fact that certain forms of procedure 
 were framed, we know nothing about them. The loss to the 
 lawyer may not be great, but the antiquary cannot but regret 
 it. George Wilcox was appointed a judge on August 8, 1672. 
 He held his Court in a room near the Fort and was assisted by 
 two justices ; two days in the week were set apart for civil work 
 and only one day in the month was devoted to the disposal of 
 
 * The Court of Directors sent out the Statute Book and other law books to 
 the Company's servants in December, 1672, and with the help of these Wilcox 
 must have attempted to draw up a sort of Civil Procedure Code. 
 
150 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 criminal cases.* He must have been well occupied, for in 
 addition to civil and criminal work he was in charge of the 
 register of probate of wills and inventories of dead men's estates. 
 But Wilcox was evidently not a prosperous judge. For in 1677 
 the Bombay Government sent 
 
 " a petition of the Widdow of y"" late Judge Mr. George Wilcox, he 
 having received no sallary here for the time that he was Judge here. 
 She therefore begs y' Hon''^ to consider her condition and order her y® 
 pay™* of w* convenient sallary yo' ho"^^ shall deem her husband may 
 have merited." f 
 
 Poor Madam Wilcox ! We sincerely trust she had a pension 
 deserving of a judge's widow. But we wonder why Wilcox, J., 
 received no salary during his tenure of office in Bombay. Beyond 
 the fact of his impecuniosity we know nothing further about him. 
 When Wilcox died, in 1674, the Court of Directors again dis- 
 cussed the question of appointing a full-time judge, and finally 
 decided that such a person was necessary. In a letter signed by 
 Aungier and his assistants from Surat, dated December 18, 1675, 
 there occurs the following interesting passage : 
 
 " As to ye Judges sallary, having respect as well to o"^ M" orders as 
 also to his present condition and ye quality of ye employ™*, wee have 
 ordered that his salary be J6120 to be paid him quarterly, and to begin 
 from his entrance into office, and y* he be allowed a horse or Pallankeen 
 yyith a Sumbrera boy, as also a Gowne yearley at the Comp^^ charge, and 
 he is req'"'* to keepe an exact ace* of all moneys rec*^ and fines, and 
 having thereout discharged w* is layed out for ye sessions dinners, 
 officers fees and public expences, ye remainder he is to pay into the 
 Hon'ble Comp*« cash." | 
 
 The Governor fixed his salary at the magnificent sum of 56 120 a 
 year, "having respect to his present condition and ye quality of 
 ye employ™*." § There lurks a sort of contempt in this sentence, 
 
 * Military cases were separately dealt with. When, in 1674, Shaxton was 
 charged with inciting a meeting of the troops to rebellion, he was impeached 
 before a select Court of Judicature and tried by martial law. 
 
 t Forrest's Selections, p. 122. 
 
 i Ibid. p. 73. 
 
 § It should be noted, however, that £120 a year then would equal about 
 £1,000 a year now. It was equivalent in purchasing power to a much larger 
 sum, and compares not badly with the stipend of the judge of a small West 
 Indian island, if allowance is made for this fact. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 151 
 
 but we may be doing Aungier injustice. Subsequent events, 
 however, proved that he had a presentiment of the disrepute 
 into which this high post was to fall through the alleged mis- 
 conduct of its very first incumbent. One Mr. Nicolls was 
 appointed to fill the post in 1675, but he had not been long 
 in office when he was found unworthy of the charge entrusted 
 to him. Indeed, he seems to have behaved himself with such 
 aiTogance and wilful disobedience that it is matter for wonder 
 that he was allowed to retain the post for nearly two years. His 
 tenure of office was also remarkable for two sentences which 
 formed the subject of a remonstrance from the Court of Directors. 
 In the first case, two natives were convicted of theft and exe- 
 cuted ; and in the second case, a European was convicted of the 
 same offence and sentenced to slavery. The Directors, in their 
 despatch to the Surat factory dated May 6, 1685, laid down 
 that theft was not to be punished with death and that Europeans 
 were not to be made slaves. It seems likely that the vagaries 
 of the new Judge were tolerated simply because there was 
 nobody to succeed him. But the patience of the Bombay Council 
 was at last exhausted ; they resolved to suspend him and dis- 
 pense with a successor. They wrote at some length txt the 
 Governor at Surat, specifying the charges brought against 
 Nicolls, J. This letter, dated August 20/28, 1677. is so full 
 of interest for us that we shall quote it in full. 
 
 "Wee have long forebore," they wrote, " upon just sentiments to say 
 anything concerning the Judge, but wee doe now find that ye good of the 
 Island, ye content of the inhabitants and discharge of the trust reposed 
 in us, does inforce us to seek a prevention of these bad consequences his 
 carriage eminently does threaten, whereby your Hon'^ will perceive how 
 little he has merited the honour of soe great a charge & how dissonant 
 his carriage has been to those rules and principles which wee had thoughte 
 the weight and gravity of his employ would have prompted him to. To 
 mention, ye severall slightings & piaine abuses of most of the members 
 of this Council, which perhaps their charity might have obliterated, had 
 not more publique affronts wakened ye remembrance of them, his con- 
 tempt of the Government, his slighting and scandalizing our Councills 
 and authority, the passion and prejudice which have been the masters 
 and guide of his actions, and the generall dissatisfaction of all people 
 w'^^ him has been so notorious, that wee cannot but imagine ye world 
 has taken notice of it much to our prejudice. He did once say that 
 nothing had been acted since ye Presi^* went off the Island ; and now 
 lately in a case of Chancery decided by us, wherein the cause was not 
 
152 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 adjudged to his liking, he did not stick to say that he now plainly saw 
 that any man might sweare himselfe out of a debt that would, and that 
 a knave should never want a friend in Court, w<=^ wee leave to your Ho°' 
 to interpret how little master of reason, conscience wee should be, and 
 how unfitt for that great trust reposed in us, should so much injustice be 
 ye effect of our Councills, and wee cannot but take notice y* ye bill ex- 
 hibited to us in the fforementioned clause, ye Judge himself did confesse 
 to draw up which is full of nothing but slanders, defamations, and pri- 
 vately taunting o' superiors action, besides how unbecomeing ye gravity 
 of such a place and indeed how contrary to equity for a judge to act the 
 part of an Attourney." '^ 
 
 After bringing forward these general charges, the Bombay 
 Council prefer certain specific accusations against him which 
 are not less serious. 
 
 " There was lately exhibited to us," they continue, " a bill in Chancery 
 against him by 12 men who were of a Jury at Justice Hall, who having 
 brought in a verdict according to equity and good conscience were never 
 the less publiquely checked and rated by ye Judge, telling them they 
 were men of large consciences, desiring us to exempt them in future 
 from the Uke duties except they can be protected in ye free discharge 
 of their consciences, w*^^ action may be of a very prejudiciall conse- 
 quence ; for either Jurys will deny to be impannelld, and consequently 
 a due and just tryall of all causes will be ommitted to be acted. . . . 
 And a tryall wherein ye same Jury had brought in judgment for ye deffen- 
 dant, ye Judge yet ordered ye Clerk of the Papers to enter verdict for the 
 plaintiff for ye cost and charges of the Court. To tell yo' worp^ how 
 much he has suffered his ofi&cers & servants to grind & oppresse ye people 
 may seem dubious. Whether our connivance merrits more blame y° his, 
 it is not many months since wee did in a Gen^^ Letter hint our resent- 
 ment of his oppinion of our partiality, w*^^ made him appeale to a higher 
 Court for justice in ye buisinesse between Mr. Child & him." f 
 
 The Bombay Council passed the following orders on August 20, 
 1677, while suspending Judge Nicolls : 
 
 "All these considerations being duly weighed wee found ourselves 
 obliged, for the discharge of that trust reposed in us, to suspend his 
 Commission, and have ordered that he act noe longer as Judge till wee 
 receive your further orders concerning him ; if our humble advices might 
 be credited in the perticular, that ye generall benefit and satisfaction of 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 136. f Ibid. p. 136. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 153 
 
 ye whole Island will be much advanced by the election of a new Judge, 
 wee have for the present ordered ye remaining justices jointly to officiate 
 till y"^ Hon"^^ shall please otherwise to dispose thereof." 
 
 And in order to give effect to the last part of their order they 
 added : 
 
 "We have thought convinient to elect Capt* Gary and Capt* Keigwin 
 to be Justices of the Peace for the Island, for it will be highly necessary 
 that one Justice be assistant at Mahim and lesse than three will not be 
 sufficient at Bombay, while there is noe Judge." 
 
 The Bombay Council suspended Nicolls, subject to the ap- 
 proval of the Governor. But the indictment drawn up by them 
 was so damning that the Surat Council could not but approve 
 of the action taken. In a letter, dated September 11, 1677, 
 they write : 
 
 "We are very sorry that Judge Nicolls hath behaved himself so ill 
 that he has given so general a dissatisfaction to the whole island. We 
 do approve of what you have done in suspending him from his place 
 and shall not countenance in the least any one under your Government 
 that are so far forgetful of the (respect) they owe their superiors. As 
 yet we (do not) determine of a qualified person for judge but reserve it 
 to the decision of a fuller Council. In the meantime the justices of peace 
 may ofl&ciate as you have ordered and we would have you advise us who 
 you have on the island fitting for the employ." * 
 
 Such was the sad fate that befell Aungier's inauguration of 
 the Bench in Bombay. It is a curious circumstance that the 
 men who were appointed, for the first time, to fill posts of great 
 responsibility and honour should have proved totally unworthy 
 of their charge. For, as we have seen, the first Governor of 
 Bombay under the Crown was dismissed for fraud and embezzle- 
 ment ; the first Deputy-Governor of Bombay appointed by the 
 Company was found guilty of drunkenness and gross profanity 
 and was sent home ; and the first Judge of the town and 
 island of Bombay was suspended for wilful disobedience to his 
 superiors, t 
 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 5. 
 t It is but due to Nicolls, J., to note here that the Court of Directors eventu- 
 ally found that there was nothing against him. This makes it all the more 
 
154 BOMBAY IN THE 'MAKING 
 
 It is clear from the following passage occurring in a letter 
 whijih Aungier wrote to Bombay in 1675 that the absence of 
 lawyers did not relieve the town from' something much re- 
 sembling a plague^^f speculative solicitors : 
 
 "As to ye Pursur of the Mayboome wee understand that he ran 
 over board of himselfe in a violent fit of a frenzy, but ye Mayboome 
 being now bound for Bombay, wee judge it convenient & doe require that 
 the matter be examined in ye Court of Judicature at Bombay according 
 to Law, y* being a proper place for such cases, and y* the said custom be 
 held in all cases of ye like nature. And as wee desire that justice may 
 be don so we would have you take care that vexatious suites and con- 
 trivances layed by common barristors * to disturb ye quiet of good people, 
 may be discouraged, and prevented. And let ye judge know from us 
 that wee expect he maintaine the gravity, integrity, and authorty of 
 his Office; and that he doth not bring a disrepute on the Court of 
 Bombay by lightness, partiality, self-seeking or countenancing com- 
 mon Barristors in w'^** sort of vermine they say Bombay is very 
 unhappy." f 
 
 Gerald Aungier certainly did not mince matters here : he 
 was a blunt, plain-spoken man. Nicolls, J. has been accused 
 of many serious offences, but even he escaped the indignity of 
 being compared to vermin ! 
 
 Soon after the suspension of Mr. Justice Nicolls the question 
 of reducing the Judge's salary came under consideration. He 
 was, as we have seen, paid £120 a year — by no means a princely 
 salary, in spite of the fact that he was to be allowed " a horse 
 or Pallankeen with a Sumbrera boy, as also a Gowne yearely at 
 ye comp^^ charge." But the Bombay Council was of a different 
 
 difficult to say what justification the Bombay Council had in bringing those 
 charges against the Judge and in finally suspending him on the strength of 
 those charges having been proved. Perhaps Nicolls' greatest fault lay in his 
 •' setting up the backs " of an incompetent and resentful clique who had 
 hitherto managed, or rather mismanaged, things in their own way. Even 
 without attributing any malevolence to the factors, it is a possible hypothesis 
 to suppose that they might have been irritated by the Icp^l strictness of the 
 Judge. Nicolls must have possessed some knowledge of law, and te there- 
 fore might have offended the local sense of rough e'jni^.y. 
 
 * Clearly a clerical error for barrators. " Common barratry," or persistent 
 stirring up of litigation, is an old criminal offence at common law. ' ' Barratry " 
 has nothing to do with "barrister" in point of etymology — it means " mis- 
 conduct." 
 
 t Forrest's Selections, i. p. 81. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 155 
 
 opinion. In an interesting letter dated November 11, 1677, 
 they observe : 
 
 " Wee doe not see ye absolute necessity of allowing 120 pounds to 
 a Judge, not that wee would have ye Island destitute of a person in- 
 vested w*^ authority to determine ye weightiest causes, but ye very name 
 sounds too great for ye place. It lookes like the great Gate of little Pendus 
 that made Diogenes afraid ye citty would runn out at them. Those who 
 come to these pajrts are commonly mean persons or young men but very 
 little skilled in our law, and ye name of a Judge does fill y^ with such 
 a pride that they loose y"" reason in the contemplation of their greatness 
 and think no man y*" superior, scarcely y"^ equall ; ^'' and if he, that is ye 
 principle Justice, be invested by ye same power and act by a full Com- 
 mission, why is it not the same thing. It is not ye name that makes 
 any difference. Ye Governments of provinces are committed to persons 
 who are sometimes stiled Lieutenants, sometimes Deputys, and some- 
 times Viceroy, though y"^ power is equall. Ye CovoP^ formerly ordered 
 that only some one of y^ ffactours that was a sober and discreet person 
 might officiate that place, who wee suppose would be well satisfied to 
 have only ye proffit of ye Seals allowed him to his saUary w*'** ye former 
 Judge had. There is Mr. Gary or Mr. Kobert Harbin, very fitting persons 
 for such an employ""* or whom else your Wor? shall please to appoint, 
 w'^'^ pleas to order so soone as may be, for none of the Justices by the 
 Commissions can sit upon life and death, but only as assistants. Wee 
 imagine a joint Commission for so many Justices of Quorum will doe 
 better than singly invested in any one person. This is only but our 
 opinions, w'^^ your WorP^ better judgment can correct."! 
 
 The above extract exactly describes the situation as it then 
 was in Bombay. The very name of Judge " sounds too great 
 for ye place." And yet the city was fast filling with men who 
 flocked into it from outside. No better proof of the success 
 of Governor Aungier's administration can be adduced than the 
 fact that when he assumed charge of his post in Bombay the 
 population numbered only 10,000 souls, but at the time of his 
 death, eight years after, it had reached nearly 60,000, whilst 
 the revenue had also increased from ^2,833 to £9,254. The 
 authorities had, therefore, to revise their opinion regarding 
 
 * The very same complaint was made (we believe by Mr. J. Chamberlain) 
 some years ago in respect of the title of " Chief Justice " conferred on the 
 magistrates of small West Indian islands. It was thought to induce an in- 
 clination to assume the arbitrary powers which are willingly conceded to the 
 head of a great judicial system. 
 
 ■j;,, Forrest's Selections, i, p. 140. 
 
156 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the necessity for a judge, for, only a month after, we 
 find them advocating the appointment of this officer. They 
 write : 
 
 " A Justice of Peace does not receive a penny of sallary, and as to ye 
 Register wee have no such office on ye Island, and should one be created 
 it would not be worth to him a groat a day without a sallary. He that 
 is Judge or Chief Justice (w'*^ is ye same thing) keeps ye register, and if 
 another have sallery for that place, it is giving two mens wages for the 
 officiating ye same place, for wee suppose a Judge will be made and a 
 convenient sallary settled on him whose Commission hitherto has always 
 been joined with that of Register, the businesse of that place being so 
 very small. What yo"^ Wor^^ shall order in ye particular wee shall 
 readily perform." ^' 
 
 If the rise in the population of Bombay and the increase in 
 its revenue testify to the success of Gerald Aungier as an ad- 
 ministrator, the fact that, on his death, its affairs got com- 
 pletely out of order and even beyond the control of the President 
 and Council, equally proves his merit. The man at the helm 
 had set forth on another voyage, and there was nobody to steer 
 the ship into harbour. The historic city of Surat was now 
 enveloped in utter darkness, for her sun had set, ushering in 
 a long night of disease and disorder. The extent of the loss 
 may be measured by the fact that the population of Bombay, 
 which had grown from 10,000 souls to 60,000 during Aungier's 
 regime^ again dwindled down to 16,000 within the brief space 
 of only forty-one years (1677 to 1718). On Aungier's death the 
 administration of the Presidency devolved on one Mr. Bolt, the 
 Agent at Gombroone, and the government of Bombay on Mr. 
 Henry Oxenden, nephew of Sir George. But the man most 
 talked of in India about this time was Sir John Child, brother 
 of the famous Sir Josiah. Child came out to India when he 
 was barely ten years old, and by dint of energy and enterprise, 
 backed by influence at home, he seems to have risen rapidly in 
 the service of the Company. Procuring the dismissal of a 
 dishonest uncle, under whose charge he was at Rajahpur, 
 he managed to step into his shoes, and in 1681 got himself 
 appointed President of the Surat factory. Taking advantage 
 of his position. Child appointed his own brother-in-law, Ward, 
 
 * Forrest's Selections y i. p. 142. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 157 
 
 Deputy-Governor of Bombay.* But neither the efforts of 
 Ward f nor Child's own exertions had any effect on the state 
 of affairs in Bombay. These had gone from bad to worse, and 
 in 1682 they were reported to be so perilously bordering on 
 chaos that the authorities at home were seized with alarm. In 
 that year, while sending out certain orders to make Bombay 
 a place of considerable trade and business, they wrote to the 
 Deputy-Governor and Council as follows : 
 
 " Bombay hath been so monstrously out of order and overgrown with 
 riot, prodigality, carelessness and folly, that though in his time Mr. Child 
 did as much as we could hope for towards a reformation in so short a 
 time, yet such was the obstinance of the matter contracted by expensive 
 and vicious habits that it was too perverse and hard for him to correct at 
 once. But he having laid the foundation of a more frugal and careful 
 managery, you will be infinitely to blame if you do not perfectly finish 
 that which was with more difficulty begun by him. This of the two is 
 far the easier task, there being in government as well as in mechanics a 
 great truth in that old adage, facile est inventis addere.'' | 
 
 Indeed, they were so keenly alive to the necessity of adopting 
 strong measures that they suggested the removal of "all old 
 incorrigible lumber out of the way," and gave full authority 
 to the President and Council at Surat " that whoever in their 
 judgment and consciences they shall find unfit for our services, 
 they turn out in a summary way without the formality of tedious, 
 impertinent, chargeable examinations, attestations, certificates, 
 letters, or other/ trumpery." And in order to strengthen the 
 hands of their agents in carrying out this work of retrenchment 
 and reformation, they sent them next year (1683) an authentic 
 copy of a new charter granted by the King. This charter pro- 
 fessedly aimed at the suppression of interlopers, whose influence 
 in the Indian seas had grown to an alarming extent, and whose 
 
 * The Childs were known for their nepotism, and Sir Josiah himself has 
 heen accused of using his position in the Company to forward unduly the 
 interests of himself and his relatives {Dictionary of National Biography, 
 X. 244). 
 
 t Ward was afterwards found guilty of playing the traitor. Four letters 
 were detected which proved that he was tampering with Shivaji to help him 
 to bring to port a fleet in Bombay. When confronted with this unimpeach- 
 able evidence of his guilt he was unable to make a defence and was made 
 a prisoner (Hamilton's A New Account of the East Indies, i. p. 190). 
 
 \ Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. p. 82. 
 
158 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 depredations the authorities were unahle to check or adequately 
 to punish. But it also gave other powers to the Company, for 
 instance, to declare peace and war with any of the *' heathen 
 nations," to raise forces for that purpose and to exercise martial 
 law. But the most important clause in it for our purpose was 
 the one which created the Deputy-Governor of Bombay Jud|Sfe- 
 Advocate there. This marks another epoch in the early history 
 of the Bombay High Court. After reciting the Confirmation of 
 the Charters of Elizabeth and James I., and the monopoly of 
 trading thereby granted to the Company, the Charter of 1683 
 established a Court of Judicature to be held at such places, 
 forts, plantations, and ^factories upon the coast as the Company 
 should from, time to lime direct, and to consist of " one person 
 learned in the civil law* and two merchants," to be ap- 
 pointed by the Company, with power to determine what may be 
 briefly described as all mercantile and maritime cases, and to 
 inquire into trespasses, injuries, and wrongs committed upon the 
 high seas, or in the trading limits of the Company in Asia, 
 Africa, and America, " according to the rules of equity and 
 good conscience a^d according to the laws and customs of 
 merchants." The first person who had the distinction of being 
 sent out to India by the Company as Judge- Advocate, with the 
 reputation of being "learned in the Civil Law," was Dr. John 
 St. John. But before introducing the learned judge to our 
 readers, let us, even at the risk of a little digression, refer to a 
 point of some importance to which Sir Michael Westropp calls 
 attention in his historic judgment. In the report prepared by 
 the Commissioners who were sent out from Surat in 1668 to 
 take possession of Bombay on behalf of the Company, they had 
 suggested that ''as disputes must arise from the habits of the 
 people, accustomed to Civil Law [for instance, the Portuguese] , 
 a Judge-Advocate might be appointed to take cognisance and 
 decide in such cases." Apparently as a temporary measure, 
 Gerald Aungier formed /two Courts of Judicature on the island, 
 the inferior Court consisti*ng of a Company's civil servant 
 assisted by two natives, which was to take cognisance of all 
 
 * I.e., the Roman Law. The establishment of such a court to determine 
 mercantile cases according to the custom of merchants, and in the light (to 
 put it no higher) of the Roman jurisprudence, is highly interesting, as antici- 
 pating the work of Mansfield in England. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 159 
 
 disputes under the amount of 200 xeraphins, and the Superior 
 Court to consist of the Governor or the Deputy- Governor and 
 Council, to whom all appeals lay from the inferior Court ; the 
 superior Court also took cognisance of all civil and criminal 
 cases whatever, and its decisions were to be final and without 
 appeal, eiicept in cases of the greatest necessity.* On the 
 strength of the Commissioners' recommendation, the eminent 
 counsel for the appellant in Naoroji Beramji v. Rogers (Mr. 
 Edward Howard) contended that at the time civil law rather 
 than common law prevailed in Bombay, and that by the expres- 
 sion " civil law " was meant the law of the Romans. He 
 further argued that the appointment of Dr. John St. John (a 
 Doctor of Civil Law) was a compliance with the recommendation 
 of the Commissioners. But Westropp, C.J., was of the con- 
 trary opinion. The phrase " civil law," he thought, coupled as 
 it was with civil cases, was probably used by the Commissioners 
 in contrast to military or martial law, and not as meaning the 
 Roman Law. In support of this view, he quoted a portion of a 
 letter from the Court of Directors in 1670-71 (thirteen years 
 prior, it will be noticed, to the date of the charter), which, 
 while approving of the plan of civil administration of Governor 
 Aungier, explained 
 
 "that care should be taken that trial by jury should be introduced 
 into the Courts of Justice, agreeably to English law, but declined 
 engaging a judge versed in civil law, being apprehensive that such a 
 person might be disposed to promote litigation, and probably might not 
 obey the orders which the President and Council might find it for the 
 interest of the Company to give him : it had, therefore, been resolved to 
 send some persons who had received education in law, as civil servants, 
 without making the practice of the law their only object, and if they 
 
 * This raises another doubt. Were these Courts in existence when Aungier 
 divided Bombay into two precincts, in each of which five justices of the peace, 
 all Englishmen, administered justice? Presumably they were, for the 
 justices were empowered to try cases not exceeding in value 5 xeraphins, 
 whereas even the inferior Court established in 1669 could take cognisance of 
 all disputes involving sums of money not exceeding 200 xeraphins. But we 
 do not see any material difference between the superior Court then established 
 and the Court of Appeal mentioned in the Consultation of February 2, 1670. 
 A point worth noticing here is the appointment of two native officers to assist 
 the Company's civil servant in the inferior Court— probably the first instance 
 of co-operation between the rulers and the ruled in the realm of judicial 
 administration. 
 
160 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 deserved well, they might be appealed to, as assistants in the Courts of 
 Justice." * 
 
 The learned Judge is borne out to a certain extent in his con- 
 tention by the following observation which Fryer offers in his 
 book concerning the judicial affairs of Bombay at this 
 period : 
 
 " The Government here now is English ; the soldiers have martial law, 
 the freemen common, the chief arbitrator whereof is the President with 
 his Council at Surat ; under him is a justiciary and Court of Pleas, with 
 a committee for regulating affairs and presenting all complaints." f 
 
 " The administration of the Common Law as described by Fryer," adds 
 Sir Michael in concluding this portion of his judgment, " is in complete 
 accordance with the charters 13 Car. II. (3rd April, 1661) and 20 Car. II. 
 (27th March, 1668) which made over Bombay to the Company. The 
 constitution of the two civil Courts, as described by Bruce, was warranted 
 by those charters when taken in combination. The use of military law 
 (mentioned by Fryer) for military purposes was countenanced by the 
 
 But, pace the learned Chief Justice, what was authorised by the 
 Charter of 1683 was a Maritime and Mercantile Court. And 
 the judge of a Maritime Court was necessarily a civilian, versed 
 in the Roman Law.§ But let us return to Dr. John St. John. 
 
 * Bruce's Annals, 2, p. 279. The apprehension of the directors regarding 
 the possibility of a conflict between the judge versed in civil law and the 
 authorities in India was well founded, and in the case of Dr. John St. John 
 it was unfortunately verified, as we shall presently see. 
 
 t East Indies and Persia, p. 68. Dr. Fryer was apprehensive of the manner 
 in which the President and Council would exercise the large powers vested in 
 them by various charters. For in another part of his book he observes : "In 
 this exigency on either side, the martial as well as civil affairs are wholly 
 devolved on the merchants, and now how they will manage the Sword as 
 well as the Quill concernes them." Happily, however, his apprehension 
 was ill-founded, for the factors handled both the sword and the quill adroitly 
 and with remarkable success. 
 
 \ 5, Bombay High Court Reports, p. 49. 
 
 § It will be observed that Sir Michael Westropp did not agree with Mr. 
 Howard as regards the meaning of the phrase " civil law" occurring in the 
 Charter of 1683. But although Sir Michael cites authorities to prove that 
 •'civil law " did not mean the law of the Romans, it is by no means certain 
 that the first incumbent of the place, Dr. John St. John, was not a Roman 
 lawyer. For it must be remembered that his principal work was in the 
 Admiralty Court, and Admiralty judges were always " civilians" in this sense. 
 And his doctor's degree absolutely clinches the matter. The real difficulty 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 161 
 
 There can be little doubt that the state of chaos which had 
 prevailed at Bombay for some time past was the immediate 
 cause of the grant of this new charter. Disease and disorder 
 were manifest everywhere. Trade in Bombay deteriorated to 
 an alarming extent and the revenue in consequence shrunk con- 
 siderably. Crime of the vilest nature was rampant on the* 
 island, which was then infested by interlopers, pirates, and other 
 undesirable characters. Perhaps the most succinct account of 
 the period is the one given by Dr. Geirson da Cunha : 
 
 " The last quarter of the seventeenth century," he says, " was not 
 only devoid of any great achievement or of any appreciable progress in 
 manners and morals, but was, on the contrary, a witness to sedition and 
 strife — immorality, unhealthiness, and anarchy at home, and invasion, 
 piracy, and arrogance abroad." '"' 
 
 The picture appears to have been drawn in sombre colours, 
 but it fairly represents the state of affairs in Bombay at the 
 time. The claims of justice were set at naught and the 
 majesty of law was ridiculed. Those who were responsible 
 for the administration of justice felt the utter hopelessness of 
 their task, so much so that they were at length obliged to close 
 the very doors of the Courts of Judicature. For we have it on 
 the authority of Bruce and Anderson that for the eleven years 
 immediately preceding the dawn of the eighteenth century no 
 court of judicature was held on the island of Bombay. It is 
 easier to imagine than to describe the state of lawlessness that 
 must have prevailed then. Every man did as he liked and what, 
 
 lies in the attribution of mercantile cases to be judged " accordiag to 
 the laws and customs of merchants." The question here arises. Did this 
 oust the common law in such cases ? It should be noted that in 1683 the 
 common law was practically devoid of rules in mercantile cases. Mansfield 
 worked the subject out a century later. It is, therefore, not right to read the 
 charter as introducing the civil or Roman Law as such, but merely as appoint- 
 ing a judge who should administer maritime law on Admiralty principles 
 (which involve a knowledge of Roman Law), and mercantile law according to 
 equity, good sense, and mercantile custom (which equally involved a know- 
 ledge of the common customs of European merchants, also based on Roman 
 Law). It almost seems an anachronism to talk, as Westropp, C.J. did, of 
 English " common law " in mercantile matters in 1683, for it had not been 
 evolved then, and was not evolved until the latter part of the eighteenth 
 century by Mansfield, and then very largely on Roman Law principles. 
 * Origin of Bombay, p. 306. 
 
 11 
 
162 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 in his opinion, was right. In short, the Imperial town and island 
 of Bombay was abandoned to a set of vagabonds, simply because 
 there were not men sufficiently strong to govern it. To make 
 matters worse, the Court of Directors enjoined strict economy, 
 and cut down the salaries of military officers. This supplied the 
 spark which ignited the inflammable material. The military rose 
 in open revolt, and under their intrepid leader, Captain Keigwin, 
 took forcible possession of Bombay. These events must have 
 hastened the grant of the Charter of 1683 ; for in its recital of 
 the reasons for the creation of the new courts it referred to the 
 many " disorders and inconveniences which have happened and 
 been committed " by British subjects and foreigners in Bombay. 
 Those who were responsible for the good government of Bombay 
 had frankly acknowledged their inability to cope with the situa- 
 tion ; the Directors had thereupon resolved to send out a man 
 well versed in civil law direct from England, possibly with the 
 view of overawing the mutineers and other mischief-makers. 
 The experiment was fraught with some danger, for, as was 
 surmised by the Court of Directors some years before, there was 
 the possibility of his coming into conflict with the President and 
 members of Council. But the disorders of the body politic 
 demanded heroic remedies, and the authorities were bent upon 
 taking the risk. The despatch which the Court of Directors 
 sent to the President at Surat on April 7, 1684, is a highly 
 interesting document, for it refers in detail to the appointment 
 of Dr. John St. John, the Judge- Advocate, his qualifications and 
 salary, with full instructions regarding his status and position in 
 India. 
 
 " ' We have chosen,' they wrote, ' Dr. St. John, Doctor of the Civil 
 Law, to be Judge of the Admiralty Court * in the East Indies and of 
 all our maritime affairs there, to be erected in pursuance of His 
 Majesty's additional charter of the 9th August last (1683) at the salary 
 of dB200 a year, and to have the accommodation of his own diet at the 
 Governor's table at Bombay, but all other accommodations for himself 
 and his two servants are to be at his own charge, and to take place at 
 the Governor's table as second. We therefore order and direct that a 
 convenient place be assigned him for holding the Court of Admiralty, and 
 that you appoint such officers as are necessary to attend that Judicature 
 which is designed for proceeding against all interlopers and private ships 
 and persons trading in the East Indies or to or from the East Indies, 
 * Not of the common law courts. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 163 
 
 contrary to His Majesty's Eoyal Charter granted to us. For the honour 
 of our nation and more perfect informatioi* of all persons that are and 
 shall be concerned in the proceedings of that judicature, we do ex- 
 pressly order and direct that the whole process of that Court be carried 
 on in English, and not in Latin, in all the Commissions, Acts, Consti- 
 tutions, and sentences thereof, and that you do take care that a table 
 of fees be agreed on and published for all processes, writs, summons, 
 adjudications, sentences and decrees, and all other things that are or shall 
 be passed in the said Court, and to all officers attending the same, which 
 are not to be exceeded, upon some moderate penalty to be therein inserted 
 and published. His Majesty ihath been pleased upon our approbations of 
 him to grant Dr. St. John a commission under the great seal of England 
 to the purpose aforesaid. For which also he hath our commission under 
 our larger seal, a copy whereof we herewith send you, and he is from 
 time to time to transmit unto you, as also to represent unto the Deputy- 
 Governor and Council of Bombay an impartial account of all his proceed- 
 ings, as Judge of the said Court. But all other judicatures ''' upon our 
 said island are to remain in the same condition and order they now are 
 and under the management of the same persons, until you receive 
 further orders after we have an account from you of the good deport- 
 ment of the said Doctor." f 
 
 From the above quotation it will be seen that the Court's 
 instructions to the President and Council of Bombay were very 
 precise, even to the point of assigning the Judge's place at the 
 Governor's table and providing for the accommodation of his 
 own diet. It is worth noting also that the proceedings of the 
 newly-constituted Court of Judicature were to be kept in 
 English — a point insisted upon by Gerald Aungier — and that 
 all the judicatures already established on the island, by virtue 
 of older charters, were to continue in the same condition and 
 order. It is not clear why the Directors sanctioned a provision 
 which was bound to bring Aungier's courts into conflict with 
 the one about to be presided over by Dr. John St. John, except, 
 perhaps, that they intended the Judge versed in civil law to 
 confine himself strictly to all mercantile and maritime cases. 
 There was already a Judge-Advocate in Bombay — the Deputy- 
 Governor having been only recently elevated to that dignity by 
 the Charter of 1683. But as he was not able to grapple with 
 the situation, the Directors may have thought of overawing the 
 turbulent and the lawless by sending out another Judge-Advo- 
 
 * I.e. , the common law and criminal courts. 
 
 t Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part i. pp. 83-84. 
 
164 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 cate, straight from England, investing him with the authority 
 of a Royal Charter. If such was their idea, however, they 
 must have heen sorely disappointed, for the coming of the 
 Judge did not improve matters. But let us not anticipate 
 events. 
 
 Although the Admiralty Court was to be established in 
 Bombay, as being a possession acquired by the Crown and by 
 it vested in the Company in full property, we find that the 
 Commission with which the new Judge was armed was, in the 
 first instance, published at Surat, and the Court was erected 
 there on September 17, 1684.* On arrival, he found the island 
 in the grip of the mutineers, under the banner of Captain 
 Keigwin, who professed to hold it on behalf of his Majesty the 
 King of England. We shall describe this interesting and 
 harmless episode in another chapter ; but we must touch upon 
 some of its salient features here in order to make the events that 
 follow more intelligible. Dr. John St. John found the situation 
 rather precarious. He was prevented from landing in Bombay 
 by the mutineers, and had to go to Surat. The mutineers were 
 obstinate, though perfectly loyal and law-abiding ; neither 
 threat nor persuasion could induce them to lay down their arms. 
 In order to invest the Judge's Commission with greater 
 authority than the Royal Charter had intended to give it, it was 
 declared that their case would come under the cognisance of a 
 King's Judge and be tried in a more summary manner (what- 
 ever might be the result of the revolt) than if their conduct 
 should become matter of judicial investigation and decision in 
 England. But even this ruse proved of little avail. Admiral 
 Sir Thomas Grantham was at last sent out from England with 
 the express purpose of quelling the mutiny. On October 16, 
 1684, a Consultation was held at Surat, at which the President 
 (Sir John Child) and Council, Dr. St. John and Sir Thomas 
 Grantham anxiously deliberated upon the gravity of the 
 situation, the question at issue being whether they should 
 employ force or persuasion to induce the mutineers to surrender. 
 Luckily, it was decided to resort to persuasion, and the English 
 Admiral had not much difficulty in getting back this tight little 
 island from Captain Keigwin on promise of pardon to himself 
 and his men. It was formally surrendered to Sir Thomas on 
 * Bruce's Armals, 2, p. 538. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 165 
 
 November 19, 1684, who immediately transferred it to Dr. 
 St. John as the King's Judge, by whom it was delivered over to 
 Mr. Zinzan, the then Deputy-Governor of Bombay, on behalf 
 of the Company. St. John seems to have played an important 
 part in this episode. Soon after his arrival in India he drew 
 up a very able report, which he addressed to the King in 
 Council, on the general state of the Company's aJBfairs and the 
 particular causes of the revolt in Bombay. On the former of 
 these points he represented that the aggressions of the Portu- 
 guese and the Dutch had been so great and so long continued 
 that it was impossible for the English trade to continue in 
 India for three years, unless his Majesty should adopt effectual 
 measures for restraining their proceedings and protecting his 
 rights and those of his subjects in the East Indies. But it is 
 his opinion on the latter point which is of greater interest to 
 us. He seems to have realised, in a remarkably short time, the 
 causes which led up to the revolt, and was able to draw up an 
 indictment against Captain Keigwin which the latter would 
 have found some difficulty in answering in a court of law.* 
 St. John was of opinion that the rebellion had arisen from the 
 depredations of interlopers, with whom Captain Keigwin, whom 
 he dubbed the " Oliver and Protector of the Island of Bombay," 
 was intimately associated, and who, though he had used the 
 King's name and authority in his proceedings, had, on a full 
 examination of all the facts, been found to have been influenced 
 solely by predatory and rebellious motives.! At the same time 
 he acquitted the President, Sir John Child, of any complicity 
 or blame in the matter. After a careful examination of his 
 conduct, the learned Judge stated that during his twenty-five 
 years' career in India Child had maintained a steady loyalty 
 to his King and country, and an uninterrupted probity and 
 activity in his administration of the Company's affairs. In 
 conclusion, he gave it as his advice to the King and Council to 
 appoint President Child to be the King's Lord Admiral in 
 India, with full powers to seize and bring to justice interlopers 
 of every description. Whatever may be the merits of this 
 report, it is due to the Judge-Advocate to say that it met with 
 
 * Sir George Birdwood writes enthusiastically of Keigwin even as a 
 mutineer, and calls him a " splendidly brave man." 
 
 t Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials^ xxvi. part i. p. 94. 
 
166 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 genera approval, and that his Majesty was graciously pleased 
 to follow his advice. 
 
 Shortly after the mutiny was quelled and some semblance of 
 peace and order had been restored on the island, St. John seems 
 to have formally opened an Admiralty Court in Bombay. But 
 beyond the fact that it was so opened, nothing is known as 
 to the exact place in which it was held, the method of the 
 administration of justice in it, or the way in which the learned 
 Judge acquitted himself on the Bench. We cannot but regret the 
 lack of reliable information on these interesting points, owing to 
 the absence of records for the period. The Admiralty Judge 
 must have expended a vast amount of learning in the discharge 
 of his duties, and it would have been entertaining as well as 
 instructive to peruse the arguments of the parties and their 
 agents and the decisions of the presiding Judge. The number 
 of interlopers and pirates in and around Bombay had greatly 
 increased, and St. John must have been kept fairly busy. 
 Imbued with the freedom and independence of an English 
 lawyer, he must frequently have come in conflict with the 
 Company's officers in Bombay. There is at least one instance 
 on record which shows the stuff the Judge was made of. On 
 assuming charge of the Admiralty Court in Bombay, the Presi- 
 dent, Sir John Child, seems to have restricted him to the 
 determination of only maritime cases, contending that his Com- 
 mission and the provisions of the charter gave him no authority 
 to try any civil actions. St. John, however, construed the 
 charter differently.* He contended that he had a right to try 
 all civil actions and that it was an unwarrantable curtailment of 
 
 • *'The peculiar constitution," says Sir Michael Westropp, "of the new 
 mercantile and maritime courts, which were to consist of one person learned 
 in the civil law and two merchants, who were to decide according to the laws 
 and customs of merchants, was used as an argument in Jehh v. Lefevre in 
 favour of the proposition that lands amongst a commercial community would 
 have been treated as assets for the payment of all debts. Sir Charles Grey, C. J., 
 dealing with that argument, says : * The Courts established by Charles II. 
 and James II., in which a person learned in Civil Law was to sit, and every- 
 thing was to be decided by the Law Merchant, may be entirely laid out of 
 consideration, for the Letters Patent from which these courts derived their 
 authority specify particularly what causes they are to entertain, and it is 
 quite plain that they had no jurisdiction to hold any plea respecting lands or 
 houses, or any interest in them, whether chattel or real ' " (4, Bombay High 
 Court Eeports, p. 63). 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 167 
 
 his authority to restrict him to the determination of only 
 maritime cases. But the President would not yield, not even 
 hefore the superior learning of the lawyer. He had already 
 appointed one Mr. John Vaux to he the Judge in Bomhay to 
 try all civil actions, aiiL. retained him in that post even after the 
 arrival of Dr. St. John, because, says Anderson, the latter " was 
 not found sufficiently tractable and forwai;d in persecuting 
 private traders." The learned Doctor bitterly complained in 
 a letter to Sir Leoline Jenkins, the then Secretary of .State, 
 that a man ignorant of law, and utterly unqualified for the 
 duties of the Bench, should have been thus thrust into this 
 responsible office ; but there is nothing on record to show that 
 his complaint received the attention it deserved. Meanwhile, 
 both the President and the Judge stuck to their individual 
 opinions. The learning of the latter and the obstinacy of the 
 former were the chief impediments in the way of a compromise. 
 Matters came to a head about the middle of 1686, when one 
 Eobert Clark was tried for murder by Deputy-Governor John 
 Vaux. In submitting the records and proceedings of the trial 
 to the President and Council at Surat, as they were enjoined by 
 law to do, the Bombay Council wrote on September 6, 1686, as 
 follows : 
 
 ♦' This serves to accompany y« inclosed w'^^ is a coppy of y« tryall of 
 Bobert Clark, a man y* kill'd y® Gunners mate of his Majesties shipp 
 Phoenix. Y^ man who was kil'd had neither sword, knife nor staff in 
 his hand, but was^drunk and abusive. Our Deputy-Govemour has not 
 passed sentence of death on y® said Clarke, but stayes till he knows your 
 Excy' &ca. pleasure whether you will have him acquitted or have him 
 suffer. Our opinions you will see in y® inclosed." "^^ 
 
 But it is the entry in their letter of September 27th which is 
 still more interesting and apposite : 
 
 " As to y^ trying of Robert Clarke by y^ Court of Judicature," they 
 wrote, " y^ Judges advice o' opinion is of little value ; the laws of warr 
 say quite another thing so y* if your Exc^ please to adheare to Dr. 
 St. Johns advice as to governing of an island or garrison, y^ Deputy 
 Governour never expects anything but confusion, for he dare sweare if 
 we doe not punish souldiers by martiall law, noe officer nor inhabitance 
 can be safe in their lives or estates. We know y« common law will 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 145. * 
 
168 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 cleare Clarke for murder, and so it will any man for theft, great part of 
 y^ Jurymen not knowing how soon it may be their turnes to be 
 brought to y® barr on the same scoare. Y^ Deputy- Governour is sure 
 S' Josia Child is wholly for governing p. martiall law and has been at a 
 great deal of trouble to obtaine it in times past, and now write to y* 
 purpose ; however will submitt to your directions, and Clarke shall be 
 tryed accordingly that he may live and murder some other poore man." "^^ 
 
 From these two extracts it would seem that the Judge- 
 Advocate and the Deputy- Governor had fallen out over the 
 mode of the trial of Robert Clark, as to whether the culprit was 
 amenable to martial or common law. The former, however, 
 cannot be said to be gratuitously officious in claiming exclusive 
 jurisdiction in the case. For though Clark's trial was neither an 
 ordinary maritime cause nor a civil action, still, as an oiFence 
 committed (as it seems) on a King's ship, it fell within the 
 jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court on its criminal side. As is 
 well known, the Admiralty Court has jurisdiction to try all 
 offences committed on the high seas and in foreign waters below 
 bridges — possibly also on board a King's ship even though not on 
 the high seas. On the other hand, the Deputy- Governor's naive 
 preference for the summary justice of martial law is also 
 excusable. What makes the above extract more interesting, and 
 even amusing, is the reason assigned by the Bombay Council for 
 thinking that the common law would clear Clark of the charge 
 of murder, namely, that the greater part of the jurymen were 
 not sure when it might be their turn to be brought to the bar on 
 the same score. This would seem to show that Judge Nicoll's 
 mean opinion of Bombay juries was not quite unwarranted. It is 
 certainly not complimentary to the jurymen of the period ; nor 
 can it be quite fair to them, for we are loth to believe that the 
 jury at the end of the seventeenth century were empanelled 
 from the ranks of thieves and murderers. Notice also the 
 almost threatening tone, mingled with despair, in which the 
 Bombay Council wind up their letter — "however will submitt to 
 your directions, and Clarke shall be ti-yed accordingly that he 
 may live and murder some other poore man." It would be 
 interesting to know how the matter was decided by the Presi- 
 dent ; it is not improbable that the Deputy- Governor scored 
 a victory over the Judge. We hear of Dr. St. John till 1690, 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 146. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 169 
 
 though Sir Michael Westropp thinks his career as a Judge in 
 Bombay must have ended at an earlier date.* Bruce is 
 responsible for the statement that certain allegations were made 
 against St. John for having identified himself with some of the 
 interlopers, but beyond this vague and unfounded accusation 
 there is nothing to prevent us from concluding that the first 
 Admiralty Judge of the town and island of Bombay returned 
 home with an unblemished character, and passed the rest of 
 his days in some other profitable employment or perhaps in 
 honourable retirement, t 
 
 We must not omit to say a word or two about Mr. John Vaux, 
 the Civil Judge. Not that an outline of his career would add 
 lustre to this period of the history of judicial administration 
 in Western India, for, according to contemporary authorities, if 
 ever there was a man who disgraced the Bench by dealing out 
 unequal justice in Bombay, it was Mr. Justice Vaux. In an 
 impartial account such as the one we have attempted to write, 
 we feel bound to say something about him, even though it reflect 
 no credit on the administration of justice while Child was at the 
 head of the Government. According to Hamilton, Vaux had 
 been book-keeper to Sir Josiah Child in England, and for his 
 good services was appointed by his master, who used him as his 
 tool, to a supercargo's post in a ship bound for China in 1684. 
 
 * " There is some evidence," says Sir Michael, " in the correspondence of 
 the Bombay and Surat Governments that the office of Admiralty Judge was, 
 subsequently to the retirement of Dr. St. John, held for a short time by 
 Dr. Davenant." — 4, Bombay High Court Reports, p. 61. 
 
 t Since the departure of Dr. St. John, there is no positive evidence that 
 another person, learned in the civil law, was sent out from England to 
 succeed him (though Sir Michael mentions a Dr. Davenant as his successor). 
 But that the authorities expected one is made clear by an entry in a Bombay 
 letter to Surat, dated October 9, 1696. " We are," runs the entry, ** in 
 hourly expectation of our ships which we hope will bring out some person 
 learned in the laws qualified for a Judge whereby we may erect a Court of 
 Judicature." Unfortunately, the frequent gaps in the series of these 
 intensely interesting letters give us no clue as to whether this expectation 
 was fulfilled or not, though from the fact that no court of judicature had 
 been held in Bombay for the eleven years prior to 1701, it would seem that 
 no one was then sent out from England to succeed Dr. St. John. The 
 letter dated August 27, 1688, from the Court of Directors to Bombay, is 
 interesting in this connection, for therein they complain that " the fees of 
 the Admiralty Court are grown to an exorbitancy and the delays are 
 extreme," and therefore directed the Bombay Council to revise the scale 
 of fees and regulate the business of the Court. 
 
170 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 But having fallen out with the captain, Vaux gave up this post 
 and boarded a ship which was making for Bombay. There he 
 was entertained in the Company's service as a factor, and wrote 
 to Sir Josiah his reasons for coming out to India and his deter- 
 mination to stay in Bombay. Sir Josiah continued to cherish 
 esteem for Vaux and procured him several profitable posts, and 
 at last prevailed upon his brother in India to constitute him 
 Judge in Civil Affairs, which, says Hamilton, *' brought him 
 both a good salary and perquisites." 
 
 " After he was installed in that office," continues Hamilton, " Sir 
 Josiah wrote him a letter of admonition and reminiscence, wherein, after 
 many postulates, he put him in mind of the many favours he had done 
 him, and that now, having the power of condemning the Company's 
 enemies, or such as should be deemed so, particularly those who should 
 dare to question the Company's power over the British subjects in India, 
 he expected his orders, from time to time, should be observed and 
 obeyed as statute laws." 
 
 The audacity of the proposal made in this letter was quite in 
 keeping with the not too scrupulous character of the man who 
 ruled over the East India Company, in the last quarter of the 
 seventeenth century, with the absolute power of a despot. 
 Sir Josiah must have felt sure that Vaux vi^ould follow his 
 instructions with the meekness of a slave. A creature of his 
 own making, he thought he could command him as he liked. 
 Vaux, while gratefully acknowledging Sir Josiah's favours, pro- 
 mised that, as he had put him into that post of honour and 
 profit, he would strive to acquit himself with all the integrity and 
 justice he was capable of, but inadvertently added that *'the 
 laws of his country should be the rule he designed to walk by." 
 This latter observation upset the equanimity of his imperious 
 patron. It must have shocked him to hear that this puppet of 
 his had decided to act according to the laws of his country, for 
 Sir Josiah fancied himself above all laws. He lost no time in 
 sending a reply which was also characteristic of the man. 
 
 " In answer to that letter," Hamilton adds, " Sir Josiah seemed to be 
 angry, and wrote roundly to Mr. Vaux that he expected his orders were 
 to be his rule, and not the laws of England, which were an heap of 
 nonsense, compiled by a few ignorant country gentlemen, who hardly 
 knew how to make laws for the good government of their own private 
 
 I 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 171 
 
 families, much less for the regulating of companies and foreign 
 commerce." * 
 
 It would seem almost incredible that a man of the eminence 
 of Sir Josiah Child should have referred to the laws of his 
 country with such supreme contempt, and characterised them as 
 *' an heap of nonsense," did we not know of more recent examples 
 of imperial disdain for England. Having regard to the ante- 
 cedents of the author of this story and his well-known antipathy 
 towards the Childs, one would be naturally slow to accept his 
 version of it without independent evidence. But Hamilton 
 appends a note to it which forces conviction home. " I am the 
 more particular in this account," he adds, " because I saw and 
 copied both those letters in Anno 1696 while Mr. Vaux and I 
 were prisoners at Surat on account of Captain Evory's robbing 
 the Mogul's great ship, called the Gunstvay." The more's the 
 pity, say we. We do not know if Vaux shared his patron's 
 mean opinion regarding the laws of England. To think that 
 such a person — a book-keeper not many years ago — ignorant 
 even of the rudimentary principles of law and without a vestige 
 of self-respect in him, dependent almost to the point of servility 
 and a tool in the hands of an unprincipled despot, should have 
 at one time presided over the Bench in Bombay ! Vaux's is 
 another name to be added to the list of those inefficient and 
 cringing men who were responsible for the maladministration of 
 Bombay in the seventeenth century. On the death of Sir John 
 Child, in 1690, Vaux was made Deputy- Governor, but he could 
 not have enjoyed this dignity long. Even then his mind was 
 so debilitated that, according to Hamilton, "he was but few 
 degrees wiser than an idiot." Two years after, he was accused 
 of treason and suspended from office, and in 1697 was accidentally 
 drowned in the river Tapti.f 
 
 This chapter is drawing to a close. There are few charters of 
 any importance which deserve a detailed notice here, until we 
 come to the famous Charter of 1726, which established a Mayor's 
 Court in the three Presidency towns of India. It may be noted 
 here in passing that by a commission dated January 20, 1685, 
 reciting the Charter of 1683, the Company appointed Captain 
 
 * A New Account of the East Indies, i. p. 235. 
 t Anderson's English in Western India, p. 257. 
 
172 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 John Nicholson,* Vice- Admiral of the fleet of ships bound for the 
 Coromandal Coast, Judge- Advocate of the Court of Admiralty in 
 the Bay of Bengal, both at sea and on shore, during that 
 expedition, and such two out of five factors as might be nominated 
 by the Agent and Council at the Hooghly to be the Judge's 
 assistants. The next charter of some importance was that of 
 1686 ; it recited the provision in the charter immediately pre- 
 ceding it regarding the establishment of a Court of Admiralty, 
 and also referred to the charters of Elizabeth and James I. 
 After reciting all the charters granted by Charles II. (especially 
 including those of 1661 and 1669), it ratified and confirmed all 
 of " the said Charters and Letters Patent," and gave, granted, 
 constituted, erected, and established unto the London Company 
 " all such, so many, and the like rights, &c., jurisdictions, &c., 
 courts and authorities together with such covenants, and subject 
 to such provisions, and in such manner and form to all intents 
 and purposes," as the London Company ever had or enjoyed, &c., 
 " by force or virtue of all or any of the before recited Letter^ 
 Patent." 
 
 •' This confirmation," observes Sir Michael Westropp, " clearly includes 
 not only the new courts established for mercantile and maritime causes 
 in 1683 by Charles II., and renewed, so to speak, by this charter of 
 James II. in 1686, but also the courts of English law, the establishment 
 of which was sanctioned by Charles II. by the Charter of 1661, or 
 authorised by the Charter of 1669." 
 
 There was yet another charter granted to the Company next 
 year, and although it appertains to the Presidency of Madras 
 alone, it is so remarkable in the powers it confers that it may be 
 considered worth noticing here. It was regarded as one of the 
 prerogatives of the Crown to constitute municipal corporations by 
 the grant of royal charters — a prerogative always most jealously 
 guarded. But in 1687 James II. showed a signal mark of his 
 royal favour by delegating to the East India Company the power 
 of establishing by charter a municipality at Madras.! A charter 
 was accordingly granted to Madras. After its grant the question 
 
 * The Charter of 1683 required the Judge-Advocate to be " a person learned 
 in the civil law." But there is no evidence to show that the gallant Captain 
 answered to this description, unless he did so ex officio. 
 
 t Why this favour was not extended to the other ♦ vvo Presidencies, it is 
 difficult to say. It may be that Madras was then considered the premier 
 Presidency in India. But it is worth noting that in that very year the 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 173 
 
 arose as to whether it should be passed under the Great Seal or 
 under the ordinary seal of the Company. To us such a question 
 does not seem to call for anxious discussion at a Cabinet 
 Council, but it was seriously argued by both parties at the time, 
 and it was eventually decided, at the instance of the Governor 
 and Deputy- Governor of the Company, that the charter should be 
 granted under the Company's own seal. The reasons assigned 
 for the adoption of this course are, as Sir Courtenay Ilbert 
 observes, "curious and characteristic." The Governor was 
 emphatically of opinion that no persons in India should be 
 employed under immediate commission from his Majesty, 
 *' because the wind of extraordinary honour in their heads would 
 probably render them so haughty and overbearing that the 
 Company would be forced to remove them." Sir Courtenay 
 is probably right in his surmise that when the Governor was 
 thus expressing his frank opinion on the matter, he had perhaps 
 had in his mind the recent differences between Sir John Child 
 and Dr. St. John over the proper jurisdiction of the Admiralty 
 Court. It is not a little curious to observe that, whenever the , 
 experiment of establishing an independent judiciary in the 
 various Presidencies in India was tried, it proved more or less a 
 failure, as the Judge almost invariably came into conflict with the 
 servants of the Company. St. John's appointment as Judge- 
 Advocate under his Majesty's commission, and the events that 
 occurred during the tenure of his office as Judge, did not 
 encourage the Company to try a similar experiment at Madras. 
 The same feeling prevailed when a Mayor's Court was established 
 in each of the three Presidency towns in 1726. Although the 
 Court of Directors then admitted that " from want of thorough 
 knowledge of our laws slips in the execution of them had some- 
 times been made by his Majesty's Justices of the Peace," they 
 did not yet recommend the appointment of trained lawyers to 
 preside over the new tribunal. The conflicts between Warren 
 Hastings and the Supreme Court of Calcutta in the next century 
 were also due to the same cause. But it should be remembered 
 that the fault did not lie entirely with the independent judiciary, 
 nor was the conflict always due to the haughty and overbearing 
 manner in which the English Judges sometimes conducted them- 
 
 Company's seat of commerce and centre of authority on the Western Coast 
 was removed from Surat to Bombay. 
 
174 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 selves. Though that was the version put on the matter by the 
 Company, it was open to a totally different construction. True, 
 the wind of extraordinary honour had puffed up some of the 
 Judges appointed by royal commission, but it was not their 
 haughtiness so much as their sturdy independence that irritated 
 the men on the spot. The Court of directors knew that those 
 who had been sent out to India as Judges had taken with them 
 the traditional independence of English courts, and would on no 
 account tolerate the arbitrary acts of the Company's servants. 
 To a man like Sir Josiah Child, who had the audacity to cha- 
 racterise the laws of England as *'an heap of nonsense," the 
 conduct of the Judges must have been galling. The Directors 
 had, therefore, used their influence with the Crown, when the 
 Mayor's Court was established, to have not lawyers on that 
 tribunal. But we are going beyond the scope of the present 
 volume ; let us return to the Charter of 1687. It estab- 
 lished not only a municipality, but also a Mayor's Court at 
 Madras. The municipal corporation was to be constituted on 
 the approved English type, and was to consist of a mayor, twelve 
 aldermen, and sixty or more burgesses. With the powers of the 
 municipality, however, we have nothing to do ; let us rather 
 describe the constitution of the Mayor's Court. It was to be a 
 court of record, with power to try civil and criminal cases, and 
 the Mayor and three of the aldermen were created justices 
 of the peace. There was to be an appeal in civil and criminal 
 cases from the Mayor's Court to ** our supreme court of 
 judicature, commonly called our Court of Admiralty,"* 
 
 " There is to be a recorder," continues the charter, the provisions of 
 which have been ably summarized by Sir Courtenay Ilbert, "who must 
 be a discreet person, skilful in the laws and constitutions of the place, 
 and who is to assist the Mayor in trying, judging and sentencing causes 
 of any considerable value or intricacy. And there is to be a town clerk 
 and clerk of the peace, an able and discreet person, who must always be 
 an Englishman born, but well skilled in the language of East India, and 
 who is to be esteemed a notary public." f 
 
 * Although this Court was established by the Charter of 1683 there was no 
 Judge- Advocate available for Madras until 1686, when Sir John Biggs, the 
 Recorder of Portsmouth, was appointed to fill the post. Till then the 
 President of the Madras Council acted as Judge- Advocate, but this expedient 
 proved so unsatisfactory that the old CoUrt of Judicature was revived until 
 the arrival of the Judge from England. 
 
 t Ilbert's Government of India, p. 24, 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 175 
 
 The charter also provided for the ornamentation of the Mayor 
 and Aldermen of Madras, which shows how much this prosaic 
 age of ours lacks in picturesqueness. This passage is so 
 interesting that it will bear quotation in full : 
 
 " For the greater solemnity and to attract respect and reverence from 
 the common people, the Mayor is to 'always have carried before him, 
 when he goes to the guild hall or other place of assembly, two silver 
 maces gilt, not exceeding three feet and a half in length, and the Mayor 
 and Aldermen may always upon such solemn occasions wear scarlet 
 serge gowns, all made after one form or fashion, such as shall be thought 
 most convenient for that hot country.' The burgesses are, on these 
 occasions, to wear white ' pelong ' or other silk gowns. Moreover, the 
 Mayor and Aldermen are * to have and for ever enjoy the honour and 
 privilege of having rundelloes and kattysols''' borne over them when 
 they walk or ride abroad on these necessary occasions within the limits 
 of the said corporation ; when they go to the guild hall or upon any other 
 solemn occasion, they may ride on horseback in the same order as is 
 used by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, having their horses 
 decently furnished with saddles, bridles and other trimmings after one 
 form and manner as shall be devised and directed by our President and 
 Council of Fort St. George.' " f 
 
 It is permissible to surmise that these rules of ornamentation, 
 observed in municipal affairs, were applicable to judicial officers 
 also. This description irresistibly reminds one of the picturesque, 
 almost gorgeous, costume of the serjeant-at-law when the Order 
 of the Coif flourished in all its glory. Alas ! the Judges to-day 
 no longer wear a " pelong," much less have they any " rundelloes 
 and kattysols " borne over their heads. They walk, or ride, or 
 drive just like other men. 
 
 The Revolution of 1688 dealt a severe blow to the powers 
 and prestige of the Company and strengthened the hands of its 
 rivals. The latter had formed themselves into what was then 
 known as the New Company. Of the rivalries and wranglings 
 of these two Companies we shall speak in the next chapter. 
 Suffice it to say here that the condition of the Old Company 
 had become so precarious that it required all the ingenuity 
 and resourcefulness of its astute Chairman, Sir Josiah Child, to 
 keep it going. The question was now raised in all seriousness 
 and discussed with some warmth whether the Crown could grant 
 
 * Umbrellas and parasols. f Ilbert's Oovemment of India, p. 24. 
 
176 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 a monopoly of trade to a private company without the authority 
 of Parliament. It was argued at some length before the Privy 
 Council in the famous case of The East India Company v. 
 Sandys. The decision in their favour gave the Company a new 
 lease of life. By means of lavish bribery, in which device Sir 
 Josiah Child is said to have been a pastmaster, they even 
 managed to extort another charter. The Charter of 5 William 
 and Mary, dated October 7, 1693, confirms the former charters, 
 and in so doing expressly grants and confirms to the London 
 Company all ports, islands, plantations, territories, &c., &c., 
 manors, lordships, &c., houses, lands, tenements, hereditaments, 
 &c., chattels real and personal, debts, &c., jurisdictions, &c., to 
 which the Company were entitled under their former charters, 
 and a later clause of this charter directs that " all the manors, 
 lands, tenements, &c., chattels real, chattels personal and other 
 the premises " thereby granted and confirmed, should be subject 
 to the Company's debts.* But even this temporary success of 
 the Old Company made its rivals work for its ruin with renewed 
 vigour. In spite of the decision in the above-mentioned case, 
 the controversy was reopened as to the constitutional right of 
 the Crown to grant to any person or body of persons an exclusive 
 privilege of trading to any part of the world. For some years 
 the Old and the New Companies fought for dear life, and the 
 history of this period reflects no credit on either the good sense 
 or motives of the antagonists. By the Charter of 1698 the New 
 or the English Company was empowered, like the Old Company, 
 to make bye-laws and ordinances, to appoint governors with 
 power to raise and train military forces, and to establish Courts 
 of Judicature. This naturally made matters worse, for it was 
 like trying to put two swords in] one scabbard. At last a coali- 
 tion was effected through the intervention of Lord Godolphin, 
 and the two rival Companies were united. By what was known 
 as the Indentm-e Quinquepartite of July 22, 1702, the London 
 Company "granted, bargained, sold, assigned, and set over 
 unto the English Company, the ports and islands of Bombay 
 and St. Helena, with all the rights, &c., appurtenances, &c., 
 prerogatives, royalties, &c., and hereditaments whatsoever" of 
 the London Company in the same islands, or either of them, 
 and also {inter multa alia) the factories at Surat, Swally, and 
 • 4, Bombay High Court Reports, p. 53. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 177 
 
 Broach, and the factories of Amdavad, Agra, and Lucknow, the 
 forts of Carwar, Tellichery, and Anjengo, and the factory of 
 Calicut."* Although the two Companies were temporarily 
 united, it was provided that the Old Company were to surrender 
 their Charters at the end of seven years and the New, or English, 
 Company were to continue their trade in accordance with the 
 provisions of the Charter of 1698 and change their name into 
 that of " The United Company of Merchants of England trading 
 to the East Indies." This coalition, however, proved to be 
 purely formal, for old sores were not healed, and the two 
 Companies continued to look askance at each other. The 
 famous award of Godolphin in 1708 at last closed this period 
 of tension and senseless rivalry. 
 
 There are a few matters of minor importance which are worth 
 noticing in a chapter dealing with the early administration of 
 justice in Bombay. For instance, it would be interesting to 
 inquire what measures were adopted to ensure justice to the 
 non-European residents of the island. Aungier was dead, but 
 the Panohayat, or rather the noble spirit which inspired the 
 greatest of our early Governors to bring this essentially native 
 tribunal into being, was alive. Campbell cites the instance of a 
 commission, dated May 30, 1694, to one Kaji Ibrahim, who was 
 appointed Chief Judge of the Moors or Mahommedans. The 
 commission was couched in the following terms : 
 
 " The Eight Honourable Sir John Gayer, Kt., General of all India, by 
 virtue of the authority given to me by the commission I bear from the 
 Right Honourable Society of Merchants trading to the East Indies, do 
 constitute and appoint you Kaji Ibrahim to be Chief Judge and decider 
 of all difference that may happen in your caste — the Moors — on the 
 island of Bombay, willing and commanding all your said caste to obey 
 you in the said station according to the commission given you. Sealed 
 with the Right Honourable Company's seal and given under my hand in 
 Bombay Castle the 30th May, 1694," f 
 
 Let us now see how criminals were dealt with and what steps 
 were taken to maintain peace and good government in the town 
 and island of Bombay. As has been already observed, the last 
 quarter of the seventeenth century and the early years of the 
 
 * 4, Bombay High Court Reports, p. 54. 
 
 t Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 7. 
 
 12 
 
178 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 eighteenth were characterised by internal dissensions and 
 external disorders. Drunkenness and other vices were rampant, 
 and the state of society, both European and native, was corrupt 
 and demoralised to a degree. It reflected the state of govern- 
 ment at the time, which was extremely loose and disorganised. 
 Bombay was then the Alsatia of thieves and vagabonds. Some 
 measures were taken to restore order, but the remedies proved 
 too mild to eradicate the deep-seated evils. For instance, a 
 system of night patrols was introduced in Bombay about 1686. 
 The Deputy- Governor forwarded the following instructions to 
 Mr. John Wyat for the purpose : 
 
 " You are hereby required to repair to Suri [Siwri], taking with you 
 two topasses, and receive the charge of the new guard-house, suffering no 
 soldiers or others that you suspect to be run away to go off the island. 
 You are likewise to take care that no cattle, corn or other provisions be 
 carried off the island, but may suffer any sort of provisions or cattle to 
 be brought on the island. If you find any one carrying letters oft' the 
 island, stop them and send them to me, and be sure you search all. 
 Suffer poor people to come and inhabit on the island ; and call the militia 
 to watch with you every night sparing the Padre of Parel's servants. 
 You are to apply yourself to the store-keeper for three spare muskets, 
 bandoleers'^' and swords together with what powder, shot, match and 
 flints you shall have occasion of." f 
 
 Eight years after, additional instructions were issued regarding 
 night patrols, this time to a native Subhedar. On September 13, 
 1694, Sir John Gayer, the then Governor of Bombay, issued the 
 following order to one Jansanay (Janu Sinay ?), Subhedar of Warli: 
 
 " Being informed that certain ill people on this island go about in the 
 night to the number of ten or twelve or more designing some mischief 
 or disturbance to the inhabitants, these are to enorder you to go the 
 rounds every night with twenty men at all places which you think most 
 suitable to intercept such persons. If you meet any of them, these are 
 to empower you to bring them perforce or otherwise to this Castle." | 
 
 The same order was repeated to the following Subhedars : 
 Ramaji Audat at Mahim, Raji Karga at Sion, and Bodji Patan 
 at Siwri. On the same subject and on that very day Sir John 
 Gayer issued the following order to Lieutenant James Hanmer : 
 
 * Leather bags for firearms. 
 
 t Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 8. 
 
 + Ibid. p. 9. 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 179 
 
 " Whereas I am informed that on this island sundry base people go 
 about work in company in the night, designing ill to some of the inhabi- 
 tants, I have ordered the Subhedars belonging to Mahim, Warli, Suri 
 [Siwri] and Sion, to go out every night with twenty men to surprise and 
 commit such persons. Therefore these are to enorder you not to molest 
 the Subhedars in the performance of their duty. If any of your rounds 
 meets with any such persons or any one else that appears suspicious, 
 commit them, and at a convenient time send them to me." 
 
 An order was issued in 1676 by Gerald Aungier with regard 
 to the punishment of thieves. In a letter from the Surat 
 Council to Bombay, dated February 8, 1675-76, there occurs 
 the following passage : 
 
 " Wee approve what you have done touching y^ thieves condemned, 
 but hereafter wee have thought good to make y^ standing ord"^ that 
 whatever thieves are condemned in Court shall be kept in chaines and 
 at constant worke in Bombay till they can be transported to St. Helena, 
 and if they be slaves and doe belong to any proprietour on y^ Island, 
 the Company shall allow y*" 30 Seraphins p. head; and y" wee doe 
 require you to observe as a standing ord' amongst you."* 
 
 We have observed that Englishmen accused of grave offences 
 were sent to their own country for trial. This was not a matter 
 of choice, but the President and Council were enjoined to do so. 
 There was a special clause in one of the early charters which 
 required this procedure to be followed. And the authorities in 
 India were not unwilling to take advantage of it : on the con- 
 trary, they used to shield themselves behind this proviso when- 
 ever an Englishman was charged with the commission of some 
 grave offence. For it could not but have been distasteful to them 
 to sit in judgment over one of their own countrymen. But they 
 resorted to this procedure so frequently and on such flimsy 
 pretexts that the Court of Directors were obliged to revise their 
 orders. Hence we find them writing to the Surat Council on 
 May 6, 1686, as follows : 
 
 " Bobert Johnson, sent home a prisoner, is but a trouble to us. For 
 the future send no such malefactors home. Punish them according to 
 their demerits in India, where you have despotical powers as well as 
 martial law and the living witnesses to justify any charge. Our courts 
 at law love not to be troubled with such remote causes, nor cam admit 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 82. 
 
180 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 for evidence in criminal causes, any written attestation, afladavits or 
 certificates, nor any other testimony than viva voce.''"^^ 
 
 As regards punishment in general and its undue severity we 
 shall have occasion to speak elsewhere. Suffice it here to note 
 the following standing order issued by the Court of Directors 
 on March 24, 1721 : 
 
 "All corporal punishments and fines should be settled in Council, 
 except such reasonable punishments as the officers inflict iOn the mili- 
 tary and marine, and the sentences of the court of justice. These last 
 may be tolerated on appeal to the President and Council."! 
 
 There now remains to notice the creation of a Coroner and 
 Provost Marshal for the town and island of Bombay. The 
 former post was apparently created in 1701, and the order 
 authorising the appointment of the first Coroner of Bombay 
 runs as follows : 
 
 "Whereas wee have been credibly informed of your ability, and 
 putting and reposeing confidence to your integrity, wee doe hereby 
 constitute and appoynt you, Christopher Boone, to be Coroner of this 
 Island Bombay, requireing you att all times to be in a readiness to 
 execute the office when you shall be thereimto called, hereby empower- 
 ing you to sumon a Jury of y^ next inhabitants to make inquest of ye 
 death of any person or persons that shall come to theii* deaths by any 
 unnaturall or extraordinary means whatsoever, and that you take no 
 more for the execution of your office than 13s. and 4d. for seeing on 
 y® corpses of any one person, and that y® same summe be levied of the 
 murderers estate if it may be found, but if not, that there then be an 
 assessment made by the Chamber of y^ cast that the defunct is of for 
 the said summe of thirteen shillings and four pence and no more, and 
 wee doe hereby further require you as you will answer the contrary att 
 your perill, that you be not of councill w*^ any person whatsoever in 
 hideing the murther of any person, nor that you neither directly nor 
 indirectly take any bribe of any person whatsoever to mittigate or lessen 
 any offence : but that you proceed in your said office w*^ integrity and 
 honesty ; as in y^ sight of God Almighty, who will certainely require 
 innocent blood att your hands if you conceale the same. Given imder 
 our hands and sealed w**' the Bt. Hon^^® Comp*" scale, this 13th day of 
 June, Anno Domini 1701. 
 
 "John Burniston. 
 
 " Wm. Aislabie. 
 
 "Benja. Stagey."! 
 
 * Forrest's Selections^ i. p. 7. t Ibid. p. 7. | ■^^' P- l^"^- 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 181 
 
 The post of the Provost Marshal appears to have heen created 
 two months before the Coroner was appointed. There was a 
 separate order issued for it, which runs as follows : 
 
 " The Worsh" Jn^ Burniston, Dep*y Go"^ of his Majestyes Fort and 
 Island, Bombay, and Councill for Af^« of the Kt. Hon'^'e Govern' and 
 Company of Merchants of London trading to the East Indies. 
 
 " By virtue of a power given us from His Exc^ Sr. J°° Gayer, K"* 
 General of India, whose authority is granted him by commission from y® 
 Rt. H. Go^'' and Comp* of Merchants of London tradeing to y® E* Indies, 
 by virtue of his Majesty s and his Royall predecessors Royall charters 
 and Letters Patents, as likewise by a late act of ParUament granted said 
 Comp*, wee do constitute and appoint y° Edw^ Simond to be Provost 
 Marshall of his Majestys Garrison and Island, B^^^^, hereby given y^ full 
 power and authority to execute y® firee exercise of y°' said ofi&ce, accord- 
 ing to the tenour of your instructions herew**^ given y°, command^^ you to 
 fulfil the same to all intents and purposes, willing and enjoyning all 
 inferior ofi&cers and souldiers of the said Garrison to obey and assist y° 
 in and about y® p.formance and execution of your said of&ce, being 
 thereunto required. Y° are likewise to observe and follow all such ord"^ 
 and directions as from time to time you shall receive from us, or in our 
 absence from whomsoever shall be appointed. Sealed w*^ y° E,* H. C'^ 
 Seals, and given under our hands in Bombay Castle the Eleventh day of 
 Aprill, one thousand seven hundred and one. 
 
 " Jo Burniston. 
 
 "W^- AlSLABIE. 
 
 " Benja. Stacby." ^ 
 
 Certain instructions were issued to Provost Marshal Edward 
 Simond, which it may not be out of place to notice below: 
 
 " Instructions for Edw^ Simond, Marshall. 
 
 " No officer or souldier shall presume to hinder the Provost Marshall 
 or serv'^ in y® execution of their office upon paine of death, or such 
 other punishm** as a Court Marshall shall think fitt, and all Cap" 
 Officers and souldiers shaU doe their utmost to apprehend and bring to 
 punishment all offenders; and shall assist the offic'^^ of his Majestys 
 army or fforces therein especially if the Provost Marshall or his officer 
 require the assist* of any officer or sould' in apprehending p«°° declaring 
 to y"* y* it is for a capital crime, and if party escapes for want of aid and 
 assist* ye p.ty or p.tys refuseing to aid, and assist, shall suffer such 
 punishment as a Court Marshall shall inflict. 
 
 " 2ndly. If any officer or sould' who shall presume to draw his sword 
 in any place of judicature while y^ Court is sitt« shall suffer such p\mish™' 
 as shall be inflicted on him by a Court Marshall, and the Provost 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 168. 
 
182 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Marshall of his Majesty's Army is hereby impowered and directed by 
 his owne authority to apprehend such offenders. 
 
 " 3rdly. If any souldiers being committed for any offence shall break 
 prison, the said Provost Marshall shall by his owTie authority apprehend 
 him, and the offend*" shall suffer death. 
 
 "4thly. No Provost Marshall shall refuse to receive or keep a prisoner 
 committed to his charge, by authority or shall dismiss him w%out 
 order upon paine of such punish™* as a Court Marshall shall thinke fitt ; 
 and if y^ offence for which y^ prisoner was apprehended deserved death, 
 y^ Provost Marshall failing to receive and keep him shall be liable to the 
 same punish™*. 
 
 '* 5thly. If any person be committed by y^ Provost Marshalls owne 
 authority w*^^out other command, he shall acquaint y® chief officer w* 
 the cause w*4n 24 hours, and the Provost Marshall shall y'^^upon dismiss 
 him unless he have orders to the contrary.'"'' 
 
 It is superfluous to add that the office of the Provost Marshal 
 was no sinecure in those days. Indeed, as we have seen, death 
 was the penalty he had to pay if he allowed a prisoner charged 
 with a capital offence to escape. 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 168. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 
 
 (1677-1726) 
 
 IN this chapter we propose to inquire into some of the causes 
 which led to the decadence of Bombay at the end of the 
 seventeenth century and in the beginning of the eighteenth. In 
 the course of this inquiry we shall try to confine ourselves to the 
 elucidation of those causes only which, directly or indirectly, 
 influenced the administration of justice, and eventually compelled 
 the authorities to close the doors of the Courts of Judicature in 
 Bombay. Extremely demoralised must have been the com- 
 munity which could exist without even the semblance of peace 
 and order for more than a decade. Dissensions, disorders, and 
 disease at home contributed largely to this deplorable state of 
 affairs; hostilities abroad and corruption at the centre of 
 authority — in the East India Company itself — aggravated the 
 situation. The peaceful and orderly administration of Bombay 
 under Gerald Aungier, and the reign of terror which prevailed 
 when Sir John Child was its Grovernor, present a striking 
 contrast. The one established Courts of Judicature, or, as 
 Ovington would have it, unveiled the Face of Justice ; the other 
 drew the veil over it again. The former encouraged people to 
 settle down in Bombay ; the latter seemed to drive them out. 
 In the whole range of the history of this Imperial possession of 
 England there are no other two men who differ in their nature 
 and in their principles of action so much as Aungier and Child. 
 Aungier has been generally acknowledged the best of our early 
 Governors : Child was, according to some, one of the worst. 
 We have devoted some space to recording the principal events of 
 
184 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Aungier's wise and just administration ; by way of contrast, we 
 shall say a few words about Sir John Child and the defects of 
 his administration, political as well as moral. 
 
 It is difficult to give a true estimate of Child's character as 
 the accounts vary not a little. The early historians are divided 
 in their opinion of this man, his work and worth, and even later 
 authorities are by no means unanimous. Bruce, the Company's 
 annalist, writes of him in terms of the highest praise. According 
 to him, " the precaution and public principles on which Sir John 
 Child acted under critical circumstances discover a high sense 
 of duty and a provident concern for the interests of the Com- 
 pany." In another place he describes Child as having been, for 
 many years, *' by his firmness and integrity, the real support of 
 the Company's interests in India " and " alone capable of 
 extricating them from the difficulties in which they were 
 involved." On the other hand, Captain Hamilton describes 
 him in anything but flattering terms. 
 
 "The Governors," he observes, "proved tolerably good, till 1682, 
 when Sir John Child spoilt it. The India Company knowing how to 
 make use of King Charles's necessities, made him some presents of 
 money, and he, in grateful acknowledgments, granted them power to 
 rob their fellow- subjects in India ; but they used that power to their 
 own destruction, for Mr. Child's pride and oppressions grew so intoler- 
 able, that even the gentlemen in the Company's service had not the free 
 exercise of trade, and much less private merchants. And he, trampling 
 on the established laws of England, by advice of his namesake* who 
 governed the Company in Europe, by imprisoning and murdering their 
 fellow- subjects, grew hateful to all." f 
 
 Hamilton had not one good word to say of Child. In him 
 he found almost all the vices that make a man odious — corrup- 
 tion, impetuosity, haughtiness, and vindictiveness. He even 
 accuses Child of embezzlement of the funds that were collected 
 for the pious object of establishing a church in Bombay. + 
 When, in 1684, he was made Captain- General and Admiral of 
 
 * Sir Josiah Child. 
 
 t A New Account of the East Indies^ i. p. 189. 
 
 X As regards this, Douglas adds the following footnote at p. 243 of his 
 second volume : *' The charge of the misappropriation by Sir John Child of 
 the Cathedral funds, £5,000, it is only fair to add, rests on the unsupported 
 evidence alone of Alexander Hamilton. But, as far as we know, it has never 
 been denied." 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 185 
 
 the Company's sea and land forces and honoured with a 
 baronetcy, the dignity, says Hamilton, "puffed him up so much 
 that he contemned all laws, human and divine." By the side 
 of this unsparing condemnation, Bruce's praise reads like rank 
 flattery. It is difficult to decide which of these two contradictory 
 verdicts to accept. Hamilton's testimony, it should be borne in 
 mind, is neither accurate nor impartial. He was a man of strong 
 likes and dislikes, a man between whom and the East India 
 Company there was no love lost. Being an interloper himself, 
 he hated the Company, its principles and policy, and the man 
 he hated most of all was Child. On the other hand, Bruce was 
 the accredited historian of the Company. Though an annalist 
 of its affairs, he may, in some respects, be regarded as its 
 apologist. The truth probably lies somewhere between these 
 two verdicts, and on a careful study of the subject it will be 
 found that Child's character was neither so black as portrayed 
 by Hamilton, nor so fair as painted by Bruce. Such at least 
 seems to be the opinion held by two of the best known modern 
 historians, Douglas and Anderson. Douglas does not attempt 
 even to outline the career of Sir John Child, much less does 
 he give us an estimate of his character and work as a public 
 man. Anderson, on the other hand, records an estimate of him 
 so clever in its originality and bold in expression, that we are 
 tempted to quote it here. He attributes most of Child's errors 
 to his unbounded zeal in promoting the interests of the Com- 
 pany he served so long with a singleness of purpose and provi- 
 dent concern which, on one occasion, earned him a thousand 
 guineas and the encomium of his masters. 
 
 " We do not see," says Anderson, " any ground for accusing Sir 
 John Child of that selfishness and peculation in which many of the 
 Company's servants indulged to their lasting disgrace. Not that he 
 neglected his own interests, only he identified them with the Company's. 
 He was a deceiver and oppressor for their sakes. His system of 
 administration, as well as that of his brother, the Chairman, was 
 essentially dishonest." * 
 
 We shall let our readers decide whether this opinion can be 
 regarded as complimentary or otherwise. 
 
 * The English in Western India, p. 110. 
 
186 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 That Child's was in some respects a remarkable personality 
 needs no proof : that he was a man of resource and some 
 administrative capacity, nobody who is acquainted with the 
 history of the period will deny. But he had faults, and some 
 of them were very serious faults indeed. He was unscrupulous 
 in his dealings, haughty in manner, and vindictive by nature. 
 There is a story told of his vindictiveness which gained currency 
 not only in Hamilton's time, but has been repeated by so 
 impartial a historian as Anderson, and has been woven into the 
 authoritative sketch of Sir John Child's career in the Biographical 
 Dictionary, During his administration, the military broke 
 out in open revolt under the banner of Captain Keigwin. When 
 the mutiny was suppressed and the ringleaders were granted 
 pardon, there was one man among them. Captain Thorburn, 
 who fell a victim to Child's displeasure. By some means he 
 managed to get Thorburn imprisoned for debt, and gave strict 
 orders not to let anybody visit the unfortunate man. 
 
 " His own wife," says Hamilton, " was not permitted to visit him, 
 which hard usage brought him into a violent fever, that soon put an 
 end to his life. About two days before he died the gaoler acquainted 
 his lady of his danger, and she, with two small children, went to the 
 General, and, on their knees, begged that a doctor might be permitted 
 to visit her husband, but he was inexorable and would allow no such 
 favour, only granted her leave to be in prison with him till he died, and 
 she stayed but one day and a part of a night till he expired." * 
 
 One stands aghast at the cold-blooded conduct of Child towards 
 this unfortunate woman, and would fain believe that this story is 
 an invention. And yet we have not heard the worst of it. For 
 Child is said to have carried his revenge even beyond the grave. 
 When the widow returned to her residence, she found the doors 
 closed against her^ her children and slaves having been turned 
 out. Even her own sisters dared not help her, except by stealth, 
 lest they should incur Child's displeasure. We must let Hamilton 
 conclude this wretched story. 
 
 "The poor lady had both beauty and discretion enough to recommend 
 her to the virtuous part of mankind ; but none of the gentlemen that 
 wished her well durst make addresses to her ; only one, who had the 
 * A New Account of the East Indies^ i. p. 192. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 187 
 
 command of a ship in the Indian Merchants service, as he had no 
 dependance on the General, nor his masters in England, thought he 
 could not well come within the reach of their persecution ; so he courted 
 her, and married her, but that was thought a capital crime, and the 
 General acquainted his Indian owners that without they discharged him 
 their service, they should also find the weight of his displeasure ; and 
 accordingly, to avoid contests with his Excellency, he was discharged. 
 But grief put an end to his troubles, for he died within a year of his 
 marriage." 
 
 One fails to understand why Child showed his hatred of 
 Thorburn to such an extent. This is by no means a solitary- 
 instance of the insatiable vindictiveness of our first Governor- 
 General, as Child was sometimes wrongly styled.* The way in 
 which he persecuted two members of the Surat Council, Messrs. 
 Petit and Boucher (Bourchier) , is described at length by Hamilton, 
 but we have no space to give even a brief outline of that painful 
 episode. Suffice it to note that one of them, Mr. Petit, died of 
 grief, thanks mainly to Child's inhuman treatment. And such 
 was Child's inhumanity, that, while referring to Petit's death, 
 he wrote to the Governor of Surat that Petit " had gone to the 
 devil." It is not difficult, therefore, to picture to ourselves the 
 way in which this irresponsible and ungracious man must have 
 administered justice in Bombay and at Surat. We have seen 
 how he baffled Dr. St. John and appointed a man of his own 
 creation as second Judge in Bombay. Child alone could have 
 made the choice of John Vaux for that office. He evidently 
 shared the mean opinion of the laws of England to which, 
 as noted above, his brother gave expression in a letter to 
 Vaux. Hamilton says he contemned all laws, human and 
 divine. Looking to the character of the man and his ante- 
 
 * Child has been indiscriminately called "Governor" and ' ' General," though 
 in the despatches of the Court of Directors he was usually designated ' ' our 
 General." Bruce seems to be responsible for the error which has crept into 
 several books of history where he is spoken of as Governor-General. For 
 while referring to his appointment in 1686, which invested him with authority 
 over the other Presidencies as well as Bombay, Bruce observes: " With this 
 object, the Court, with the approbation of the King, constituted Sir John 
 Child their President or General at Surat, to be what in modern times has 
 been termed the Governor- General of the countries within their limits." It 
 need hardly be pointed out that the official designation of " Governor-General " 
 was not bestowed on any Indian Governor until the time of Warren Hastings 
 by the Regulation Act of 1773. 
 
188 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 cedents, it does not seem improbable that, in making this 
 observation, Hamilton was stating no more than the fact, in 
 proof of which he even cites an instance of a trial in which Child 
 sat as judge. It is so remarkable and so thoroughly characteristic 
 of the man that we must make room for it here. 
 
 " As the Phoenix was on her way for India," says Hamilton, " she called 
 at the island of Johanna, and there found an Enghsh ship, called the 
 Bristol, stopping some leaks in her bottom. Captain Tyrrel, by a 
 dispensing power from the King of England, seized her and designed to 
 have carried her to Bombay, in company of a small vessel that he had 
 seized on the coast of Madagascar. The Bristol sunk the third day after 
 they put to sea, but the other came safe. The Bristol's men were looked 
 on as pirates, and one Mr. Mews, a supercargo, was arraigned before the 
 General's Tribunal, where he [the latter] himself sat [as] Lord Chief Jus- 
 tice, and, after his usual manner of bestowing opprobrious names, he con- 
 demned Mr. Mews to lose all that he had in the world, and 1,000 pounds 
 beside, and to lie in prison, at his own charges, till the fine was paid ; but 
 Mr. Vaux, who was Judge of the Island in petty affairs, showed him the 
 weakness of his sentence, and persuaded him to set the poor man on 
 liberty and order him a passage for England."* 
 
 The only obvious comment to make on the above is that, if even 
 Mr. Justice Vaux found it impossible to uphold the sentenoe of 
 the General, then we may be sure that, on that memorable 
 occasion, *' Lord Chief Justice " Child must have surpassed 
 himself on the bench ! 
 
 Let us now describe an event which must have shaken the 
 very foundations of Bombay and paralysed the authorities, 
 "parvis componere magna," as did the IMutiny of 1857. It 
 gives us some idea of the disorders which overtook the island 
 at the time, and throws light on the character of the then 
 Governor, Sir John Child. It is known in history as "Keigwin's 
 Kevolt," and although no monograph has been written on the 
 subject, not even by Douglas, there can be no doubt that it 
 forms one of the most curious episodes in the interesting annals 
 of early Bombay. It was a military rising which created a good 
 deal of commotion at the time without any shedding of blood on 
 either side. The explanation of this strange phenomenon lies 
 in the fact that the authorities were so completely cowed down 
 by the mutineers, who, on their part, conducted themselves in 
 * A New Account of the East Indies, i. p. 194. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 189 
 
 such a strictly constitutional manner, that Government neither 
 dared nor deemed it necessary to exercise the punitive powers 
 vested in them by law, and wisely avoided both friction and 
 force. Not a little credit is due to the moderation and firmness 
 of the principal ringleader, Captain Keigwin, for the harmlessness 
 of this rebellion. Keigwin had made his mark as a remarkably 
 dashing soldier years ago, when he was at St. Helena, where, in 
 1673, his perilous ascent of certain inaccessible rocks won him the 
 admiration of all and secured for him the governorship of that 
 island. Next year the East India Company sent him out to 
 Bombay, appointing him commandant of the garrison and of the 
 Company's forces by land and sea, including a troop of horse, 
 some three hundred foot, and a small flotilla of armed vessels. 
 Even at that early date the state of the army in Bombay was far 
 from satisfactory. Measures of retrenchment were enjoined by 
 the Court of Directors without due regard to the requirements of 
 the island, and a spirit of misplaced economy and misdirected 
 zeal to show a large revenue with the least possible expendi- 
 ture characterised many of the orders and instructions issued 
 by the authorities in India at the time. Moreover, the state 
 of martial law in Bombay left something to be desired. An 
 officer was allowed to combine civil and military duties. The 
 principal authority was vested in civilians, though promises of 
 promotion, with seats in Council, were held out to the military if 
 they deserved well of the Company. In 1676 the Court ordered 
 that non-commissioned officers and privates should be punished 
 with death for neglect or breach of duty, but that com- 
 missioned officers should only be reduced and deprived of rank. 
 This invidious and unwise distinction added fuel to the fire. 
 Though not too well paid, repeated efforts were also made to cut 
 down the pay of the army as much as possible. 
 
 " Captains were expected," says Anderson, " to be satisfied with 
 Lieutenants' allowances, Lieutenants' with Ensigns, and a surplus which 
 had been actually received by them before the reforms were made, and 
 to which they considered they had a just claim, was ordered to be 
 refunded." 
 
 In 1674 the authorities received a most solemn warning that 
 the patience of the army was exhausted. For in that year a 
 
190 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 party of soldiers broke out into open revolt, as the Court of 
 Directors refused to give them a month's pay and allow them 
 a free discharge, which they were promised after three years' 
 service. The mutiny was quelled on the soldiers getting the 
 concessions they asked for. On that occasion, a military officer 
 high in command, by name Shaxton, was suspected of having 
 abetted the revolt, and was accused of remissness in checking 
 the insubordination of his men. He was obliged to give up his 
 sword, and was placed in confinement. 
 
 "A Court of Judicature," says Anderson, "was then formed for his 
 trial, in which a pompous attorney impeached him and compared him to 
 CatiHne. But the soldier defended himself with ability, and the Court 
 decided that they could do nothing but refer his case to the Court of 
 Directors. He was therefore sent to England, where he died at the 
 termination of his voyage." '^^ 
 
 The authorities, however, took no hint : their orders for re- 
 trenchment and economy became more and more stringent, and 
 they seemed to delight in reducing the pay of the soldier. 
 About this time, as it happened, the Mahrattas had also grown 
 troublesome. As commandant of the forces in Bombay, Keigwin 
 seems to have insisted on the necessity of taking energetic 
 measures to restrain their hostile attitude — measures the wisdom 
 of which he justified by gaining a victory over the enemy in 
 1679, but which the Court of Directors condemned in strong terms. 
 They ordered that the military establishment in Bombay should 
 be reduced to two lieutenants, two ensigns, four sergeants, four 
 corporals, and a hundred and eighty privates ; that no batta was to 
 be paid, as before, to the detachment of thirty soldiers at Surat ; 
 that the troop of horse was to be disbanded, and Keigwin, the 
 Commandant, dismissed the service. They further reduced the 
 officers' pay and levied a duty on all ships anchoring in the 
 harbour and on all shopkeepers in the town. The authorities 
 were actuated by such incredible meanness that they even 
 directed that only one-half of the native labourers' wages should 
 be paid in money, the other half being paid in rice "to be 
 valued at the Company's price." These measures alienated the 
 sympathy of the natives and drove the soldiers to desperation. 
 * The English in Western India, p. 103. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 191 
 
 All the inflammable materials were ready at hand; it needed 
 but a spark to set the whole ablaze. These vexatious regula- 
 tions had instilled a spirit of insubordination into the minds of all 
 the troops, from the highest officer to the mere recruit. There 
 is an instance on record of one Captain Carr, who did not hesi- 
 tate to insult the Deputy- Governor in his Council Chamber. 
 He appeared unsummoned before his Honour to demand an 
 enquiry into his conduct. It was pointed out to him that he 
 had not been sent for, but that, as he had appeared of his own 
 accord, he would be good enough to explain his non-attendance 
 on parade for two mornings. " I had business," curtly replied 
 the gallant Captain. The Deputy- Governor suggested that his 
 business could not have been very urgent, and that it appeared 
 to him that the officer was not anxious to perform his duty. 
 This suggestion of neglect of duty gave Carr the opportunity 
 of indulging in gross abuse, for which purpose he had probably 
 gone to the Council Chamber even without being summoned. 
 
 *' Upon that," says Anderson, " Carr began to swear ' good, mouth- 
 filling oaths ' at his Honor, and when threatened with punishment by 
 him, shook his fist in the Deputy's face. The afifair was terminated by 
 the Captain being placed under arrest and confined to his own quarters. 
 Such an example thus set by an officer was, as might be expected, 
 imitated by private soldiers, and at last all fell into such a disorganised 
 state that the Governor could not find a man whom he could venture to 
 make a Sergeant or Corporal." 
 
 This state of chaos at last culminated in the revolt headed 
 by Captain Keigwin. On his dismissal, he went to England, 
 probably to urge his cause, and so far succeeded that, in 1681, 
 he returned to India with the rank of Captain-Lieutenant, a 
 post which carried with it a seat in Council, the highest position 
 which any military officer under the Company could then attain. 
 But, for some unaccountable reason, he was deprived of his 
 seat the next year, and his pay and allowances were reduced. 
 Keigwin quietly bore this degradation. Both in their rank and 
 pay the officers were placed on a lower level than they had 
 formerly been, and the militia, as we have seen, was so reduced 
 that not only was efficient discipline impossible, but even the 
 authority of the officers over their men was almost at an end. 
 Discontent gave rise to disobedience,, and disobedience to open 
 
192 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 defiance. The civil authorities pretended not to scent any 
 danger in the situation, but they were rudely awakened to the 
 reality of it the next year. Keigwin applied for subsistence 
 money, and after much altercation with the Deputy- Governor 
 was allowed Rs.25 a month, subject to the Court's approval. 
 The Directors, however, were pleased to disapprove of this 
 allowance, and ordered Keigwin to refund what he had received. 
 Keigwin was a man of action, quick and intrepid, and he felt that 
 the time to act had come. He managed to proclaim himself 
 Governor, seized and imprisoned Ward, the then Deputy- 
 Governor, and such of the councillors as adhered to him, as- 
 sembled the troops and militia, annulled the authority of the 
 Company and declared the island to be immediately under the 
 King's protection. He carried out these bold measures with 
 such rapidity and coolness that the authorities had barely time 
 to realise the situation. He appointed ofl&cers to the different 
 companies, filled all the important posts with men whom he 
 could trust, and maintained such excellent order and discipline 
 that he may be said to have almost justified the revolt. He also 
 took possession of two of the Company's ships which had on 
 board large sums of money. 
 
 "But," observes Anderson, "he appropriated to himself none of the 
 Company's treasure, and only applied for the expenses of Government 
 the ordinary revenues, which he raised by such a judicious imposition of 
 taxes that his system was continued after the revolt was suppressed. In 
 brief, during his enjoyment of power he acted as honestly, wisely, and 
 judiciously as any lawful Governor." '^' 
 
 The first measure adopted by Keigwin was a proclamation 
 requiring the inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance to the 
 King and to renounce their obedience to the Company. Both 
 the troops and the inhabitants readily complied. The next thing 
 he did was to write letters to his Majesty the King and to the 
 Duke of York, explaining that the selfish schemes of Sir Josiah 
 Child in England and of his brother, Sir John Child, the Presi- 
 dent at Surat, of whom Mr. Ward, the Deputy- Governor of 
 Bombay, was an instrument only, had been the real source of 
 the trouble, and adding that both the garrison and inhabitants 
 were determined to preserve the place in its allegiance till the 
 * The English in Western India^ p. 107. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 193 
 
 King's pleasure should be conveyed to them.* In the mean- 
 while Keigwin supervised the government of Bombay with re- 
 markable success. In his relations with the Native Powers he 
 was equally successful. He even induced Sambhaji, Sivaji's son, 
 to pay compensation for the losses inflicted on the English by 
 the Mahrattas. While Keigwin was thus establishing peace and 
 order in Bombay, Sir John Child was at his wits' end to know 
 how to suppress this unexpected and wide-spread revolt. At 
 first he threatened to meet force by force, but the threat 
 was naturally ridiculed, as all the force was on the side of 
 the mutineers. Then he tried to soothe them by what little 
 power of persuasion he could command, but Keigwin was too 
 shrewd a man to be lured by this bait. At last Child was 
 compelled to send out some commissioners, who, however, met 
 with but little success. Failing in this attempt, he himself came 
 down to Bombay, conferred at length with the ringleaders, and 
 held out promises of pardon and undertook to redress their 
 grievances. But Keigwin and his men had by that time learnt 
 to appreciate the true value of Child's promises. 
 
 •' This offer was also unavailing," says Campbell, " for the animosity 
 of Captain Keigwin and his adherents was directed against the President 
 and his brother, Sir Josiah Child, to whose influence they ascribed not 
 only the sufferings which had driven them to the measures which they 
 had taken, but all the evils of which they and the greater part of the 
 inhabitants of the island complained."! 
 
 Child felt the hopelessness of his task, and his own helpless- 
 ness to quell the mutiny even more. He had not a sufficiently 
 strong military force to reduce the island to order ; so, acting 
 on the principle of discretion being the better part of valour, he 
 quietly returned to Surat, leaving Bombay in the possession of 
 the revolutionaries. In the meanwhile news had reached 
 England of this affair, and it was represented to the King, no 
 doubt by the astute Sir Josiah, that Keigwin was playing Oliver 
 Cromwell in his Majesty's town and island of Bombay, and that 
 he was trying to explain away a public crime by professing to 
 preserve allegiance to the King. The matter was thereupon 
 referred to a Committee of Secrecy, consisting of the Governor, 
 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials^ xxvi. part i. p. 89. 
 t Ibid. p. 90. 
 
 13 
 
194 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Deputy-Governor, Sir Benjamin Bathurst, Sir Jeremy Sambrook, 
 and Mr. Joseph Heme. The composition of this Committee left 
 no room for doubt that its report would be unfavourable to the 
 mutineers and that the Company and their accredited agents in 
 India would be freed from all blame. The Committee found 
 that the officers and soldiers were well paid, that the President 
 and Governor, so far from showing cruel and oppressive conduct 
 towards the garrison, had on all occasions manifested every 
 indulgence compatible with the duty of rendering the revenues 
 equal to the charges of the establishment ; that the revolution- 
 aries were probably instigated and helped by the interlopers ; 
 and that the revolt had been encouraged by the Company not 
 having the power (as appeared in the former cases of Sir 
 Edward Winter at Fort St. George, and at Bombay and St. 
 Helena) to seize and bring to trial their servants for disobedience 
 and insubordination. They also incidentally revived the question 
 (contrary to the prerogative of his Majesty) whether a grant from 
 the Crown, without the authority of the Legislature, could give 
 exclusive privileges to the East India Company. The Secret 
 Committee therefore suggested that the rights and powers of 
 the Company might be clearly defined ; that a commission might 
 issue under the Great Seal for restoring the island of Bombay to 
 them ; that a pardon be offered to the revolutionaries, with the 
 exception of the four ringleaders, Keigwin, Thorburn, Adderton 
 and Fletcher, and lastly, that his Majesty should issue a pro- 
 clamation ordering all interlopers to leave India under severe 
 penalties. On the strength of these recommendations the King 
 issued a commission whereby he appointed Sir John Child Captain- 
 General and Admiral of the Company's sea and land forces, and 
 Sir Thomas Grantham Vice- Admiral, with orders to proceed to 
 Bombay, where they were to intimate the King's commands 
 to Keigwin and require him to surrender the island. If he and 
 those adhering to him resisted, they were to be proclaimed rebels 
 and traitors and punished as such. But the Committee had, at 
 the same time, urged on the President the necessity of trying 
 every possible expedient to induce the revolutionaries to sur- 
 render, and to employ force only on their obstinately refusing to 
 deliver up the place. There is another passage in their letter 
 of instructions which may be cited below, as it forms a landmark 
 in the history of the place. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 195 
 
 " For the better preservation," wrote they, " of the island in obedience 
 to the King and to the Company, the seat of the Company's government 
 should be removed from Surat to Bombay, where the President and 
 Council are to reside, and a force of three English companies should be 
 maintained with such number of native troops and militia as the Presi- 
 dent might deem it expedient to employ."* 
 
 The report of the Secret Committee dealt a severe blow to the 
 aspirations of the mutineers, for although it could not have 
 taken them by surprise, they might have expected some measure 
 of praise from his Majesty for their fidelity towards him, or, at 
 least, a word of commendation for the manner in which Keigwin 
 and his companions had administered the affairs of the island. 
 The arrival of Sir Thomas Grantham in Bombay could not have 
 filled them with consternation, for they were prepared to sur- 
 render on promise of pardon and a speedy redress of their 
 grievances. There were some refractory spirits among the 
 mutineers who voted for "war to the death"; but, luckily for 
 them, there was at their head a man who had the greatest 
 respect for law and good government, and who realised the 
 responsibilities of his delicate position. The promptitude and 
 courage shown by Sir Thomas in landing in Bombay without 
 any troops or even attendants considerably allayed the sus- 
 picions of the mutineers. He held several conferences with 
 Keigwin, whom he found quite tractable, though some of his 
 companions were at first troublesome. Child sent out three 
 commissioners from Surat to complete the delivery of Bombay 
 from the ''Oliver and Protector of the Island " to the East India 
 Company. He must have heaved a sigh of relief at the peaceful 
 termination of an affair which had threatened to undermine the 
 interests of the Company in Western India. On November 19, 
 1684, Keigwin surrendered the town and island of Bombay to 
 Vice- Admiral Sir Thomas Grantham, who immediately trans- 
 ferred it in the King's name to Dr. St. John, as the King's 
 Judge, and the latter delivered it over to Mr. Zinzan, as the 
 Company's Governor till the arrival of the President. Keigwin 
 was despatched to England with Sir Thomas Grantham, where 
 he arrived in July, 1685. Next year he was appointed captain 
 of the Reserve frigate, and the year after we find him in the 
 West Indies — dead. While leading a fierce attack on the 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials^ zxvi. part i. p. 93. 
 
196 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 enemy, he fell, at the head of his men. He died a hero's death 
 but a few months after his persecutor. Sir John Child, was laid 
 at rest in Bombay. 
 
 If there is one man more than any other who comes out of 
 this bloodless revolt with his character unsullied, it is Richard 
 Keigwin. Though a mutineer in the technical sense of the 
 word, he emerges out of the ordeal with his reputation heightened 
 rather than diminished. It was due to the courage, foresight, 
 and forbearance of the principal ringleader that there was abso- 
 lutely no bloodshed from first to last, and little beyond empty 
 threats of violence. Summing up the main incidents in this 
 curious little episode, Anderson observes : 
 
 " Alarming as it was, and dangerous to the existence of Anglo-Indian 
 power, it forms an episode in our history of which we are not ashamed. 
 Keigwin emerges from the troubled sea of rebellion with a reputation for 
 courage, honour, and administrative capacity. His crime of treason* 
 was in a measure atoned for by his moderation and shining qualities, 
 and found some palliation in the provocation which he received, and 
 which the President — as we infer from his subsequent conduct— must 
 have aggravated."! 
 
 Sir George Birdwood is even more enthusiastic in his admiration 
 of Keigwin. 
 
 "Whatever Keigwin's fault as an official may have been," he observes, 
 " he was a splendidly brave man . . . ; and one's personal sympathies 
 are entirely with him in his quarrel with the Company's officials at 
 Bombay, among whom both Mr. George Bourchier and Mr. John 
 Petit appear to have been disposed to extenuate, if not justify, his 
 misconduct." J 
 
 Not only did Keigwin prove a splendidly brave man ; but he also 
 showed considerable administrative skill during his short-lived 
 government of Bombay. A word of commendation is here due 
 to the Crown and the Company for the clemency they showed in 
 dealing with the ringleaders. We wish we could say the same 
 of the conduct of Sir John Child in the matter ; but his perse- 
 cution of Thorburn, referred to above, precludes our doing so. 
 
 * Was it treason ? The mutineers did not " levy war against the King." 
 
 f The English in Western India, p. 106. 
 
 X Report an the Old Records of the India Ojffice, p. 227. 
 
THE DECADENCE OP BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 197 
 
 It is worth mentioning that while surrendering the island of 
 Bombay to Sir Thomas Grantham, Keigwin delivered over all 
 the money he had taken out of the ships he had seized soon 
 after the mutiny had broken out. This speaks volumes for the 
 integrity of the soldier who was supposed to be in league with 
 interlopers; for at a time when chaos reigned supreme, when 
 even Deputy- Governors were not above embezzlement, it would 
 have been quite easy for the leading mutineer to appropriate a 
 part or even the whole of the booty. But Keigwin was above 
 such temptation ; he would rather have led a hundred such 
 revolts than touched a base penny. The fabric of the British 
 Empire in India has been raised by men of the character and 
 calibre of Keigwin and Aungier. As a recompense to the 
 officers who had remained faithful to the Company, it was 
 deemed expedient to give commissions to those of them on 
 whose fidelity the Deputy- Governor could depend. But though 
 the fire was extinguished, the embers continued to burn for a 
 long time after. Even in 1685 the allegiance of Bombay to the 
 Crown was represented to be of a rather doubtful character, from 
 the fact that so many officers who had been concerned in the 
 revolt had remained on the establishment, and who, from their 
 having received pardon, were again becoming insolent, and 
 giving rise to apprehensions of another mutiny.* Luckily, 
 however, the contemplated revolt was quelled before it broke 
 out. It was the intention of the Company iseverely to punish 
 at least some of those who had taken part in Keigwin' s revolt. 
 There can be little doubt that this intention was carried into 
 effect, though there is only one instance on record in proof of 
 it. We regret to say that one Mr. Watson, the then Chaplain 
 of Bombay, was found guilty of participating in the rebellion. 
 The Court's orders regarding him were embodied in a letter to 
 the President at Surat, dated January 7, 1685, as follows : 
 
 " Let Mr. "Watson, that scandalous chaplain at Bombay, have no salary 
 from us from the time of his "rebellion, nor any other officers there as 
 near as you can, without incurring a new hazard until you are firmly 
 settled in your government ; and let Mr. Watson know he is no more 
 our servant ; banish him the island, and let him take care to pay for 
 his own passage home, and provide yourselves of another chaplain for 
 Bombay out of some of our ships if you can meet with any so much 
 * Campbell's Bombay OazetteerlMaterials, xxvi. part i. p. 96. 
 
198 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 to your satisfaction as you have at Surat in the room of Badham 
 deceased." * 
 
 Poor Mr. Watson ! 
 
 It is but fair to add that serious and unforeseen difficulties 
 contributed to the failure of Child's administration of Bombay 
 as much as his own shortcomings. He was called upon to 
 assume the government of Bombay at a time when the internal 
 affairs of the town were in a chaotic condition, and when the 
 air was thick with rumours of an impending rebellion from 
 within and threatened attacks from without. The increasing 
 depredations of interlopers f added to Child's difficulties. As 
 has already been noticed, ever since the Company secured the 
 much-coveted privilege of exclusive trade to the East Indies, 
 adventurers had come out from all parts of the world to partici- 
 pate, by fair means or foul, in a trade which brought so much 
 profit to the Company and a welcome accession of strength to 
 the Crown. It was but natural, therefore, that the Directors 
 should look on them with peculiar jealousy, and did all they 
 could to exterminate them. But their best efforts proved of 
 little avail. The number of interlopers increased by leaps and 
 bounds, till at the end of the seventeenth century they became 
 so powerful and reckless that they threatened to form themselves 
 into a rival company and imperil the interests of the monopolists. 
 The East India Company were alive to this danger, and it was 
 with the view of checking it that they had induced Queen 
 Elizabeth, some years ago, to give them the liberty of gi-ant- 
 ing licences to traders, all unauthorised traders being made 
 liable to forfeiture of their goods, ships and tackle, and to im- 
 prisonment and such other punishment as might seem meet and 
 convenient. Almost from the date of the establishment of the 
 factory at Surat the interlopers were persecuted with virulent 
 hostility, and when Charles II. granted the Company a new 
 charter, one of its provisions gave them power to seize all 
 such intruders and send them in custody to England. This 
 hostility was never more virulent than during the administration 
 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part i. p. 96. 
 
 t The term *' interloper " was rather loosely employed in denoting every 
 person who ventured to approach the shores of India without being a servant 
 of the Company or without having a licence to trade to the East Indies. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 199 
 
 of Sir John Child. He believed in no half-measures ; he was 
 determined to eradicate the evil, root and branch. He did not 
 attempt to mend the ways of interlopers ; he tried to put an end 
 to them summarily. Aungier was also stern in his measures 
 against the pirates ; but even while waging war on them, he 
 combined mercy with justice, and did not compass their whole- 
 sale extermination. In proof of this may be cited a striking 
 passage from a letter the Bombay Council wrote to him in 1677, 
 but which Aungier was not destined to see. While referring to 
 certain pirates they wrote : 
 
 " For officers to comand y® souldiers wee have choice sufficient, but 
 there will want an able prudent person to Comand in Chief, who has had 
 experience of India, for y^ business will not be to goe down, and make 
 what havock, destruction, and slaughter can be effected, but as y°' Hon"^ 
 &ca. rightly observes, there must be respect had to time to come and y^ 
 carrying on a more free and honb*® trade in those parts, for y® future. In 
 one hand y® sword and in y^ other an olive branch." * 
 
 In spite of these restrictions, however, the interlopers seemed 
 to thrive on their nefarious traffic, and were a source of anxiety, 
 and even danger, to the Company. There are instances on 
 record to show that the factors often came into conflict with 
 Moghul officers on account of some mischief caused by inter- 
 lopers. In 1682 the Directors issued strict injunctions to their 
 agents in India to seize all interlopers and confiscate their 
 ships with the cargoes, one-half of the value being appropriated 
 to the King's use, the other half, according to their charter, to 
 the Company. So strong was the feeling against them that 
 those who escaped the factors' vigilance were successfully tried 
 and punished in the Courts of England. But even these 
 measures proved ineffectual : the evil had outgrown the remedy. 
 On October 3, 1684, the Court wrote to the Surat Council : 
 
 "We are very sensible that the interlopers have given you great 
 trouble, and have been a great interruption to all our business, but 
 are fully satisfied that our President and Council are worthy men and 
 have served us faithfully and as well as any men could have done under 
 so many disappointments." 
 
 ♦ Forrest's Selections, i. p. 132. 
 
200 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 The President and Council were no doubt worthy men, but 
 they were helpless to stem the tide, which was flowing fast. 
 Neither the special provisions under the various charters nor 
 even the rigours of martial or mercantile law deterred the inter- 
 lopers. Their depredations greatly hampered the progress of 
 the Company. At last it was deemed necessary to establish 
 a special Court of Judicature, presided over by an English 
 judge, "for the suppressing all interloping and interlopers." 
 We have alluded to the efforts made by Dr. St. John to 
 attain the objects of the Charter of 1683, and the small 
 measure of success he was able to achieve. Not that he 
 shirked the duty of sitting in judgment over his own country- 
 men. On the contrary, with the co-operation of Child, he 
 seems to have exercised the legal powers with which he was 
 vested to the fullest extent. The evil had, however, taken such 
 deep root that even the Admiralty Court failed to eradicate it. 
 Moreover, owing to the spread of liberal ideas in England, the 
 monopolists were fast losing ground. This gave a sort of 
 encouragement to those who ventured to break through the 
 restraint which the hated monopoly imposed on the enter- 
 prise of merchants. Child did not fail to notice the baneful 
 influence they exercised, and, with the help of his brother 
 in England, did his utmost to counteract it. During his 
 regime the Admiralty Court was given the widest authority, 
 consistent with the provisions of the charter, to put down the 
 evil. No mercy was to be shown, no quarter given. 
 
 " Interlopers," says Anderson, *' could be seized as pirates, and when 
 convicted, sentence of death was passed upon them. Execution of the 
 sentence was indeed stayed until the King's pleasure could be known, 
 but meanwhile the offender languished in imprisonment, and when at last 
 pardoned by an exercise of the royal prerogative, his property having 
 been already confiscated, he was reduced to beggary. Yet the Directors 
 were still fearful; that an appeal to a higher court might gain him 
 redress, and therefore sent out orders that when their Judge-Advocate 
 in India had passed sentence there should be no inquiry into the 
 legality of his proceedings."* 
 
 This passage clearly points to the fate that awaited the 
 interloper at the period. It is true that chronic evils call for 
 * The English in Western India, p. 120. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 201 
 
 the exercise of drastic measures, but it was felt even then 
 that the treatment accorded to interlopers was far in excess of 
 their deserts. " This proceeding of the Court," pleads Bruce, 
 in extenuation of the conduct of the Company, "rested upon 
 the opinion of the twelve judges, which was, that the Company 
 had a right to the trade to the East Indies, according to their 
 charter." But, as Mill justly observes, it is a bold statement 
 to make that, because the judges decided that the Company had 
 a right to the trade to the East Indies, " they assumed a right 
 to be judges and executioners of their fellow-subjects in their 
 own cause." Mill was indignant at the cruelty and total dis- 
 regard of justice which marked their proceedings, and thought it 
 hardly credible if it had been less strongly attested. 
 
 " The Company," he observes, with the petulance characteristic of the 
 historian, " seized their opponents, and carried them before their own 
 Admiralty Court — that is, before themselves — to judge and pass sen- 
 tence in their own cause, and inflict almost any measure of injury 
 which it suited minds inflamed with all the passions of disappointed 
 avarice and ambition to perpetrate. They accused their competitors 
 of piracy, or of any other crime they chose ; tried them as they pleased, 
 and sentenced them even to death." '^- 
 
 These are hard words, but who can say they were not, in a large 
 measure, justified ? It must in fairness be added, however, that 
 Child's action in putting interlopers in the same category with 
 pirates is not so blameworthy as his detractors would have us 
 believe. It was, in those days, difficult to distinguish inter- 
 lopers — that is to say, private and honest, though unauthorised, 
 traders — from pirates. Captains of large merchant vessels 
 resorted to robbery on the high seas, pillaged native craft, 
 and often treated the crews with great barbarity. 
 
 " The English Government in Bombay," observes Douglas, " had to 
 deal with all kinds of pirates — Somali, Sidi, and Sanganian ; but worse 
 than any of these, she had to bring down her right arm on those of her 
 own flesh and blood who desecrated the name and the honour of England 
 on the Indian Ocean." f 
 
 * History of British India, i. p. 90. 
 t Bombay and Western India, i. p. 119. 
 
202 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Kidd,* Green, and Evory are the names of some of the men 
 who had terrorised the Indian seas for years. The English 
 pirate was the principal cause of the disastrous war which 
 Child waged against the Great Mogul. Evory was the most 
 notorious rover of his day, and gave much trouble to his 
 countrymen in India. Indeed, he seems to have gained such 
 notoriety for enterprise and daring that the Lord Chief Justice 
 of England offered a reward of £500 for his apprehension and 
 the Company an additional 4,000 rupees. Evory, however, 
 successfully evaded the authorities, though some of his con- 
 federates were hanged. Among native pirates Kanhoji Angria 
 was undoubtedly the most famous. English, Dutch, and Portu- 
 guese each tried to lay him low, but they all had to acknowledge 
 defeat. Angria was to the native craft what Kidd and Evory 
 were to European vessels. During the first quarter of the 
 eighteenth century he seems to have defied the authorities 
 in and around Bombay, and although he died in 1728, his 
 piratical instincts were transmitted to his descendants, who 
 kept up his reputation till 1755, when Commodore Jones 
 made short work of the race of Angrias. 
 
 Such, in short, is the history of interlopers and pirates who 
 prowled about the island of Bombay in the seventeenth and 
 part of the eighteenth century. The brothers Child acted in 
 unison to bring about their ruin. Whatever plan Sir Josiah 
 worked out in England, Sir John matured and carried out in 
 India. But even they, remarkable for their audacity and 
 notorious for their unscrupulous conduct, failed to compass 
 
 * Kidd was a very well known pirate, and is immortalised in the following 
 song: 
 
 "My name was Captain Kid, 
 As I sailed, as I sailed. 
 My name was Captain Kid, 
 And so wickedly I did, 
 God's laws I did forbid 
 As I sailed, as I sailed. 
 
 I had the Bible in my hand, 
 
 As I sailed, as I sailed. 
 And I buried it in the sand, 
 
 As I sailed." 
 
 Washington Irving'a Tales of a Traveller. See also The State Trials. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 203 
 
 the extinction of this class of men. Charters were granted 
 and confirmed, the authority of the Company was widened, 
 punishment was made every year more deterrent and severe, 
 but all to no purpose. On October 27, 1693, the Court of 
 Directors again wrote : 
 
 " After a multitude of conflicts with the interlopers and their adherents 
 and all others that have envied or emulated the Company's former 
 prosperity, we have obtained of their present Majesties King William 
 and Queen Mary a charter of confirmation of our present and all our 
 former charters, and are in possession of it, under the Great Seal of 
 England, bearing date the 7th instant." 
 
 But neither the confirmation of charters nor the severity of 
 punishment had the desired eflfect. The evil may be said to 
 have died out naturally, when the Company was deprived of its 
 monopoly and the trade to the East Indies was thrown open to 
 all. But enough of interlopers and interloping. Those who 
 wish to know more about them will be amply repaid by perusing 
 the two quaint volumes of Captain Alexander Hamilton — himself 
 one of the most notable interlopers of his day. 
 
 During Child's administration of Bombay, the Court of 
 Directors took it into their heads to launch upon territorial 
 expansion and ignore the authority even of the Moghul Emperor. 
 Far better had it been if they had tried to consolidate what little 
 power they then possessed in India, instead of wasting their 
 energies and resources on an object the fulfilment of which was 
 doubtful in the extreme. Compared to the long- established 
 Moslem Empire, the East India Company was but an upstart of 
 yesterday. It may be that the Moghul dynasty was growing old 
 and feeble, but even so it could command endless resources at a 
 moment's notice and crush English dominion in India without 
 much effort. What induced the Directors to launch upon such 
 an ambitious scheme, it is difficult to say. Sir Josiah Child 
 probably wished to immortalise himself by expanding the 
 territorial limits of the Company over which he ruled supreme, 
 and he certainly gained his object, though the immortality was 
 of a character one would rather not have acquired. His not less 
 ambitious brother in India was evidently puffed up with the 
 power which was vested in him in 1684. He felt himself above 
 
204 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the routine work of a merchant which then ordinarily devolved 
 on the President. He sneered at the idea of merely noting 
 down the prices of pepper and calicoes, the arrival and departure 
 of ships and cargoes, or such other duties of commercial life. 
 He was made Captain-General and Admiral of the Company's 
 sea and land forces, and as such was determined to maintain the 
 dignity of his high office. In 1685 he was vested with supreme 
 authority over all the Company's possessions in India, with 
 instructions to proceed to Fort St. George, and if necessary to 
 Bengal, "to bring the whole under a regulated administration." 
 This accretion of power must have increased Child's arrogance 
 and ambition. The Ke volution of 1688 dealt a severe blow 
 to the forward policy of the brothers Child, but they seem to 
 have recovered from its effects with remarkable agility. Next 
 year the Directors passed the following resolution, probably 
 drafted by Sir Josiah : 
 
 " The increase of our revenue is the subject of our care as much as 
 our trade ; 'tis that must maintain our force when twenty actions may 
 interrupt our trade ; 'tis that must make us a nation in India ; without 
 that we are but a great number of interlopers, united by his Majesty's 
 royal charter, fit only to trade where nobody of power thinks it their 
 interest to prevent us ; and upon this accoimt it is that the wise Dutch, 
 in all their general advices that we have seen, write ten paragraphs con- 
 cerning their government, their civil ajid military policy, warfare, and 
 the increase of their revenue, for one paragraph they write concerning 
 trade." '^ 
 
 The importance of this resolution cannot be exaggerated. 
 " It announces," says Ilbert, " in unmistakable terms the deter- 
 mination of the Company to guard their commercial supremacy 
 on the basis of their territorial sovereignty and preludes the 
 annexations of the next century." The Directors had got tired 
 of the mission of the mere merchant ; they were trying to look 
 far ahead into the future, when they would be reckoned the 
 pioneers of a great movement, when, in fact, an Indian Empire 
 under British dominion would proudly raise its standard and 
 excite the admiration of the world. Ambition would seem to 
 have dictated this policy, though Kaye, the historian of the 
 East India Company, is of a different opinion. 
 
 * Ilbert's Oovernment of India, p. 25. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 205 
 
 " The drift of this," says he, "is not that the Company had become 
 ambitious, but that the trade had become precarious. It appeared to be 
 a necessity to think of revenue, if they were to maintain their position 
 at all. But the national phase of the question would not have forced 
 itself upon them with this urgency if there had been more hopefukiess in 
 the aspects of their commercial life." * 
 
 Whether this plan of territorial aggrandisement was ambitious 
 or not, it is certain that the time was not ripe for its execution, 
 as the following events will testify. 
 
 On May 2, 1687, the seat of government was ordered to be 
 transferred from Surat to Bombay, and in September of the 
 same year, in order that the government of the Company might 
 assume the rank of an Indian Power, Bombay was elevated to 
 the dignity of a Regency with unlimited sway. This high- 
 sounding title, however, conveyed but little meaning, still less 
 importance. It was a matter merely of outward titles and 
 dignities. In 1689 the Court of Directors determined to con- 
 stitute Bombay the chief seat of their trade and power, and at 
 the same time to consolidate their position in India on the basis 
 of territorial sovereignty in order to acquire the political status 
 of an independent Power in their relations with the Moghuls and 
 the Mahrathas. It was in pursuance of this policy that Child 
 got himself engaged in hostilities with the Emperor of Delhi, 
 which involved the Company in serious difficulties and resulted 
 in their having had to pay an indemnity of Rs. 1,60,000, as we 
 shall presently see. Anderson, it may be noticed, criticises 
 Child's action in terms which lack neither warmth nor courage. 
 If Child had waged this war with the sole object of carrying 
 out the ambitious programme of his masters, we might have 
 attributed his failure to some cause beyond his control. But 
 the facts, as stated by Anderson, put a diflferent complexion on 
 the matter. 
 
 ** Sir John," he observes, " was really anxious to promote the Com- 
 pany's interests, and as their policy was unprincipled, he was quite 
 ready to make it his. They had become deeply involved in debt. They 
 owed d£281,250 to natives of Surat, and it had become inconvenient to 
 discharge even the interest of such a sum. Instead, therefore, of follow- 
 ing the old-fashioned way and paying, they were resolved to discover 
 
 * Admmistration of the East India Com^a/ny, p. 73. 
 
206 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 some other means of escaping from their obligation. The two Childs 
 were the men to devise and execute such a plan." ^'• 
 
 The above passage throws fresh light on Child's character. 
 One cannot profess to feel sorry at the just retribution which 
 followed this dishonourable attempt to defraud native creditors. 
 The first measure that Child took was to increase the military 
 strength of Bombay, but even in this preliminary step he seems 
 to have blundered. He was by no means a soldier of repute, 
 nor had he the courage of Oxenden or Aungier. He was prob- 
 ably ignorant even of the rudimentary principles of military 
 tactics, and as regards his conduct in actual warfare, we must 
 let Hamilton speak. 
 
 '* Cowards," he observes with just a tinge of ridicule, " are generally 
 stout when dangers are at a distance, and so was our General, who had 
 never seen a sword drawn in anger, and consequently very ill acquainted 
 with war ; and when it came to his door, none was ever so confounded 
 and dejected as he was, as appeared by his conduct in that war that he 
 so foolishly brought on himself and his country." f 
 
 Being a weak man, Child did not assume the offensive at 
 once. He proceeded cautiously and bided his time. There 
 were, however, several opportunities to harass the Moghul 
 officers. The latter bitterly complained of the depredations of 
 European interlopers. How did Child redress this grievance ? 
 By admitting the truth of the complaint, but alleging that the 
 native authorities were responsible for aiding and abetting them. 
 This was adding insult to injury. Bruce observes that " he had 
 determined to act on this principle," and he seems to have stuck 
 to it throughout the war. In 1687 he wrote out a long Bill of 
 Complaint, comprising thirty-five articles, and addressed it to 
 the Governor of Surat, demanding immediate redress and satis- 
 
 * TJte English in Western India, p. 110. Anderson is here borne out by 
 Hamilton, who, in his observations on the affairs of Bombay during Child's 
 administration, says : " And I saw a letter from the Governor of the Com- 
 pany in England, intimating that when they had got as much credit of the 
 Mogul's subjects as they could, then they would pick quarrels with the 
 creditors, and put a general stop to their trade, which was accordingly done " 
 {A New Account of the East Indies, i. p. 202). 
 
 t A New Account of the East Indies, i. p. 219. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 207 
 
 faction.* The Emperor took no notice of it and sent no reply. 
 Child might have made this an excuse for a declaration of 
 hostilities, but he was not yet fully prepared for it. He was 
 determined on war, and his masters at home encouraged him. 
 Indeed, they were so well pleased with the ability and spirit with 
 which their faithful servant had acted that they resolved to 
 present him with a thousand guineas. But Child's war cost the 
 Company much more than that ; Hamilton says it cost them 
 above £400,000, ^' besides the loss of their credit with the 
 Mogul and his subjects, which, to this time, is not quite 
 recovered." The Governor of Surat patiently bore all the 
 indignities offered by the factors at the instigation of their 
 President. But the worm turned at last. On December 26, 1688, 
 the Moghul officers seized and imprisoned two of the factors, 
 Harris and Gladman, ordered all the goods of the Company to 
 be sold, and offered a large reward to any who would take Sir 
 John Child, dead or alive. Child saw his opportunity now. He 
 captured several richly freighted ships belonging to native 
 merchants without even issuing any declaration of war, and 
 ordered that all Moghul vessels should be seized and treated as 
 prizes. At the same time he assured Aurangzib that he had no 
 hostile intention and prayed for the release of the two factors. 
 But the Emperor was not to be deluded by Child's duplicity ; he 
 was exasperated in the highest degree and issued instructions to 
 treat the English as enemies. The plight of the factors now 
 became truly pitiable. They craved for immediate relief, 
 ** which," they added, " we think our poor dejected spirits can't 
 have more occasion for than at this juncture." They were mal- 
 treated in truly Oriental fashion. 
 
 " The factors," says Anderson, " were detained in prison, and at times 
 made to gratify the mob by parading the streets with chains suspended 
 from their necks. Although they were afterwards liberated from jail, 
 they were closely confined to their factory until the seventeenth of 
 October, 1691." f 
 
 In the meanwhile the General had repaired to Bombay, where 
 
 * Hamilton has transcribed these articles from a copy of the complaint he 
 saw at the time. He characterises some of them as unjust, and the others 
 " but weak arguments to help to support his complaints and raise a war." 
 
 t The English in Western India, p. 114. 
 
208 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the situation had become critical. It seems that the English 
 had carried away the fleet of Sidi Yacoob, laden with provisions 
 of corn and cloth, and when the latter politely requested Child 
 to give up what by right belonged to him, the Governor sent 
 him an insolent reply, as was his wont. The Sidi thereupon 
 made preparations for a fight and landed at Souree (Siwri) with 
 a force of 20,000 men. The authorities in Bombay were ill- 
 prepared to meet such a formidable foe. Obvious precautions to 
 guard the island against possible hostilities had been neglected ; 
 even the fortifications were not strengthened, though the 
 Directors had repeatedly reminded Child of the necessity of 
 doing so. The Sidi found his work fairly light. He seems to 
 have established himself at Mazagaon, which was evacuated by 
 the English with such precipitancy that eight or ten chests of 
 treasure and four chests of arms were left behind. Finding the 
 enemy resolved on hostilities. Child ordered one Captain Pean, 
 no better a soldier than himself, to drive the Sidi away. Pean 
 was asked to achieve the impossible, for the Sidi's army was ten 
 times more powerful than his, and better accustomed to fighting 
 at close quarters. The enemy advanced with all speed, 
 
 " which," says Hamilton, " the Captain perceiving, betook himself to his 
 heels, and was the foremost man to the Portuguese church, where he took 
 courage to look behind him to see what was become of his men. . . . He 
 was a fellow," adds our author with a touch of humour, " as well made 
 for running as any I ever saw, and was so much in the General's favour 
 that he had not so much as a reprimand for his cowardice and mis- 
 behaviour." * 
 
 Like master, like servant. 
 
 At Surat the English fared no better. In fact, in almost every 
 engagement they were worsted. Child was now growing appre- 
 hensive, and seriously thinking of retracing his steps. His folly 
 and arrogance, combined with his incapacity and rashness, had 
 cost his masters much in men and money. But he had now 
 gone too far to back out without impairing his dignity. " After 
 a few convulsive struggles," says Anderson, "Child's pride 
 received its death-blow ; his blustering tones were silenced ; his 
 turbulent spirit and trenchant energies crushed." Negotiation 
 was the only course open to him, but he first tried to see if 
 * A New Account of the East Indies, i. p. 224. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 209 
 
 corruption would help him out of the difficulty. Lavish bribes 
 were offered to the Imperial officers at Delhi, but to no purpose. 
 At last Child sent out two envoys to seek for peace. After 
 being subjected to the indignity of having their hands tied 
 behind them, they were brought into the august presence of the 
 Emperor. Aurangzib was at first obdurate and would not listen 
 to their entreaties for peace and the issue of a new firman. At 
 last he yielded, and granted another firman to the Company 
 on February 27, 1689, " in the 33rd year of a most glorious 
 reign." * But he imposed three conditions : (1) That all moneys 
 due from the Company to his subjects should be paid ; (2) that 
 recompense should be made for such losses as the Moghuls had 
 sustained in the war ; and (3) that the hateful Sir John Child 
 should leave India before the expiration of nine months from 
 the date of the firman. This last condition was naturally the 
 most galling to Child ; but he had incurred the disgrace, and, as 
 Douglas observes, his countrymen had to "lick the dust." He 
 was personally responsible, in a large measure, for these most 
 humiliating terms, which had to be accepted. The factors were 
 released from their long confinement and peace was restored. 
 
 * It will be interesting to notice the terms of this firman, which is couched 
 in a language which the proud factors were not used to. A translation of it 
 is to be found in Bruce's Annals and runs as follows : "All the English 
 having made a most humble submissive petition, that the crimes they have 
 done may be pardoned, and requested another Phirmaund, to make their 
 being forgiven manifest, and sent their Vakkeels to the heavenly palace, the 
 most illustrious in the world, to get the royal favour : and Ettimaund Caun, 
 the Governor of Suratt's petition to the famous Court, equal to the skie, being 
 arrived, that they would present the great King with a fine of 1,60,000 rupees, 
 to his most noble treasury, resembling the sun, and would restore the 
 merchants' goods they had taken away, to the owners of them, and would 
 walk by the ancient customs of the port, and behave themselves no more in 
 such a shameful manner ; therefore, his Majesty, according to his favour due to 
 all the people of the world, hath pardoned their faults, mercifully forgiven 
 them, and out of his princely condescension agrees, that the present be put 
 into the treasury of the port, the merchants' goods to be returned, the town 
 flourish, and they follow their trade as in former time, and Mr. Child, who 
 did the disgrace, be turned out and expelled. This order is irreversible." — 
 TJie English in Western India, p. 116. 
 
 Referring to the imperious tone of this firman, Anderson says : *♦ The 
 language of the document was more humiliating and contemptuous than 
 any which had been addressed to the English from the first settlement of 
 their factory in India. The Company were treated, not as the subjects of an 
 independent Power, but as criminals, who, having been mercifully pardoned, 
 were again admitted to live in a state of slavery." 
 
 14 
 
210 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 The disastrous eiBfects of the struggle were, however, felt for a 
 number of years, and the Company did not again venture upon 
 territorial aggrandisement without mature reflection. Child did 
 not survive his humiliation long. He had been declared an 
 outlaw by Aurangzib, and he dared not go to Surat again. He 
 died somewhere in Bombay, but nobody knows where his bones 
 lie: Connected with one of the most influential families in 
 England and master of the factory at Surat, as his brother was 
 master of the Company in England, he yet shared the fate of 
 an outlaw of the Government he had insulted and affected to 
 despise. 
 
 " Of what avail," asks Douglas, " were Child's influential connections 
 in England ? They could not save the splendid reputation which he had 
 built up for himself from being dashed to pieces, could not even raise 
 a block of rude stone to mark the place where lay the President and 
 General of the Indies."* 
 
 No stone also marks the spot where Gerald Aungier was laid at 
 rest. But there is this difference between Aungier and Child, 
 that whereas the memory of the former is enshrined in the 
 heart of Bombay and will be cherished long, that of the latter 
 is but a thing of the past. 
 
 Child's indiscretion was productive of results which could not 
 have been foreseen. It may be said to have rung the death-knell 
 of the East India Company. England had grown prosperous, 
 and Englishmen wanted their spare capital to be invested in the 
 lucrative trade of the East Indies. But the hated monopoly 
 formed an insurmountable barrier in their way. They had 
 tried several expedients to get over it, but without success. 
 The old Company was very influential still in and out of Parlia- 
 ment, and Sir Josiah Child was a host in himself. The 
 Directors seemed to have endless resources, and what they 
 could not achieve by fair means, they accomplished by foul. 
 The Company had an elastic conscience — and so had the 
 country.! Child's unsuccessful attempt at territorial aggran- 
 
 * Bombay and Western India, i. p. 11. 
 
 t The following sentence from Burnet's History of His Own Times, descrip- 
 give of manners [and morals in England soon after the Eevolution, seems 
 apposite : *' Upon the whole matter, the whole nation was falling under such 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 211 
 
 disement provided their rivals with another weapon of attack, 
 and they used it to the best advantage. They brought charges 
 of corruption and inefficiency against the Company, insisting, 
 at the same time, that it should be deprived of its monopoly, and 
 so far convinced the House of Commons of the justness of their 
 claims that it was solemnly put on record " that it was the right 
 of all Englishmen to trade to the East Indies, or any part of the 
 world, unless prohibited by Act of Parliament." The charge of 
 corruption was pressed so hard that the Commons ordered the 
 books of the Company to be examined. The revelations this 
 inquiry brought to light strengthened the hands of those who 
 urged the abolition of the old and the establishment of a new 
 company. It was then discovered that the East India Company 
 was virtually steeped in corruption. 
 
 "It appeared," says Mill, "that it had been the practice, and even 
 habit of the Company, to give bribes to great men ; that, previous to the 
 Bevolution, their amiual expense, under that head, had scarcely ever 
 exceeded ^£1,200 ; that since that year it had gradually increased and that 
 in the year 1693 it had amounted to nearly ^690,000." "^ 
 
 The Duke of Leeds was charged with having received a bribe 
 of j65,000. He was impeached by the Commons, but the affair 
 was hushed up, as other men, high in rank, were implicated in 
 it. These facts brought the old Company almost to the brink 
 of ruin ; but such was its vitality and influence that it survived 
 the shock and dragged on a precarious existence for a few years 
 more, in spite of the establishment of another association. It 
 was contended on its behalf that the infringement of the 
 charters it possessed would be contrary to good faith and justice, 
 that to deprive it of its property would be violating the very 
 foundation on which rested the structure of society, that, in 
 short, " humanity, law, and policy would all be equally violated 
 by infringing the chartered rights of this admirable institution." 
 To this, the new association curtly replied that it was no in- 
 fringement of good faith or justice to annul, by a legislative act, 
 a charter which was hostile to the interests of the nation. The 
 
 a general corruption, both as to morals and principles, and it was so much 
 spread among all sorts of people, that it gave us great apprehension of heavy 
 judgments from Heaven." 
 
 * History of British India, i. p. 93. 
 
212 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 old Company was allowed to live on sufferance, as it were, till 
 1698, when a new Company, called the English Company, was 
 established. Parliament, in the plenitude of its wisdom, thought 
 that the establishment of another Company would put an end to 
 a controversy which had given rise to much ill-feeling and mis- 
 understanding. But by allowing two companies to trade to the 
 East Indies, it made matters worse. " In all this very material 
 affair," observes Anderson, " there certainly was a strange 
 jumble of inconsistencies, contradictions, and difficulties, not 
 easily to be accounted for in the conduct of men of judgment." 
 Perhaps the suggestion of the old Company, that these measures 
 of Parliament were rather the result of the power of a particular 
 party than the fruit of legislative wisdom, may account for this 
 anomaly. The Directors wrote as much to their faithful servants 
 in India, whom they j&lled with hopes of ultimate success. 
 
 "Two East India Companies in England," [they wrote, "could no 
 more subsist without destroying one the other, than two Kings, at the 
 same time regnant in the same kingdom : that now a civil battle was 
 to be fought between the Old and the New Company ; and that two or 
 three years must end this war, as the Old or the New must give way ; 
 that, being veterans, if their servants would do their duty, they did not 
 doubt of the victory ; that if the world laughed at the pains the two 
 Companies took to ruin each other, they could not help it, as they 
 were on good ground and had a charter." * 
 
 The Directors could not have made their intention more clear. 
 They meant to fight, even though the world ridiculed their 
 efforts. Their rivals were also bent upon the same object. This 
 unfortunate feud resulted in a series of acts of mutual recrimi- 
 nation, which reflect no credit on either the old Company or 
 the new. 
 
 Let us now turn again to Bombay. On the death of Child in 
 1690, Bartholomew Harris was appointed President of Surat 
 and Governor of Bombay. Little is known of Harris except 
 that, during the recent hostilities, he was imprisoned by the 
 Governor of Surat, and, as it was contrary to the etiquette 
 of the Imperial Court that any one who had been convicted of 
 a capital offence should, without special permission, be honoured 
 with marks of the Emperor's esteem, he was obliged to send 
 * Mill's History of British India, i. p. 100. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 213 
 
 his Deputy to receive the usual firman on his accession to the 
 presidentship of the Surat factory. Anderson characterises 
 Harris as a man of feeble mind and indolent disposition, so 
 that the active duties of administration were discharged by 
 Samuel Annesley, who himself became President in due time. 
 Hamilton describes Annesley as a cunning and designing fellow 
 who had " malicious wit and avarice enough to embroil both his 
 masters' and the private merchants' affairs in Surat in Harris's 
 time, and on Harris's death, got into the Presidency or rather 
 tyranny." Annesley must have been a peculiarly mean creature. 
 For it is said that he compelled those of his countrymen who, 
 for their courage and skill in navigation, were employed on big 
 native vessels at fairly handsome salaries, to pay him a part of 
 their wages, and that he harassed those who did not comply with 
 his unjust demand. He was dismissed the Company's service 
 in 1700 for breach of trust and fraudulent practices. Yet 
 another name added to the Black List of our early Governors ! 
 On the death of Harris in 1695, Sir John Gayer was appointed 
 Governor of Bombay with the revived title of General. Gayer 
 was a good and able man, though he had his faults. His 
 career in India was not stre^vn with roses, for it was during his 
 administration that the New Company was established and the 
 disgraceful scenes, about to be noticed, were enacted in Bombay 
 and at Surat in the opening years of the eighteenth century. 
 He was severely reprimanded for the singular weakness he 
 showed in allowing himself and his wife to be made prisoners by 
 the Governor of Surat.* There is a story told of him prejudicial 
 to his character, not as Governor of Bombay, but as a private 
 gentleman, from which we learn for the first time that, in those 
 days, for an Englishman to marry without previously obtaining 
 the consent of the Governor constituted an offence against the 
 statute law of Bombay. This restriction shows how varied and 
 even despotic were the powers the head of the Government 
 wielded at the time. It seems that Gayer acted as guardian of 
 a young lady, a daughter of Mr. Ward, the late Deputy-Governor 
 
 * Hamilton says he could have avoided that disgrace by force or flight, 
 *' but," he adds, "it was generally believed that that was only a piece of 
 policy to get to Surat, in order to employ his money, which he could do 
 much better there than at Bombay." But Hamilton's testimony remains 
 uncorroborated. 
 
214 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 of Bombay, and niece of Sir John Child, who was entitled to a 
 little fortune of her own. The Governor had thought of marry- 
 ing her to his own son, but to his great annoyance, discovered 
 that she had been united clandestinely to a factor named 
 Solomon Lloyd. He must have had the statute law of Bombay 
 at his finger' s-end, for he unmarried the factor and married the 
 girl to his own son. " But, ' adds Hamilton, who is responsible 
 for the story, which is endorsed by Anderson, 
 
 " the second marriage was attended with ill consequences, for, whilst 
 her husband was at China, one Coleman was ordered to teach her to 
 write good English, but, neglecting those orders, he taught her some- 
 thing else, and was discovered in the practising by a watchful mother-in- 
 law. The schoolmaster was sent, in irons, on board of a ship for 
 England. And the poor husband's head aked as long as he lived."* 
 
 Such a fashionable marriage, with its sensational conse- 
 quences, must have created not a little stir in the European 
 community of Bombay. But this is a digression. Soon after 
 his accession to the guddi at Surat, Gayer seems to have had a 
 serious dispute with the Moghul Governor over some pirates 
 who had plundered a ship belonging to one of the principal 
 merchants of the town. These depredations had so incensed 
 the populace that the latter was obliged to put all the English, 
 including the President, in irons. Gayer objected to this 
 procedure, and wrote to the Emperor that the servants of the 
 Company had been made to suffer for the acts of those who, not 
 only did not possess the license of the Company, but who acted 
 in direct violation of the laws of England, and who, if captured, 
 would be liable to capital punishment. The earnest represen- 
 tations of Sir John had the desired effect, but it did not 
 convince the Moors that the servants of the Company were not 
 in league with interlopers. Meanwhile, the new or '' English " 
 Company was making preparations to send out a representative 
 to India. The old Company may be said to have indirectly 
 helped in its constitution, for there were several factors who, on 
 dismissal from the service of the old, were willing to serve the 
 new. They were all men more or less of doubtful character — 
 Waite, Pitt, Master, Annesley, Bourchier and others — men who 
 * A New Account of the East Indies, i. p. 238. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 215 
 
 were actuated by a spirit of revengefulness towards their old 
 masters for imaginary wrongs. The new Company was only too 
 glad to accept their services, for their experience and local 
 knowledge, though neither their integrity nor fidelity, would 
 be of the greatest value. In January, 1700, Sir Nicholas Waite, 
 the English Company's President for Surat, arrived off Bombay, 
 and notified to Sir John Gayer his appointment to be the King's 
 Minister and Consul- General for the English nation, and 
 demanded compliance with his orders. Waite was a servant of 
 the old Company, having been their agent at Bantam, but was 
 dismissed. Hamilton's opinion of him is anything but favour- 
 able. 
 
 " He was a man of very loose morals ; and his barefaced injustices 
 and prevarications so irritated the inhabitants and soldiery of Bombay, 
 that they seized him and sent him prisoner for England. Tho' his 
 reign was short, it was very pernicious to his masters as well as to 
 particular merchants under his jurisdiction," * 
 
 Apart, therefore, from the indignity offered by the represen- 
 tative of a *' society of interlopers," as the new Company was 
 stigmatised by the Directors of the old, Gayer resented the 
 interference of a man whose antecedents were far from honour- 
 able. The dignity of knighthood, he thought, could not have 
 blotted out his past record. Failing in his object in Bombay, 
 Waite sailed for Surat. He had probably heard of the strained 
 relations between the factors and the Moghul officers — of the 
 suspicion the latter had long entertained of the connection of 
 the English with interlopers. What could be easier than add- 
 ing fuel to the fire ? On reaching Surat, he notified his|Royal 
 Commission of appointment to the President and Council, and 
 required them to strike the St. George's or Company's flag, as 
 he bore the Commission of Vice-Admiral and would allow no 
 other flag to fly than his own. The servants of the old 
 Company refused to carry out his order. Waite, thereupon, 
 appealed to the Moghul Governor. The latter, however, would 
 not side with him, probably because the newcomers were perfect 
 strangers to him ; besides, though the servants of the old 
 Company were bad enough, the representatives of the new 
 • Ibid. i. p. 240. 
 
216 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 might prove still worse. Baiffled in his design, Waite threatened 
 force, but soon discovered that it was of no avail. Being a man 
 without scruples, he tried to accomplish by artifice and intrigue 
 what he failed to achieve by entreaty and threat. He represented 
 to the Moghul officers that the servants of the old Company 
 were in league with interlopers, and that they had a hand in 
 the piracies which were being committed in and around the 
 Surat seas. He even wrote to the Emperor in the same 
 strain. 
 
 " Sir Nicholas Waite," says Bruce, " addressed a letter to the Moghul, 
 accusing the London Company of being sharers and abettors of the 
 piracies, from which his subjects and the trade of his dominions had 
 suffered ; or in the Consul's own language, of being thieves and confede- 
 rates with the pirates."" "^^ 
 
 Waite also pointed out the fact that the old Company's 
 charter was to terminate in 1702, and hinted that if the native 
 creditors did not keep a sharp look-out, the factors would 
 probably remove all their goods and chattels, leaving no security 
 for the payment of their debts. The Moghul officers took this 
 warning seriously, and lost no time in safeguarding their 
 interests. Under these circumstances, the greatest care and 
 foresight were needed for the old Company to counteract the 
 influence of their rivals. But at that critical moment Gayer 
 adopted a measure which was as ill-timed as it was disastrous in 
 its results. He left the fortifications of Bombay and went to 
 Surat with the object of checkmating Waite. But whilst he 
 was there orders were issued by the Imperial Court to seize him. 
 Forrest cites a passage from a record which had even then 
 almost crumbled to pieces, throwing light on this dramatic 
 incident. From this we learn that the Governor's son 
 
 •' secured S' John and his Granaders and then entered y^ lodge,f obhged 
 the Lady Gayer out of the bed, carryed her and Mr. Somaster and others 
 to accompany y® Generall to Suratt before y^ Tavistocks people had notice 
 or could come ashoare to their rescue, and being brought over the river in 
 an open boat, y^ lady was putt into a hackery covered with a cloath, and 
 carryed to the Governrs, where w*^ S' John and others were confined to 
 
 * Bruce's Annals, iii. p. 337. 
 
 t The English factory at Surat was sometimeB styled the Lodge. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 217 
 
 one roome, and some hours after the Governour sent for Presid* Colt, who 
 goeing w*^ two of his Councell accompanied S"^ John in said prizon, w*=^ 
 tryumphant act as its esteemed of the Meer was wrote that night to the 
 Emp"^ to y® noe small dishonour of y« old Comp*^ Generall of India." * 
 
 The above extract is made clearer by the following entry in a 
 Consultation held in Surat on January 7, 1701-2 : 
 
 " This day y« Gov' doubled his guards about y® ffactory and debarred 
 us from all manner of correspondence w*^ Europeans or Natives, and 
 from all necessarys and conveniences of life, because we would not con- 
 sent to pay Hosson Ammadan three hundred thousand rupees, for w°^ 
 sume he is willing to quit his unjust claim for w* y® py rates robbed him 
 and his fi6:eighters of in y^ year 1698." f 
 
 So the ostensible cause for seizing Sir John and Lady Gayer 
 and other members of the Surat Council was the refusal on the 
 part of the old Company to pay an exorbitant sum to Hosson 
 Ammadan. But the real cause lay somewhere else. Waite was 
 found to be at the bottom of the mischief. " This was done by 
 an order from Court," wrote the servants of the old Company, 
 *' procm'ed by Sir Nicholas Waite, the Hurcurra t of Suratt, and 
 others of that hellish crew." Indeed, Waite himself admitted 
 that Gayer was imprisoned at his instigation, but gave out as 
 his reason that the London Company's servants had spoken 
 treasonably of the King. For twelve weary months § the factors 
 and their Chief were confined within the walls of the Lodge ; 
 neither threats nor starvation could compel them to yield to the 
 unreasonable demands of the Imperial Court. It is for this 
 unjust confinement that Gayer has been blamed, for, it was 
 argued, he might have freed himself and his companions by either 
 force or flight. It certainly does not add to Sir John's reputation 
 for bravery or resourcefulness. But there is a feature in it 
 which proves the grit of the factors and does credit to the 
 English name. Early in 1701 Sir John sent a '' Roca " to 
 Dianut Caun, the then Governor of Surat, earnestly praying for 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. xxiv. t Ibid. 
 
 I Hurcurra or Hircara literally means a messenger or courier ; also a spy. 
 
 § Anderson says Sir John Gayer and his friends remained confined for 
 three years, and some of them much longer. It seems probable that for more 
 than a year they were kept in close confinement, but that, during the rest of 
 the period, their imprisonment was merely nominal. 
 
218 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 their release, and pointing out the hardships to which they were 
 subjected for no fault of theirs. 
 
 "The Gov"^ sent us word," runs the last paragraph of the Consultation 
 of that day, " y* he must obay y® Kings orders : w* did wee designe to 
 do? Did wee designe to starve ourselves? Why did wee not deposite 
 goods and he would write to y® King, and wee might do y® same and y® 
 goods should lay till y® Kings orders came abo* them. Wee returned 
 answer, wee robbed not Hosson Ammadan nor nobody, and would not 
 pay or deposite any thing ; if y® Kings orders are to kill us, let him come 
 and do it quickly, wee w*^ sell our lives as dear as wee could. Our people 
 on board y® ships at y® rivers mouth and likewise those in y® ffactory wee 
 could not longer restrain from attempting some thing extraordinary for 
 y^ support of life, therefore he would do well to consider where it would 
 end." * 
 
 One hears the echo of Oxenden and Aungier in this remarkable 
 passage : they were dead years ago, but the same spirit of just 
 defiance is found in some of their successors, even during the 
 declining days of the East India Company. 
 
 With the arrival of Sir William Norris, the ambassador 
 specially sent out with royal sanction, at the English Company's 
 expense, the history of the rival companies enters upon a new 
 phase, t Norris came out with the express purpose of securing 
 for the new Company a firman from the Great Mogul, permitting 
 them to trade in his dominions. The servants of the old 
 Company were naturally filled with grave apprehension. Should 
 they recognise the ambassador or treat him with the scant 
 courtesy with which they had so far treated Waite ? Thanks to 
 Gayer' s tact and conciliatoriness, they decided to show him all 
 marks of respect, so long as he conducted himself with impar- 
 tiality and did not exclusively favour the new Company at the 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 233. 
 
 t It must be remembered that at this time there were two English 
 factories at Surat, with separate establishments. The President of the 
 factory of the English Company was Sir Nicholas Waite, and Messrs. William 
 Proby and Jeremy Bonnel formed the Council ; there were also one merchant, 
 a minister, two factors, nine writers, a surgeon and his mate, a trumpeter, 
 and an English cook. The old, or the London, Company was comprised of 
 Sir John Gayer as General, Stephen Colt, President, Worshipful Ephraim 
 Bendall, Member of Council, Mr. Bernard Wyche, Accountant and Purser 
 Marine, Mr. Epiphanius Holland, Chaplain, four senior factors, five junior 
 factors, six writers, and a doctor. As already observed, most of these latter, 
 if not every one of them, were in confinement at the time. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 219 
 
 expense of the old. But Norris made no secret of his mission, 
 which was to secure a firman for the English Company and 
 promote their interests only. The ill-feeling between the two 
 factories increased in consequence to an alarming extent. Each 
 tried to ruin the other, and in the attempt seemed to compass its 
 own destruction. Norris had first gone to Fort St. George 
 and Masulipatam, where he was treated by the factors of 
 the old Company with indifference. He reached Surat on 
 December 10, 1700. ** His presence," says Anderson, " was the 
 signal for a commencement of squabbles and a mutual infliction 
 of injuries, the blame of which historians, who have only looked 
 at one side of the facts, have thrown on the new Company." * 
 We do not wish to sit in judgment on the conduct either of the 
 old or the new Company. Suffice it to note that in this unfor- 
 tunate struggle neither showed itself to advantage or was 
 entirely free from blame. Soon after his arrival, Norris asked 
 permission of the Governor to make a public entry into that 
 historic city in order to impress the natives and lower the 
 prestige of the old Company in their estimation. The Governor 
 had by this time awakened to the splendid opportunity of filling 
 the Imperial treasury, and his own pockets, which the rivalry of 
 the two Companies offered. He charged Norris 1,800 gold 
 mohurs for the privilege of entering the city of Surat — a demand 
 which was willingly met. Encouraged, the Moghul officers set a 
 money value on every favour asked by either Company, and did 
 their best to foment the animosity in eveiy way. They would 
 represent to the old Company that the Emperor was willing to 
 grant them the exclusive privilege of trade in his dominions on 
 payment of so many lakhs ; the same offer was made to the new 
 Company if they were inclined to increase the amount of the 
 baksheesh. Anderson says that on one occasion, when Aurangzib 
 felt perplexed as to which of the two was the real English 
 Company, he summoned a Mulla at Surat to solve the riddle. 
 
 " Saiyid Sedula," he adds, " the priest who was thus appealed to, 
 began his inquiry in earnest, and was too shrewd a man to think that he 
 could find his way through the maze without a golden clue. Sir Nicholas 
 Waite calculated that a payment of ten thousand rupees would enable 
 him to see quite clearly, and at this price he would draw up a report in 
 the English Company's favour." 
 
 * The English in Western India, p. 148. 
 
220 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 In this contest of bribes the old Company came off second 
 best, for their resources had been exhausted and they were 
 already burdened with very heavy debts. When Norris pre- 
 sented himself before the Emperor and prayed for a firman, he 
 had to expend large sums of money in bribing the officials before 
 reaching the royal throne. But the money seems to have been 
 all wasted, for, according to Anderson, the embassy was ill- 
 conceived, worse planned, and still worse executed. The 
 ambassador returned to Surat without securing his object, and 
 left for home soon after. His career in India was far from 
 successful. Besides the strained relations that had always 
 existed between him and Waite, Norris contrived to make many 
 bitter enemies in this country. He had many difficulties to 
 contend against, and his failure may be attributed to a combina- 
 tion of adverse circumstances beyond his control. He left Surat 
 early in 1702, but was not destined to reach the land of his 
 birth alive, for he died on the way home. Feeling that his end 
 was approaching, he dictated a vindication of his conduct and 
 expressed the hope that, notwithstanding his misfortunes, his 
 memory would be respected. 
 
 Two years before the death of Sir William Norris, the English 
 Company had proposed that the two Companies should be united. 
 Much bitterness might have been avoided if this wise proposal 
 had been accepted. But the Directors of the London Company 
 would not listen to any scheme of reconciliation. They con- 
 tinued to cherish some hopes of success, though the events of 
 the last few years tended to show that the chances were slender. 
 The "veterans" refused to yield to a company of " interlopers." 
 Their patience may have been exhausted, not their pride and 
 rancour. Better counsel, however, prevailed a little later, and 
 on April 27, 1702, the two Companies approved an Instrument 
 of Union, whereby it was agreed that after the 22nd of 
 July all opposition should cease, that trade, with the exception 
 of such as was afloat and contracted for, should be conducted on 
 a general stock, and that the servants of the two Companies 
 should strive to forward each other's views, so as to assist each 
 other in disposing of their European goods and lowering the 
 prices of Indian commodities. The Directors also wrote to their 
 servants in India that their mutual disputes should cease, and 
 that they should try to promote the interests of their country, 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 221 
 
 and in future live in peace and good-will towards one another. 
 Sir Nicholas Waite tried his utmost to prevent this amalgama- 
 tion, hut when he found that his efforts were unavailing, he 
 professed the greatest concern for the success of the union, and 
 assured the Directors of his resolution to " obliterate all past 
 heats." But it took him some time to give effect to this 
 assurance, and he never seems to have been reconciled to Sir 
 John Gayer. In the instructions sent to Surat after the 
 amalgamation of the two Companies, it was stated that Sir 
 John Gayer was to be General and Governor of Bombay and 
 Sir Nicholas Waite President at Surat, but it was provided 
 that, should Sir John be a prisoner when the instructions 
 arrived, Sir Nicholas should be provisionally General. To all 
 other appointments the servants of the two Companies were to 
 be nominated according to their respective ranks. Such as were 
 not so fortunate as to obtain any appointment had the option of 
 returning to England or remaining as free merchants in India. 
 Now it so happened that just at this time Gayer and his party 
 were in rigorous confinement. Taking advantage of the helpless 
 condition of his rival, Waite represented to the Governor of 
 Surat that he was appointed General, and that if he wished to 
 recover money for damages done by pirates, he had better place 
 a strong guard over the factory in which Gayer and his com- 
 panions were confined. The Directors had written to Waite to 
 use his best endeavours to procure Gayer's release, but such was 
 the meanness of this man that he is believed to have bribed 
 a native broker to use his influence with the Governor to keep 
 his rival confined. Thus Sir John languished in prison, and 
 even the death of Aurangzib in 1707 did not procure his release. 
 The Court's instructions as to the relative position of English 
 officers consequent on the union of the Companies were quite a 
 riddle to the Moghul Governor of Surat. He hardly knew 
 which of the two — Gayer or Waite — was the real representative 
 of the English nation and chief officer of the United Company. 
 Each party sent a broker laden with bribes to convince the 
 Governor of the truth of its representation. Broker Kustam 
 assured his master that Sir Nicholas Waite was the real 
 General ; on the other hand, Vanmalidas swore that it was Sir 
 John Gayer. At last a meeting of the representatives of both 
 parties was convened at the Governor's house to elicit definite 
 
222 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 information on the subject. The meeting was not devoid of 
 dramatic incidents, for we read in one place that the representa- 
 tive of the English Company " pul'd out of his pocket the Hon'ble. 
 Eng^ Company's seal, and laid it before all the Company, 
 and asked if W" Mildmay could deny that to be the Company's 
 seal, and whether y® letters y* now came was not sealed with it." 
 Poor Mildmay was nonplussed and meekly replied that " he 
 could not denie but that it was, and the letters were sealed with 
 it, as by agreem* between the two Comp^^ in England when they 
 united." This was the opportunity for Mr. Bonnel, the afore- 
 mentioned representative of the English Company, to become 
 more dramatic still. *' Then Mr. Bonnell," continues the Con- 
 sultation dated May 26, 1704, 
 
 " opened the Indenture of Union in a page turned downe, clapt his hand 
 upon it, and asked if we could deny the old Comp» being turned out and 
 the trade brought under the management of the new, w"'^ that and the 
 seal testifyed. W°* Mildmay said he did not deny anything contained in 
 those writeings, neither had he any orders to answer to such questions 
 and asked the gentlemen the reason of their bringing these things upon 
 the stage. At this time wee had been sufficiently deprest allready, had 
 they a mind to bury us quite underground." * 
 
 If these proceedings depressed the English gentlemen, they 
 could not have left the unfortunate Grovernor in a happier mood. 
 It was at last decided to send Sir Nicholas Waite to Bombay. 
 Waite seems to have looked after the affairs of the " very 
 unhealthful island" for three years, during which he tried to 
 introduce certain reforms with the object of enhancing the 
 revenue. He had a mean opinion of Bombay, which he 
 described as "this beggarly, ruined, but fertile island." The 
 city had become so notorious for its unhealthiness that few 
 dared to stay in it for any length of time. When Waite was 
 Governor, there were only eight covenanted civilians on the 
 island, including members of Council, two writers, and two 
 young persons taken from the ships. The army consisted of 
 six commissioned officers and not quite forty English soldiers. 
 ** It will be morally impossible," someone wrote at the time, 
 ** to continue much longer from going under ground, if we have 
 not a large assistance out before October." Waite himself 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 268. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 223 
 
 complained of continued ill health, though he magnanimously 
 assured the Directors that he felt bound in gratitude to exert 
 himself and inform them of all important matters until he left 
 the world or that place. He was destined to leave Bombay 
 before he left the world, for in 1708 his services were dispensed 
 with, though he was not dismissed. The events chronicled 
 above bring out the character of this man. Waite was the best 
 hated man of his day. He had the peculiar knack of making 
 enemies, and he contrived to offend almost every one with whom 
 he came in close contact. On the eve of his departure from 
 Surat, he charged two members of Council with embezzle- 
 ment ; they in reply maintained that he had himself been guilty 
 of fraud. But neither party was able to prove the allegation. 
 There is a story told by Anderson which well depicts the 
 abhorrence in which Waite was held by some of his con- 
 temporaries in India. When a factor named Brabourne, who 
 had gone to Fort St. George, was offered the Deputy- Governor- 
 ship of Bombay while Waite was Governor, he refused it, 
 because, he said, he would not serve under a man whose 
 behaviour was so absurd that civilians on the other side of India 
 said " they would rather be private sentinels at Fort St. George 
 than serve as Second in Council under Sir Nicholas Waite.* 
 But in spite of his faults Waite had some good points. For 
 instance, he tried to serve his masters with as great a zeal as 
 was shown by Sir John Child, and, like Sir John, sometimes 
 came to grief through over-zeal. While dispensing with his 
 services, the Company acknowledged the zeal that he had 
 evinced for their interest, and thanked him for his services. 
 Like his colleague, Sir William Norris, Sir Nicholas has also 
 left behind him a vindication of his character in the form of 
 a protest. Forrest gives a fragment of this letter. After 
 solemnly protesting that he left Surat its poorest President, he 
 adds : 
 
 "And I have not gott twelve hundred pounds in near three years 
 under these clouded circumstances upon this island, besides sallary not 
 yett re<=^, not but that I very well understand the traditional methods of 
 accumulating suitable to the consciences of each person, for w**^ I never 
 will incur the curse of heaven upon myselfe or posterity. I humbly 
 intreat, whenever it may suit w*** your interest, and avoid further heats 
 * The English in Western India^ p. 168. 
 
224 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 betwixt you and the old Company, please to appoint a successor, who 
 if not a compleat merchant, not overhasty to be rich, and something 
 acquainted w**^ the laws of England and Europe, and not altogether 
 ignorant of agriculture, but see and hear wi*^ other mens eyes and ears 
 will never answer the end of your great charge to settle this island. I 
 hope you'l doe me the ho^"^ admitting me going off Go"^"", or the old 
 Company will have their end, as has bin asserted, to disgrace me in 
 India, will lay a perpetuall obligation, w'=^ upon all occasions shall be 
 greatfully acknowledged." "!' 
 
 It seems hardly credible that a man who carried his animosity 
 almost to the point of vindictiveness, and tried his utmost to 
 keep innocent men in illegal confinement, knowing it to be 
 illegal, could have penned such a letter. Perhaps these were 
 the words of a truly penitent soul.f 
 
 "We are, happily, approaching the end of the long series of 
 squabbles which kept the two Companies apart from each other, 
 in spite of the Union of 1702. The principal reason why the 
 early years of the eighteenth century were not prosperous, both 
 in Surat and at Bombay, was that the union of the Companies 
 was only formal. Half-hearted attempts were made to bring 
 about a reconciliation, but old sores could not be healed so soon. 
 Neither party ventured to be openly hostile to the other, but it 
 was clear that the two were far from being really friendly. 
 
 " Probably," says Anderson, " each did not understand its own circuna- 
 stances, and certainly not the circumstances of the other ; so that it 
 was impossible to arrive at a complete agreement as to terms, and in 
 India their servants had rival interests, which gave rise to incessant 
 bickerings." J 
 
 The two Companies were allowed to drift on for some years as 
 
 • Forrest's Selections, i. p. xxvii. 
 
 t Anderson cites another quaint passage from the defence he made of 
 himself and his Council as follows : ' ' We have hitherto governed all our 
 actions in the whole managery of your affairs with soe much caution and 
 a little expense, when your ri vails has been unlimited, and given away those 
 emense and incredible summes for extinguishing your virtuous settlement, 
 and vilely aspersing in your President and Councell that value ourselves upon 
 our frugall and faithful services " (The English in Western India, p. 169). 
 We do not know what impression this defence made on the authorities ; the 
 impression it leaves on our mind is that Waite's education must have been 
 woefully neglected when he was young. 
 
 I The English in Western India^ p. 176. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 225 
 
 they pleased. It was at last recognised that such a state of 
 affah's could not, and should not, be allowed to continue. The 
 representatives of the two Companies consented to appeal to the 
 Earl of Godolphin, Lord High Treasurer of England, who, 
 after a most patient investigation into the questions at issue, 
 published on September 29, 1708, his famous award. From 
 the date of this award, which is said to be as wise and solid 
 a decision as any to be found in the political or commercial 
 annals of England, the two Companies became united in fact 
 as well as in style, and carried on trade under the name of 
 " The United Company of Merchants of England, trading to 
 the East Indies." It was arranged that there were to be three 
 Presidencies in India — Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. A new 
 Governor, with the title of General, and a Council, were appointed 
 for Bombay. The members of Council were all selected from the 
 ranks of civilians : their number was not fixed by law, but varied 
 at different times. Aislabie was appointed the new General and 
 Governor of Bombay, and Messrs. Proby, Bendall, Goodshaw, 
 Wyche, Mildmay, Boone, and Oakley formed the Council. These 
 were to select four of their number to be President and Council 
 at Surat, and to nominate such factors and writers as they 
 might think the service required. It only remains to add that 
 in 1709 Queen Anne accepted a surrender of the London 
 Company's charters and thus terminated their separate existence. 
 Some of the events described in this chapter, as, for example, 
 the revolt of the military, the depredations of interlopers, the 
 ruinous hostilities provoked by Sir John Child, and the bitter 
 animosity of the two Companies, may, in some measure, account 
 for the rapid and heavy fall in the population of Bombay since 
 the death of Aungier. As we have seen, the number of its 
 inhabitants fell from 60,000 in 1677 to 10,000 in 1700. Crime, 
 immorality, and disease seemed to vie with one another in claiming 
 their victims. Bombay was no longer described as the " Ilha da 
 Boa Vida " ; on the contrary, it had become a perfect charnel- 
 house. Nature's curse lay heavy on it. ** Of seven or eight 
 hundred Europeans who inhabited Bombay before the war," 
 says Anderson, "not more than sixty were left." The plague 
 bulletin unfolded a story even more gruesome than that of to-day. 
 There was then only one doctor to attend to the sick and the 
 suffering, a Dr. Skinner. He, too, died, probably a victim to 
 
 15 
 
226 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the fell disease. This deprived the city of its only medical 
 officer. 
 
 " For as much as by the death of Dr. Skinner," observed the Council 
 at Surat, "the Island of Bombay is destitute of a physician and the 
 island very sickly, and a great many poor people and soldiers laying 
 in danger of perishing for want of the help and advice of a doctor, 
 we resolved to entertain Mr. Bartlett in the said station, allowing him 
 £4i a month to be paid in xeraphins at 20d. to the xeraphin, according to 
 the custom of the island, together with the same allowance for his diet 
 as Dr. Skinner was allowed, and the usual assistance belonging to the 
 hospital." 
 
 Think of a doctor on less than £50 a year, who was 
 expected to look after the health of a town cursed alike by 
 nature and man ! 
 
 " Think for a moment of our doctors," writes Mr. Edwardes, " our 
 hospitals, our plague departments to-day, and of our utter inability 
 to prevent the people flying from the island; and then think of our 
 brethren in those days, grappling like ourselves with pestilence and 
 fever, with but one medical man on £4: a month between them and 
 death I"* 
 
 Little wonder that death was then knocking at the door 
 of almost every house on the island. The climate of Bombay 
 proved more fatal to Europeans than to natives, and the 
 saying that "two mussoons are the age of a man" passed 
 into a proverb. Fryer, Hamilton, Ovington,t and other early 
 writers testify to the deplorable condition of the city at the 
 end of the seventeenth and during the first quarter of the 
 eighteenth century. Bad in point of health, it was much 
 worse as regards its morals. 
 
 "I cannot without horror mention," writes Ovington, "to what a 
 pitch all vicious enormities were grown in this place. Their principles 
 of action, and the consequent evil practices of the EngUsh, forwarded 
 
 * The Rise of Bombay, p. 123. 
 
 t Ovington, who was then a chaplain in the Royal Navy, once jokingly 
 observed that " as the ancients gave the epithet of Fortunate to some islands 
 in the West, because of their delightfulness and health, so the moderns may, 
 in opposition to them, denominate Bombay the Unfortunate one in the East, 
 because of the antipathy it bears to those two qualities." A sorry joke at 
 best, but quite true. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 227 
 
 their miseries, and contributed to fill the air with those pestilential 
 vapours that seized their vitals and speeded their hasty passage to the 
 other world. Luxury, immodesty and a prostitute dissolution of manners 
 found still new matter to work upon." 
 
 The favourite city of Aungier, which he did so much to build 
 and beautify, had fallen on evil days. Looseness of morals 
 prevailed everywhere. There was no control over the factors, 
 for there was none over their masters. It had become the 
 fashion to be vicious and reckless, and the man who was neither 
 the one nor the other was an exception. Intemperance was rife 
 to a degree. Grog shops must have flourished exceedingly in 
 the city. In August, 1694, John Wright applied for and gained 
 permission to keep a tavern in Bombay, and no doubt he drove a 
 roaring trade. The authorities tried to check intemperance, but 
 it had grown beyond their control. The legislature — or what 
 passed as such during that period of lawlessness — had ordained 
 that 
 
 "if any man comes into a victualling house to drink punch, he may 
 demand one quart of good Goa arak, half a pound of sugar, and half a 
 pound of good lime water and make his own punch. And if the bowle 
 be not marked with the clerk of the market's scale, then the bowle may 
 be freely broken without paying anything either for bowle or punch." * 
 
 This remarkable piece of legislation was characteristic of the 
 day. It must not be supposed that fondness for intoxicating 
 liquors was confined to men in a lowly state of life. On the 
 contrary, it was regarded as the peculiar privilege of " the upper 
 ten " to get drunk. Among these intemperance was carried to an 
 astonishing degree. The higher classes in England had become 
 very self-indulgent at the time, so Bombay, which was an English 
 possession of the Crown more than the other two Presidencies of 
 India, might have felt justified in following its lead. Whatever 
 the reason, this city was never more intemperate than at the 
 dawn of the eighteenth century. Indescribable scenes were 
 enacted in grog shops, though they were not seldom encountered 
 even in the Council Chamber. Bombay was then governed by 
 a handful of tipsy councillors, and Surat fared no better. The 
 members of Council often came to blows under the influence of 
 * The English in Western India, p. 131. 
 
228 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 drink. When Sir Nicholas Waite was President at Surat there 
 was one councillor, named Mewse, who was generally found the 
 worse for drink. The President once informed the Court that 
 Mewse had the reputation amongst all the Company's servants, 
 and indeed all Europeans at Surat, of heing addicted to hard 
 drinking, seldom sober and above all reproof. The true reason 
 of his absence from Council, Waite observed on another occasion, 
 was not any well-grounded complaint, but that his intellect was 
 disordered by liquor and he was " unfit for virtuous conversation." 
 How gently does the President describe the weakness of the 
 Hon. Mr. Mewse ! Not only would he himself drink, but he 
 compelled his subordinates to do likewise and " would have 
 nobody under him who would not drink." There is a story told 
 of him by Anderson, which we might have refused to believe if 
 it had been narrated by a less careful historian. 
 
 " One Sunday," runs the story, " after dinner he invited Proby, the 
 second in CouncO, to drink a glass of wine at his lodgings. He soon got 
 very quarrelsome, began by flinging the glasses about and concluded by 
 breaking his senior's head with a bottle. Callow Carey, who was present 
 at the time, deposed to this fact upon oath, and John Frost and Thomas 
 Moore, two writers, set their hands to a declaration that they had heard 
 Mewse swear 'he would pistole Proby.' Such was a wine party of 
 Councillors in the olden time.'"'' 
 
 It seems that Mewse was afterwards turned out of the factory by 
 Sir Nicholas Waite and had to take refuge with the servants of 
 the old Company. Curiously enough, Sir John Gayer defended 
 his cause and told Waite that he had "never used any of the 
 Company's servants so barbarously as he had done Mr. Mewse, 
 to turn him out of the factory in a violent manner, and to send 
 to all Europeans not to assist and help him, that he might 
 thereby perish." Mewse was not the only councillor who made 
 himself notorious by hard drinking and was consequently unfit for 
 " virtuous conversation." There were several others who shared 
 the notoriety. For instance, there was a factor named Eustace 
 Needham, who was specially sent out by the Directors for his 
 
 * The English in Western India, p. 158. This story reads more like the 
 creation of an imaginative mind than as a narration of facts. But Anderson 
 was a careful historian who always consulted the records, and the records 
 imblushingly vouch for the accuracy of stories even more surprising than the 
 above. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 229 
 
 business experience. Unfortunately, his experience of grog 
 shops exceeded his business enterprise. No sooner had he 
 arrived than he proved himself " a drunken sot " and was found 
 utterly incapable of discharging the duties of a factor. Every 
 effort was made to reclaim him, but to no purpose, till he was 
 eventually dismissed the Company's service. Occasionally, the 
 honourable members of Council descended to dishonourable 
 practices too. For instance, one Thomas Woodford was charged 
 with embezzlement, he having misappropriated the Company's 
 cash to a large amount. Instead of meeting the charge he 
 made good his escape, but was rearrested and would have been 
 sent home in a ship which was about to sail, "but that there 
 were too many such order'd on her." Then there was Mr. 
 William Howson, in charge of the Custom House at Mahim, 
 who had pilfered Rs. 2,302 from the public chest. He admitted 
 the charge, but made the feeble excuse that he had intended 
 paying back the amount. The records are silent as regards 
 the punishment meted out to him. At times the councillors 
 indulged in a miniature boxing tournament and punched one 
 another's heads without feeling any the worse for it. There is 
 at least one instance on record in which a regular duel was 
 fought, but without any serious consequences. This was 
 the disgraceful affray between Stephen Colt, President of 
 the Surat factory, and Charles Peachey. On the dis- 
 missal of President Annesley, Colt was appointed to succeed 
 him, and, according to Anderson, he seems to have managed 
 the Company's affairs at Surat with prudence. But if we are 
 to believe Peachey, the new President was not only an adept 
 in the art of administration, but made considerable impression 
 — at least on him — as a skilful pugilist. The relations between 
 Peachey and Colt had continued strained some time before the 
 climax was reached. For instance, the former charged the 
 President with having "cuffed" him, and when he took to his 
 heels, flung his slipper after him. When Peachey threatened 
 to bring the matter to the notice of the Governor, Colt quietly 
 replied that he might, and instead of apologising, seems to have 
 planted a few more blows on his adversary. Not satisfied with 
 this, the President had him beaten by one Mr. Robinson, and 
 did everything in his power to make Peachey' s life miserable. 
 Indeed, matters came to such a pass that the desperate man 
 
230 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 would have taken extreme measures and even endangered the 
 life of the President. For, in the indictment he drew up from 
 the place of his confinement, Peachey wrote : 
 
 " When I returned with the sword, 'twas for no evil, but to rescue my 
 companions, and had you assaulted me afresh, I should have killed you 
 (as you pretend was my intent). I don't at all question but that the 
 law should have found it no otherwise than se deffendendo." 
 
 He also quoted the twenty-ninth article of the Magna Charta, 
 with observations by "Justice Cooke," to show that no free 
 man could be arrested or detained in prison without resort being 
 had to legal process. But such observations had no effect on 
 the pugilistic President. Peachey was expelled the factory, 
 and kept in durance vile for a long time. He wrote several 
 letters to " The Eight Honourable the President and Council 
 for the affairs of the Right Honourable the East India Com- 
 pany," complaining that the President had broken his head, 
 giving details of the injuries received at his hands, and winding 
 up with the assurance that it was no use for them to think that 
 by locking him up they could conceal their guilt. For fear of 
 being charged with exaggeration, Anderson quotes the following 
 graphic passage from one of his extraordinary letters : 
 
 " I have received from you two cuts on my head, the one very long 
 and deep, the other a slight thing in comparison to that ; then a great 
 blow on my left arme, which has enflamed the shoulder and deprives me 
 (at present) the use of that limb ; on my right side a blow, on my ribs 
 just below my pap, which is a stoppage to my breath, and makes me 
 incapable of helping myself ; on my left hipp another, nothing inferior 
 to the first; but, above all, a cut on the brow of my left eye. The 
 anguish thereof has caused a swelling, and that swelling destroyed my 
 eyesight, which I should perfectly receive. There is a statute (which 
 assuredly you shall take your triall upon) ; the sense thereof is, that 
 whosoever shall mame (maim) another shall be thought culpable, and be 
 punished with death." ^' 
 
 What a sad picture of Mr. Charles Peachey, drawn by him- 
 self ! Whether he received any amends from the Right Honour- 
 able the President and Council, we know not. But the fact 
 
 * The English in Western India, p. 159. Anderson had, as was his wont, 
 consulted the records of the period to testify to the truth of the statements 
 made in this remarkable indictment. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 231 
 
 that such an incident should find a place in the official records 
 of the period is another proof of the depraved condition of 
 the factors at the end of the seventeenth century. In March, 
 1701,* even the Provost Marshal, one John Hall, was brought to 
 the bar on a serious charge. He was accused of being an infamous 
 drunkard, and when called upon to answer the indictment only 
 cursed and swore at every one, from the highest to the lowest, 
 expressing a hope that the time might come when he would 
 have his revenge. The authorities were obliged to shut him up 
 in the fort of Dongari, although, as they significantly remarked, 
 " having too many such as he is in that or one fort or other, 
 and with submission to your Excellency and Council, if they 
 were all sent home, there would be a happy riddance of them." 
 Later, Hall seems to have been packed off home, a step which 
 was not approved of by the authorities. But in vindication of 
 their action the Governor and Council wrote as follows : 
 
 "As to Hall, had there been any hope of reclaiming him, by being 
 reduced, as Your Excellency and Council are pleased to direct, we 
 should have done it; but, as he is a restless, factious, and turbulent- 
 spirited man, ever promoting and carrying on his rascally designs, would 
 be always seducing others to be confederates with him; therefore, as 
 you were pleased to leave it to us, we thought it with submission much 
 better to be rid of such a scabby sheep, that he might not infect the flock ; 
 so have sent him home." f 
 
 We shall close this ** black list" of councillors and other high 
 officials, both at Bombay and in Surat, by adding to it the name 
 of one Captain John Wyatt, whose intemperance led to tragic 
 results. Wyatt, who was in command of the guards at the time, 
 was one night making himself merry at a friend's house, and 
 returned home rather late and much the worse for liquor. As 
 he was approaching the door of his room the sentry, as usual, 
 challenged him ; this seemed to have irritated the tipsy Captain, 
 who flew at the sentry with drawn sword and made a thrust at 
 him. The latter fled as fast as he could, hard pressed by the 
 gallant commander of the guards. At that critical moment the 
 
 • Anderson may have been mistaken in fixing this date, for, as we have 
 already seen, the post of the Provost Marshal was created in April, 1701, 
 when Edward Simond was appointed its first incumbent. 
 
 t The English in Western India, p. 162. 
 
232 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 sand of the hour-glass happened to run out and the sepoy in 
 whose charge it was, called to another to strike the gong. The 
 latter complied with the request, little knowing that thereby 
 he was ringing his own death-knell. For it enraged Captain 
 Wyatt so much that he instantly ordered the corporal of the 
 guard to produce the sepoy before him. The rest of the story 
 may be narrated in Anderson's own words : 
 
 " He then commenced," writes the historian, " to beat the poor fellow, 
 asking him how he dared to have the gong struck without waiting for 
 his orders. The other meekly replied that he was merely acting accord- 
 ing to established rule, but for the future he would only act as the 
 Captain should think proper ; and begged that he would cease beating 
 him. Wyatt then took the man by the arm, deliberately turned him 
 round, and ran his sword through his side. The sepoy dropped down 
 dead upon the spot. This savage madman added to the barbarity of his 
 crime by kicking and otherwise abusing the corpse of his murdered 
 victim."* 
 
 And how was the murderer punished ? The decision of the 
 Governor in Council was that Captain Wyatt should be deprived 
 of his commission, put into irons, and sent to England. How 
 he was dealt with there, we know not. 
 
 Exciting must have been the proceedings of the Bombay 
 Council during this reign of terror. The honourable members 
 did not trouble themselves much about the administration of 
 the affairs of the city, and legislation was altogether at a dis- 
 count. The principal business transacted was often a drunken 
 brawl or a passage at arms. Speeches were occasionally 
 delivered, but the members were not seldom found to be totally 
 unfit for ** virtuous conversation," let alone a dignified oration ! 
 It was not, we infer, an unusual sight for some of the honour- 
 able members to come out of the Council Chamber, after a 
 particularly warm discussion, " with their heads cut open, their 
 arms in slings, and their eyes bunged up ! " How severely 
 sober and sedate are the members of the Governor's Council 
 to-day ! Mr. Mewse would feel very uncomfortable indeed in 
 such an assembly ! And yet, in spite of all their intemperance, 
 coarseness of speech, and pugnacious habits, the old factors 
 were strictly enjoined to be good and true Christians. The 
 
 * The English in Western Indian p. 161. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 233 
 
 laxity of their morals was not allowed to come in the way of 
 devotional services, which were held twice a day. Attendance 
 at divine service was regarded by the authorities as a public 
 duty, and there was actually a Minute in Council requiring 
 every factor to attend at prayers eight times in the week, 
 exclusive of Sundays. The clergyman was ordered to write 
 down the names of such as did not attend, and a fine was 
 inflicted upon them, which was deducted from their salaries. 
 The early history of the English in Western India is not want- 
 ing in inconsistencies, but there is no inconsistency more glaring 
 than the above. Indeed, it is hard to reconcile the gross mis- 
 behaviour of the factors with this Minute in Council, except on 
 the hypothesis that it was entirely disregarded. 
 
 Where was the Chief Justice of Bombay whilst these stirring 
 scenes were being enacted on the island ? The last one we 
 heard of was Mr. Justice Vaux — a remarkably poor specimen of 
 a judge. After his tragic end on the Tapti, no successor was 
 probably appointed for more than a decade. During the last 
 eleven years of the seventeenth century not a single Court of 
 Judicature was held in Bombay — probably not even those 
 presided over by benches of factors — and the judge's post must 
 have remained vacant. But with the union of the two Com- 
 panies and the settlement of their affairs the Bench was 
 reformed. 
 
 In the first quarter of the eighteenth century we hear of more 
 than one Chief Justice. For instance, in 1719 there was the 
 Worshipful Lawrence Parker, who, besides being Deputy- 
 Governor, was also Accountant, drawing a salary of ^100, and 
 receiving another £100 as Chief Justice. Next year the post 
 was filled by Mr. John Braddyll ; * in 1723 we find Mr. James 
 Courtney presiding on the Bench, and in 1724 Messrs. John Hope 
 and Hobert Newton were appointed Chief Justices, each probably 
 
 * Mr. Braddyll seems to have occupied this post only for a few months. 
 Besides being Chief Justice, he too was Accountant, and must have found the 
 duties of these two appointments fairly onerous, as is evidenced by the follow- 
 ing entry, dated July 13, 1720 : " Mr. Braddyll representing to the Board 
 that the office of Chief Justice, and a close application to the Accountant's 
 business, employs him so fully that he has not time to give the due attend- 
 ance that is required as Manager of stopping the Great Breach, desires 
 leave to be excused from that appointment : Agreed that his request be 
 granted " (Forrest's SelectionSy ii. p. 27). 
 
234 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 acting for a few months only. In 1726, when the Mayor's 
 Court was established, the post of Chief Justice was abolished 
 and that of the Mayor substituted. Both Parker and Braddyll 
 signalised their tenure of office, during the governorship of 
 Mr. Charles Boone* (1716-20), in a manner characteristic 
 of them, Parker by disobeying orders of the Council, of 
 which he was, ex-officio, a member, and Braddyll by bringing 
 a charge of defamation against the then Chaplain of Bombay, 
 who was ultimately suspended. We shall conclude this chapter 
 after making a brief reference to the latter of these two 
 events, reserving a fuller notice of the former for a subsequent 
 chapter. 
 
 John Braddyll, Chief Justice and Accountant of Bombay, 
 seems to have conducted himself with dignity on the Bench 
 as well as in Council. He has no charge to meet at the bar 
 of history. Nothing is recorded against him, and even in the 
 dispute he had with the Chaplain of Bombay it is the pulpit 
 and not the Bench which in the end suffers most, as we shall 
 presently see. The Bev. Mr. Cobbef was a clergyman whose 
 zeal for the propagation of the Master's faith at times landed 
 him in trouble, and constantly induced him to step beyond the 
 
 * Governor Boone was evidently a man of refined tastes, and was well read 
 in classical and antiquarian lore. He had some drawings made of the figures 
 in the caves of Elephanta, and a descriptive account written of that historic 
 island. The Latin inscription placed by him over the Apollo Gate, as well as 
 the one on a bell he presented to the church, which was built during his 
 tenure of office, show that he was gifted with some knowledge of Roman and 
 mediaeval antiquities. Even Hamilton entertained a very high opinion of 
 him, for he pronounced him to be " a gentleman of as much honour and 
 good sense as any that ever sat in that chair." 
 
 f It is to the energy of the Rev. Mr. Cobbe that Bombay owes its 
 Cathedral. Its foundation was laid on November 18, 1715, when Aislabie 
 was Governor of Bombay. A year before Cobbe had preached a sermon 
 impressing on his congregation the necessity of a suitable church. " Well, 
 doctor," observed the Governor after the sermon, " you have been very 
 zealous for the church this morning." " Please y"^ honour," he replied, "I 
 think there was occasion enough for it, and I hope without offence." " Well, 
 then," said the Governor, "if we must have a church, we must have a 
 church. Do you see and get a book made and see what every one will 
 contribute, and I will do first." Contributions flowed in fairly fast, the total 
 amounting to more than Rs.53,000. There were some curious entries in this 
 book. For instance, Cornelius Sodington gave Rs.20 " for my wife when I 
 have her," Rs.l50 for " a commutation from penance-corporal at Surat," and 
 " a fine upon Bhundaries" contributed Rs.l8. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 235 
 
 legitimate duties of his calling and trespass on the field of 
 politics. For instance, when in 1719 the Government sus- 
 pended one of their colleagues, the reverend gentleman not 
 only took his side, hut had the audacity to preach a sermon, 
 taking for his text the words, " Though hand join in hand, the 
 wicked shall not be unpunished," and freely criticised the action 
 of the authorities. • He was also fond of caricaturing in his 
 sermons members of Council and other high officials of 
 Government, and making personal attacks from the pulpit. 
 Charles Boone, the then Governor of Bombay, must have 
 been a man of great forbearance, for, though annoyed, he 
 did not call upon the chaplain to account for his strange 
 conduct or to desist. This encouraged Cobbe to vilify those 
 with whom he happened to be in disagreement, and with no one 
 was he on worse terms at this time than with the Worshipful 
 John Braddyll. The latter was then having a house built, and as 
 the monsoon was approaching he employed labourers to work even 
 on Sundays. This was enough to enrage the zealous puritan 
 against Braddyll, who, while regretting the necessity, explained 
 that the work must be completed before the rains set in. 
 " Better that ten houses should be lost," roared the angry 
 divine, "than one Sabbath-day broke." Finding the offender 
 unmoved either by remonstrance or threat, Cobbe resolved to 
 have his revenge. Meeting him at a friend's house, and the 
 conversation turning on the comfort and satisfaction of getting 
 money, the chaplain slyly observed, " Yes, there is a satisfac- 
 tion in it, I don't doubt, especially if it be gotten honestly," 
 and when Braddyll requested him to make his meaning clear, he 
 merely added that he would be glad to see Braddyll get his 
 money honestly, for he "wrought even on Sundays." This 
 naturally irritated the honourable member, but, soon after, he 
 assured the chaplain, through Mr. Parker, that he was ready to 
 forgive him. * * He forgive me ! " retorted the irate clergyman ; " I 
 shan't forgive him till he has done working a-Sundays ! " And 
 as if to emphasise the retort, he immediately after preached a 
 sermon on the observance of the Sabbath. Braddyll felt that 
 he was being unfairly treated by Cobbe, but did not care to 
 take serious notice of his conduct. He continued building his 
 house, on week days as well as Sundays, and abstained from 
 partaking of the Holy Communion till the work of construe- 
 
236 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 tion was completed. Then he went to church and offered 
 himself as a communicant. When the clergyman saw him 
 there he pretended to be horrified, and exclaimed, **Mr. 
 Braddyll!" The penitent councillor felt the thunderstorm 
 approaching and prepared himself for the worst. To Cobbe's 
 exclamation, however, he made no reply, ** thinking him out of 
 his senses," but the former repeated it a second time, and asked, 
 ** Mr. Braddyll, have you done working on Sundays ? Unless y*, 
 I cannot administer you this Sacrament." Poor Braddyll was 
 thrown into utter confusion, and stammered that he worked no 
 longer on Sundays. Cobbe here found his opportunity for 
 revenge. He told Braddyll that he would not give him com- 
 munion unless he promised him and the congregation then 
 present that he would work no more on Sundays. This was 
 an awkward moment for a man who occupied a high place in 
 Council and the highest on the Bench. To avoid a scene, 
 however, Braddyll assured him that he would try not to work 
 on Sundays, unless necessity obliged him. Thereupon the 
 Rev. Mr. Cobbe was graciously pleased to give him the 
 communion. 
 
 So far the clergyman had scored as against the Judge. But 
 his success was short-lived. For we find the following entry 
 made in the Consultation dated July 4, 1720 : 
 
 " Mr. Braddyll acquainted the Board that Mr. Cobbe, the Chaplain, 
 affronted him yesterday at the Communion Table, when he was going to 
 receive the Holy Sacrament, and he had hkewise affronted him publicly 
 several times before, particularly once at Mr. Wyches, and when Mr. 
 Parker, at Mr. Braddyll's desire, told him Mr. Braddyll would forgive 
 him with all his heart, Mr. Cobbe replied, ' Mr. Braddyll may forgive 
 me, but I will not forgive him.' These things being very unwarrantable 
 and unbecoming the character of a clergyman, resolved that Mr. Cobbe 
 be summoned to appear before this Board to-morrow morning, that we 
 may examine fully into this affair, and Mr. Braddyll is desired to give in 
 his allegations in writing for our better insight herein." * 
 
 \ 
 Mr. Braddyll, accordingly, delivered in his complaint against 
 Mr. Cobbe, and when the latter was acquainted with the sub- 
 stance thereof he took little exception to the truth of the several 
 allegations made against him, but pleaded that he had done no 
 more than his duty, as enjoined by the Canons and Rubric. 
 * Forrest's Selections, ii. p. 20. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 237 
 
 He drew up an able defence, which shows that he was well 
 versed in the art of advocacy, and might perhaps have done 
 better at the bar than in the pulpit. The first paragraph of 
 his reply is so remarkable for its boldness of expression, and so 
 characteristic of this hot-headed clergyman, that we quote it 
 in full : 
 
 " In answer to the charge laid against me by Mr. Braddyll," opens 
 Mr. Cobbe's defence, " an abstract of which y' Hon'^ was pleased to order 
 me the 6th instant, I am sorry to find that a person in his station should, 
 instead of being ashamed, make it a matter of complaint for the reproof 
 of a sin so exceeding sinfull, but is God Almighty less in India than he is 
 in England ? Or has he given any man license to sin ? Is the violation 
 of this holy day become the less enormous, because it is so frequently 
 and irreligiously profaned, or must it out of good manners be past by 
 unobserved, connived and winked at, especially when it comes from so 
 eminent a quarter? Your Hon'^, I hope, who hath so often declared 
 an afifection for this place, and the great concern you have to advance 
 the public good, will see what cause there is for complaint, and judge 
 impartially in a case so very offensive to our religion and wellfare, and in 
 a matter tending so effectually to destroy both." '•' 
 
 He then proceeded to scrutinise each of the allegations, disput- 
 ing the correctness of some and denying the reasonableness of 
 others. He tendered no apology, nor did he seek pardon, though 
 he admitted that, while exacting from Mr. Braddyll the promise 
 not to work on Sundays, he might have chosen a fitter place for 
 his admonition than the church. 
 
 "But," he adds, " considering his offence was so public and notorious 
 for which our Church hath in severall places refused the benefit of the 
 Sacrament, particularly in Canon y® 26th and in y« 2d Kubrick before 
 the Communion, I determined to make this a virtue of necessity, that 
 thereby he might openly declare himself to have repented and that 
 the congregation might thereby be satisfied, which before were 
 offended." 
 
 He vehemently protested against the allegation of being 
 malicious towards Braddyll. 
 
 " God forbid ! " he wrote, " that I should live in malice with any one. 
 I am in charity, I thank God, with him and all the world, or else I 
 should not have presumed to have come so unprepared to that sacred 
 
 * Forrest's Selections^ ii. p. 25 
 
238 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 ordinance.* 'Tis rather to be feared that he himself was not in charity 
 with his neighbour by his not appearing at Church that day, tho' 'twas 
 Whit Sunday." 
 
 Learned though the defence is, it is far from convincing. It 
 certainly did not satisfy the President and Council. Taking it 
 in the most favourable light, they were unanimously of opinion 
 that " Mr. Cobbe acted as judge of Mr. Braddyll's conscience," 
 and in so doing was guilty of a " heavy crime." Poor Mr. 
 Cobbe must have felt sorry that he cited the 26th Canon and 
 the 2nd Kubric in his defence. The substance of these was 
 stated by the Governor to be as follows : *'If any person be a 
 notorious and evil liver or has given offence to the congregation 
 or done any wrong to his neighbour by word or deed, he is to 
 be admonished not to come to the Lord's Table till he hath 
 repented." Mr. Cobbe was, therefore, called upon to prove that 
 Mr. Braddyll was '* a notorious and evil liver." The unfor- 
 tunate clergyman found himself in a predicament, for although 
 he had never accused the plaintiff of these serious charges, his 
 citing the said Canon and Rubric was construed to imply such 
 an accusation. The Council virtually found the chaplain guilty, 
 and the question as to what censure should be passed on him 
 was next considered. After it had been debated upon some 
 time, Mr. Braddyll moved that as Mr. Cobbe had affronted him 
 publicly in the church, he might ask his pardon there, which 
 appearing reasonable, it was ordered that Mr. Cobbe should ask 
 Mr. Braddyll's pardon publicly in the church on the following 
 Sunday, immediately after reading the Communion Service, in 
 the following words : 
 
 " Whereas on Sunday the 3rd instant, through mistake, I did afiEront 
 Mr. Braddyll at the Communion table, I do hereby notify to this congre- 
 gation here present, that on more mature consideration I find myself to 
 be in the wrong, and do hereby beg Mr. Braddyll's pardon for the injury 
 done him and the offence given him and the other communicants." 
 
 There can be no doubt that the chaplain's conduct, according 
 to modern standards, was highly reprehensible,! and that he had 
 
 * Cf. the language of the Church Communion Service, 
 t A clergyman was recently reprimanded in England for refusing the 
 Sacrament on his own authority to a lady of whose conduct he disapproved. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 239 
 
 been rightly found guilty. His insulting Mr. Braddyll in church 
 and the manner in which he exacted the promise from him that 
 he would not work on Sundays in future were as indecorous as 
 they were offensive. Not less offensive were some of his sermons 
 in which he criticised the action of Government. 
 
 "By pronouncing a condemnation of the Council's acts from the 
 pulpit," says a writer* in one of the early volumes of the Bombay 
 Quarterly Review y\ " he had converted that which was exclusively 
 designed for the utterance and exposition«of divine oracles into a political 
 engine, and intruded into matters which were beyond his province." 
 
 But taking Mr. Cobbe's conduct at its worst, the President 
 and Council were not well advised in compelling a man of his 
 position and learning to tender such an undignified apology, in a 
 place where he was expected to conduct himself with dignity, 
 and where he himself expected respect from his flock. The 
 clergyman naturally refused to stultify himself before his congre- 
 gation. He protested most vehemently against the imposition 
 of such a degrading punishment, and when summoned before the 
 Council, went so far as to dispute the Governor's authority to 
 decide the matter, maintaining that he held no commission from 
 the King of England. 
 
 " You know, gentlemen," he pleaded with eloquence, " how unthankful 
 an office this is, and how few there are that care to undertake it, but to 
 make a public acknowledgment of what wee are satisfied is our duty and 
 to ask pardon for what we are expressly enjoyned to reprove, would be to 
 render this office indispensable [?] , as it is extremely precarious, in- 
 effectual, and useless." 
 
 And again : 
 
 "I should not have presumed to hope for excuse after so awful a 
 determination in Council were it a matter indifferent and of a private 
 concern ; for besides, gentlemen, the irregularity of publishing or pro- 
 claiming anything in church in the time of Divine Service but by the 
 Minister or by him but what is prescribed in the rules of our common 
 
 * We believe the writer must have been no other than Mr. Anderson, the 
 famous historian of Bombay, who contributed largely to the Bombay Quarterly 
 Review, which he edited with marked ability until within a few weeks of his 
 death in 1867. 
 
 t iii., January, 1856, p. 45. 
 
240 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 prayer-book or enjoyned by the King or by the ordinary of the place 
 (Rubric after the Nicene Creed), such compliance would not only give 
 encouragement to sin by lessening too much the credit of reproof, but 
 inevitably draw contempt upon the clergy and wound even religion 
 through the sides of the ministry. In this therefore I hope, gentlemen, 
 you will pardon your servant in that I cannot, I dare not, yield my assent 
 without declining that duty, without betraying that trust for which I am 
 accountable to a more awful tribunall." ='' 
 
 But the President and Council were inexorable. They were 
 much irritated by Mr. Cobbe's defiant answer, and more so by 
 his casting doubt on their authority. He was called in by them 
 and told that his defence had been considered, and that 
 
 " he had given great offence to this Board in severall parts thereof, 
 particularly in one, where he intimates we have no authority over him 
 and arraigns the justice of our said Resolution, and then askt him if he 
 did not know the Gov^ power was delegated to him by his Majesty. 
 After some hesitation Mr. Cobbe said he had heard the Gov' had no 
 commission from the King. The President then condescended to have 
 the charter from King Charles to the R. Hon'ble Company read to him, 
 after which he said he did not know the Gov"^ had so full a power and 
 added that now he did." 
 
 The Governor then raked up old grievances and reminded the 
 offender of a sermon he had preached some time ago which 
 tended to lessen the authority of Government, and of another 
 which he had lately preached, reflecting on the sense of justice of 
 the Board in suspending Mr. Parker. Mr. Cobbe, apprehending 
 danger, expressed his regret for what had occurred and showed 
 his willingness to apologise to Mr. Braddyll, though not in 
 church. But he appealed too late, and at a time when the 
 temper of the Governor and his colleagues was far from con- 
 ciliatory. On July 23, 1720, they drew up a long and a strong 
 indictment against the chaplain, the first charge being 
 
 " that on the Secretary s reading Mr. Cobbe our R* Honbl^ Master's 
 orders, he was so imprudent as to say in the Governors presence that he 
 had no masters at all ; after which notice was taken of some paragraphs 
 of a sermon preached about a year ago which were tending to traduce 
 this Government, and calculated to induce a belief into the auditory, not 
 only of the independency of the ministry to the Civil Government, but 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, ii. p. 29. 
 
THE DECADENCE OF BOMBAY AND ITS CAUSES 241 
 
 also that the same was injuriously invaded at this place by those that 
 have the power of the Civil Government in their hands. ... It was like- 
 wise but too notorious and usual with him to draw odious characters in 
 the sermons and apply them to such persons with whom he has had any 
 words of difference, tho' but upon common and indifferent subjects, and 
 his pride and unmannerly discourse in private houses where he has made 
 visits and at the tables of some of the most eminent inhabitants, is too 
 well known to need a particular proof here." * 
 
 On these grounds the Board resolved to suspend the Rev. Mr. 
 Cobbe from acting as their chaplain, and he was accordingly- 
 suspended. When apprised of the suspension, he merely said, 
 " Very well, what your Honour pleases." A Mr. Thomas 
 Waters f was appointed to officiate in his place, his only qualifi- 
 cation being that he "read well." Mr. Cobbe soon left the 
 country and lived to a good old age in England. The Directors 
 seem to have dealt with him more liberally than the Govern- 
 ment of Bombay. Fifty-two years after he had been appointed 
 chaplain, he published an account of the Bombay Cathedral, 
 dedicating it with many expressions of gratitude to the Honour- 
 able the Court of Directors. 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, ii. p. 30. 
 
 t Mr. Waters, it seems, had already acted as the chaplain's deputy on the 
 princely remuneration of eleven rupees, and it was because he was found to 
 be a good reader that he was appointed to ofQciate. But, according to the 
 writer in the Bombay Quarterly Review referred to above, he by no means 
 regarded himself as under any obligation to practise what he preached ; for, 
 eight or nine years afterwards, he was tried for embezzling public money, and 
 although he made a long and an able defence, was ordered to refund nearly 
 sixteen thousand rupees. Perhaps the Board might have done better to have 
 pocketed their dignity and retained Mr. Cobbe, who, like his namesake, 
 Frances P. Cobbe, preferred to follow the dictates of conscience rather 
 than those of any earthly authority. Such men were not too common even 
 then at £50 per annum. 
 
 16 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 THE WOKKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS IN BOMBAY 
 
 WE have now arrived at a stage in our inquiry when it 
 becomes desirable to pause before proceeding further, 
 with the view to ascertain the effect of the working of judicial 
 institutions in early Bombay. The East India Company were 
 vested with large powers by the Crown, which they, in their 
 turn, delegated to their servants in India. By virtue of these 
 powers certain regulations were framed and laws published. 
 Unfortunately, no trace of these laws is to be found to-day, 
 though some of the regulations, which owe their existence, in 
 a large measure, to the wisdom of Oxenden and Aungier, may 
 still be deciphered in the Consultation Books of the period. We 
 have also seen that special charters were granted to the English, 
 empowering them to exercise martial as well as municipal law, 
 and enabling them to chastise offenders and settle disputes in 
 India, and that at the close of the seventeenth century a Judge- 
 Advocate was especially sent out from England to preside over 
 the newly-constituted Court of Admiralty. We now propose to 
 describe, in this chapter, the manner in which the factors gave 
 effect to the very important though diverse powers which they 
 were called upon to exercise over their countrymen in the East 
 Indies. How was judicial administration carried on in the town 
 and island of Bombay and in the historic city of Surat before 
 the establishment of the Mayor's Court ? What processes of 
 law obtained, and what rules of procedure, if any, were observed 
 at that period? These are among the questions we shall attempt 
 to answer here. But the scope of our inquiry will be limited, 
 as the sources of our information are not many. Indeed, we 
 shall have to depend here mainly on that store-house of valuable 
 
 242 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 243 
 
 and entertaining information collected by Mr. Forrest in his two 
 volumes of Selections. There are a few other sources besides, 
 as, for instance, the accounts of Hamilton and Anderson. But, 
 circumscribed as our inquiry will necessarily be, we trust it will 
 not be found uninteresting. 
 
 The first point that strikes us in our investigation is the fact 
 that justice, in those days, was administered in a very arbitrary 
 fashion, and that law was generally held of little or no account. 
 The factors never professed to be learned in the law, and their 
 notions of justice and fairplay were often rather anomalous. 
 When one of them, for instance, was removed from the counting- 
 house and straightway installed on the Bench, the transition was 
 so sudden and complete that the unfortunate man could not but 
 have felt considerable difficulty in holding the scales of justice 
 evenly. There were no codes to guide him, no law-reports or 
 law-books to enlighten him. Perhaps he needed none, for the 
 justice he attempted to administer was generally dictated by 
 conscience and common sense. The principal business of the 
 judge then was to award punishment rather than to decide law- 
 suits. Strange charges were sometimes brought before the Court 
 for investigation, and stranger decrees passed. The severity of 
 criminal justice seems revolting to us to-day, though it should 
 not be judged by a reference to the existing state of our judicial 
 administration either in England or in India, but to what it was, 
 even in Great Britain, at the close of the seventeenth and the 
 commencement of the eighteenth century. We shall describe 
 the barbarity of those days in some detail in the next chapter. 
 The state of judicial administration under the Great Mogul was 
 indescribably corrupt when the English first established a 
 factory at Surat. As Hamilton observes, the Mahomedans 
 had the laws in their hands, and gave justice to those who 
 paid for it. The judges were allowed as fees a certain per- 
 centage on the value of all claims adjusted by them. 
 
 " Many examples I have seen," he adds, " between honest men of low 
 fortunes and viUains cloathed with pubHc characters and good fortunes, 
 yet in some cases I have seen justice take place. The English and 
 Dutch Directors or Agents there make good figures, because the officers 
 of state and justice get yearly presents or pensions from them." * 
 
 * A New Account of the East Indies, i. p. 163. 
 
2U BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 The administration of criminal justice at Surat was also arbitrary 
 in the extreme. Justice was dispensed with such extraordinary 
 promptitude that offenders were sometimes ushered into the 
 other world almost before they knew that they had committed 
 any offence. The Mahomedan ideal of justice did not prove 
 inspiring to the English; on the contrary, it must have de- 
 moralised their own ideal, which was not very high at the 
 time. When they settled down in Bombay, a few years after, 
 they found that the Portuguese had adopted no measures to 
 ensure pure and speedy justice to the inhabitants of the island. 
 They were too occupied at the time with getting spices and 
 making converts. There was a Rela9ao in Bassein, and there 
 were several Courts of Judicature in Goa, including the terrible 
 Inquisition Court, where the laws of the Church had precedence 
 of the laws of the State. But we hear of no Court in the city 
 of Bombay itself, neither magistrates nor judges. Not that 
 their law or their mode of administering justice would have 
 formed a model for the English to imitate. The latter had 
 brought with them the law of their country, and, as we 
 have already observed, there was not the least vestige of 
 Portuguese law or courts at any time in Bombay after its 
 cession to the English by the King of Portugal.* From 
 the very commencement of their career in India, whether 
 in Bombay or at Surat, in Bengal or at Fort St. David, the 
 English administered justice to their countrymen according 
 to the laws of their country and the provisions of the various 
 charters which had been granted them from time to time. 
 Let us now give instances of certain offences tried and dis- 
 putes settled by the factors before the establishment of the 
 Mayor's Court. We shall often find them faulty in their judg- 
 ment and impatient of observing even the essential forms of 
 the law ; but we shall also discover that their sense of justice 
 was not warped by base motives, that they delivered their 
 judgments freely and boldly, according to the dictates of con- 
 science and in the light of common sense, and, above all, 
 that they tried to dispense what they honestly believed to be 
 justice. 
 
 * The Advocate-Oeneral v. Richmond, Perry's Oriental Cases, p. 573. But 
 cf. the reference to a judge versed in the civil law as peculiarly fitted for a 
 
 population accustomed to that law supra). 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 245 
 
 On April 16, 1662, long before the Admiralty Court was 
 established in Bombay, and even before the first Court of Judi- 
 cature was instituted on the island, Gerald Aungier wrote a 
 letter to the Deputy- Governor of Bombay in which occurs the 
 following remarkable passage : 
 
 " On ye Hunf Ffrigott goes one Jn^ Hallewell form^^y mate of ship 
 George who is under restraint occasioned by an information delivered in 
 unto us by Mr. Christ" Robson, M'^ of s** ship, and signed by one Charles 
 Gould who belonged unto her, whereby wee are given to understand y* by 
 accident he was y^ occasion of drowning of one Ffranc^ Peck in Quedah 
 River. Wee have taken y'' depositions of those who were pres' when 
 y^ accident happened, w'^^^ wee send you inclosed. Y^ Deponents likewise 
 goe downe on y® Ffrigott whose depositions on oath you must retake and 
 proceed in y^ case according to forme and y® Hon^^® Comp* orders, calling 
 a Court and trying s*^ Jn" Hallewell by a Jury of 12 men, who if found 
 not guilty you may dycharge ; if otherwise, keep in durance untill y® 
 P' coming downe. Lett him be tryed w*^ all convenient speed in regard 
 he is intended to voyage to Siam this yeare, and wee would by noe meanes 
 be his hindrance in case he shall be found by y« Court to be guiltless of 
 wilfull murther." * 
 
 Whether John Hallewell was allowed to proceed to Siam, or kept 
 in durance vile, we have no means of knowing, for we lose sight 
 of him after this. Cases of murder, even accidental homicide 
 such as the above, seem to have been very rare, though in a 
 letter dated June 4, 1672, we find the Surat Council writing to 
 Bombay, with reference to their ** ord"^ for y^ executing of a 
 murtherer convicted thereof by a Jury and sentenced," that 
 they *'know no reason why y® sentence should not be put in 
 execution." It may be noticed in passing that the Bombay 
 Council used to send copies of the proceedings of the Court of 
 Judicature for the information of the President at Surat. "We 
 allso send you," they wrote in a letter dated June 27, 1677, 
 "y® coppies of y^ transactions of the 3 last Sessions in o' Court 
 of Judicature for y^'^ greater satisfaction in all publique affaires 
 on y® Island." There were several cases of misdemeanour and 
 other minor offences, such as disobedience of lawful orders, 
 neglect of duty, unruly conduct, and the like. For instance, 
 in 1672, the Deputy-Governor of Bombay complained to the 
 President at Surat (Bombay being then subordinate to Surat) 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 60. 
 
246 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 of the misbehaviour of one Captain Burgess. Aungier was a 
 strict master, and severely punished every breach of discipline. 
 He wrote to his Deputy on April 23, 1672, as follows: 
 
 " Whereas wee given to understand y*' Cap* Jn° Burgees hath of late 
 behaved himself e w*^ much rudeness and disrespect to y^ Deputy- Go v"^, 
 and uttered sev" de scour ses tending to y^ great dishon"^ and contempt of 
 y® Honb^^ Comp* authority and Gover™* as appears by y^ attestations of sev" 
 credible persons sent unto us. Upon due consideration of y® evill conse- 
 quence w^^ may accrew from such disord''^ wee doe hereby for y® present 
 desanull and make void the Commission w^^ wee have given y® s^ Ca^* 
 Burgees as CaP' of one of y® foot Comp*, and doe suspend him from all 
 command over y^ soldiery and from his office and place in Councell, 
 and doe further require you y^ D. Gov' and y® rest of y® Coimcell y* you 
 cause y^ s^ Cap* Burgees to be committed a prison"^ to y® Marshall, and 
 thereto be kept till y^ Gov"^ shall arrive or till ord' shall come for his 
 tryall, and for y^ betf^ preventing any disord"^ w**^ may happen among y® 
 soldiery wee require you to keep it very private and to take a convenient 
 time to put it in execution ; to witt when Cap* Shaxton's Comp* hath y« 
 Command of y^ watch ; when summoning y^ s<^ Cap* Burgees to Councell, 
 you may then publish and put in execution this ord*", causeing y^ guards 
 to be ready to prevent any mutiny y* may arise, and aft'wards you are 
 to publish this o'^ proclamation w*^^ wee here send you, for y^ bett"^ re- 
 duceing y® soldiery in good ord' and gover"^*." -^^ 
 
 From the above extract it would seem that the military officers 
 were discontented even during the governorship of Gerald Aungier. 
 But he had proved more than a match for them all, and it was 
 only after his death that they succeeded in gaining the upper 
 hand and eventually broke out into open revolt under the banner 
 of Captain Keigwin. The Deputy- Governor seems to have 
 carried out his superior's injunctions, for we find the latter again 
 writing to him on May 16, 1672, as follows : 
 
 " Wee observe w* you write concerning Cap* Burgees whose charges 
 wee would have drawne up and deliver him, requireing his answer in 
 writing thereunto, w* if he deliver in lett be sent up to us ; togeather 
 •vyth yo' opinions in y^ case, y* we may pass a definitive sentence therein, 
 and as to ye Marsh" Pett"^ resume his case and lett him rec® such 
 punish"** as you shall thinke fitting to inflict on him." f 
 
 But, after making all this fuss, the disrespectful Captain was 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. pp. 62-63. f Ibid. p. 64. 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 247 
 
 pardoned, as is apparent from an entry in a letter from Surat 
 to Bombay, dated August 29, 1672 : 
 
 " When Cap* Burges arrives, wee shall put him in command of the 
 Ffriggott : since you have upon his submission thought him worthy of 
 y^ charge : wee know him able and suffitient for it, and hope his future 
 comport"^* to his superiours will be such as may meritt their counte- 
 nance." * 
 
 In this connection we hear of one Captain Shaxton, who had 
 the command of the watch when the order regarding his unruly 
 brother officer was put into execution. Shaxton must have been 
 an ofi&cer of some repute, for in the provisional list of members 
 of the Bombay Council which Aungier was obliged to send to 
 his Deputy, as he was himself unable to go to Bombay, we find 
 his name next to the Deputy-Governor's. But a couple of years 
 after this Shaxton fell under the ban of Government on a charge 
 similar to the one from which Burgess escaped so narrowly. 
 He was, as we have noted elsewhere, accused of abetting mutinous 
 soldiers, and was placed in confinement. 
 
 " For whose trial," says Fryer, " after a long endeavour to bring him 
 to acknowledgment, was erected a select Court of Judicature, and an 
 attorney ordered to impeach him, who, with some borrowed rhetorick, 
 endeavoured to make him appear a second Catiline ; but he cleared 
 himself so handsomely of all objections that they had no more to answer 
 than that it should be referred to the Company before whom he must 
 personally appear, and therefore was ordered home, but died during his 
 voyage." f 
 
 It is interesting to note that there was an attorney even when 
 Dr. Fryer was in Bombay, but the probability is that he was an 
 attorney not by profession, but through necessity, and the fact 
 that he tried to impeach Shaxton with some " borrowed rhetorick " 
 — and that too without success — supports this conjecture. In 
 1675 a duel appears to have been fought between Captain Minchin 
 and a Mr. Horingold in Bombay — the result of hard drinking. 
 Both the combatants were men of some status at the time, and 
 President Aungier would have punished them severely but for the 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 68. 
 t East Indies and Persia, p. 121. 
 
248 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 intercession of influential friends. This is how he notices the 
 affair in a letter from Swally Marine dated January 24, 1675-76 : 
 
 " Wee observe w' you write in y'^^ l.re and Consultation touching ye 
 quarrell and duell fought between Cap* Minchin and Mr. Horingold, w*^^ 
 is y^ usuall effect of y' accursed Bombay Punch, to ye shame, scandall 
 and ruine of o' nation and reUgion. Wee thought Mr. Horingold and 
 Cap* Minchin had been persons of a more sober and regular conversa- 
 tion ; and y* they had more regard to ye CompJ'^ authority, y^ ob- 
 servation of y^ lawes and Govern'"*, and to their owne reputation then 
 to rend"^ themselves soe scandalous as they have done, first in be- 
 sotting y'^selves with drunkenness, and afterwards in breaking y^ 
 lawes. Wee doe very well approve of w* you have done in suspending 
 y^ from their offices and confining y'", and doe discommend y^ rediculous 
 policy of y* Gentleman who was of y® contrary opinion ; and wee doe 
 req* you hereafter to be very strict and severe in y^ execution of y^ 
 Compos lawes without respect of persons w*soever. Wee had resolved 
 as a just punish"** for their offence not only to have continued y® sus- 
 pension of y^ said criminalls from their offices, but alsoe to have ex- 
 pressed further demonstration of o*^ just displeasure against y"" ; but you 
 having interceded soe much in their behalves, all y® Commanders of ye 
 Europe Shipping alsoe having become their mediators, and they also 
 having expressed a sence of their ffault, and promising never to be guilty 
 of y^ like againe, not having knowne y*" formerly subject to such irregu- 
 larities, wee doe think good to restore y"* againe to their places ; only for 
 their better remembrance sake wee doe req"^ y* they be fined 50 Xera- 
 phins a peece towards y^ building y« new Hospitall w^^ we require you to 
 see performed." '- 
 
 Twenty-five years after, another duel was fought between 
 Messrs. Enoch Walsh and Ralph Hartley. Both of them were 
 known to be desperate characters, the former being notorious for 
 idleness, heavily involved in debt, and generally of dissolute 
 habits, whilst the latter was afterwards found to be concerned in 
 some fraud. It was evidently no Frenchman's duel, for Hartley 
 was severely wounded, and it was at first feared that his injury 
 would prove fatal, though he eventually recovered.! What sort 
 of punishment was awarded to these culprits, we have no means 
 of ascertaining. It is not improbable that they escaped un- 
 punished, for the doors of the Court of Judicature at Bombay had 
 not then been reopened. In the letter in which Aungier refers 
 to the duel between Minchin and Horingold, reference is also 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 79. 
 
 t The English in Western India, p. 160. 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 249 
 
 made to the conduct of one Mr. Stephen Vatick, who was found 
 guilty of disclosing official secrets. 
 
 "Wee doe much resent," the Governor wrote, "y^fifbolish imprudent 
 proceeding of Mr. Stephen Vatick in discovering y^ secrets of y® 
 Councell in declaring y® sence of any member thereof in cases of 
 justice ; wherein he hath discovered himselfe to be of a nature either 
 ill-disposed, or uncapable of soe weighty charge, wee doe in y® Comp*^ 
 name severely check him for it and req' him to forbeare such practices 
 as he values his owne Hon°' and his future good." * 
 
 We are rather surprised at the leniency with which Vatick 
 was treated for so serious an offence, but we dare say he grew 
 wiser after Aungier's significant hint. We have not yet done 
 with the above letter, for it refers to another matter which bears 
 fresh testimony to Aungier's love of justice and his respect for 
 law. Two of the factors in Bombay were found to be misbehaving 
 and quarrelling with each other. The matter having been 
 reported to the President, he wrote as follows : 
 
 " As to the quarrelle between May and Wrightington wee shall let y"* 
 both know o"^ sence of their Eashness and Imprudence ; let them beware 
 how they give us such another occasion of offence ; but as to their 
 Proceedings at Law wee doe not thinke good to stopp y® course of 
 Justice upon an idle suggestion of y® Judges PartiaHty whome wee have 
 a better opinion off y° to thinke he will fiforfeit his creditt, and it may 
 be his office also, by an unjustifiable sentence. The Commd" of ships as 
 well as all others ought to be subject to Law, in case of Justice and 
 Common Eight, nor are they more free from arrests y° any others ; but 
 if you find y"^ prosecuted on triviall causes by vexatious suites at their 
 departure, w*''^ may tend to the loss and hindrance of their voyage, and 
 loss and prejudice to y® Hono^^^ Company, you ought not to admitt of 
 such proceedings, and y® officers off y^ Court to forbeare prosecuting y" 
 tiU their returne, and y° they may^take their course at last." f 
 
 Aungier must have been kept fairly busy with the complaints 
 which the heads of the various factories in India and elsewhere 
 submitted to him regarding the misconduct of their subordinates. 
 The English had a factory in Persia when Aungier was 
 President at Surat. The Chief of this factory had to complain 
 about the behaviour of two young factors. Aungier sent a reply 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 79. f Ibid. 
 
250 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 from Swally Marine, dated April 7, 1676, to his " Honored 
 Ffreinds " in Persia, to the following effect: 
 
 " Wee observe what you write touching y^ very imprudent carriage 
 of Mr. Johnson and Ffeild w*=^ tended soe much to y^ prejudice of y® 
 Hono^^^ Company and Nation, touching w''^' wee called y™ here to a 
 severe examination, before the Commanders of y® Hono^'^ Comp*^ ships 
 and others, and caused Cap* Clarke, Mr. Limbery, &ca., Enghshmen, to 
 deliver their depositions on oath. But they declaring their ignorance 
 thereof as to their own knowledge, and saying they only heard it from 
 you, and you also not sending us any other attestations of y® EngUsh 
 there with you y' were of any weight, and Johnson and Ffeild utterly 
 disavowing whatever you alleged against them, wee durst not under- 
 take any rigorous proceedings against y™ without sufficient evidence, 
 but have referred the case home to y^ Company to whome wee have 
 sent y"^ charge together with their answerr, and y® depositions taken, 
 coppies whereof wee herewith send you, and wee desire that you employ 
 y""^ utmost power and authority to forbid such naughty i practices in y® 
 future, for they are of dangerous consequence and ill-practice and may 
 sometimes tend to y^ utter losse of o' priviledges in y* Port." * 
 
 In 1672, as we have already seen, the attitude of the military 
 in Bombay was far from pacific. The officers were in a sullen 
 mood and the temper of the men was decidedly hostile. Under 
 the circumstances, it is not surprising to find the following 
 injunction in the letter dated May 6, 1672 : 
 
 " For the try all of those notorious mutiners y* tore y® Proclamation 
 and opposed y® execution of justice on y^ wench you caused to be 
 shaved and sett on an ass, ,lett a Jury be empannalled, whom if they 
 finde guilty of mutiny, lett them be sentenced, condemned, and executed 
 according to y® 3d. Article of y^ Hon^^® Comp** lawes for y^ preservation 
 of y® peace and suppressing of mutiny, sedition and Rebellion." f 
 
 What an atrocious crime that unfortunate woman must have 
 committed to deserve the punishment of being shaved and set on 
 an ass! It illustrates the barbarous character of criminal 
 justice in those days. A similar offence was committed in 
 Bombay in 1701, for we find the following entry in a letter to 
 Lieutenant William Shaw : 
 
 " Wee are sorry to understand that there should be any person on this 
 Island so disrespectfull to Government as to tear our Proclamation, but 
 
 * Forrest's Selections^ i. p. 87. f Ibid. p. 64. 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 251 
 
 since there is and that so high a misdemeanour may (if possible) be 
 duely rewarded, wee would have you give publick notice that any 
 person that shall discover the said offender to you shall be liberally 
 rewarded for his paines." * 
 
 There must have been several courts martial held in Bombay 
 in those days, one of them having 'assembled in 1677. The 
 circumstances of the case were most extraordinary, and are 
 described at some length in a letter from the Bombay 
 Council dated April 10, 1677. Its first paragraph runs as 
 follows : 
 
 " Wee had lately an unfortunate accident befallen us, and yet wee 
 have reason to bles God for his deliverance of us from a greater 
 mischief. It was thus : Ye Storekeeper as accustomary had sent up 
 some powder to dry upon y^ North East Bastian. It was about 
 2 o'clock in y® after noon w° one of our Corpor"^ by name Stanton took 
 an old bandaher and filled it w*^ wild fire, intending to ty it to a dogs 
 tail then in the guard, and coming to the gate, the dog being not in the 
 way^ he took y® bandalier, there being a string tied to it, and flung it 
 towards the Judges old house, but y® wind being very strong it blew 
 upon y^ Bastian and fired all the powder, which was 35 barreUs all 
 English. There was 8 Coolys tending it, and one centry who were all 
 burnt to death, whereof 6 blown into y® ditch and the Parade, and some 
 limbs blown over ye ffort. The blow was so great, much of y® powder, 
 it being in a heap together, that it blew open all the doors of the 
 magazines in y® ffort though well locked ; nay, blew open y® doors of the 
 rooms under the second lodgings, and made most part of the town shake. 
 It sunck y^ Tarras, a small matter of the bastian, but has done y® arch 
 imderneath no damage. Wee had this day a Councell of war upon the 
 Corporall, and haveing examined all witnesses and circumstances, there 
 severall that saw him make the fuse and fling it, wee could not find him 
 guilty of any wilfull treacherous designe, but considering he was an 
 officer into whose hands our lives are all sometimes intrusted to be so 
 wretchedly careles, he being but a little before come of the bastian 
 himselfe, we cashiered him from ever more bearing arms, and to run the 
 gantlet three times, for an example to all." f 
 
 When a sentence of death was passed on a soldier by a 
 court martial, a warrant was issued to the officer commanding 
 the forces for its execution. A court martial was held in Surat 
 at the end of 1769, when Augustine Bully, a private soldier, 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 167. t I^icl. p. 131. 
 
252 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 was accused of desertion and sentenced to death. The warrant 
 issued to Captain Louis D'Gloss ran as follows : 
 
 " By virtue of a power given us by the Hon'''® Rich'* Bourchier, Esqr., 
 President and Go"^ &ca., Council on Bombay for putting in execution 
 the sentence of a Gen' Court Martial upon Augustine Bully, who having 
 been tried at Bombay agreable to the Articles of War was found guilty 
 of desertion and sentenced to be shot to death by a Platoon of soldiers. 
 This is therefore to will and impower you to put the said sentence in 
 execution in the most publick manner on Fryday next, the twenty-first 
 instant, between the hours of nine in the forenoon and three in the after- 
 noon of that day, for which this shall be to you and all others whom it 
 may concern a sufiBcient warrant. Given under our hands and seals in 
 Surat this eighteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one 
 thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine, and in the thirty-third year of 
 His Majesty's reign." -<' 
 
 We have said elsewhere that the factors were not too particular 
 in the observance of even the most essential forms of the law. 
 There was certainly no lack of promptitude in their method, 
 but such promptitude often defeated the ends of justice. Hamil- 
 ton says that in 1686 Sir John Weyburn was specially sent out 
 from England with a commission of Judge-Admiral from the 
 King to condemn and hang thirteen of the inhabitants of 
 St. Helena, where, in a tumult caused by the oppressions of 
 the Governor of that island, one Johnson was killed. 
 
 " Sir John Weyburn," he adds, " took his passage to India on board 
 the ship London, and in his way, called at St. Helena, and hanged up 
 the 13 proscribed persons without form of process, for which the Com- 
 pany paid dear afterwards, and so had Sir John, had he lived." f 
 
 Soon after coming to Bombay, Sir John passed away, to 
 answer for this summary execution at a tribunal far above 
 all earthly courts. The punishment awarded in some cases 
 was not only severe, but strikes us to-day as somewhat 
 fantastic. For instance, when in 1686 the mate and gunner 
 of a ship were tried and found guilty of disorderly conduct, 
 they were sentenced to a singular punishment — " sending 
 through the fleet." They were taken from ship to ship, and 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 326. 
 
 t A New Account of the East Indies, p. 225. 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 253 
 
 on each they received ten lashes. On their own ship they 
 received twenty lashes. They were then taken ashore, and 
 after the infliction of ten more lashes under the wall of the 
 port, were discharged. For the sake of the unfortunate mate 
 and gunner, let us hope there were not over many ships in the 
 harbour of Bombay in 1686 ! 
 
 The preponderance of criminal matters over civil in the pro- 
 ceedings of the Bombay and Surat Councils in the seventeenth 
 and eighteenth centuries is significant, though not surprising. 
 As has been already observed, the factors were more busy in- 
 vestigating offences and awarding punishment than deciding 
 suits and assessing damages. Disputes were generally com- 
 promised out of court or left to the judgment of arbitrators. It 
 is but seldom that we come across entries like the following : 
 " The coppie of Mr. Grays last Will and Testament wee have 
 caused to be registered in y® Court. Herewith send 3 copies w*^ 
 y'' seale of the Court annexed to y™, y® charges of y® Court the 
 Depy Gov'^ will satisfie." * Or, as in a letter bearing date 
 August 13, 1686 ; 
 
 " Enclosed send yo'^ Exc^ &ca. an attestation made by Mr. Hayes 
 attorney for Cap* Adderton deceased. It appearing y* y® papers relate- 
 ing to him and Mrs. Bentam was seized by Keigwin &ca. w*'^ Cap* Adder- 
 ton in his life time declared never to have re*^** back againe, and there being 
 none here y' can give any further light into y^ mat*', therefore y^ Execu**" 
 of y® said Cap* Adderton humbly desires y* yo' Exc^ &ca would be pleased 
 to order her to make oath according to y^ decree here, upon w^^ y^ money 
 shall be paid, in regard there is other acco**^ depending betwixt them." f 
 
 As to the taking of oath, we find the Bombay Council deploring 
 the absence of a person qualified to administer the proper oath 
 to the Deputy- Governor. 
 
 " The prsent Dep* Gov'," they wrote, " sayth y* after he re*'^ his 
 Commission from yo' Rt. Hono''^^ Comp* he tooke y^ Sacra™* Oaths of 
 Alleig* and Supremisy and Test, and since he came here he hath taken 
 y« Sacra™* and is ready to take y® Oath as D. G., when the method of y* 
 oath is known, there being none to be found here, pr.sumeing it may 
 be imbezled along w*^ sever" other bookes and papers in y® time of y® 
 Revolution." 
 
 * Forrest's SeleeUonSy i. p. 131. t ^bid. p. 143. 
 
254 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Here is another little bit which makes mention of Dr. St. 
 John and the Admiralty Court : 
 
 " The Arrab Merch" who bought y® Prosperous haveing made applica- 
 tion to us for a biU of sale and y^ said shipp being first sold by Dr. St. 
 John in y° Court of Admiralty y*^ proper right and title doth proceed 
 from thence, for Mad* Niccolls can give none, her husband never haveing 
 re^** possession ; therefore wee desire y* some Instrument may be sent to 
 intitle him thereunto." 
 
 We have already referred to the curious statute law of Bom- 
 bay, which declared the marriage of a European minor, performed 
 without the prior sanction of the Governor, null and void, and 
 the application of which reflected discredit on the otherwise 
 excellent character of Sir John Gayer. There is another 
 instance in which an unwary individual made himself liable for 
 the debts of a deceased person by marrying his widow. The 
 following passage occurs in a letter from the Bombay Council to 
 the Company dated December 29, 1686 : 
 
 " Yo' Honors have writt to his Ex'^y and Councill to permitt one Mr. 
 John Broxolme to returne to his native country, having some estate 
 fallen to him. Now during y® time of his being on this Island he has 
 entered into y^ marriage Covenants w*^ y® widdow of one Thomas Bygott, 
 by w°^ means he became lyable to pay y® Debts of the said Bygott, and 
 wee finding him to stand indebted to yo"^ Honors y^ sume of Xs.380 and 
 in sterling mony at d628 lOs. for which sume wee have here enclosed his 
 bond, made payable to yo' Hono"^ w<=^ hope will be punctually complied 
 with."* 
 
 One cannot help feeling some sympathy for John Broxolme ! 
 The Judge himself came to grief by marrying a widow, though 
 he seems to have repudiated his liability to pay the debts of the 
 lady's former husband. The matter is referred to in an interest- 
 ing letter dated March 8, 1676, as follows : 
 
 " Mr. Child yesterday came to us, and desired justice of us in a case of 
 a debt which he pretends y^ Judge owes him, and refuses payment. The 
 debt is said for mony rec'' of Mr. Rich** Francis deceased by Mr. Ball 
 deceased, which mony Mr. Child being impowered by the administratours 
 of the Mr. Francis as their attorney, demands of y® Judge as Executour 
 of Mr. Ball's will by virtu of the marriage between y^ Judge and Mr. 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 14=9. 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 255 
 
 Ball's widdow. Mr. Child did wholly refer himselfe to us, but the Judge 
 it seems mistrusting our integrity and justice, that wee would either give 
 a partiall sentence or else take upon us to decide controversies not under 
 our authority to determine, under w*^^ notion he pretended his case was, 
 did appeal to a higher power, though wee had thought our carriage hither- 
 to, both to y^ world and him, might have been a sufficient motive to 
 induce him to believe us not so unjust as to take upon us to give sentence 
 in matters above our power, or given to partiallity. However, wee well 
 knowing y® Judge to be but an officer under o"^ power, and subject to o"^ 
 determinations, should have proceeded to have given verdict according 
 to o"^ consciences, but considering Mr. Child was one of yo"^ Hono"^^ &ca 
 Grand Councell and not sent hither to reside and assist us here, who 
 though subject to y^ laws of England of whom wee are immediate Judges 
 on y® Island, yet not subject to y^ necessary processes of law of any in- 
 feriour Court to yo"^ Hon &ca Councells : and w*^out due and legall pro- 
 ceeding w* desition can be made ; y° consequently not in o"^ power to 
 doe him justice in y' case, so have referred y"* to yo"^ Hono"^ &ca to make 
 their severall applications as they shall think best." '" 
 
 We do not know how this matter was decided by the Presi- 
 dent, and whether the Judge was called upon to pay the penalty 
 of marrying a widow whose former husband left liabilities 
 undischarged. 
 
 It has been observed more than once that the English were 
 never very friendly in their relations with the Portuguese. 
 Almost from the day they landed in Bombay disputes arose 
 regarding the possession of certain valuable properties which the 
 Jesuits refused to part with. In 1671, they demanded the 
 warehouse which the English had occupied, but the latter gave 
 them clearly to understand that they would not surrender any 
 ground or house until they had heard from the authorities at 
 home. When the Commissioners were appointed by Gerald 
 Aungier to settle these disputes, the Jesuits refused to abide by 
 their award. This is proved by the following entry in one of 
 the early letters : 
 
 " What we wrott concerning the Jesuits pretences we still confirme, 
 and cannot allow of the delivering up their houses untill further order 
 from England. What was surrendered up to other people was on 
 examination and due probation of their titles by the Comss" authorised 
 to y* purpose, but they refusing to appear before them protesting and 
 appealing home to the Honn''^® Comp* for justice, we cannot determine 
 or make any end w*^ busines. Seeing the first Comission is fallen by 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 126. 
 
256 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 reason of the death and departure of the Comm" nominated, wee shall 
 not trouble ourselves to erect any other Commission to humour the 
 Padrees unreasonable and subtle designes." - 
 
 However, the English did not attempt to deprive the Portu- 
 guese of any just rights that they could establish. 
 
 " For y^ thorough ending of y« Jesuits and other pretenders affaires," 
 they again wrote a year after, " wee have drawne up another Commission 
 and appointed new Comissio"^^ (some whereof are in Surat and suddainly 
 shall be dispeeded towards you) in ord^' to y^ due administration of 
 impartial justice between y^ Honb^® Comp* and y^ sev" pretend*^^ to y® 
 seized lands." f 
 
 We come across several other similar entries in the early 
 letters, which show that these disputes must have continued 
 long. Here is one, for instance, from a letter written by the 
 Surat Council to Bombay, dated December 18, 1675 : 
 
 "Wee herew''* send you y« Hon*^« Comp"^" Directions touching your 
 regular and legall proceeding in y^ lands and estates belonging to Alvaro 
 Pires de Tavora, and req*^ you to performe y^ same accordingly, except 
 you have reasons sufficient prompting you to y^ contrary, w°^ wee would 
 have you well consider with y® Judge before you begin, and advise us his 
 opinion ; and in regard there are sev" pretenders to some p*® and stipends 
 out of said estate, viz* Christovar de Souza, and others who have been 
 with us to demand their right, wee would have you cause strict examina- 
 tion to be had of their respective titles, and let y™ be proved in y® 
 Comp*^ Court of Judicature in a legall way, and y" see if you doe y™ all 
 justice and allow to each person w* of right belongs to y*" reserving to y® 
 Companys use w* onely belongs to y^ criminall Alvaro Pires De Tavora, 
 in w*'^ be carefuU y* you be not abused by y^ false suggestions and 
 pretences of y® sev" claimers, but as you are to do y^ right and justice, 
 soe be circumspect y* they doe y^ Company noe wrong." J 
 
 A somewhat similar entry appears in a letter dated August 13, 
 1686: 
 
 "As to y® Padres of Bandora and others y* belong to y*^ Portugal! 
 nation," it runs, " notice is given to y® Chiefe Justice, who will take care 
 that noe such estates be any ways alienated ; but it will be off ill con- 
 sequence, for if y® inhabitants of this Island be hindred from attaching 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 58. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 69. } Ibid. pp. 74-75. 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 257 
 
 one anothers estates, they will never pay their debts and one will starve 
 y^ other ; therefore pray y""^ further directions as to y« inhabitants of y® 
 Island, who are most under y^ nomination as Portugueeze. As to y^ 
 damages sustained by y« Portugueeze in o"^ time wee shall take care to 
 give y""^ Ex«y &ca Acco", but as for y^ time past all y* we can find are in 
 y^ Gene" Bookes w'^'^ are att Suratt, and if after a further examination 
 wee find anything material shall advise you thereof." * 
 
 The Padres used to give the English much trouble, not only 
 by their licentiousness, but by their attempts to defraud the 
 revenue. In 1686 even the Padre Superior of Bandora was 
 detected in manufacturing salt by stealth and making money by 
 this questionable device. The Bombay Council lodged a com- 
 plaint against him in the following words : 
 
 " The Padre Superior of Bandora in y« time of Mr. Wards being Dep* 
 Gov' did make a salt pond out of a fifishing ware called ' Koule ' between 
 Sion and Martinga ; and y^ Corumbeens and Mattreis of Sion, Mahim, 
 Darave, and Martinga, say belongs to ye Kt. Honble Comp*, and ye ffish 
 was sent to ye Dep* Gov"^, and y* it was accustomary for the Dep* Gov' 
 to goe and ffish there 2 or 3 times a yeare, and Lewis Cuzado did pay a 
 fellow to looke after it. Upon information whereof there was an action 
 entered against y^ Padre, but he refuseth to appeare in Court, and can 
 show noe ord' from Mr. Ward nor none else for said doeing, and we are 
 informed it has yielded 20 Fissales of salt p. annum for these 2 years 
 past."t 
 
 If the Portuguese had confined their malpractices to a little 
 salt scraping, all would have been well with them. But their 
 guilt was of a deeper dye, for they did not stop short at shedding 
 human blood, as is evident from the following entry in a letter 
 from Surat to Bombay, dated March 27, 1676 : 
 
 "Wee are sorry for the death of Serg* -Southerland, inhumanly 
 murthered by the Portuguese in cold blood in their owne countryes. 
 Wee require you still to demand satisfaction and Justice for the sayd 
 murther, and send word to the Padre Superiour of the CoUedge of 
 Bandora that seeing the said murther was committed in their Jurisdiction 
 we expect Justice from them, for such bloody violencyes cannot be put 
 up without satisfaction." | 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 144. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 143. \ Ibid. p. 85. 
 
 17 
 
258 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 The Padres were more than once found guilty of being 
 treasonous, and were packed off the island bag and baggage. 
 Even in the famous trial of Rama Kamati, of which we shall speak 
 at some length in a later chapter, their misconduct was brought 
 to light and they had to pay dearly for it. Another cause of 
 friction between the English and the Portuguese was the excessive 
 zeal the latter betrayed in the propagation of their faith. The 
 native fell an easy victim to their proselytism, but they dared 
 not approach the English, and when they did, the result almost 
 invariably proved disastrous to them. For instance, when in 
 1686, Lieut. Finch, son of Sir Heneage Finch, Attorney- General 
 and Lord Keeper in the reign of James II., and brother of the 
 Earl of Winchelsea, embraced the Roman Catholic faith soon 
 after his arrival in Bombay, the conduct of the Portuguese was 
 regarded as highly suspicious. 
 
 " The circumstance," writes Anderson, " was thought to call for the 
 interference of Government. And the Deputy- Governor seized gladly the 
 opportunity of showing that he had once mixed in high society, by stating 
 to his Council that having known Finch's Eight Honorable father, and his 
 no less Right Honorable brother, he could assure them that both were 
 steady members of the Church of England. The Council came to the 
 resolution that they would not suffer Lieut. Finch to perform any military 
 duty, for they would not give the charge of the garrison into a man's 
 hands of the Romish religion."* 
 
 But the conversion of the next year created still greater 
 sensation in Bombay, and gave rise to all sorts of rumours. 
 Indeed, Government were so alarmed at the prospect of their 
 Protestant servants being reconciled to the Roman Church that 
 they resolved upon enforcing against the offenders the penal 
 statute, 23rd Elizabeth, cap. 1. In this instance, a Portuguese 
 priest, by name John de Gloria, is said to have clandestinely 
 baptized one Nathaneal, son of Lieut. Thorpe, deceased. The 
 over-zealous priest was arrested on a charge of high treason 
 and tried before Mr. Justice Vaux, who had him confined in the 
 common jail. The letter which the Bombay Council wrote, 
 apprising the President of this extraordinary occurrence, is well 
 worth reproducing here. It runs as follows : 
 
 * The English in Western India, p. 133. 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 259 
 
 " May it please your Excell°y and Councill, 
 
 " Since our last here has happened a business of very ill consequence ; 
 y^ Portugueze Padree of Bombay, by name Ffrea J"" De Gloria, did in 
 his own Parrish Church christen or receive into y® society of y^ Eomish 
 religion, one Nathanaell Thorpe, sone to Lieut. Thorpe deceased, and y« 
 Padree of his own accord came to y^ Deputy-Governour to beg his pardon 
 for makeing a Eoman Catholick Christian, but with all confessed that y® 
 said Thorpe did come to him to be made a Christian severall times before 
 he did it, and upon heareing y^ same y^ said Thorpe was apprehended by 
 y^ Deputy-Governour and brought to examination, confessed y* y^ said 
 Padree did tell him it was much better for y® good of his soule to live in 
 y^ Koman Catholick religion y° to live in y^ English Church w*^ many 
 other circumstances and arguments to draw him from his natural! 
 obedience to his King and religion brought up in, which by severall 
 statutes is made high treason, viz* y^ 23rd yeare of Eliz*^ and y® first 
 Chapter, y^ 3d of James and Chapter y® 4th largely treats of y® same, 
 and many more layes down y^ hainousness of y® crime and by all judged 
 high treason for any one to perswade or withdraw any subject from their 
 obedience to y^ King, or to reconcile them to y^ Pope, or to draw them to 
 y^ Romish religion for y* intent, or move y"* to promise obedience to any 
 other State or procure Councill or aid them that doe is Treason. Now 
 may it please your Ex^y &ca, this being a weighty thing to be considered 
 and much more to be suffered, have legally apprehended y« said Padree 
 and is now in save custody untill your Ex^'y^ &ca further orders about him. 
 We presume your Ex<=y &ca. will have y® matter stated according to y® 
 Cannons of our Church by our Padrees here and remitt y^ same by this 
 conveniency. The Padree was committed prisoner to y^ County Goale 
 in y® Bazzar by Judg Vaulk on y® 11th instant andlayd in y^ room where 
 Mr. Thornburne was, and yesterday by y^ earnest intercession of y« 
 Padree of Mahim and a strange Padree y® Deputy-Governour Mr. Stanly 
 and Mr. Jessop ordered him to be removed from y® Common Goale to 
 his own Parrish Church of Bombay, where he is confined with a guard 
 over him to see that he does not escape nor act in y® Church untill your 
 Excellencies pleasure be known what shall be done in this matter ; w*^^ 
 with presentation of our most humble service we rest 
 
 " Your Excy« Most Humble Servants, 
 
 "John Wyboenb. 
 
 "JOHNB VaUXE. 
 
 "EicHARD Stanley. 
 " Bombay, A:pril IBth, 1687." * 
 
 This chapter must be brought to a close, for we have now 
 exhausted almost all the available sources of our informa- 
 tion. We wish we could add a few more extracts from the 
 two volumes of Forrest's Selections, but even that almost 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. pp. 167-158. 
 
260 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 inexhaustible mine will yield no more treasure. There is, 
 however, one long letter which we are tempted to quote, 
 though it does not relate to the island of Bombay, nor does 
 it throw any more light on the administration of justice by 
 the English during the early part of their career in India. But 
 it shows that there was at least one man among the factors, 
 all of them ignorant alike of the laws of their country and of 
 procedure, who was apparently well acquainted, not only with 
 the statute laws of England, but also with the laws of Oleron, 
 particularly those of Oleron, Wisby, and the Hans towns, 
 as well as with Jure Maritime and Lex Mercatoria. This 
 remarkable individual was one John Leckie, who was serving 
 at the time as surgeon on board an East Indiaman commanded 
 by Captain Edgecombe. It appears that the commander was 
 a man possessed of a very violent temper, and had brutally 
 maltreated the unfortunate surgeon, falsely accusing him of 
 very grave charges and inflicting heavy punishment on him, 
 without even the semblance of a trial or any tangible proof 
 of his guilt. The surgeon's letter was drawn up in the form 
 of a complaint, wherein he enumerated all the charges brought 
 against and the sentences passed on him without any regard 
 to law or justice, at the same time calling upon the Captain 
 to vindicate his conduct in the matter. So serious were the 
 charges, and the punishment inflicted was so cruel, that we 
 might be accused of exaggeration if we omitted to quote the 
 actual contents of this letter. It is dated August 24, 1695, 
 and is addressed to Captain Edgecombe from Gombroon. It 
 opens rather abruptly, as follows: 
 
 " The many abuses I have re*^'' from you, with your unjust, illegall and 
 arbitrary proceedings against me by a pretended power as Cap* of an 
 East India ship, hath made me assume the liberty to informe you that 
 your beating me w*'^ your cutlass at Mohilla upon the 15th March, with 
 your beating and wounding me of 19th June, as also beating my servant 
 and barber the same day without any crime, and your making me fast in 
 order to duck me upon the 21st June, which is the next punishment unto 
 death and not to be inflicted without martiall law, after a suffi*'* trial! 
 and proof of being guilty of some notorious crime ; but your accusation 
 proveing false both before your ofi&cers and men rendered the ducking 
 odious to them, in so much that they would not obey you notwithstanding 
 your cutlass and threatning, knowing innosence and your justice; your 
 sending your steward to your Cooke, with your order not to let the barber 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 261 
 
 or my servant come into the cook roome, and if they come, to take notice 
 that they should not throw any of my powders amongst your victualls ; 
 for you did beUeve yourself poysoned or had gotten a dose already in 
 your water gruell, because for the four days past you was not well nor 
 could not eat : your detaining me as a prisoner on board without letting 
 me know the cause ; your keeping and detaining three pints of Cordiall 
 waters on board belonging to me, w''^* I had presented to Mr. Popham in 
 a small case of his ; your hindering me from sending some goods ashoar 
 which I had the Companies liberty for ; your denying severall other 
 priviledges that are due to me as Chirurgeon ; your threatening me with 
 the law of Olerone, which I presume you have forgotten, or else would 
 not have exceeded them so often as you have done this voyage. S^, you 
 may impose upon some of your officers and sailors who doe not understand 
 them laws ; but know that I have read all the marine laws in practice, and 
 p.ticularly those of Olerone Wisby and the Hans townes ; with the statute 
 laws appointed by King Charles the Second for the regulateing the Navy 
 Eoyall, with Jure Maritime and Lex Mercatoria relateing to marine laws ; 
 and have read some of the common and statute laws of England ; as also 
 of the civill laws upon which both the other depends, and am sensible 
 that your proceedings with me and some others on board are illegal and 
 without a precedent, for no man by the law of Olerone is to be beaten for 
 lyeing on shoar ; but his wages are to be deducted for the time, and what 
 damages are sustained by his absence, he is to make good ; neither is any 
 man obliged to receive from a Master of a merchant ship any more than 
 one blow and retire, if the Master p.sue him he has liberty to defend 
 himself; all Commission relateing to martiall or marine laws without' 
 instructions are void, and all Commissions relateing to marine affairs 
 which are not from the Commissioners of the Admiralty are void by a 
 grant from their Majesties to them, dureing his Majesties continueing 
 them in their office. As for a pretended or assumed power as Cap* of an 
 East India man, it is both illegall and arbitrary, and a master of a Collier 
 of 50 tons to Newcastle may assume the same power as legally as an 
 East India man. All this I have concealed hitherto (notwithstanding 
 the just provocations I have had from you to doe otherwise and shall for 
 some time still doe the same) both from your officers and sailors lest it 
 should lessen your and your officers command over your sailors." '^' 
 
 This will be a convenient place to stop and ponder over 
 the contents of the letter. "Chirurgeon" Leckie must have 
 been possessed of wonderful patience to have suffered so much 
 and so long at the hands of a cruel and arbitrary commander. 
 Captain Edgecombe seems to have done everything in his 
 power — and much more that was beyond his legal powers — 
 to make the life of the unfortunate surgeon miserable, and 
 
 * Forrest's Selections, i. p. 165. 
 
262 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 almost unbearable, during the voyage. Great as is our 
 sympathy for the man, our admiration for the knowledge he 
 displays of almost all the laws then in force is greater still. 
 He lays particular stress on the laws of Oleron, which, it 
 may be noted, were a collection of customs of the sea, and 
 are said to have been put into the form of a Code under 
 the Dukes of Guyenne as early as the twelfth century.* 
 They gradually won their way to general acceptance as the 
 sea-laws of France and England, and indeed of the North Sea 
 and the Atlantic! Originally framed in Normandy and 
 Brittany as the customs of particular ports, they were 
 recognised in England early in the fourteenth century. Some 
 of these laws, which were written in Gascon, are very curious, 
 and we believe it was Lord Esher who once protested against 
 being asked to attach any authority whatever to a body of 
 law which contained a provision such as the following: "It 
 is established for a costume of the sea that, if a ship is lost 
 by default of the pilot, the mariners, if they please, bring 
 the pilot to the windlass or any other place and cut off his 
 head"; but, adds one authority, "they ought first to know 
 before they do it, if he be able to make amends." It may, 
 however, be observed that this formed no part of the general 
 costumal, but was a special decision in England (temp. King 
 John?). The laws derived their name from Oleron, an island 
 on the west coast of France, and the favourite residence of 
 the Dukes of Aquitaine (once Kings of England). Cleriac 
 attributes their compilation to the astute and able Eleanor 
 of Aquitaine, mother of Kichard I., who, he tells us, drew 
 them up on her return from the Holy Land. Pardessus 
 thought that the costumal had no special connection with 
 Oleron, but Twiss, with fuller information, holds the contrary 
 opinion. It may be added that, according to some, the Baltic 
 " Laws of Wisby " are the foundation of the Oleron costumal, 
 though Twiss says that the oldest MS. of any sea-laws to be 
 
 * EncyclopcBdia of the Laws of England, ix. p. 290. 
 
 t The Black Book of the Admiralty, ii. p. xlvii, by Sir Travers Twiss. 
 The "Black Book," edited by Twiss, was a reconstruction from the various 
 manuscript fragments (in possession of the British Museum) of the substance 
 of that unique source of medisBval maritime law, then supposed to be irre- 
 trievably lost, of which his researches led to the recovery {Diet, of Nat. 
 Biography, Ivii. p. 394). 
 
THE WORKING OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS 263 
 
 found are the two MSS. preserved at the London Guildhall, 
 containing the "Judgments of the Sea," which are practically 
 identical with the laws of Oleron. " Chirurgeon " Leckie 
 also refers to the laws of the Hans towns. The Hanseatic 
 laws of the sea were collected into a Code in 1591 and 
 revised in 1614. They were, according to Reddie, the best 
 digested collection of the rules of private law affecting mari- 
 time commerce.* But this is a digression, though we think 
 it will afford the reader some relief from the harrowing 
 contents of Leckie 's letter. After having enumerated the 
 charges, Leckie proceeded to mention some of his past 
 services, put forward certain facts in proof of his innocence, 
 and boldly challenged Captain Edgecombe to prove that he 
 was a rogue. But we must let the surgeon continue in his 
 own quaint style. 
 
 " S"^," he goes on, "I have served their Majesties in three severall of 
 their capitall ships as Master Chirurgeon. I have served them also 
 as principall Surgeon to their hospitall at Plymoth and Surrey or over 
 all surgeons of the western ports of England, and likewise I have served 
 as Chirurgeon Generall of their Majesties hospitalls in Flanders, and 
 since as Chirurgeon to his Majesties household, where I was entrusted 
 with his p.son during the time of the engagement against the Ffrench 
 at Landew. I have had betwixt five and six thousand wounded men 
 under my care for cure this war ; and have been intrusted with about 
 forty thousand pounds of their Majesties moneys which I did faithfully 
 dispence to the uses I had it for; for all the services I have ample 
 Certificates to show ; yet am taxed by you as a rogue and cheat and 
 imbeezler of the medicines belonging to the ships. Therefore to cure 
 you of that jealousie I have here inclosed the list of what medicines 
 were at first in the chest as also what medicines have been expended, 
 which does not vallue of 5 pounds. Your chest and medicines cost ^£55 
 and I doe affirme there is not a bad or spoiled medicine amongst them, 
 which by my care I have preserved. S', in consideration of the abuses 
 I have received from you, the denying me the priviledges and liberty 
 which all Chirurgeons enjoy, I doe desire you to let me know what my 
 
 * Encyclopedia of the Laws of England, vi. p. 151. The same writer 
 observes that the laws of the Hans towns " are of such a general, common, 
 and similar nature, as to be applicable to intercourse between the individual 
 inhabitants of different independent countries when at peace with each 
 other, as well as between individuals of one and the same nation. And to 
 this extent the compilation may be viewed as a body of international law for 
 the maritime commercial intercourse of independent nations during peace." 
 — Maritime International Law, Edinburgh, 1844. 
 
264 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 crimes are, being hitherto ignorant of them ; and if I doe not acquit 
 myself of my accusation and plainly make it appear that your informers 
 are prating and malitious rogues, I will willingly suffer what punishment 
 you will please to inflict upon me, and will publickly beg your pardon 
 with all submission immagineable and true sorrow, if guilty. S"", your 
 complying with this just and modest desire of mine will make me forget 
 all the injuries done to me and re-estabUsh that love and respect which 
 I bore to you before the Mohilla abuses. S"^, I humbly beg you to take 
 this into consideration, for if this is not complyed within three days, I 
 will deliver you your keys of your Chest and will act no longer as 
 Chirurgeon of your ship, let the consequences of it be what it will. 
 I therefore desire if you do not come on board yourself, that you would 
 let me come ashoar, that I may prove myselfe either an honest man or 
 a rogue." 
 
 Never was a more reasonable request made, nor a more 
 pathetic appeal issued. Whether Captain Edgecombe was as 
 deaf to reason as he was devoid of feeling, and whether he went 
 on board or let the petitioner come on shore, we have no means 
 of knowing. We shall conclude this chapter with just one 
 observation, that if John Leckie is to live in history, it will 
 be not through his skill as " Chirurgeon," but through his 
 profound knowledge of the laws of England, martial and mer- 
 cantile, common and statute, including even the little-known 
 laws of Oleron and those of the Hans towns, as displayed 
 by him in the above letter. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 
 
 IN a subsequent chapter we propose to collect a few gleanings 
 from an old record of proceedings of the Court of Judicature 
 in Bombay, early in the eighteenth century. These will show 
 how criminal justice was administered by the English at the 
 time, how offenders were tried and punishment was awarded, 
 better, perhaps, than any other chapter in this volume. The 
 fact which will be brought out most prominently there will be 
 the barbarous nature of the punishment inflicted in a majority 
 of cases, and the disproportionately harsh treatment the accused 
 were at times subjected to. We shall also find that the lash 
 was the principal medium of punishment, even in those cases 
 in which, at the present day, justice is considered to be suffi- 
 ciently vindicated by the imposition of a fine. And its use was 
 not only frequent — it was most cruel. We shall notice, for 
 instance, that in one case a thousand lashes were ordered for 
 an unfortunate offender, and several in which the number ranged 
 from six to eight hundred. Indeed a hundred lashes for an 
 offence such as theft seems to have been regarded as the ordinary 
 scale of punishment. Habitual or incorrigible offenders were 
 sometimes " lashed out of the world into the next," as the 
 phrase described their fate. These may be called "whipping 
 times " in India, just as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 
 were characterised as " hanging times " in England and on the 
 Continent. It is hard to believe that even when the eighteenth 
 century had attained its majority, and civilisation was supposed 
 to have made some progress in Bombay, men were sometimes 
 branded on the cheek and women burnt alive for certain heinous 
 offences. One shudders to read that the penalty inflicted on 
 
 365 
 
266 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 women of ill fame who ventured to return on the island after 
 having been once banished consisted in their losing one ear, 
 with the certainty of losing both on the repetition of the offence ; 
 that a man who was convicted of subornation and of having 
 signed a false information was condemned to stand in the 
 pillory, then to receive fifty lashes, and afterwards was recom- 
 mitted to prison during the pleasure of the Court; that for 
 causing grievous hurt another was ordered to receive thirty-nine 
 lashes on three several market-days, then to be burnt on the 
 cheek, and afterwards condemned to hard labour at the breach 
 during pleasure ; that — but we might multiply such instances 
 indefinitely. It may be asked, Why were the English in India 
 so cruel in punishing offenders ; why, in short, did they imitate 
 savages in their modes of punishment ? The answer is, that 
 this was due partly to the barbarity of the age and partly to the 
 semi-civilised state of the country, though it must be admitted 
 that, compared with other nations, the servants of the East 
 India Company were perhaps the most humane in this respect. 
 In proof of this statement let us glance for a moment at the 
 administration of criminal justice in other countries, particularly 
 with regard to the standard and methods of punishment obtain- 
 ing in them. It will then be found that although India was 
 infected with the barbarity of the age, it did not compare 
 unfavourably even with England, or any other civilised country 
 in the world, and that the infection was perhaps the least 
 noticeable in the town and island of Bombay. 
 
 As is well known, the early laws of the Greeks and the 
 Romans were extremely cruel. Gibbon has observed that the 
 laws of the Twelve Tables, like the statutes of Draco, were 
 written in characters of blood. The laws of the Egyptians 
 were equally sanguinary. Here is a choice specimen. " They 
 thrust little pieces of reeds, about a finger's length, into all 
 parts of the bodies of parricides ; and then, surrounding them 
 with thorns, set them on fire." The barbarity of the Chinese 
 needs no illustration, for it is witnessed in their daily acts of 
 administration. What shall we say about the early criminal 
 laws of the Hindus? The chief characteristics of their penal 
 code were two — extreme severity and exact retaliation. Having 
 regard to the proverbially mild nature of the Hindus, their 
 laws strike one as peculiarly atrocious. They were also highly 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 267 
 
 arbitrary. The punishment inflicted was often fanciful — 
 incredibly cruel for certain off'ences, for others remarkably 
 lenient. It will be difficult to give even an imperfect idea of 
 the barbarity with which the Hindus of old used to punish 
 criminals, unless we cite certain specific instances. 
 
 "Should a wife," says Manu, "proud of her family and the great 
 quaUties of her kinsmen, actually violate the duty which she owes to her 
 lord, let the King condemn her to be devoured by dogs in a place much 
 frequented ; and let him place the adulterer on an iron bed well heated, 
 under which the executioners shall throw logs continually, till the sinful 
 wretch be there burnt to death." "^ 
 
 Again : ** If a woman murders her spiritual guide, or her 
 husband, or her son, the magistrate, having cut ojff her ears, 
 her nose, her hands, and her lips, shall expose her to be killed 
 by cows." The thief was also punished with undue severity. 
 Here are a few of the different modes of punishment ordained 
 by the famous lawgiver : 
 
 "A thief who, by plundering in his own country, spoils the province, 
 the magistrate shall crucify, and confiscate his goods; if he robs in 
 another kingdom, he shall not confiscate his possessions, but shall 
 crucify him. If a man steals any man of a superior caste, the magis- 
 trate shall bind the grass beena round his body and burn him with fire ; 
 if he steals a woman of a superior caste, the magistrate shall cause him 
 to be stretched out upon a hot plate of iron, and, having bound the grass 
 beena round his body, shall burn him in the fire. If a man steals an 
 elephant or horse, excellent in all respects, the magistrate shall cut off 
 his hand, and foot, and buttock, and deprive him of life. If a man 
 steals a goat or a sheep, the magistrate shall cut off one of his hands." f 
 
 Their method of retaliation was equally barbarous. It was 
 regulated according to the rank and sex of the offender and the 
 person offended against. For instance, the weight of punish- 
 ment lay heaviest on Sudras and lightest on Brahmins ; indeed, 
 the latter seem to have been exempt from all corporal punish- 
 ments, whatever their crime. There was thus great need of 
 reform in the methods and standards of punishment — if, indeed, 
 
 * Laws of Manu, chap. viii. 371-372. 
 
 t Mill's History of India^ i., bk. ii. chap. iv. p. 177, note. 
 
268 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the laws of Manu were ever a real code and not merely the 
 exaggerated expression of clerical hatred of sin. But we shall 
 find that the progress of civilisation in India did not humanise 
 the penal laws as rapidly as might have been expected, and that 
 even when the eighteenth century had far advanced, the cruelty 
 which characterises the early laws of this country also marks 
 some of the means employed by the English in suppressing 
 crime and punishing criminals. 
 
 We have said above that with regard to the severity of penal 
 laws Bombay did not compare unfavourably with England. The 
 two interesting volumes on The Law's Lumher-Room, by Mr. 
 Francis Watt, will bear us out here. Therein Mr. Watt tells 
 us what the law and its ways once were in Great Britain, 
 incidentally referring to the barbarous provisions of some of 
 the early statutes, which may be said to have been written, like 
 the statutes of Draco, in characters of blood. Most of the 
 chapters in the second volume afford gruesome reading, for they 
 graphically describe the fate of those who were hung up at the 
 Tyburn Tree or punished with the cart's-tail and pilloried. In 
 the preface to this volume Mr. Watt observes : 
 
 " There is a great deal of hanging in this book : that is only because 
 those were hanging times. The law had no thought of mending the 
 criminal ; it ended him in the most summary fashion. The death of the 
 chief actors was as inevitably the finish of the story as it is in a modern 
 French novel." 
 
 If instead of " hanging " the term " flogging " were substituted, 
 these observations would fitly describe the mode of adminis- 
 tration of criminal justice in Bombay at the close of the 
 seventeenth and commencement of the eighteenth century. We 
 have no space to refer to all the ghastly stories narrated by 
 Mr. Watt ; a very few of them, selected at random, must suffice. 
 The execution of Campion and Harte in the reign of Elizabeth 
 and the events that ensued well illustrate the spirit of the age. 
 Campion had been so cruelly racked that he could not hold up 
 his hand to plead at the Tyburn Tree without assistance. Such 
 executions had grown rather fashionable and used to attract 
 large crowds. Many of Campion's disciples stood round him at 
 the fatal moment. 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 269 
 
 " They fought for relics," says Mr. Watt, " which the authorities were 
 determined they should not have, so that a young man having dipped 
 his handkerchief in the blood was forthwith arrested. In the confusion 
 some one cut off a finger and conveyed it away." * 
 
 The people themselves behaved like savages on such occasions. 
 Nowadays the criminal is hanged with great privacy; it was 
 different then. In 1760, when a member of the peerage was 
 condemned to be hanged, he was carried in state to the Tyburn 
 Tree. Every consideration was paid to his lordship's dignity 
 and feelings. He was permitted to put on his best clothes and 
 driven in a landau drawn by six horses. Even the ordinary 
 criminal was not despatched to the famous Tree with unseemly 
 haste. On his way thither he was given a large bowl of ale to 
 drink and was presented with a huge nosegay. In short, he 
 was the hero of the hour and was despatched in some style. 
 When the Tyburn Tree was demolished in 1783 and the gallows 
 were removed to the front of Newgate, no less an authority than 
 Dr. Johnson denounced the change. 
 
 "Executions," he observed quite seriously, "are intended to draw 
 spectators ; if they do not draw spectators they lose their reason. The 
 old method was more satisfactory to all parties. The public was 
 gratified by a procession, the criminal was supported by it. Why is all 
 this to be swept away ? " 
 
 Johnson was probably echoing public feeling at the time. The 
 pillory was another embodiment of the idea that punishment 
 should be as cruel and public as possible. The cruelty practised 
 there was perhaps greater than at Tyburn. We can give only 
 two instances from The Law's Lumhei^-Room. In 1685 the 
 famous Judge Jeffreys, " the bloody Jeffreys," f sentenced a 
 man to seven years' imprisonment, during which he was ordered 
 to be whipped once a year through every market town in Dorset- 
 shire. "The very clerk of the court," adds Mr. Watt, "was 
 moved to protest that this meant a whipping once a fortnight, 
 but the sentence remained. Out of bravado, or in desperation, 
 
 * The Law^s Lumber-Room, ii. p. 33. 
 
 t For an admirable character-sketch of Lord Jeffreys, see Mr. Francis 
 Watt's recent volume, The Terrors of the Law. Mr. H. B. Irving, in a 
 clever monograph, does something to rehabilitate Jeffreys. 
 
270 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the prisoner petitioned the King to be hanged instead of 
 whipped." * It would certainly have been much better for the 
 unfortunate man to be hanged outright than be whipped once a 
 fortnight for a period of seven years. And this is how Mr. 
 Watt describes the second case : 
 
 "Quite interesting is the case of Japhet Crook, alias Sir Peter 
 Stringer, whose unhappy memory is preserved in some of Pope's most 
 biting lines. In 1731, poor Japhet stood in the Pillory at Charing Cross 
 for forging a deed ; when the hangman, dressed like a butcher, ' with a 
 knife like a gardener's pruning-knife, cut off his ears, and with a pair of 
 scissors slit both his nostrils.' The wretched man endured all this with 
 great patience ; but at the searing ' the pain was so great that he got up 
 from his chair.' " f 
 
 We can well believe the latter statement. If one flies from a 
 chair at the point of a pin, a knife run through the ears and a 
 pair of scissors through the nostrils must have offered Japhet 
 Crook an irresistible temptation to do likewise. Now, what 
 about the lash, which was known in England as *Hhe cart's 
 tail " ? We have space to record only one instance, which can 
 hardly fail to raise a shudder. In 1685 the notorious Titus 
 Gates was convicted of perjury and sentenced to stand in the 
 pillory and be whipped at the cart's tail. He seems to have 
 been lashed most cruelly, for it was computed that he received 
 2,256 strokes with a whip of six thongs, i.e., 13,536 strokes in 
 all. I This appears to be almost incredible, but Mr. Watt 
 vouches for the truth. What is still more incredible is the fact 
 that the wretched man lived to enjoy a pension even after the 
 Revolution. The worst instance of lashing which we have been 
 able to cull from the Bombay records is one in which, in 1779, 
 a general court martial sentenced Robert Butler to 1,000 lashes. 
 There was, however, this difference between the lash in England 
 and the chawbook in India — that whereas 13,536 strokes of the 
 former failed to lash Titus Gates out of existence, half a dozen of 
 the latter would effectually despatch the victim to the next world. 
 Let us now come back to India and inquire into the methods 
 and standards of punishment observed in those parts of the 
 country which were under the absolute sway of native rulers. 
 
 * The Law's Lumber-Boom, ii. p. 59, 
 
 t Ibid. p. 65. J Ibid. p. 64. 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 271 
 
 The administration of India by the English in the seventeenth 
 century was both arbitrary and despotic. Public opinion was 
 then an unknown factor in India, and as regards the interest 
 taken by Great Britain in her Indian possessions, it hardly 
 existed even in name. No parliamentary inquiries were held, 
 and the control of the Company over their factors was of the 
 slightest. Notwithstanding this, the despotism of the English 
 seemed almost a blessing compared to that of some native rulers. 
 The former were held accountable to their masters in England : 
 the latter to none. The factors were amenable to a higher 
 tribunal ; in Native States there was no tribunal higher than 
 the sovereign. The sovereign's will was law. He could do no 
 wrong, commit no error, transgress no law. He was above all 
 the statutes of the realm. Some of these statutes were but relics 
 of a barbarous age. Their severity had descended from genera- 
 tion to generation, till even in the eighteenth century it was not 
 far removed from the cruelty which generally characterised the 
 laws of Manu. Hamilton seems to have made a careful study of 
 the laws and customs which prevailed in the Native States when 
 he was in India, and his account of them may be relied upon. 
 We shall give two brief extracts from his account, to show that 
 the penal laws enforced by the English, harsh as they were, 
 were humane in comparison with those observed in other places 
 in the East Indies at the time. For instance, speaking of the 
 laws and usages of Aicheen, Hamilton observes : 
 
 " No place in the world punishes theft with greater severity than 
 Atcheen, and yet robberies and murders are more frequent there than in 
 any other place. For the first fault, if the theft do not amount to a 
 tayel value, it is but the loss of a hand or a foot, and the criminal may 
 choose which he'll part with ; and if caught a second time, the same 
 punishment and loss is used, but the third time, or if they steal five 
 tayel in value, that crime entitles them to souling, or impaling alive. 
 When their hand or foot is to be cut ofif, they have a block with a broad 
 hatchet fixed in it with the edge upwards, on which the limb is laid, and 
 struck with a wooden mallet till the amputation is made, and they have 
 an hollow bamhow or Indian cane, ready to put the stump in, and stop'd 
 about with rags or moss, to keep the blood from coming out, and are set 
 in a conspicuous place, for travellers to gaze on, who generally bestow a 
 little spittle in a pot, being what is produced by the mastication of beetlcj 
 and that serves them instead of salve to cure their wounds." * 
 
 * A New Account of the East IndieSy ii. p. 109. 
 
272 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 The above extract reads more like a passage from the Chinese 
 Penal Code than from a book giving an account of the East 
 Indies about the end of the seventeenth century. But Aicheen 
 was not the only State notorious for its barbarous modes of 
 punishment ; it shared this notoriety with several other Native 
 States, Indian as well as those outside India. There was not 
 much to choose between Siam and Aicheen in this respect. The 
 Siamese had their own ways of punishing criminals, peculiar 
 alike in their novelty and harshness. Says Hamilton : 
 
 " In Siam they have several ways in punishing criminals with death ; 
 for theft and other such like piccadilloes, beheading is the common way. 
 For rebellion or mutiny, they are rip'd alive, and their guts and intrails 
 are taken out, and their carcases woven up in a twig-case, and tied up to 
 a stake for vultures and other voracious fowls or dogs to feed on. I saw 
 eighteen one morning going to be executed so for mutiny. They were 
 each put up on a triangular seat, with their necks and hands in wooden 
 fetters, and carried by three slaves in chains through the streets to the 
 place of execution, but they look'd as if they had been almost starved in 
 prison, for they were very meagre. Some were weeping, others joyful 
 that they were near the end of a miserable Hfe. For treason and murder 
 the elephant is the executioner. The condemned person is made fast to 
 a stake driven into the ground for the purpose, and the elephant is 
 brought to view him, and goes twice or thrice round him, and when the 
 elephant's keeper speaks to the monstrous executioner, he twines his 
 trunk round the person and stake, and pulling the stake from the ground 
 with great violence, tosses the man and the stake into the air, and in 
 coming down, receives him on his teeth, and shaking him off again, puts 
 one of his forefeet on the carcase, and squeezes it flat." * 
 
 We were about to challenge Mr. Watt to show us a mode ot 
 punishment in England half as cruel as the souling at Aicheen, 
 or the crushing under the elephant's feet in Siam — but we 
 remember the judicial pressings to death and burnings of English 
 practice, and refrain. It must not be supposed that the penal 
 laws alone were harsh ; even in certain civil matters the Court 
 was very exacting. Take, for instance, an action for debt and 
 the penalty for its satisfaction. Perhaps the most effective 
 way in which the repayment of debts was enforced was that 
 obtaining in Malabar about the time Hamilton was there. In 
 this connection he observes : 
 
 * A New Account of the East Indies, ii. p. 180. 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 273 
 
 •' They have a good way of arresting people for debt, viz., there is a 
 proper person sent with a small stick from the Judge, who is generally a 
 Brahmin, and when that person finds the debtor, he draws a circle round 
 him with that stick and charges him in the King's and Judge's name 
 not to stir out of it till the creditor is satisfied either by payment or 
 surety ; and it is no less than death for the debtor to break prison by 
 going out of the circle." * 
 
 The modern Shylock may well sigh for a revival of this 
 system ! Only one matter remains to be noticed in this connec- 
 tion, and that is the trial by ordeal. There were various kinds 
 of ordeals practised in England, most of them unspeakably cruel 
 in their nature. In India, some at least of the ordeals were 
 positively shocking. For instance, speaking of the laws and 
 customs of Malabar, Hamilton says : 
 
 " When criminal cases are brought before the Magistrate, that want 
 the evidence of witnesses to support them, the trial of truth is by ordeal. 
 The accused person is obliged to put his bare head into a pot of boilmg 
 oil, and if any blister appears, the party is found guilty ; and I have been 
 credibly informed, both by English and Dutch gentlemen, as well as 
 natives, that had seen the trial, that the innocent person has not been in 
 the least afiected with the scalding oil, and then the punishment due to 
 the crime is inflicted on the accuser." f 
 
 A similar ordeal was in vogue in Pegu at the time, which 
 naturally made people very cautious in bringing false charges. 
 Hamilton describes it as follows : 
 
 " Another way they have by driving a stake of wood into a river, and 
 making the accuser and accused take hold of the stake and keep their 
 heads and bodies under water, and he who stays longest under water is 
 the person to be credited, and whosoever is convicted by this trial, either 
 for the crime alleged, or for mahcious slander, by accusation, must lie on 
 his back three days and night, with his neck in a pair of stocks, without 
 meat or drink, and fined to boot." | 
 
 Another cruel practice which has been in vogue for centuries 
 
 is that of torture. The trial by ordeal is now a relic of the past, 
 
 though it still lingers in some semi-barbarous countries. But it 
 
 is no longer recognised as a legal institution and finds no place 
 
 in the penal laws of civilised nations. On the other hand, 
 
 * A New Account of the East Indies^ i. p. 318. 
 
 t Rid. p. 315. t Ibid. p. 58. 
 
 18 
 
274 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 torture is still practised, surreptitiously it may be, in the best- 
 regulated countries. But torture, as it is practised to-day, is 
 almost nothing compared to what it was only a couple of 
 centuries ago. In native India it was the embodiment of revolt- 
 ing cruelty. When all efforts failed to compel an accused person 
 to admit his guilt, the judges ordered the execution of what was 
 known as " country justice." It included all those modes of 
 extorting confession which the ingenuity of Oriental rulers had 
 invented instead of the more complex European system of racks, 
 boots, scavengers' daughters, and similar appliances. Some of 
 the methods employed, constituting ** country justice," maybe 
 enumerated as follows : 
 
 " Placing the culprit's head into a bag of cinders ; squeezing chillies 
 into his eyes ; slitting his nose ; half drowning him in a well ; preventing 
 him from taking his ordinary sleep ; laying him for a night on a bed 
 of thorns ; or shaking his infant child before his eyes in a bag with a 
 fierce cat." 
 
 It will be conceded that the last method was the most inhuman, 
 as it was the least justifiable ! But even in civilised England 
 torture was freely practised, though never legally recognised. 
 " The rack itself," says Hume, '* though not admitted in the 
 ordinary execution of justice, was frequently used upon any 
 suspicion, by authority of a warrant from a Secretary or the 
 Privy Council." The East India Company were no strangers to 
 this practice, for we have it on the authority of Mill that they 
 were in the habit of inflicting torture upon their own country- 
 men, and even their own servants, in India. One of the circum- 
 stances which most strongly excited the passions of the English 
 at the time of the Massacre of Amboyna in 1623 was the appli- 
 cation of torture by the Dutch.* But, according to Mill, it ill 
 
 * The Dutch in India carried torture to as great a degree of barbarity as 
 had ever been attained in the feudal states of Europe. The accounts of the 
 impalements in Batavia are too horrible to be transcribed. Stavorinus, a 
 Dutch Bear- Admiral, was an eye-witness of the frightful tortures which the 
 officers of the Dutch East India Company inflicted at the Cape of Good Hope, 
 then a Dutch settlement. Rewrites: "Punishments are very severe here, 
 especially with regard to Oriental slaves. In the year 1768 1 saw one, who 
 had set a house on fire, broken alive upon the wheel, after the flesh had been 
 torn from his body with red-hot pincers, without his giving any sign of pain 
 during the execution of this barbarous sentence, which lasted full a quarter 
 of an hour " {The Bombay Qtiarterly Review, iii. 1856, p. 61). 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 275 
 
 became the English to protest against the use of a practice which 
 was not foreign to them. 
 
 " In all the kingdoms of continental Europe," he writes, " and in 
 Holland itself, the torture was a common method of extorting evidence 
 from supposed criminals, and would have been applied by the Dutch 
 judges to their own countrymen. . . . This was an ancient and 
 established law ; and as there are scarcely any courses of oppression to 
 which Englishmen cannot submit, and which they will not justify and 
 applaud, provided it has ancient and established law for its support, they 
 ought, of all nations, to have been the most ready to find an excuse and 
 apology for the Dutch." * 
 
 Even after making allowance for a certain amount of prejudice 
 in these observations, there can be little doubt that the English 
 were at times guilty of extorting evidence from criminals by 
 means of torture. For instance, in the famous trial of Rama 
 Kamati in 1720, Governor Boone sanctioned the application of 
 torture to a witness who would not give evidence to substantiate 
 the story of the prosecution. And when one of the members of 
 the tribunal strongly protested against a practice which was 
 opposed to the laws of England, and on that ground refrained 
 from taking any further part in the proceedings, his conduct was 
 imputed to baser motives and condemned by the President and 
 Council of Bombay. But, as events proved, Lawrence Parker 
 did not protest in vain, though he was unable to save the 
 unfortunate witness fi'om torture or Rama Kamati from the 
 terrors of the dungeon. Torture flourished in India long after 
 it was put down in Great Britain, and even in the famous trial 
 of Warren Hastings the second charge against him was that 
 of extortion from the Begums of Oudh by means of torture of 
 their servants. Public opinion has since asserted itself in 
 no uncertain manner, and the practice has been all but dis- 
 continued, though we still hear of it occasionally. 
 
 When the English first established a factory in Surat at the 
 commencement of the seventeenth century, they had little to 
 learn in the way of judicial administration from the Mahommedan 
 rulers who held sway at the time. It is true that in the seven- 
 
 * History of British India, i. bk. i. c. ii. p. 38. It is worth remembering 
 that on such matters Mill's testimony was tinged with a certain amount of 
 prejudice and exaggeration. 
 
276 BOMBAY IN| THE MAKING 
 
 teenth and eighteenth centuries both the civil and criminal laws 
 prevailing in France and in other parts of Continental Europe 
 were so harsh, and the principles on which some of these were 
 based so absurd, that, in the opinion of Lecky, the Mahomedan 
 laws and institutions could be favourably compared to them. 
 But when all that can be reasonably urged in favour of the latter 
 has been said, they still remained a bad model for the English 
 to imitate. It certainly did not induce them to be more refined 
 in their morals or more humane in dispensing justice. If the 
 will of a Hindu ruler constituted the code of laws in his State, 
 the caprice of a Mahomedan monarch set the whole machinery 
 of judicial administration in motion. 
 
 " Neither Hfe," observes Kaye, " nor property was secure under their 
 rule. The Mahommedan conquerors took what they wanted, and executed 
 whom they would. If a merchant possessed gold or jewels, he was 
 careful to hide his wealth. If an artisan was more than commonly 
 ingenious in his craft, he concealed the extent of his skill. It was 
 dangerous to be rich. It was dangerous to be clever. It was dangerous 
 in any way to be a marked man. If the sovereign was accessible to his 
 subjects, so was the executioner. Justice was administered with such 
 extraordinary promptitude, that offenders were hurried into the presence 
 of their Maker almost before they knew that they had committed any 
 offence."* 
 
 But if a man lost his head at the bidding of the sovereign, he 
 sometimes managed to save it by the caprice or clemency of the 
 same high authority. Goldsmith's famous line — 
 
 "A breath can make them as a breath has made" — 
 
 well describes the conditions of life under Moslem rule. The 
 Emperor was obliged to delegate his authority to his sub- 
 ordinates, being himself too occupied with the larger affairs 
 of the State or, as it more frequently happened, with the 
 pleasures of the harem. For instance, the Nazim, or Supreme 
 Magistrate, presided personally at the trial of capital offenders, 
 while the Naib Nazim, or to give his proper title, the Darogah- 
 Adalat-al-Alica, took cognizance of all quarrels, frays, and 
 
 * Administration of the East India Company, p. 41. 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 277 
 
 disorders, and also of all matters of property excepting claims of 
 land and inheritance. Then there was the Foujdar, who tried 
 all offences not capital, and the Kotwal, who was responsible for 
 the maintenance of peace and order. Such delegated authority, 
 however, was often cruelly abused, and at no time, perhaps, 
 was the abuse more scandalous than at the end of Mahomedan 
 supremacy in India. 
 
 " During the closing years of the Moslem rule," says a modem writer,* 
 " the administration of justice greatly deteriorated. The law courts 
 became the engine and instrument of oppression of innocent people. 
 Even the petty Zemindars set up a court of their own. Authority and 
 power were transferred to the hands of military adventurers, who 
 pillaged the rich and the wealthy in order to uphold and maintain their 
 authority. No wonder that the Ayni-ATchari and the latest Fetawi-i- 
 Alemgiri of the great Emperor Alamgir or Aurangzeb were set at 
 naught. They were of little service then. The canons of justice were 
 enunciated by adventurers, by bandits and robbers." f 
 
 The picture is by no means overdrawn. It is similar to the 
 one drawn by us in a previous chapter, while describing the 
 Moslem method of administering justice. For instance, we 
 noticed how Mahmud Begarra used to condemn criminals to 
 death by merely squirting at them the juice of the betel he was 
 in the habit of chewing constantly — a sentence which was 
 executed almost before the fatal juice had had time to dry. I We 
 have also referred to the ghastly entertainment at which the 
 Governor of Ahmedabad had invited the English and Dutch 
 directors to witness the summary execution of eight dancing 
 girls because they had refused to appear before him. The host 
 was greatly amused, we are informed, at the consternation with 
 which his European guests were filled by this cruel massacre. 
 Here is another instance recorded by Ibn Batuta, the famous 
 
 * Baja Binaya Krishna Deb in The Early History and Growth of Calcutta. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 169. 
 
 \ In this connection it is interesting to note what a Portuguese contempo- 
 rary of the Sultan, by name Ludovico di Varthema, wrote of him at the 
 time: "Every day he eats poison. Do not imagine, however, that he fills 
 his stomach with it ; but he eats a certain quantity, so that when he wishes 
 to destroy any great personage, he makes him come before him stripped and 
 naked, then from a full mouth spurts out spittle upon him, whereby in the 
 space of half an hour the man drops dead." 
 
278 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Arab traveller, whom Mahommed Taglak made judge at Delhi,* 
 which shows that in point of barbarity the Mahomedans did 
 not yield to any other nation in the world. 
 
 " Upon a certain day," he says, " when I myself was present, some 
 men were brought out who had been accused of having attempted the 
 life of the Vizier. They were ordered accordingly to be thrown to the 
 elephants, which had been taught to cut their victims to pieces. Their 
 hoofs were cased with sharp iron instruments, and the extremities of 
 these were like knives. On such occasions the elephant driver rode 
 upon them ; and when a man was thrown to them, they would wrap 
 their trunk about him, and toss him up, then take him with their teeth 
 and throw him between their fore feet upon the breast. If the order was 
 to cut him to pieces, the elephant would do so with his irons, and then 
 throw the pieces among the assembled multitude ; but if the order was 
 to leave him, he would be left lying before the Emperor, until the skin 
 should be taken off and stuffed with hay and the flesh given to the 
 dogs." f 
 
 It seems almost superfluous to allude to the cruelty of the 
 earlier Mahomedan rulers at greater length. Their example 
 could not have made the English in Surat or at Bombay more 
 humane in their treatment of criminals. 
 
 It should not be inferred from this, however, that the authori- 
 ties in Bombay alone were harsh in punishing offenders. The 
 standard of punishment was unduly severe in all the factories 
 established in India. For instance, at Fort St. William the 
 natives were flogged mercilessly for even trivial offences. We 
 give below a gruesome little entry which finds a place in the 
 Selections from Unpublished Records of the Government of 
 Bengal for the years 1748 to 1767, compiled by the Kev. Mr. 
 Long. About the year 1760, Calcutta was thrown into con- 
 sternation by some frauds committed during the construction of 
 the new works of Fort William. A Mr. Barton suspected one 
 of his native servants to have divulged certain information to 
 Government in this connection which implicated his father. 
 The supposed informant was not dragged into a court of law, 
 nor was he dismissed from Mr. Barton's service. He was 
 
 * Ibn Batuta says that owing to the tyranny of the Emperor, Delhi, when 
 he entered it, was almost a desert. " The greatest city in the world had the 
 fewest inhabitants." 
 
 f Kaye's Administration of the East India Company ^ p. 41 (footnote). 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 279 
 
 flogged almost to death by his master. The entry, dated 
 June 2nd, runs as follows : 
 
 " Mr. Barton laying in wait seized Benautrom Chattogee opposite to 
 the door of Council, and with the assistance of his bearers and two 
 peons tied his hands and feet, swung him upon a bamboo like a hog, 
 carried him to his own house, there with his own hands chawbooked 
 him in the most cruel manner, almost to the deprivation of life; en- 
 deavoured to force beef into his mouth, to the irreparable loss of his 
 Brahmin's caste, and all this without giving ear to, or suffering the man 
 to speak in his own defence, or clear up his innocence to him."* 
 
 When Barton's conduct in taking the rod of justice into his 
 own hands was denounced, he coolly replied that he had only 
 punished a profligate spy who had aspersed the memory of his 
 father. It would seem that the chawbook was the usual 
 medium of punishment in Calcutta as it was in Bombay and 
 at Madras. We find several instances of flogging in these 
 Selections^ that of April 5, 1759, being as follows : 
 
 " The quorum of Zemindars f lay before the Board their proceedings of 
 the 30th March and 3rd April, in the former of which Ashruff being 
 sentenced to receive one hundred and one lashes every Friday for three 
 months, and Manick Dass the same punishment, the Board confirm the 
 same, and order the sentence to be executed." I 
 
 We do not know the nature of the offence which merited so 
 many strokes of the chawbook, but we find that when one Edu, 
 a Lascar, had murdered his wife Panchi, he too was awarded a 
 similar punishment. It was represented to the Board in 1760 
 that as the usual mode of punishing offenders charged with 
 
 * Selections from the Records of the Government of India, i. p. 214. 
 
 f In or about the year 1720, some of the functions of administration were 
 delegated to an officer known as the Zemindar in Calcutta, a post which was 
 generally filled by a member of Council. He had two distinct capacities, for 
 he was both judge and collector. As regards the duties of a Zemindar, Raja 
 Binaya Krishna Deb writes in his recent volume on the Early History and 
 Growth of Calcutta : "It is mentioned that the Zemindar tried all criminal 
 cases where the natives did not apply to the English Courts of Justice. He 
 used to decide all suits of any amounts amongst the natives. In cases of 
 capital punishment only he was allowed to give judgment, but only the 
 approbation of the President and Council was taken when the lash was 
 inflicted till death." 
 
 X Selections from the Records of the Government of India, i. p. 178. 
 
280 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 capital crimes in the Zemindary, namely, whipping to death, was 
 not sufficiently public, and consequently not sufficiently deter- 
 rent, the form of punishment should be changed into that of 
 blowing from a gun. This suggestion commended itself to the 
 wisdom of the Board, and in 1761 orders were given at Lakhipur 
 **to fire off the mouth of a canon the leader of the thieves who 
 was made prisoner, that others may be deterred." In 1764 a 
 Captain Dow published an order by beat of drum that all 
 "black" servants depending on the English should deliver to 
 him a just and true account of the losses sustained by them in 
 the districts of Kungapore during the late troubles, and that if 
 any persons should give a false account, he would not only prevent 
 their getting restitution, but have their ears and noses cut off, 
 and he also desired the Foujdar would take particular care that 
 they committed no frauds.* The Zemindars often took the law 
 into their own hands, and when someone ventured to sue them 
 in the Mayor's Court, they did not hesitate to inflict corporal 
 punishment on the plaintiff. For instance, when one William 
 Wilson, a sailmaker, brought an action against a member of 
 Council in Calcutta, who also happened to be a Zemindar, for 
 money due for some job done, the defendant, for fear of being 
 publicly exposed, agreed to pay the full amount with costs of the 
 suit in the Mayor's Court- But when the plaintiff's attorney 
 sent his clerk, " a black merchant of Calcutta," to recover the 
 amount, and when the Zemindar found him persistent in his 
 demands, he ordered the said "black" merchant to be seized 
 and carried to his Cutcherry, wh6re he was, without any inquiry, 
 tied up and flogged and beat on his head with his own slippers. f 
 The case of Kadachurn Mittre, who was sentenced to be hanged 
 for forgery in 1765, gave rise to considerable indignation at the 
 time. A strong petition of the native inhabitants of Calcutta 
 was presented to Government, praying for the remission of the 
 sentence on the ground of the indictment being defective and the 
 
 * Selections from the Records of the Government of India, i. p. 398. 
 
 t The Early History and Growth of Calcutta, by Raja Binaya Krishna Deb, 
 p. 176. The story reminds us of the law-clerk from Edinburgh who ventured 
 into the Highlands to serve a writ. He arrived late at night and was hospit- 
 ably entertained. In the morning, he saw from his bedroom window some- 
 thing dangling from a tree, and inquired what it was. " Nothing," said the 
 servant, '* but a bit messenger body fra' Edinburgh tat had ta [the] impertin- 
 ence to pring a bit paper to ta laird [chief]." The writ remained unserved. 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 281 
 
 trial abortive. The proclamation issued at the time by the Bench 
 of Justices, that English laws were to be extended to natives, 
 had filled the latter with grave apprehension. They protested 
 against this innovation, on the ground of their utter ignorance of 
 the English law, and more particularly as that law made many 
 •offences capital which were punishable only with fine according 
 to Hindu law. 
 
 "They find themselves," urged the petitioners, " subject to the pains 
 and penalties of laws to which they are utter strangers, and are liable 
 through ignorance unwittingly to incur them. As they are in no ways 
 instructed in those laws, they cannot tell when they transgress them, 
 many things being, it seems, capital by the English Laws, which are 
 only fineable by the laws of your petitioners' forefathers, subject to which 
 they have hitherto been bred, lived and been governed, and that (till very 
 lately) even under the English Flag." * 
 
 As a result of this petition, Radachurn Mittre escaped, though 
 narrowly, from being blown from the mouth of a cannon for an 
 offence which, even in its most aggravated form, is punished to-day 
 by transportation for life or imprisonment. But the petitioners 
 do not seem to have gained their main object, namely, exemption 
 from the operation of English laws. The English had a very 
 draconic code in those days, which was ill-suited to the social 
 condition and feelings of Mahomedans and Hindus alike ; to 
 have attempted to thrust their laws on the helpless natives and 
 make them feel their terrible significance was as objectionable 
 as it was impolitic. There are instances on record to show that 
 natives of India were hanged for the commission of acts which 
 they believed to be justifiable, if not actually commendable, in 
 the eyes both of God and man. Here is one which Kaye cites 
 in his historical account of the East India Company, on the 
 authority of Governor Verelst: 
 
 " In the year 1762 a native detected one of his women in an act of 
 infidelity. Throughout the East women are wholly subject to the will of 
 their masters, and every husband is the avenger of his own wrongs. The 
 man, therefore, satisfied of her guilt, proceeded to punishment by cutting 
 off her nose. He was arraigned at the Calcutta Sessions. He confessed 
 the fact, but urged that he had done nothing to offend the laws and 
 customs in which he had been educated — that the woman was his 
 
 * Selections from the Records of the Government of India, i. p. 430. 
 
282 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 property, and that by such customs he had a right to set a mark upon 
 her for her infamy — that he had never heard of the laws by which they 
 tried him, but desired to put one question to the Bench : Did they 
 beUeve that if he had known the punishment to be death, he would ever 
 have committed what they now called a crime ? The man, notwith- 
 standing this defence, was condemned and hanged— for if the Court 
 possess jurisdiction, they must proceed according to the English laws."* 
 
 Let us now see how criminals fared in Bombay at the Hands 
 of the English. The same sanguinary code which governed their 
 penal laws in Calcutta also regulated their treatment of prisoners 
 in Bombay. A serious, but ill-drawn-up charge, a tribunal 
 which was known as the Court of Justice — a misnomer tolerated 
 only by long-established usage — presided over by a person who 
 knew little about the administration of justice and less of law, 
 an occasional application of torture, the confession of the accused 
 with the help of thumb-screws, a few loose and unconnected 
 links of evidence, the verdict of guilty — and you saw the un- 
 fortunate creature dangling on the gallows or whipped to death 
 before you had time to ascertain whether he had committed any 
 offence at all, let alone a capital offence. Short shrift was given 
 in those days to the condemned. The quality of mercy in the 
 administration of criminal justice was conspicuous by its absence. 
 Prosecutions were few, persecutions plentiful. Promptitude was 
 the chief concern of the judge. In this the English may be 
 said to have imitated to some extent the procedure of Mahmud 
 Begarra. If a man was found guilty of an offence, he was 
 lashed, or branded, or pilloried without delay. The chawbook- 
 sowar was ever ready with his lash, the provost-marshal with 
 the chains. The judge must have been kept too busy in Bombay, 
 about the end of the seventeenth century, to take proper count 
 of those whom he ordered to be executed or whipped. Did we 
 not find Gary, the Company's Judge, summoning a man to 
 appear before him on a Friday, although he had been executed, 
 in conformity with his own orders, on the previous Tuesday ? 
 True, this happened only a decade after Bombay was ceded to 
 the Company, but if we are to believe the records, almost the 
 same promptitude in the trial of criminals, the same looseness 
 of procedure and the same harshness of punishment were 
 noticeable more than a century after. For instance, an entry 
 * Admimstration of the East India Company, p. 324. 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 283 
 
 dated April 23, 1799, reads as follows : " This day, Ismai 
 Shaikh, Borah, was convicted of stealing different articles of 
 property of James Morley, Esq., part of which was found in the 
 prisoner's possession. Guilty — Death. On May 9th he was 
 executed, pursuant to the sentence." * If the entry had been 
 undated we might have relegated it to the period when judges 
 like Gary and Vaux presided over the Bench in Bombay ; or 
 if the name of the accused and place of trial had not been 
 stated, we might have regarded it as a part of the proceedings 
 of a criminal court in England during the eighteenth century 
 and early nineteenth, when a theft of property worth forty 
 shillings constituted a capital offence. But at the dawn of the 
 nineteenth century, when civilisation was supposed to have made 
 some progress even in India, when the Mayor's Court gave place 
 to the Recorder's Court and a judge of the character and calibre 
 of Sir James Mackintosh was sent out to Bombay to preside over 
 it ; when judicial administration was, to a certain extent, puri- 
 fied and penal laws were deprived of much of their harshness, 
 when, in fact, both law and justice were humanised, it is revolt- 
 ing that a native of India, a British subject, should have been 
 condemned to the extreme penalty of the law for an offence 
 punishable under the present Penal Code with a term of im- 
 prisonment. But Ismail Shaik was not the only prisoner who 
 fell a victim to the sanguinary provisions of a code which was 
 for long years still to prevail in England, and which might have 
 suited the requirements of South African savages. In 1804 
 a woman was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for perjury, 
 during which period she was to stand once every year, on the 
 first day of the October sessions, in the pillory, to be placed in 
 front of the Court House, with labels on her breast and back 
 explanatory of her crime. In the same year one Heerjiwan was 
 sentenced to be executed and hung in chains (we know not the 
 nature of his offence), and James Pennico escaped with a light 
 punishment for theft, having been awarded only three months' 
 imprisonment and ordered to be whipped once from the Apollo 
 to the Bazaar Gate.f A couple of years after, a man who stole a 
 watch was sentenced to two years' labour in the Bombay docks, 
 and another was ordered to stand in the pillory before his own 
 
 * Glimpses of Old Bombay and Western India, by James Douglas, p. 8. 
 t Ibid. p. 8. 
 
284 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 shop in the bazaar. In those days Cross Island must have pre- 
 sented a ghastly spectacle. The pillory and the chawbook were 
 also much in vogue, particularly the latter mode of punishment, 
 which was resorted to very freely. The ordinary punishment 
 for petty thefts and larcenies was whipping, which was inflicted 
 either at a cart's tail as the delinquent was led round the town 
 wall, or else at the public whipping-post before crowds of spec- 
 tators on a market day. One reason why the lash came to be 
 the usual medium of punishment for every breach of the law was 
 because the ancient Moguls and Nawabs would not permit any 
 of the professors of Islam to be hanged according to the English 
 custom. Hanging was esteemed by them too ignominious a 
 death for a Mahomedan to suffer ; consequently, in such cases 
 as were deemed capital, only the lash was permitted to be in- 
 flicted, till death, on all of the Mogul's subjects, Mahomedans 
 as well as Gentoos. Though the English method of despatching 
 criminals was more expeditious, it must not be supposed that the 
 lash did its work less effectually. According to Sterndale, the 
 offlcers of the Court, called the cliaivhook-sowarSy or lash- 
 bearers, were so dexterous that two or three strokes of their 
 deadly weapon would speedily launch the victim into the 
 other world.* At Fort St. George there was an additional 
 reason which obliged the English to use the chawbook. There, 
 according to Hamilton, they had no martial law, so they were 
 unable to inflict the penalty of death in any other way than by 
 whipping or starving. There was only one capital offence for 
 which they could hang, and that was piracy. That being so, 
 the widest possible interpretation was given to the word '' piracy," 
 and several instances have been recorded in which men were 
 hanged as pirates even for petty offences. Mr. Yale,f the 
 Governor of Madras, is said to have hanged his groom for " riding 
 two or three days' journey off to take the air ! " If a person 
 had the misfortune of incurring the displeasure of the President, 
 he was soon found guilty of piracy and hanged. 
 
 " If any private trader," says Hamilton, " is injured by the tricks of 
 the Governor, and can find no redress, if the injured person is so bold as 
 to talk of lex talionis, he is infallibly declared a pirate." 
 
 * Historical Account of the Calcutta Collectorate. 
 t The founder of the famous Yale University. 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 285 
 
 In short, piracy in India, like sorcery in old England and con- 
 spiracy now, was a convenient crime to fix upon those who could 
 be found guilty of no other.* In Bombay, however, the English 
 were empowered with martial law early in their career. They 
 could hang as well as whip, though in the case of the Mogul's 
 subjects they were obliged to use the lash instead of the gibbet. 
 The chawbook must have rendered them very useful service in 
 checking the growth of lawlessness, which had prevailed in the 
 island for a long time. The punishment of whipping was often 
 accompanied by a term of imprisonment, or branding, or banish- 
 ment. For instance, one Ignacio de Leviera, a foot soldier, was 
 found guilty of having committed assault on a young Hindu lad, 
 with the object of robbing and the intention of murdering him. 
 The Court felt itself helpless to punish him adequately, a 
 heavy fine and imprisonment being, in its opinion, rendered of 
 no use by his poverty, and submitted the case to the Governor 
 and Council, constituting the Superior Court, for consideration 
 of sentence. Thereupon it was ordered that the accused receive 
 thirty-nine lashes on three several Court days, being tied to the 
 gallows, with a halter about his neck and a paper over his head 
 denoting his crime, and after that he be condemned to hard 
 labour during pleasure, being first branded on the cheek as a 
 public testimony to the infamy of his crime. Another soldier, 
 by name Pereir, was convicted of robbery, and his accomplices, 
 a slave-boy and a Bhandaree, were found guilty of screening 
 him. Pereir was sentenced to receive thirty-nine lashes on 
 three market days, to be burnt on the cheek, and then sent to 
 the breach f to work during pleasure ; the slave-boy was awarded 
 fifteen lashes on three market days, and, at his master's request, 
 was ordered to be returned to him ; and the Bhandaree was 
 ordered thirty-nine lashes on the public market-place and then 
 
 * So, in the history of the Malay Peninsula, ** piracy " was so often 
 stretched to cover petty theft on the one hand, and political movements 
 on the other, thereby conferring on Europeans a right of interference which 
 they would not otherwise have had, that Chief Justice Benson observes that 
 the latter were driven to use the quaint term " fton^-^ide pirates " when they 
 referred to real piracy. 
 
 t The Breach, or the Great Breach, was the name given to the long cause- 
 way which, at the time, kept back the sea from the low lands of Bombay, and 
 continued for many years to be a source of great expense and anxiety to the 
 Government. Criminals were probably condemned to work at the Breach, 
 while it was under construction, during the period of their incarceration. 
 
286 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 discharged after payment of fees. There was also the trial of 
 one Bica, alias Ismaljee, sepoy, who was accused of assaulting 
 his superior, and having been found guilty was sentenced to 
 receive thirty-nine lashes on three several market days, to be 
 burnt on the cheek, and then condemned to hard labour at 
 the breach during pleasure. Subornation was considered so 
 heinous an offence that when one Madon Pilset was convicted 
 of it, he was condemned to stand in the pillory from the hour of 
 eight till nine, then to receive fifty lashes, and finally to be re- 
 committed to prison during the pleasure of the Court. The 
 lash, like the law, was no respecter of sex. A woman named 
 Lacma, who had been previously convicted of petty larcenies, 
 was found guilty of robbing a child, and was condemned to 
 receive thirty-nine lashes in the public bazaar, the same punish- 
 ment being continued (during pleasure) till she revealed where 
 the jewels were, and after that to be banished from the island. 
 Another woman was sentenced to receive twenty-one lashes for 
 assaulting and cutting open somebody's head with a cleaving- 
 knife. And when Joanna, a Christian woman, who was once 
 banished from the island for conniving at her husband's mal- 
 practices, ventured to return to it without leave, a meagre 
 punishment of only fifteen lashes fell to her lot, but on con- 
 dition that she quitted the island and returned no more, for if 
 she did she would be liable to lose one of her ears, and upon 
 repeating the ofi'ence, both. There was another important trial 
 held in the year 1726, the proceedings of which were submitted 
 to the Governor and Council for consideration of an adequate 
 sentence. A sailor named Stanmore was found guilty of very 
 grave misbehaviour towards his captain, and his conduct was 
 held to be so execrable that the judge deemed it necessary to 
 refer the matter to the Superior Court. The latter decreed that 
 the accused should forfeit all his wages on board the ship, that 
 he be publicly whipped on three several days at various gates in 
 the town, that he sufi'er imprisonment for six months, and be 
 afterwards sent to England on the first opportunity. Here is 
 another curious little extract from the records of the period. A 
 soldier having been found guilty of trying to " spirit away " 
 slaves was ordered to receive thirty-nine lashes on three several 
 Court days, then to work at the breach for a year and a day, 
 and then to be banished from the island of Bombay; and another, 
 
THE BARBARITY OF THE AGE 287 
 
 presumably a Roman Catholic, who was accused of performing 
 some of the idolatrous practices then in vogue among the 
 Gentoos, such as a sacrifice of rice to appease the wrath of an 
 ofi'ended deity, was let off with only thirty-nine lashes, to be 
 inflicted during the celebration of Mass, and then handed over 
 to the Padre to suffer the customary Church discipline. We 
 could multiply such instances almost indefinitely, but those cited 
 above amply prove the extreme harshness of the penal laws 
 enforced in Bombay only a couple of centuries ago. There 
 remain two or three minor points which are worth noticing 
 in this connection. In the case ot very heinous ofi'ences the 
 punishment of whipping was often accompanied either by 
 branding or banishment. And when a prisoner was brought 
 up on a particularly serious charge and found guilty, his case 
 was referred to the Superior Court for exemplary punishment. 
 Then, it will be noticed that the usual number of lashes awarded 
 for ordinary ofi'ences was thirty-nine, probably because the Jewish 
 Scriptures prohibited the infliction of a larger number — "lest thy 
 brother should seem vile unto thee." There were apparently 
 no rules regarding the term of imprisonment for various crimes. 
 It was regulated more or less by the whim of the Court. The 
 guilty were kept in durance vile " during pleasure " — a fairly 
 elastic order which was sometimes stretched almost to breaking- 
 point. In concluding this chapter, we shall cite three cases of 
 more than ordinary interest. In 1724 an ignorant woman, 
 named Bastok, was accused of witchcraft and other "diabolical 
 practices." She professed to cure sick persons by the use of 
 charmed rice. The Court found her guilty, not owing to evil 
 intent, but on account of her ignorance, and recorded the 
 following sentence: "That she receive eleven lashes at the 
 church-door, and afterwards she and all persons that are found 
 guilty of the like, do such penance in the church as customary." 
 In 1744 a Hindu woman named Gungy was found guilty of 
 aiding and abetting her paramour in the murder of her husband. 
 She pleaded not guilty, but the Grand Jury convicted her, and 
 she was sentenced to he burnt. Lastly, when one Mr. Jenkin- 
 son's escritoire had been robbed of fifteen guineas by his slave, 
 with the connivance of his horsekeeper, the wretched Alexander 
 and Fakir Rao, the two persons implicated in the theft, were 
 both sentenced to be hanged. 
 
288 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Let us now draw a veil over these horrible details, depicting 
 the barbarity of a bygone age. The moral is irresistible. To- 
 day we lead easier lives, and are more just and merciful than 
 our forefathers. The laws are more humane, and punishment 
 is more in. conformity with the gravity of the offence. We do 
 not summarily end the lives of criminals ; we try to mend them 
 as much as possible. We no longer burn women to death, nor 
 do we whip them. We do not brand men nowadays, nor do we 
 put a halter round their necks. The pillory has become an 
 institution of the past, though torture still lingers. The whip 
 remains with us, because men in authority believe in its deter- 
 rent effect ; but its use is strictly regulated by statutes, and the 
 provisions of the Whipping Act are most scrupulously observed. 
 The slightest deviation is resented, and not even the highest 
 Court of Judicature in the land can exceed the maximum 
 number of lashes that can be awarded under the Act. In 
 short, the humanity of the age has purged the early criminal 
 laws of their harshness, and we can claim to-day a Penal Code 
 which, in its standard of punishment, will compare favourably 
 with any in the world. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 SOME INTEEESTING TRIALS 
 
 IN a volume dealing with the history and growth of judicial 
 institutions in early Bombay, it will not be out of place to 
 give a brief account of some interesting trials which were held in 
 this city even before the establishment of the Mayor's Court. 
 This may throw additional light on the administration of justice 
 by the English soon after the Crown ceded its newly-acquired 
 possession to the Company, though before it had the distinction 
 of having a Mayor and nine Aldermen to dispense justice accord- 
 ing to the spirit, if not the letter, of the English law. Causes 
 celebres were few and far between in those days, but the few that 
 have been preserved in the official records of the period are most 
 interesting and even instructive. No cases of supreme impor- 
 tance, such as the '' Maharaja Libel Case " or the dispute 
 regarding the ** Towers of Silence," disturbed the equanimity of 
 Bombay during the early days of British administration, but 
 there were at least two trials which must have caused not a little 
 commotion at the time. We shall find, for instance, that as 
 early as 1669 a Deputy-Governor was put upon his trial for 
 tyranny in the discharge of his official duties, illegal imprison- 
 ment of his subordinates, and ''openly throwing contempt upon 
 religion." Half a century after, Rama Kamati was tried and 
 found guilty of several very serious charges. His will be the 
 most important trial in this chapter, as it is full of incidents 
 which vividly illustrate the character of judicial administration 
 in Bombay during the first quarter of the eighteenth century. 
 Interesting in its inception, its proceedings increase in interest 
 till, at the final stage, the trial becomes quite dramatic, and the 
 fate of the unfortunate victim excites our sincere sympathy. We 
 shall describe this trial in some detail. We also propose to 
 
 19 289 
 
290 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 reproduce, more or less fully, the proceedings of another trial 
 which took place in 1726. Its chief interest for us lies in the 
 fact that the record of these proceedings has not been brought to 
 light before, and our object in reproducing it here is to rescue it 
 from pages which are even now crumbling to dust. 
 
 (D 
 
 The first important trial — first in point of date and the high 
 position of the accused — was that of Captain Henry Young, 
 Deputy-Governor of Bombay, in 1669. *' A drunkard, scoffer, 
 and avowed despiser of the Christian religion," is, as we have 
 noted elsewhere, the scathing verdict which Anderson has re- 
 corded of this man. But he was not allowed to scoff long at 
 religion. For, on January 22, 1669, Young was tried by the 
 then Governor and Council, no fewer than twenty different 
 charges having been preferred against him. To enumerate only 
 a few of them, we find that, in the first charge, he was accused 
 of tyranny in the discharge of his official duties, and illegally 
 imprisoning his subordinates. In the second, he was charged 
 with openly throwing contempt upon religion, and declaring that 
 it " was but a State policy to keep men in hand." The third 
 and fourth charges are so extraordinary that Anderson gives 
 them in the prosecutor's own words : 
 
 " 3rd. That he hath on the Sabbath day hindered the performance of 
 public duty to the God Almighty at the accustomary hour, continuing in 
 drinking of healths, detaining others with him against their wills ; and 
 while he drank, in false devotions upon his knee, a health to the Union, 
 in the time appointed for the service belonging to the Lord's Day, the 
 unhappy sequel showed it to be but his projection for a further disunion. 
 
 "4th. That to the great scandal of the inhabitants of the island, 
 of all the neighbours round about, both papists and others that are 
 idolaters, in dishonour of the sobriety of the Protestant religion, he hath 
 made frequent and long meetings, continuing sometimes till two or three 
 of the clock in the morning, to the neglecting of the service of God in 
 the morning prayers, and the service of the Company hath stood still 
 while he slept, thus perverting, and converting to an ill private use those 
 refreshments intended for the factory in general." * 
 
 The last charge against Young was not less extraordinary ; 
 he was accused of having threatened to hang the President, no 
 doubt when he was deep in his cups. The details of this trial 
 * The English in Western India, pp. 97-98. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 291 
 
 are, unfortunately, not forthcoming, but Anderson adds that it 
 resulted in an order of the tribunal before whom he was 
 arraigned, that he should be taken on board the Company's 
 ship and sent to England, " but at the same time be treated 
 with as much respect as possible." This injunction was prob- 
 ably due to the deference paid to the high official position the 
 accused was then occupying, but which he so grossly abused. 
 Young's trial must have lasted for several days, and excited 
 considerable interest at the time, as the trial of a Deputy- 
 Governor on such serious charges was not an ordinary 
 occurrence. 
 
 (H) 
 
 We shall have to leap over quite half a century to come to 
 the trial of the Worshipful Lawrence Parker. In the foregoing 
 trial a Deputy- Governor was arraigned before the Court ; in 
 this case the reputation of an Accountant and Chief Justice 
 was at stake. It arose out of a trifling dispute, but the matter 
 soon assumed a very serious aspect, till regular proceedings were 
 instituted against Parker, who was tried by his own colleagues — 
 the Governor and Members of Council — and, after a protracted 
 hearing, was found guilty and deprived of his seat in Council. 
 This event may, therefore, well be characterised as a State Trial 
 in Bombay, which must have excited considerable local interest 
 at the time. It would seem that Lawrence Parker bore a grudge 
 against the then Governor of Bombay, Charles Boone, in con- 
 nection with some matter which affected private rather than 
 public interests. What these exactly were, it is difficult to 
 say; for the first intimation of the affair that we get from 
 existing records is in the diary for 1720. But the fact remains 
 that there was no love lost between the Governor and the 
 Accountant. Be it said to the credit of the former, however, 
 that, in spite of grave provocation, he had refrained from taking 
 strong measures against Parker, who had grown negligent in 
 the discharge of his duties and disobedient to the orders of his 
 superiors. He went about with an air of defiance, owning no 
 master and caring for none. In short, he behaved in such a 
 manner that Governor Boone was obliged to take some notice of 
 his conduct. Parker was then holding the dual office of Chief 
 Justice and Accountant, but so neglectful was he of his duties 
 
292 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 as Accountant that the General Books of Account were often 
 delayed in transmission to the Court of Directors. The result 
 was that the Board had no opportunity of examining the 
 books before sending them to England, and on at least one such 
 occasion they were despatched home without the Governor and 
 the members of Council affixing their signatures thereto. 
 
 " Whereas," wrote the Governor on January 14, 1720, " the R* Hon'ble 
 Company's Generall Book« of Accot^ (Letter R) for this Presidency are 
 now sent to the Hon'ble Court of Directors, and go unsigned by me : 
 for my vindication in refusing to sett my hands to them I do assign the 
 following reasons, humbly submitting them to the judgments of my 
 Hon'ble Employers, viz., that tho' Mr. Laurence Parker in the title to 
 the Journall stiles himself Accomp* and he says the books are kept by 
 him, yet I am of opinion he had Uttle, if any share therein, since he 
 declared in Councill he co^ not keep them and that he had wrote twelve 
 of the Hon'ble Court of Directors to that purport. 2dly : The said books 
 were bro* in so late (viz. the 13 Inst.) that time would not permitt their 
 examination by the Members of the Board before the dispatch of the 
 ship ; therefore I know not what errors may be committed." 
 
 The other Councillors were not slow to follow the example 
 set by their Chief, and they refused to sign the books for 
 reasons stated by the Governor. But the way in which 
 Mr. John Braddyll worded his objections is worth noting : 
 
 " Whereas the President did not think fitt to sign the Generall Books 
 of Accot^ for that reason only, tho* it improper being apprehensive (of 
 incurring) his displeasure thereby, tho' at the same time I declare he 
 never (told me that) my signing 'em w^ give him the least disgust : if I 
 have committed (any) mistake therein, I submitt it to the determination 
 of the Hon'ble Court (of Directors)." 
 
 Unfortunately, the entry cannot be reproduced in extenso, 
 as a part of the page on which it is written is torn away.* 
 As it stands, it is rather ambiguous, but it would seem that if 
 Mr. Braddyll left the Books of Account unsigned, he must have 
 done so very unwillingly. For he had evidently a great regard 
 for Parker and an unbounded faith in his honesty and straight- 
 forwardness, which, as we shall see later on, even the unani- 
 mous verdict of the Court, eventually condemning the Accountant, 
 
 * In this and other entries copied from the diary, wherever it is impossible 
 to decipher words either because they are illegible or because the white ant 
 has eaten through the pages, I have left blank or guessed what I think is 
 the most likely word and put it in brackets. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 293 
 
 did not shake. And when at the end of the trial Parker was 
 suspended from his seat in Council, Braddyll was the only 
 dissentient member who thought the punishment was unduly 
 severe and unjust. But let us not anticipate. Parker had to 
 meet a much more serious charge than that of neglecting the 
 Books of Account. It seems that about a year before he was 
 put on his trial he had, as usual, signed a Committee Report 
 on a matter of some importance, with other members of Council ; 
 but disagreeing afterwards with the opinion expressed in it, he 
 not only added a postscript to it, contrary to the terms of the 
 resolution embodied in that report, but had the audacity to 
 erase his own signature from the Consultation of that day. This 
 was a daring act even for a Chief Justice. We find the following 
 minute recorded on this ajBfair in the diary, dated January 25, 
 1720: 
 
 "Whereas Mr. Laurence Parker did erase his name out of the 
 Triplicate of the Consultations for the year 1718 (kept here for a 
 register). In the Consultation of the 3 September relating to the per- 
 quisite the E* Hon'ble Company have been pleased to give the Presid* 
 and did refuse to sign the same again (notwithstanding he had signed to 
 two other copys sent home) without he (making) a note that the Presi- 
 dent's giving up that perquisite to the Company's (serv*^) in Bombay 
 was an Act of Councill, and which he accordingly did do on or about 
 the 18th Instant. The President desires it may be minuted that the 
 same was a voluntary act of his own and no ways relating to the trans- 
 actions of the Board, as Messrs. Strutt, Braddyll and Brown, the only 
 remaining (members) then of Councill & Mr. Phillipps, Secretary, must 
 know, and for a farther proof he caus'd the foul Minute Book to be laid 
 on the table by which it was evident no such entry had ever been made. 
 The Hon'ble Court of Directors authorising the Councill to settle the 
 quantum to be paid to the President and not to fix it to any particular 
 persons, they having directed it to be paid by all the English in generall 
 who live under their protection. Whereas the making such alterations 
 and additions in the Consultation by any one member of the Board 
 after the same are sign'd by the others, maybe of pernicious consequence 
 to the rest on several accot^, order'd that (no) members of Councill 
 presume to make any note, alteration or dissent in the Consultation 
 Book without first making mention of it in Councill." 
 
 To this minute Lawrence Parker appended the following note 
 by way of explanation and justification of his conduct : 
 
 " Laurence Parker desires leave to sign the reasons why he sign'd the 
 Consultations: — They being bro* to the Board in hast I signed upon 
 
294 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 honour that business might not be hinder'd, but that kept here having 
 time to read 'em, I found the Company's Serv" not excused paying the 
 2 P. Cent, perquisite as the Presid* promised standing at the Board, not 
 that he said he would make a minute of it in the Consultations." 
 
 Even to us, after the lapse of nearly two centuries, Parker's 
 explanation seems rather weak. The gravamen of the charge 
 lay in the fact that he had erased his own signature without 
 first bringing the fact of his doing so to the notice of the 
 Council, as it was clearly his duty to do. The explanation 
 did not improve his case, for, as the President remarked, it 
 was not only " a wrong state of the case, but likewise a reflec- 
 tion on himself and other members of the Board." Matters of 
 more pressing importance, however, prevented any further 
 notice being taken of this affair, but on the 13th of April 
 Governor Boone drew up a long memorial setting forth, in 
 detail, all the charges brought against Lawrence Parker. 
 Before referring to this memorial let us take a passing notice 
 of another matter which, though it has no direct bearing on this 
 trial, affords an additional proof of the strained relations which 
 then subsisted between the Governor and the Accountant. The 
 entry, dated 30th March, runs as follows : 
 
 " The Presid* having taken up some mony of Mr. Parker on the 
 bottom of ship Boone Frigat from hence to China and back to this 
 port and Surat, the mony to be paid where she should unload (which 
 happen'd to be Surat) and Mr. Parker refusing to receive it there, 
 which if allowed of might prove of pernicious consequence to those 
 who have taken up large sums on her. The President desired the 
 members of the Board to give in their opinion in writing, whether 
 according to the tenour of the Bond it became due here or at Surat ; 
 after they had examined the bond, they were unanimous in their 
 opinions that it ought to be paid in Surat : however, the Presid', to 
 obUge Mr. Parker, having paid the mony here, directs this entry to 
 be made that it may not be brought as a precedent another time." 
 
 In our opinion the significance of this entry lies, not in that 
 it may not be regarded as a precedent, but in the generosity 
 shown by the Governor towards one who had forfeited all claims 
 to it by his unbecoming and persistently rude behaviour. 
 Parker, however, grew still more disrespectful and defiant, 
 "ill at last^the patience of the Governor was exhausted. The 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 295 
 
 latter drew up a memorial in which he reviewed the conduct of 
 the Accountant at great length and laid it before the Board. A 
 special meeting was convened on April 13, 1720, to consider 
 what steps should be taken against Parker. Besides the 
 President there were present at this meeting Messrs. Stephen 
 Strutt, Walter Brown, Blackett Midford, John Courtney, and 
 Owen Phillips, both Lawrence Parker and John Braddyll being 
 absent "owing to indisposition." Before considering the 
 various charges enumerated in the memorial the President 
 directed the Secretary to read " the 83 and 85 paragraphs of 
 the Right HonbP Company's Generall Letter p. Stanhope, 
 containing their directions concerning any member that shall 
 incurr the displeasure or cencure of the Board for infidelity, 
 neglect of duty or disobedience." After that the Secretary 
 read the following memorial: 
 
 " The late behaviour of Mr. Laurence Parker which is notorious and 
 well known to all but chiefly to you, the Members of this Board, has 
 made it necessary for me to bring his conduct into debate that we may 
 thereupon apply a proper remedy against the evil which otherwise may 
 be justly apprehended from the continuance of such practices. In order, 
 therefore, to set the same in a true light I have collected the following 
 facts, which are now laid before you, and which in my opinion do very 
 much deserve your attention. First and principally as they regard the 
 duty and obligations we lye under to the Et. Honble Company, and in 
 the next place as they concern every one of us in our private capacitys, 
 but more immediately myself and the authority I have the hon' jto be 
 invested with, against which I am persuaded many of ( ) were 
 
 chiefly directed. 
 
 " You have been witnesses of his carriage in publick towards myself, 
 even in Council,[that it has been with unbecoming freedoms. It must be 
 remembered by many of you the attempts (he made) in opposition to 
 my authority in affairs military, and the frequent opportunitys he has 
 taken to browbeat and discountenance (as much as lay) all those officers 
 and others whom I have thought fitt and necessary to distinguish with 
 any marks of favour. 
 
 " The exception he made against my exchangings of old rice out of 
 the R* Hon'ble Company's Warehouse for new batty with Messrs. 
 Phillipps and Home (and which drew on a debate) proceeded from 
 pique, as is manifest from his urging at the Board that I refus'd him 
 like favour when at the same time he excepted against that proceeding 
 mider pretence it was prejudiciall to the Company ; and that his design 
 (in) making that exception was to bespatter me, I think, is evident from 
 his (accusing) me of drawing up the Resolution of the Committee, that 
 
296 . BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 was ordered to (be made) into that affair, when in reality it was drawn 
 up by Mr. Walter Brown ( ) the minutes he and Mr. Stephen 
 
 Strutt took, and which those gentlemen (have more) than once acknow- 
 ledged, yet he persisted in his assertion altho' he (found) himself in the 
 wrong ; my design in desiring Mr. Brown to do it (was) to cover his 
 incapacity and disingenuity, the paper he had drawn (up being) unin- 
 telligible and what most of the Committee had refused to sign as ( ) 
 a true state of the case. 
 
 " Notwithstanding these provocations, on my perceiving him not so 
 well vers'd in the business of his office as that post required, I did 
 myself, and employ'd others to do, many things which was his pro- 
 vince rather than expose him ; however, he was so far from taking 
 this as a favour that in Councill, as you may remember, he told me 
 he would not keep the Gen" Books for three hundred pounds p. 
 annum, alluding as I suppose to my salary ; nay, he went yet further 
 and said he could not keep them, and that he (had) signify'd so much to 
 twelve or more of the Hon'ble Directors, (who) in answer had wrote him 
 they did not expect it. And tho' I might blame his conduct to some 
 members of the Board privately, yet I suffer'd it to pass without taking 
 any notice of it in a publick manner, well knowing (it) was my duty to 
 see them done by him or some other, and being ever inclined to indulge 
 him as much as I well could, but that he is not capable of keeping those 
 Books must, I think, appear evident from their being ( ) much 
 
 behind, and notwithstanding the repeated notice given him (to) lay them 
 before the Board every month pursuant to the E* Hon'ble Company's 
 positive orders, yet he is still very negligent, and doth not give due and 
 necessary attendance at the office. 
 
 " The erasing of his name from one of our Consultations near a twelve 
 month after his having signed three copys (two of which were sent home 
 to our Hon'ble Masters), and his making an exceptionable postscript to 
 the Committee's report on the Rice Affair unknown to any of the rest, 
 and after he and they had all signed it, are actions that must (be) con- 
 demned by all men of integrity, since they strike at the reputation and 
 estates of those who remain on the Register, for no member of the 
 Board can be safe when any other, after his assent to and joyning in 
 an afifair (of) the highest consequence, may upon the ill success thereof 
 take out his (name) or make an addition quite different from the sence 
 and meaning of the Resolution, as Mr. Parker has in this case done and 
 which no excuse can pardon. 
 
 " His absenting himself from severall consultations after due summons 
 and not sending his reasons, neither any cause of sickness to ( ), 
 
 may be justly termed a neglect of his duty, if not a downright contempt. 
 He knows that on such occasions it is customary and expected from 
 every one that he do by message or writing signify a good reason why he 
 cannot (be) present. It must be confess'd, indeed, that on his being 
 summoned to CounciU on the late tryall of Rama Camattee for treason- 
 able practices and other high crimes, he did at severall times by notes to 
 the Secretary desire to have his attendance excused, alledging that he 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 297 
 
 was out of order, but I have reason to believe (and so have you also) 
 that this was not the real occasion of his absence : it must be therefore 
 imputed to other reasons, his not attending on so extraordinary event as 
 this tryal, in which there is occasion for all the assistance and advice that 
 can be had ; and these reasons can be none else but either a carelessness 
 for the R* Hon'ble Company's interest, or an opposition and dislike to the 
 method and manner of our proceeding in that affair. And let it be re- 
 membered how he treated the subject in Councill the 28th of last month, the 
 way and manner of making his objections to the validity of his evidences, 
 notwithstanding he heard (us) declare publickly to the prisoner that wee 
 would proceed with all imaginary precaution and tenderness and that no 
 sentence should be pronounced against him unless the proofs of his 
 charge appear' d very plain and clear. The remark that offers on this 
 head is, I think, very material!, and it is naturally this. Mr. Parker 
 would have it thought that wee were pursuing to distraction a person not 
 culpable, and therefore would not be present with us at the tryal and 
 debates. Now to state the duty of him and every other member aright 
 on this occasion, let it be suppos'd there was cause given for this opinion 
 (which, however, is utterly false and an unworthy insinuation against his 
 fellow-members as well as myself), still it was incumbent on him to have 
 attended and given his opinion, but acting in the manner he has done is 
 a tacit acknowledgment of this (charge) and betrays a want of resolution 
 to act as becomes a ffaithful and diligent servant to the R* Hon'ble 
 Company. 
 
 " All these matters as they have a regard to me only in my personal 
 capacity I could now again pass them over, as it is obvious I have 
 formerly done ; but when by repeating and aggravating them with the 
 other facts above related, the heinousness of their nature is so con- 
 siderably augmented, it would have been a fault in me to have defer' d 
 any (longer) making 'em the subject of a Debate in Councill, to which 
 they are now submitted. 
 
 "It is to be observed that altho' Mr. Parker wrote the Secretary to 
 acquaint the Board he was out of order, yet he had summon'd a meeting 
 of the Court of Judicature before he knew there was a Consultation 
 called, which the Secretary is directed to take notice of to him and also 
 order' d to send him a copy of the charge and require his answer thereto 
 in writing by Friday morning." 
 
 Governor Boone must have been a man of some forensic 
 ability to be able to draw up such a cogent and clearly- 
 worded memorial. With most of the charges enumerated 
 therein we are already familiar, the only serious charge 
 which is new being that in which Lawrence Parker is 
 accused of wilfully absenting himself from several important 
 Consultations of the Board, particularly during the famous 
 trial of Rama Kamati. Of this extraordinary event, which 
 
298 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 had caused the greatest sensation in Bombay at the time, 
 we shall have occasion to speak at some length later in this 
 chapter. Let us only note here Parker's connection with it. 
 Parker had kept away from several adjourned hearings of 
 this trial on plea of illness, but the President was not far 
 wrong in thinking that the illness was, more or less, feigned. 
 It seems that one of the witnesses in this case would not 
 confess what he knew, or rather what he was supposed to 
 have known, about the guilt of the prisoner, till irons were 
 screwed upon his thumbs; and as there was then no other 
 means of extorting evidence from a witness, the Court had 
 sanctioned the use of the torture. To this cruel and illegal 
 procedure Parker took strong exception from the very beginning. 
 He declared, with righteous indignation, that it was against 
 the laws of his country to extort a confession from any man, 
 and this having been done to a servant of Rama Kamati at 
 the trial, he could not " sit there with a safe conscience." 
 "We would have been sorely disappointed in the Chief Justice 
 had he acquiesced in a procedure which, even in the eighteenth 
 century, was regarded as barbarous. Considering that torture 
 was abolished in England at the time, it is not easy to under- 
 stand why Governor Boone and his colleagues sanctioned its 
 application in Bombay. They apparently saw no objection to 
 having a witness's thumbs screwed with iron, and were greatly 
 surprised to find Parker taking exception to their method of 
 obtaining evidence for the prosecution. The President assigned 
 the cause of Parker's absence from the subsequent proceedings 
 of the trial either to his disregard of the Company's interests or 
 "an opposition and dislike to the method and manner of our pro- 
 ceeding in that affair." The Governor also reminded the Council 
 of the assurance given to the prisoner that they would proceed 
 against him with all conceivable precaution and tenderness, and 
 that no sentence would be pronounced unless the proofs of his 
 guilt appeared very plain and clear. Rama Kamati must have 
 wondered at the "precaution and tenderness" the judges showed 
 while screwing the thumbs of one of the prosecution witnesses 
 with irons; and as regards the sentence being pronounced on 
 very plain and clear proofs, it will suffice to state that, some 
 years after the trial, when the condemned man had pined 
 away in prison, it transpired that the treasonous letters he 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 299 
 
 was supposed to have written, and on conclusive proof of writing 
 which he was found guilty, were rank forgeries ! If Parker's 
 advice had been followed and torture had not been sanctioned, 
 the miscarriage of justice in this, perhaps the first important 
 trial in Bombay, might have been averted. In the light of what 
 is to follow, Parker's conduct as Councillor cannot be said to be 
 above reproach. Indeed, the fact of his having clandestinely 
 erased his own signature from the Minute Book reflects no credit 
 on either his integrity or his judgment. But, by the side of his 
 manly and Englishmanly fight for Rama Kamati, even this grave 
 irregularity may, perhaps, be condoned. His bold resolve not to 
 participate in a trial the proceedings of which were conducted in 
 a manner not approved by the laws of his country excites our 
 admiration. But let us proceed with this cause celebre. 
 
 As ordered by the President, the Secretary of the Board wrote 
 the following letter to Parker : 
 
 " WoRSPLL S^ — I am order'd by the Presid* and Council! to send you the 
 enclosed charge which the Presid* has this day laid before the Board, where 
 he expected you, and the Board were surprized at your absenting y'rself 
 after you had summoned a Court of Justice to meet this morning at the 
 Fort (which is not an affair of so great importance) and have not given 
 them any notice that you could not attend ; and they do require you to 
 give in your answer in writing thereto on Fryday morning next, the 15th 
 Inst., agreable to the R* Hon'ble Company's directions. I am 
 
 " WorspU S' 
 " Bombay Castle, " Y' Most Obed* Serv* 
 
 ''April IS, 1720." "John Hornb, Secty. 
 
 At the close of this day's Consultation the President put 
 the question to the Board whether Parker ought to be present 
 when the matter concerning him was gone into, and it was 
 unanimously decided that he ought not to be. This little 
 point is worth noting, for though, at the next Consultation, 
 Parker was told that he must not expect to sit at the Board, 
 he insisted upon his right to occupy his seat during the debate 
 and until a vote should be passed for his suspension. 
 
 Having regard to the antecedents of Lawrence Parker, his 
 arrogance and hauteur, the grudge he bore to the President 
 and the opportunities he had seized to harass him as much as 
 he could, one would think that he would have shown fight. 
 
300 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Curiously enough, however, he seems to have felt repentant at 
 his past conduct, for in reply to the Secretary's letter he 
 sent, the next day, a short but most submissive message, as 
 follows : " I do acknowledge myself in fault, and such mistakes 
 as I have made I do promise amendment for the future ; there- 
 fore, I humbly ask pardon of the Gov'* & Councill but in particular 
 of the Presid*." Whether it was the Governor's strongly 
 worded memorial or the intercession of his friend, John Braddyll, 
 that induced Parker to tender this apology it is difficult to say. 
 Suffice to add that the apology was unanimously accepted by the 
 Board. One confesses to a feeling almost akin to disappointment 
 that a matter which promised so much excitement at first should 
 have ended so tamely. 
 
 But this was only the lull before the storm. For, about a 
 fortnight after, we find the following entry made in a Consultation 
 at which, with other Councillors, Parker was also present : 
 
 ''Notwithstanding Mr. Laurence Parker by his letter of the 14th 
 Ultimo acknowledged his fault and made his submission to the Board, 
 and promised amendment for the future, yet he positively refused to sign 
 the Consultation relating thereto, when presented by the Secretary. 
 The Presid* said he had summoned this Councill cheifly to require Mr. 
 Parker to give in his answer to the charge he had drawn up against him, 
 his refusal] to sign the said Consultation tacitly implying the said charge 
 was groundless. But Mr. Parker having prevented the Presid*^ by 
 deUvering him this morning his answer dated the 15 Ultimo, the same 
 was now read as enter'd hereafter, and the President then informing the 
 Board he had some remarks to make thereon, the further consideration 
 of this affair was defer'd till our next meeting." 
 
 From the above it appears that Parker had retracted his 
 admission of guilt and was as defiant as ever. The apology he 
 had tendered, and its subsequent withdrawal, are alike a mystery. 
 What influences had worked on him the records do not say. 
 Parker attempted to meet the charges brought against him by 
 the President with the skill of a trained advocate. His reply, 
 as we shall presently see, was couched in terms of deference 
 mingled with defiance. He admitted himself to be in fault, but 
 with a reservation. **If I have done wrong," he wrote in the 
 course of his reply, " I am ready to ask your Honour's pardon." 
 But we must let the defendant plead for himself : 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 301 
 
 ** I rec** a paper from Mr. Jolin Home by y'^ order dated the 13 April, 
 1720, and ara order'd to make ans"^ thereto by the 15th inst. (Fryday 
 morning). In obedience to y*^ commands, I do as follows : 
 
 ** The Presid* is pleas'd to write I have made attempts in opposition to 
 his authority in affairs military, and to browbeat those officers and others 
 whom he has thought fitt to distinguish, or words to this purpose. To 
 which I answer I never did dispute the Presid*'s authority. The Hon'ble 
 Company's established rules are sufficient for us to go by, from which I 
 hope y' Hon"^ &ca will never deviate. If you please to remember, you 
 mentioned something of it, and you said it was in the Cape Garden, but 
 I told you I did not remember anything of it, neither do I now. The 
 officers, if any has been uncivil to me, I have complained to you. If 
 any complaint is brought against a soldier, white or black, I teU 'em the 
 Presid*^ takes notice of such. 
 
 " The Eice affair has been examined and gone home to the Comp* on 
 all sides, and I do assure you, gentlemen, I am very innocent and never 
 intended to reflect on the Presid' or any member at the Board. The 
 two acct^ being in the office, Mr. Newlin sent to me to know how it should 
 be enter'd, upon which I acquainted the Gov"^ that if any mistake it should 
 be rectified, and what resolution the Committee came to upon exami- 
 nation that the Company were not loosers, I hope will satisfy the Hon'ble 
 Company and y' Hon' &ca Councill, as you have thought fit to leave it to 
 their determination. 
 
 *• The Books likewise are gone home to the Hon'ble Company with such 
 remarks as you are pleas'd to make for their approbation, and those now 
 about I do assure you (tho' my indisposition has hinder'd my going to the 
 Office) I have sent for everyone in my Office and examined their Joumall 
 and Leger once a week, and sometimes in three days ; Mr. Newlin is in 
 the "Wast Journall, Mr. Sarson to Decem' and posted, and has promis'd 
 to bring 'em up in a month and half, Mr. Salisbury the same ; I hope y"^ 
 Hon' & Councill will not be more strict on me than others has been to 
 my predecessors. If I find anyone neglect his duty, I will acquaint you 
 of it ; the Books are ready when you please to order 'em to be called for. 
 
 " I told y' Hon' the reason of my erasing my name was that I made 
 a mistake in the objection, but the Consultation was not signed (if you 
 please to ask) not many months before Dec' last, for Mr. Philhpps sent 
 the book to my house, and I sign'd all but that one about the two p. cent., 
 and you have thought fitt to send home your remarks, that the Hon'ble 
 Company may be judges of it. If I have done wrong in this or any 
 mistake I have made, I am ready to ask y' Hon' and Councill pardon. 
 
 " My absenting myself from Consultations has proceeded from my 
 indisposition, and I always wrote or sent the reason to Mr. Home, as 
 I did Wednesday last, and have wittness to prove it if requir'd ; also my 
 indisposition by the following persons, Mr. Cobbe, Mr. Bendall, Mr. 
 Styles, and Mr. Edlyne. I fully purpos'd on Sunday to go to Church, 
 (but) about Church time I was taken with such a pain as brought me to 
 my bed, and the pain generally takes me in the morning, sometimes it 
 goes off and comes again. 
 
302 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 "As to my summoning a Court, I gave orders the day before, but 
 finding myself the next morning out of order, I designed to send to Mr. 
 Strutt or some other to perform my ofifice, but Mr. Styles coming in told 
 me there was no occasion, because there would be a Consultation. I hope 
 y"^ Hon"^ & Councill will have regard when it please God to inflict anyone 
 member, to excuse him, and now me, and I do assure you the last time 
 I was in Councill, I had no design but to come at the truth, for one 
 member may have a thought to the purpose of the business before 'em, 
 that a wiser man may pass by. When Eama Comattee complained of 
 his servant being tortur'd for confession, I said it was contrary to law ; 
 if I have droped any unwary expression or made any mistake, I hope 
 a pardon, for I do declare I have no design but to lay this V>efore you 
 with all the respect and submission that becomes a member of the 
 Board." 
 
 It will be seen from the above that the brave Chief Justice 
 tried to justify his conduct during the trial of Eama Kamati. 
 He admitted that when it was brought to his notice that one of 
 the witnesses was being tortured, he declared such a procedure 
 to be contrary to law. But the rest of his reply does not seem 
 to be equally convincing. He does not fully meet the charge as 
 regards the Eice affair: he only tries to wriggle out of it. He 
 also betrays some animus against the President when, in refuting 
 the charge of opposition to the President's anthority in military 
 affairs, he slyly observes : " The Hon'ble Company's established 
 rules are sufficient for us to go by, from which I hope yr 
 Honr &ca will never deviate." Here, Parker had a fling at the 
 President which the latter was not slow to notice. Governor 
 Boone wrote out a long rejoinder, substantiating the charges 
 he had brought against Parker by the depositions of several 
 military officers, and laid it before the Board for consideration 
 on May 5th. All the members of Council were present, 
 including Mr. Parker. But as it was decided at the former 
 Consultation that Parker should not be allowed to be present when 
 the matter concerning him was figain under discussion, the 
 President ** acquainted Mr. Parker that till he could clear him- 
 self of the charge laid against him , he must not expect to sett at 
 the Board, but the Defendant pleading that he had a right to sett 
 in his place during the debates, and until a vote should be passed 
 for his suspension, the President again put the question whether 
 he ought to be admitted, and all the members being unanimous 
 that he ought not to, his plepi was rejected, but he was permitted 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 303 
 
 to be present in ye room to answer for himself." Before pro- 
 ceeding, let us see what the President had to say to Parker's 
 reply to his memorial. The following observations are recorded 
 in the Minute Book : 
 
 *' It is observable the answer above-mentioned is dated ye 15 April, 
 but it was not brought before the Board till the 2nd Instant ; neither 
 did I know till that time he did intend to make any answer besides 
 the letter of the 14 April which I looked upon (and believe every 
 member of the Board did so to) as an acknowledgment of the truth 
 of that charge, with a promise of amendment for the future, withal 
 requesting (as he had done in private in the most earnest manner) that 
 it might not be proceeded upon any further, which being granted I had 
 reason to hope we should go on with the Publick Affairs w^^'out any more 
 such like interruptions. But I find I was mistaken, for when the 
 Secretary laid the Consultation Book before him last week, he refused 
 to sign that in which the charge and the transactions thereto are 
 enter'd, upon which I judged it necessary to call the Councill of Monday 
 last in order to bring this affair into debate again, and (that) he might 
 be directed to prepare and dehver in his answer, in which he prevented 
 me by bringing it in at that time, when also he affirmed, as you may 
 remember, that he had neither by word of mouth, neither did he intend 
 by his letter aforesaid, to own the charge against him, adding that he 
 knew of no mistake he was guilty of, unless in not giving his attendance 
 at the Board at the Tryal of Rama Comattee and erasing his name from 
 the Consultation. 
 
 " In the second paragraph of his answer he denys that he ever did 
 dispute my authority, and then adds : ' The Hon'ble Company's esta- 
 blished rules are sufficient for us to go by, from which I hope y' Hon"^ 
 &ca will never deviate.' I can see no occasion he had for mentioning 
 this clause in his answer, unless it be to insinuate that I was going 
 about to deviate from our Hon'ble Masters' orders, but to make it 
 evident that he had made attempts in opposition to my authority in 
 affairs miUtary, I have selected the following instances which will more 
 fully confirm that part of the charge, but before I proceed to the proof 
 I shall make one necessary remark, viz. : 
 
 " Mr. Parker seems to insinuate that I should say his opposition in 
 the mihtary affairs was in the Cape Garden, which is, I confess, some- 
 what that I cannot comprehend, and he must give me leave to think 
 that he does not himself imagine I could charge him with facts before 
 there could be a possibility of their being committed. What relates to 
 the Cape Garden was thus: I there, to the best of my remembrance, told 
 him I had heard that the differences which had happened on the Island 
 proceeded from the Seconds wresting the Executive Power of the 
 MiUtary Affairs from the Gov"^, which, as it was an unwarrantable act, 
 was what I should never part with, and such as I hoped he would never 
 attempt. But (what) I intend by the charge is his actually opposing my 
 
304 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 authority on this Island, and by browbeating the officers, after my 
 accession to the Government. 
 
 " The first attempt whereof was suddenly after my arrival, the exact 
 time I can't remember, but he order'd a Guard on a very trivial acco* 
 from Mahim, Ensign Presly being then the Commanding Officer, which 
 coming to my knowledge, I sent the Ensign off the Main Guard, now 
 Cap* Smith, to let him know that I did not approve of weakening the 
 Guard at Mahim upon every frivolous occasion, that petty affairs should 
 be decided by the Cheif of that place, and those of a higher nature I did 
 expect sh^ be brought before me. Soon after the return of said Officer, 
 to acquaint me he had del*^ the message, he enter 'd my apartment in 
 company with Messrs. Strutt and Clapham, being a Court day, and after 
 a very haughty manner accosted me to the best of my remembrance in 
 these words : ' Gov^ Boone, I take it very unkind you should send y' 
 officers to call me fool.' I reply'd I had sent no officer with any such 
 message, and if any person had done so, I wo^ punish him according to 
 his demerit. He answer'd Ensign Smith had deliver'd himself so, upon 
 which I order'd him immediately to be called in, and told him the 
 accusation brought against him which he absolutely deny'd, adding that 
 he told his Worship that I would not have persons brought down with 
 a guard upon every frivolous occasion and expected to be acquainted 
 when any such thing was done, which I confirmed to be the orders I 
 gave, and expected sh^ be accordingly regarded. After some farther 
 talk wee parted, and as I thought good friends. And to demonstrate my 
 good intentions, I order'd the Ensign to go to him and tell him he was 
 order'd by me on the message, which if it gave him offence, he hoped he 
 would excuse ; but he (as the Ensign informed me) took no notice of 
 him ; therefore I could esteem the first part of this relation no otherwise 
 than a downright opposition to my authority, and the latter an intent to 
 browbeat an innocent officer (as p. Capt. Smith's relation thereof will 
 appear). 
 
 " Not long after this another dispute happen'd concern^ the Garrison 
 of Dungaree, the soldiers whereof were order'd frequently to take up 
 Debtors ; I then told him I would not permitt it, since there were sepoys 
 or peons sufficient for such occasions, and thereupon forbid all the 
 Garrison Officers receiving any orders from him : however, after some 
 warm words had passed, and his assuring me he had no ill intention and 
 promising to avoid all such occasions for the future, I readily consented 
 to an accommodation, which did not last long. For the Court having 
 passed sentence upon one or more persons to be employed on the Hon'ble 
 Company's works, he caused an order to be drawn out and deliver'd 
 to Major Soddington to send a guard dayly with the said persons to the 
 works, without the least intimation to me contrary to his former pro- 
 mise, and not only so, but Messrs. Strutt and Clapham were also 
 prevailed to sign it. Major Soddington on his receiving it (as he in- 
 formed me) signified to Mr. Parker that he co*^ not obey that order with- 
 out my hand was to it, and that he should be obliged to make it known 
 to me to receive my directions thereupon, which he accordingly per- 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 305 
 
 formed, and I having resented it as I thought the nature of the affair 
 required, Messrs. Strutt and Clapham made their excuses in writing, 
 and Mr. Parker came himself, when I had laid before him his breach of 
 promise and the ill consequences such dissentions might produce if he 
 continued to act in that manner.* 
 
 " The next time I had occasion to think he had an intention to brow- 
 beat the Ofi&cers was in a complaint against Major ComeUus Soddington 
 for words which passed at his house, concerning his being advanced to 
 that post, which were of a very trifling nature, and after which the said 
 Soddington affirmed they drank a bottle or two of wine and as he 
 thought were good friends, and added nothing could be more surprizing 
 to him than to be sent for on that occasion and immediately in my 
 presence humbly asked his pardon if he had given offence : this relation 
 may in-itself seem to be a matter of no great moment, but will merit a 
 due regard when considering as one of the many occasions he has taken 
 to discourage those Officers I have thought fit to distinguish with any 
 marks of my favour. 
 
 " Cap* Vane was the next that shared his displeasure in a very 
 remarkable manner, against whom he obhged severall of the natives to 
 sign depositions in EngHsh which none of 'em understood, of his having 
 extorted more than his allowed perquisite for modelling their houses, 
 agreable to the proposed streets, as they all declar'd to Mr. Phillipps, 
 then Secretary, who understanding the country language, was order'd 
 by me to examine them, and being now a Member of the Board can 
 relate what is further necessary. 
 
 " The beating my servant Omer was an attempt to lessen my authority, 
 and such as few persons in my station would have passed by so easily 
 as Ifdid. 
 
 " The dece** Mr. Waters being a dependant on me rec** many marks of 
 his displeasure, which he has often related to some of the acquaintance, 
 and sometimes I have been myself wittness of complaints against him- in 
 my private affairs, which have had no just ground : however, this I do 
 not mention, but as it confirms what I have said in respect to his 
 carriage towards those who had any considerable share of my favour. 
 
 " Capt. Gordon was very ill treated by him when once sent on a 
 message from me, and Capt. Stanton accused very unjustly of affronting 
 him, which tho' seemingly accomodated, has never been forgot : both of 
 them being on the spot, I desire may be examined. 
 
 "The third paragraph in answer to the Eice Affair is I think not at all 
 to the purpose, for he is charged on that head w*^ making and signing 
 an addition of his own to the report of the Comittee on the same paper, 
 and after he and all the rest of the Comittee had sign'd it, which manner 
 of proceeding may be of dangerous consequence if once admitted or 
 
 * The next two lines of this entry are not easily decipherable, but from the 
 context they would seem to run as follows: "On further assurances of 
 his good intentions to prevent any future bickerings, I again dropt the 
 matter, &c." 
 
 20 
 
306 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 brought into custom, but of this he has taken no manner of notice in 
 his said answer. 
 
 " That the Books are now pretty near brought up must be owned, but 
 they were very much behind when I gave in the charge of a neglect in 
 that particular, and his behaviour concerning keeping them, I think, may 
 be justly deem'd a disobedience to his superiour. 
 
 " His answer for erasing his name from the Consultations is touched 
 very tenderly, tho' I still think it a fault of a very high nature, and is of 
 itself alone sufficient for us to secure ourselves by putting it out of the 
 power of any Member so to impose on us a second time.* 
 
 " I must leave it to you whether you think his ans' for being so 
 frequently absent from our Consultations, and particularly on the try all 
 of Rama Comattee, are just and valid. I am very sure I have heard it 
 from severall persons, and from some of you now at the Board, that you 
 have seen him abroad and seemingly well the night before some of those 
 Consultations, and I have had it from a person of good reputation that 
 he was with him one of those mornings of the tryall, and that he was 
 then to appearance very well. To all which I may add the acknowledg- 
 ment he made at the Board last Councill day in these words : ' I own it 
 was a mistake in me not to attend at the tryall.' And yet he said at his 
 own house to a person from whom I had it again, that he could not be 
 present at the tryall with a safe conscience, or words to that purpose. 
 
 " I could innumerate severall other instances of Mr. Parker's mis- 
 behaviour towards me, but as what is already said is sufficient to support 
 my charge, I think it needless to add anything further." 
 
 Immediately below the President's elaborate observations on 
 
 the conduct of Lawrence Parker, we find the depositions of Mr. 
 
 Secretary Phillipps and Captains Gordon, Smith, and Stanton, 
 
 each of them not only affirming what the Governor had said, but 
 
 adding something on his own account to prove that Parker had 
 
 more than once set at nought the President's authority, and, in 
 
 short, behaved himself in a manner totally unworthy of his high 
 
 rank and position. It would be too long to set out all these 
 
 depositions here : we shall briefly note the salient points in 
 
 them. Owen Phillips was most emphatic in his denial of the 
 
 blame which Parker had endeavoured to fasten upon him by 
 
 insinuating that the proceedings in the affair of the consulage 
 
 was chiefly occasioned " by the backwardness of the Consul- 
 
 * The record is again undecipherable at this place (the lower edge of the 
 page having been completely torn away), but the last sentence seems to refer 
 to Parker's insinuation that the Consultation Books having been brought by 
 Mr. Phillipps, the then Secretary, rather late, he signed them in a hurry, 
 overlooking that particular Consultation. To this the Governor replied by 
 merely referring to what Mr. Phillips had to say in his deposition. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 307 
 
 tations." He not only proved that the Consultations were 
 ready in good time, but that there was such a long delay in 
 sending home two fair copies of the proceedings that it did not 
 fairly lie in the mouth of any member to complain that he had 
 no time to peruse them. He further proved that when he sent 
 the third fair copy (which was intended to be kept among the 
 records in Bombay) to Parker for signature, he kept it for 
 months, in spite of repeated reminders, and that when he did 
 return it, he found Mr. Parker's name erased from the Consul- 
 tations. Captain William Gordon gave a long account of 
 Parker's unseemly behaviour, and specified several instances 
 when he had tried to browbeat him and even his servants. We 
 shall quote one passage from his deposition which shows how 
 rudely Parker used to treat his subordinates at times. It seems 
 that Gordon's slave-boy once committed the offence of going 
 into a tank that belonged to Parker. This annoyed his Worship 
 so much that he sent a sepoy to fetch the offender, that he 
 might punish him in a manner to cure him of his boyish pranks. 
 The latter, however, bolted and hid himself in his master's 
 room. The sepoy thereupon entered the room, but not finding 
 the slave-boy there, went about his business. We must now let 
 Captain Gordon depose for himself: 
 
 " Some time after that I came home, when my servants acquainted me 
 with what had passed, and just as they were telling me, the same sepoy 
 was going by the door, whom I called after and asked him why he came 
 into my room in my absence, to take out anything that belonged to me ? 
 Upon which he told me his master had sent him to fetch my boy, and 
 then I told him that if ever I found him in my room again, I would send 
 him home earless ; then he went and acquainted his WorsP, who immedi- 
 ately sent for me, and I went to him, who asked me why I threatned 
 his servants ? I told him the occasion was his being in my room in my 
 absence ; he then asked me if I did not think his servant could go into 
 any man's room and take out his slave or any man's servant. I told him 
 I neither knew nor disputed his power, but that I thought it very hard his 
 servant should go to my room in my absence to take away my slave or 
 anything else that belonged to me, especially for such a small fault (if 
 any) as his going into the tank, which twenty horsekeepers and others 
 daily do. His WorsP said all this was very well, but that I might depend 
 of being called to an acco* for it. I told his WorsP that he might do as 
 he pleased, for if I had committed a fault I had no reason to expect any 
 favour from him, for that he had already endeavoured to do me a damage 
 by representing me as a vile fellow to the President, upon which he 
 
308 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 called his servants to him and bid them to rem^^' what I said. I told him 
 I had said nothing but the truth and what I should be always ready to 
 say over again. His Worship then in a very slighting manner before all 
 his servants bid me go about my business, so I came away, and told 
 his Worship I thought he did not use me well, and that I could not 
 bear it." 
 
 There are two points worth noticing in the above extract. 
 The first is the bold stand made by Captain Gordon against the 
 abuse of authority which was vested in Lawrence Parker as 
 Chief Justice and Accountant of Bombay. There could not 
 have been many Englishmen in this town at the time ; but it 
 is pleasant to think that even then there were men who could 
 speak out the truth, regardless of fear or favour, and stick to it, 
 whatever the consequences. Captain Gordon's conduct was 
 marked by a self-restraint that does him great credit. Whilst 
 showing due respect to his superior, he did not forego the 
 dignity that sits so well on a gentleman born and bred. Another 
 point worth noticing is the threat held out by Gordon to Parker's 
 sepoy, that if he found him in his room again he would send 
 him home earless. This was not an empty threat : it was 
 sometimes put into execution in those early days. Let us hope, 
 however, Parker's sepoy had his ears spared to him. 
 
 Captain William Smith in his deposition bore out the Presi- 
 dent's allegation against Parker, namely, that without the 
 previous orders of the Governor he (Parker) had employed 
 soldiers in removing some debtors from Mahim, though he had 
 sepoys of his own for the purpose. There is not much of 
 interest in this deposition, except that Parker seems to have 
 represented to the Governor that when Smith delivered the 
 latter's message he did so in a tone which was unbecoming a 
 subordinate, and that he even called him (Parker) a fool. 
 Thereupon the Governor called for an explanation, but Captain 
 Smith emphatically repudiated the statement, adding that 
 
 " I should have been very impudent indeed, had I been guilty of what 
 Mr. Parker alledged, but did assure his Honour I behaved myself with all 
 imaginable respect in the delivery of the message, and hope his Hon' 
 would not beleive me capable of being guilty of so much ill manners to 
 the Second of the Island, and that I beleive all the gentlemen upon the 
 Island would do me the justice to inform His Hon"^ my behaviour had 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 309 
 
 been always contrary to what Mr. Parker had been pleased to accuse 
 me of." 
 
 Captain Smith had the satisfaction of knowing that the 
 Governor did not believe him capable of so much incivility, 
 though that fact did not sweeten the latter's relations with " the 
 Second of the Island." The last deposition was that of Captain 
 Jonathan Stanton, sworn at Parel on May 5, 1720. As it is of 
 some interest in this connection, we shall reproduce it below : 
 
 " The first complaint Mr. Parker made to y' Hon' against me was that 
 I had order'd the Guard at the Bastion to ground their arms and turn 
 their backsides on him, with a design to affront him. The truth of that 
 matter is as follows : I was walking with Lieut. Walker on the Bastian 
 when the Serjeant of the Guard came and told him your Hon' was 
 coming, upon which Mr. Walker order'd the men to their arms, but the 
 Serjeant immediately afterwards informing him 'twas a false alarm, 
 Lieut, Walker order'd the men to ground their arms and quit 'em, not 
 seeing Mr. Parker till he was on the Battery ; however, this complaint 
 was wrong placed, the guard at the time not being under my care. 
 
 " Sometime before y' Hon' embarked for Surat, I acquainted you of one 
 of my marines being sent to Dungaree by Mr. Parker on suspision of his 
 cutting a cow of Kamajees, upon which y' Hon' directed me to wait on 
 Mr. Parker and let him know it was your order that ye man should be 
 deliver' d me ; but he then removed him from Dungaree to the main- 
 guard, till y' Hon' was gone to Surat, when I again pres'ed that he might 
 be examined, which was accordingly done before Mr. Parker, myself, and 
 severall of the Black Merchants, and tho' not found guilty he was again 
 committed, and tho' I earnestly requested to have the decision of the 
 matter as he was a soldier and under my command, yet he would not 
 admit of no other person to decide the affair but the Veriadores." 
 
 The latter paragraph of the above deposition throws a lurid 
 light on the administration of justice in those days, or rather on 
 the way in which justice must have been then administered by 
 the highest judicial functionary in Bombay. The marine who 
 was charged with having killed a cow belonging to Ramajee's 
 (Rama Kamati's, as will be seen hereafter) apparently did not 
 come within the jurisdiction of the tribunal over which Parker 
 presided. Being a soldier, he was amenable to military law, 
 and it was for this reason that Captain Stanton claimed to have 
 him under his command. Not only did Parker exceed his juris- 
 diction in trying the case, but he had the hardihood to commit 
 
310 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the accused to prison, though he was actually found not guilty by 
 the "black merchants" at the end of his trial. One stands aghast 
 at such flagrant illegality perpetrated by the highest judicial 
 officer in Bombay at the time. Indeed, it is difficult to believe 
 that the councillor, who so vehemently objected to the use of the 
 torture against the unanimous opinion of the tribunal which 
 sealed the fate of Rama Kamati, and the judge who committed 
 the marine to prison though the charge against him was not 
 proven, were one and the same person. But let us proceed. 
 At the Consultation held on May 5, 1720, the Secretary, 
 Mr. Owen Phillips, read the charge, the President's observa- 
 tions, Parker's answer, and the several depositions referred to 
 above. The Governor then explained to the Board that the 
 person who had informed him about Parker's statement that he 
 could not be present with a clear conscience at the trial of Rama 
 Kamati was Captain Hamilton. Thereupon the latter was 
 called in, and he declared that Mr. Parker did make use of the 
 following words on that occasion : '' That it was against the 
 laws of our country to extort a confession from any man, and 
 this having been done to a servant of Rama Comattee on the said 
 Tryall, he could not sett there with a safe conscience." Parker 
 was then summoned before the Board to make his defence. He 
 began by expressing the hope that the President and Council 
 would not be strict with him in their proceedings in this affair, 
 and urged that any person in the term of four years (which term 
 he had served the Right Hon'ble Company) might be guilty of 
 some errors or mistakes, and that it was a hardship on him 
 to have all his bad actions scrutinised, and none of the good 
 ones remembered. Incidentally, Parker had a fling at some oi 
 the members of the Board, for he added, laconically, that if 
 other people's actions were as nearly examined, he believed 
 there might be faults found, though he did not think fit to explain 
 himself. The defendant concluded with the observation that he 
 had never been guilty of anything against the Company either by 
 fraud or infidelity, and desired time to draw up a reply to the 
 President's remarks on his answer. He then presented a letter 
 to the President, wherein he endeavoured to justify himself for 
 erasing his name from the Consultations, with a certificate from 
 Mr. John Styles, Register of the Court, stating that Parker 
 had told him that he was out of order on the day on which 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 311 
 
 a Court of Justice had been summoned to meet. Parker's 
 letter ran as follows : 
 
 " To the Hon'ble Cha» Boone, Esqr. 
 
 " Presid* & Gov' &ca. & Councill. 
 
 "Hon'ble S» & Sirs,— The Presiden* on Monday the 2 May, 1720, as 
 wee were all standing at the Board (upon my saying faults or mistakes) 
 asked me what erasing my name out of the Consultation was ? I answer'd 
 a mistake. Ah, says he, but if a man erases his name out of a Bond ? 
 To which I returned. What, will you make a rogue of me ? Withat (sic) 
 said, there's no comparison betwixt one and the other ; which does 
 occasion me to lay before you, gentlemen, this paper, and sett the 
 reason in a true light, why I did take my name out, as follows : 
 
 " Gov"^ Boone did promise, standing at the Board before all the then 
 Councill, that the Company's servants should be excused the 2 P. Cent, 
 perquisite. This he has acknowledged before you, gentlemen, Mr. Strutt 
 and Mr. Braddyll has said the same to you, that the Gov' did say that 
 the Company's servants should be excused the 2 P. cent., notwithstand^ 
 in the Consultations it is worded that all people are to pay the 
 2 P. Ct. without any exception. The Presid*^ says he did not say he 
 would minute it, but I thought he would have done it, being agreed on, 
 and urges it was not an act of Councill, but in my opinion it was an act 
 of Councill. The President and Councill standing at the Board, an 
 agreement is as valid, standing as setting, and Mr. John Braddyll told 
 you he expected to have found it minuted. The Consultations were 
 brought to the Board, and in hast to be signed ; that business might 
 not be hinder'd I signed upon honoiu-, beleiving everything was enter'd as 
 agreed on. But when I came to sign that which remains in the Secretary's 
 Office, and time to read it, I found the Company's servants not excus'd the 
 2 P. Cent., but liable to pay as any other person or persons, upon which 
 I told Mr. Strutt and Mr. Braddyll, who said they had not seen it. 
 I told the President of it, which he has acknowledged I did. I signed my 
 name with an objection, but made a mistake, for which reason I erased 
 my name and my objection fair, as may be seen in the Consultation 
 Book. I signed two of the same which are gone home, and a third 
 remains here with my objection as follows : 
 
 '* ' Laurence Parker declares to the best of his memory that it was 
 agreed in Councill that the Company's servants of Bombay and Surat 
 were not to pay any perquisite of 2 P. Cent, to the President.' 
 
 "This can never be accounted to me a crime by the Hon'ble Company, 
 but a part of my duty, and I hope on due consideration, you'll have 
 great regard to my reputation, being the most valuable of anything in 
 this world. 
 
 " The President was pleased to say he thought I would have signed 
 what he accuses me of in the paper called an Enquiry into my 
 behaviour ; give me leave to tell you as it's gone home to our Hon'ble 
 Masters, it's my opinion you wait to hear whether they approve or 
 
312 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 disapprove, whom they blame and whom not ; this is agreeable to their 
 standing order, as P. Gen^ Letter P. Stanhope, paragraph 83. 
 
 " I desire my witnesses may be called to prove my indisposition, and 
 that the Letter Book to Surat may be produced for the year 1718, 
 September or October : I have something to offer farther. I am, 
 
 " Hon'ble Sir & Sirs, 
 '* Y"^ Most Obed* & Hu°^ Serv*, 
 
 " Lawrence Parkbe. 
 " Bombay, May 6, 1720." 
 
 To this letter was appended the certificate from Mr. John 
 Styles, the then Register of the Court, in proof of Parker's 
 alleged indisposition. The President had pointed out in his 
 charge that, in his opinion, this indisposition was merely an 
 excuse set forth by Parker to account for his absence, on 
 April 13th, from the trial of Rama Kamati, because on that very 
 day Parker had summoned a Court in his capacity as Chief 
 Justice. But Mr. Styles' s deposition was designed to show that 
 the illness was not feigned. The certificate was couched in the 
 following terms : 
 
 " Upon summoning a Court the 20 April, 1720, to be holden the next 
 morning in Bombay Castle, by order of the Worsp" Laurence Parker, 
 Esqr., Cheif Justice, I do declare that (on the 13 when I entered 
 his door) he told me he was just going to send for me, and that he 
 design'd to send to Mr. Stephen Strutt to perform his Office, being out 
 of order ; to which I answer'd there was no occasion, because there 
 would be a Consultation." 
 
 After hearing what Parker had to say in justification of his 
 conduct, and after perusing his letter and the Register's 
 deposition, the defendant was ordered to withdraw. A new 
 element of some dramatic interest was then introduced into 
 this affair. The President drew the Board's attention to the 
 fact that part of the last line of the letter just delivered by the 
 defendant was fresh blotted out with a pen, but that the words 
 *' prove against the Presiden* " immediately after the words 
 *' I have something to " might be plainly read therein. Parker 
 was thereupon ordered to be called in and required to explain 
 the meaning of these words : he was at the same time told that 
 if he had anything to object to against the President he should 
 do so then and there. Parker replied that it was a mistake of 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 313 
 
 the copyist and not done through design or with his knowledge, 
 all that he intended being the words *' offer farther," the words 
 immediately preceding being " I have something to." Parker's 
 explanation was evidently accepted by the Board, but having 
 regard to his past relations with the President, it seems rather 
 lame, for how did the copyist substitute the totally different 
 words " prove against the Presiden* " for the words " offer 
 farther " ? 
 
 Parker having again withdrawn from the Consultation, the 
 President summed up the material points in the case. We 
 have already referred to Mr. Braddyll's advocacy of Parker's 
 cause. Braddyll gave a further proof of it at this stage of the 
 proceedings. 
 
 " As he (the President)," runs the entry in the diary, " touched on the 
 article relating to Parker's proceeding against Capt. Vane, Mr. Braddyll 
 said that severall of the inhabitants had complained to him of Capt. 
 Vane's taking mony of them for liberty to build their houses, whom he 
 order'd to go to Mr. Parker and beleived Mr. Parker had acquainted the 
 Gov"^ thereof, which was the only reason why he himself did not, which 
 Mr. Parker desired might be minuted." 
 
 We suppose bribery was a plant which throve exceedingly 
 well on the virgin soil of Bombay in those days, though it is 
 due to Captain Vane to say that the charge brought against 
 him by Braddyll was afterwards held not proved. The President 
 then proceeded with the summing up, and at its close put the 
 question whether Mr. Parker's request for time to draw up a 
 reply to his remarks should be granted. The question having 
 been answered in the affirmative, the defendant was called in 
 and told that he should prepare and submit his reply, and what- 
 ever else he may have to offer, the next day, and also to bring 
 *' what evidences and witnesses he thought requisite for his 
 defence." 
 
 This affair was now dignified into a regular trial of the 
 Worshipful Lawrence Parker, Accountant and Chief Justice of 
 Bombay, before the Governor and Council, constituting, at 
 the time, the highest tribunal on the island. Though the 
 inquiry was mainly directed to the establishment of the charge 
 as to whether Parker was really indisposed on the day on which 
 
314 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Rama Kamati's trial was to be continued, other matters were 
 also gone into, for instance, Parker's neglect of his duties as 
 Accountant. The first witness who came forward to prove the 
 indisposition was Dr. Cobbe, the reverend gentleman who has 
 been already introduced to the reader. He was called in and 
 told by the President that Mr. Parker, being accused of absent- 
 ing himself from attending certain Consultations, had brought 
 him as witness to prove that he was indisposed, and that he 
 was therefore required to declare what he knew of the matter 
 in answer to the following questions : 
 
 " Q. Do you know Mr. Parker was so indispos'd as that he could not 
 attend the publick business for the term of 5 weeks, which was the 
 time of the Tryall of Rama Comattee, and some days preceeding? 
 
 "J.. I know he was indisposed and that he took physick on 
 them and do beleive it would not have been safe for him to have 
 attended. 
 
 " Q. Do you know whether Mr. Parker went abroad or kept house 
 during the term aforesaid ? 
 
 "^. According to what I know he kept house; I can't be certain 
 as to the exact time, but know it to be some days, and I beleive 
 weeks." 
 
 Dr. Cobbe having withdrawn, Mr. Bendall was called in, and 
 the same questions were put to him with, more or less, the same 
 replies. All the information elicited from him was that on a 
 particular day *' three weeks ago " Parker was so ill that " he 
 was setting in his chair." The next witness was one Mr. 
 Edlyne, who gave the following interesting evidence on being 
 interrogated by the Governor : 
 
 " Q. When you came to me with the first paper, what did I say to 
 you? 
 
 " yl. Your Hon' said that paper was not sufl5.cient. 
 
 " Q. Did not I tell you that Mr. Parker must acknowledge his conduct 
 faulty, promise amendment for the future, and ask pardon of the Board, 
 and me in particular ? 
 
 " ^. I do not remember the latter part of the Querie, but to the best 
 of my remembrance I did not hear y"^ Hon' say you expected Mr. Parker 
 sho^ acknowledge his conduct faulty. 
 
 " Q. What did I say to you ? 
 ^' A. Your Hon' said you was the person injured and you expected 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 315 
 
 Mr. Parker should make his submission to the Board, and you in par- 
 ticular, and promise amendment for the future." 
 
 It is difl&cult to say what paper this witness was referring to, 
 which his Honour said was not sufficient : perhaps it was an 
 apology tendered by Parker. Mr. Edlyne further deposed that 
 he was certain Parker was indisposed and that physic was 
 several times prepared for him during Rama Kamati's trial, 
 though he did not see him take it. But when he was asked by 
 the President if he thought Parker was so much indisposed, 
 throughout the trial, that he could not attend, Edlyne gave 
 the evasive reply, "I know one day particularly he took 
 physick." 
 
 The examination of other witnesses was continued the next 
 day (May 6th) . The members of the Board waited some time 
 for Mr. Parker, but he did not attend this day's Consultation. 
 He sent in a long reply to the President's observations on his 
 conduct, and added a postscript to it, desiring to be excused 
 from attending the meeting, as he found himself much out of 
 order. He also enclosed a declaration from a Mr. Salisbury, 
 to prove his efficiency and diligence as Accountant. Both the 
 reply and the declaration were read before the Board and 
 entered at the end of the Consultation. Before reviewing the 
 additional evidence, let us cast a glance at Parker's reply. It 
 runs as follows : 
 
 " To the Hon'ble Charles Boone, Esqr. 
 " Presid* & Gov' &ca Councill. 
 
 " Hon'ble Sr & Sirs, — Yesterday about six or seven a clock I rec** 
 the President's remarks on my answer to the charge deP by the Presid' 
 to which I desire leave to answer as follows. 
 
 "My answer dated the 15th April was not deP before the Board till 
 the 2nd Instant, tho' I had a rough draft drawn out then, for this 
 reason ; I thought my submission being accepted, you would not have 
 caused yours to be enter'd, but to be satisfyed I wrote you the follow- 
 ing letter : 
 
 " ' Hon'ble ^, — I desire the words ill conduct may be altered (in the) 
 Minutes of Thursday last, and that the words may not (exceed my) 
 mistakes, for I take the former to reflect on my hfe and conversation 
 (which) I venture to say has been as innocent as most mens ; and ( ) 
 
 means can I sign that Consultation without some objection, which cause 
 
316 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 some difference betwixt you and me, but I hope the promises (you) made 
 me of ffriendship upon my submission will prevail, I thought (you) wo*^ 
 not have minuted it one way or other : I am 
 
 " ' Hon'ble 8% 
 
 " ' Y'^ Most Obed' Serv* 
 
 " * Lau. Parker. 
 *" Bombay, 16 April, 1720.'* 
 
 " By this I gave the Presid* to understand I could (not) sign the paper 
 called an enquiry into my behaviour, or the Consultation. 
 
 " In answer to the first proof relating to Cap* Smith almost four years 
 since. I did as my predecessors had done. (Accused) was brought 
 before me and they told me 'twas customary for the Second on such 
 occasions to order a guard. I asked Mr. Bernard Wyche (that) night 
 before Mr. John Braddyll : he said in Mr. Aislabie's time it was cus- 
 tomary, and that he has order'd a guard on any (many ?) occasions. 
 (Where) there is no law, there is no transgression. Capt. Smith came 
 to the office and told me from you I must not send on such frivolous 
 and ( ) occasions, upon which I told you I took it unkindly, and as 
 I (was) going downstairs, he beged my pardon, and the man was always 
 civil to me since, and I paid him the same in his place, and I (told him) 
 that I forgave him. Why sho<^ I not, if you sent him or he made a 
 mistake ? 
 
 " Now I rec"* your orders that I should not meddle with the soldiers, 
 and to the best of my remembrance is two or thr^e years since which 
 I have observed, but give me leave. Sirs, to say any man might have 
 done the same, it being customary for the Second to have that power in 
 Mr. Aislabie's time. I don't remember you told me in the Cape Garden 
 what you are pleas'd to mention. 
 
 " Mr. Cornelius Soddington is dead and was my friend, and I his, he 
 left my first child one hundred pounds. 
 
 " The people complained of Capt. Vane's taking mony from them, and 
 I had two interpreters : my servants asked 'em one by one how much 
 he took, I wrote it down, they signed to the truth of what they said to 
 my servants, and I sent their complaint to your Hon"^, thinking you 
 knew nothing of it. You sent for me and told me you had ordered him 
 five perdoes, but I said, S', you did not order him to twenty, you said, 
 No. Y"^ Hon' has the papers, please to let 'em be enter'd, for I do 
 assure you I obhged no man, and thank God I have not that to answer 
 for. Mr. Braddyll told you yesterday in Councill the people did com- 
 plain to him of the above, w*^^ I hope is minuted for my justification. 
 
 *' Capt. Gordon was uncivil to me in my own house and I bid him to 
 go out of it. As to Capt. Stanton I owe him no ill-will, he being always 
 
 * The words in brackets are those which, being written on the margin of 
 the page, cannot be deciphered in the original. There is only one word I 
 have not been able to hit upon, as the sentence itself is rather ambiguous. 
 The MS. copy for 1720 is much damaged. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 317 
 
 civil to me ever since the people grounded their arms, being told of it, I 
 suppose, by the President. 
 
 " Omer, your Hour's servant, told me at my table before Messrs. 
 Clapham, Brown and Wyche that he had beat my servant and sent him 
 to me. I said, Did you so ? Yes, S*', says he ; I hit him a box or two 
 and bid him go out of the house. The gentlemen at that time said he 
 deserved it, but y"^ Hon"^ made me beg pardon, by shewing your resent- 
 ment. Mr. Waters is dead. 
 
 " I thought there was no occasion to mention the postcript about the 
 rice [afifair], the reason being gone home to our Hon'ble Masters, of 
 which you have a copy. However, the reason was, in my opinion, what 
 was drawn up was not a true state of the case without it ; I sent it to 
 Mr. Strutt but he did not sign it, whether my servant carryed it to any- 
 body else, I can't tell. 
 
 " I have been all along diligent in taking care the Generall Books she'd 
 be kept up, but after ballancing they are generally a month or more 
 behind, the hurry at the time of shipping has been the cause, and every- 
 one has something to do for Europe, but now they are up, I hope will 
 please [y' Hon"^] . I have brought witnesses to prove I have given due 
 attendance at the Ofl&ce, and when I was out of order sent for their 
 Books to my house. 
 
 "I gave in my reason yesterday why I did erase my name and 
 wrote it again, with the objection, which I hope will prove satis- 
 factory. 
 
 "Yesterday those gentlemen that appear'd before you and gave an 
 acco* of my indisposition, I hope will be sufficient. I might say I could 
 not be at the tryall with a safe conscience, if I did not speak my opinion, 
 and I think on such occasions (as I could not talk, especially in a 
 morning) was better for me to keep at home in order to recover. 
 
 " Y' Hon*^ being at Surat, the Black Soldier you was pleased to men- 
 tion yesterday, Antonio D'Costa. . . . The occasion of the Veriadores 
 examining the soldier was at Rama Comattee's request, they understand- 
 ing the language, and they laid it before me. Upon my examination 
 whether the soldier cut the cow or not, they not bringing sufficient proof, 
 he was order'd by me to prison again. Rama Comattee said he could 
 get some further proof against him on a second or third examination by 
 me; sufficient proof not appearing against him I order'd him to b 
 clear'd, to the truth of the above I have brought five witnesses. 
 
 " The foregoing, I hope, will have y' Hon'^'s &ca. approbation to whom 
 I submitt with all due respect, I am, 
 
 " Hon'ble Sir & Su:s, 
 
 " Y"^ Most Obed* & Humble Servant, 
 
 " Bombay, 6 May, 1720. " Laurence Parker. 
 
 " P.S. — Since dinner I find myself so much out of order I can't give 
 that attendance I could wish, and desire to be excus'd. Inclosed comes 
 Mr. Sahsbury's declaration w<=^ please to order may be enter'd with Mr. 
 Styles's [sent] yesterday Idem. L.P." 
 
318 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 The declaration referred to by Parker is entered in the Con- 
 sultation as follows : 
 
 " I do declare that when Mr. Parker was indisposed, he constantly 
 sent to me once a week, and often times once in three days, to brmg him 
 the Generall Books (which I am copying fair) for his perusall ; also, that 
 he gave due attendance at the Office when well. 
 
 "Jambs Salisbury." 
 
 After the reply and the declaration were read and recorded 
 two additional witnesses on behalf of Parker were called in and 
 examined. They deposed not only to the indisposition of the 
 defendant, but also to the diligence with which he attended to 
 his duties as Accountant. The first of these was Mr. Newlin, 
 who was interrogated as follows : 
 
 " Q. (1) Did Mr. Parker keep the Wast Book of the Generall Books, or 
 did he ever give directions for making the entrys ? 
 
 " -4. I kept the Wast Books myself ; in cases where I was dubious I 
 have asked Mr. Parker. 
 
 " Q. (2) What did he do towards forwarding the Books and keeping 
 them up when he came to the office ? 
 
 " ^. Pressing people continually to be in the office to do the business. 
 
 " Q. (3) Doe you know whether Mr. Parker was ill during the Tryal of 
 Rama Comattee or for three weeks before ? 
 
 " ^. That I cannot say, but I know he has been out of order. 
 
 " Q. (4) Did you ever visit him in the morning or afternoon during 
 that time ? 
 
 " A. I have visited him in the afternoon during that time. 
 
 " Q. (5) Did he then keep his bed, or was he dress'd, or walking or 
 setting ? 
 
 "^. He was walking. 
 
 " Q. (6) Did he appear to you then so ill as not to be able to go abroad 
 and attend publick business ? 
 
 ''A. He complained he was out of order. 
 
 " Q. (7) Did he attend the office or ever come there in that space of 
 time, which was about five weeks ? 
 
 " A. 1 am not certain whether he did or not. 
 
 " Q. (8) What Physician or Surgeon did he make use of ? 
 
 " J.. I don't know. 
 
 " Q. (9) Doe you know whether he went abroad or no in that time ? 
 
 " A. 1 can't say whether he did or not. 
 
 *' Q. (10) Do you think y^ Books were kept behind hand for want of 
 Mr. Parker's attendance ? 
 
 ''A. No. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 319 
 
 " Q. (11) What was the reason they were kept so long behind hand ? 
 "A. My own indisposition." 
 
 This concluded Mr. Newlin's evidence. It improved the case 
 for the defence, though some of the answers given were rather 
 evasive. The last answer does credit to Mr. Newlin's loyalty to 
 his chief, for he takes upon himself the responsibility for the 
 delay in preparing the General Books of Account. The next, 
 and the last, witness was Mr. Sarson, who was asked the very 
 same questions, and his answers have been noted seriatim in the 
 diary as follows : 
 
 " -4. (1) To which he answer 'd Mr. Parker did not keep the Books but 
 gave directions when any new entry s were made. 
 
 " ^. (2) He never did anything to the Books, but when he came to the 
 Office, he used to bid us mind our business, and be carefull to bring up 
 the Books, and when he was out of order, he used to send for me and 
 Mr. Salisbury once a week or more. 
 
 " ^. (3) No farther than that I have heard Mr. Parker say he was out 
 of order, and could not attend the office. 
 
 " A. (4) No, never, but when he sent for me. 
 
 " A. (5) He was in the Accompting house, sometimes walking, some- 
 times setting. 
 
 "A. (6) He seemed to be out of order, but I can't judge whether he 
 was so bad that he could not attend the publick business. 
 
 "J.. (7) No, I don't remember he was once there. 
 
 "^.(8) I don't know. 
 
 "-4. (9) Yes, I have seen him walking at his door sometime of an 
 evening. 
 
 •M. (10) No. 
 
 " ^. (11) It was very late before the Books were begun, and the Sub- 
 ordinate Ffactory Books being to adjust, together with Mr. Newlin's and 
 my own illness, was the occasion." 
 
 This closed the case for the defence. Mr. Sarson having 
 been ordered to withdraw, a paragraph from the General Letter 
 of Surat, giving directions about the collection of Consulage (to 
 which Mr. Parker had so strongly objected), was then read and 
 recorded as follows : 
 
 "Paragraph of a Letter to Surat dated Sep"^ 8, 1718, relating to 
 collecting the Consulage, viz. : 
 
 *' The Er*^ Hon'ble Company having in their letters to us [by] these 
 ships been pleased to give the Presid* an allowance of Consulage on all 
 
320 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 goods of English merchants living under their protection in India, 
 imported or exported at Bombay or Surat, to be settled at the rate we 
 should agree on here, "Wee have fixed it at 2 P.Ct. and do direct that Mr. 
 John Hope collect the same according to the orders that shall be given 
 by [to ?] him by the President, on all English goods excepting those of 
 the Company's servants residing at Bombay and Surat, which the Presid* 
 lays no claim to." 
 
 Then the President summed up the evidence on both sides, 
 much in the same way as the judge sums up to the jury at the 
 present day. In the course of the summing up, the President 
 observed : 
 
 '* Gentlemen : Wee are got through the examination of the charge 
 against Mr. Parker, and his answer thereto, and have fully heard the 
 witnesses on both sides and everything which Mr. Parker has offer'd. 
 It remains that we now come to a resolution, but before the question is 
 put I think it proper to make some observations on the evidence given by 
 Mr. Cobbe and the others. He was asked, as you may remember (and will 
 see by yesterday's minutes), whether he knew Mr. Parker was so much 
 indisposed as that he could not attend the publick business and whether 
 he went abroad or kept house for the term of five weeks, which was the 
 time of the late Tryal of Eama Comattee and some days preceeding. To 
 which he answer'd he knew Mr. Parker was indisposed, for some of 
 those days he is certain, and beleives weeks, and took physick for it, and 
 thinks it would not have been safe for him to have attended. This 
 question was repeated to him and he repeated his answer in the same 
 words, or to the same effect : and yet you have heard Mr. Parker him- 
 self own that though he was out of order, nevertheless he went abroad 
 severaU of the evenings of those days, and was not confined to his bed 
 by his illness, nor had any physician to attend him, except his wife,* and 
 that he could . . . have come to our Consultations, and sat and heard 
 the Tryall or other business, for all his indisposition which cheifly affected 
 him in the use of his speech, for (said he yesterday) ' I could have come 
 to the Tryall but I could only have sat there, I could not then have 
 spoken twenty words.' All that Mr. Bendall says (who also was brought 
 as a wittness of Mr. Parker's indisposition), is that he heard him com- 
 plain of being out of order at severall times in the five weeks' space 
 aforementioned, and particularly one day (he thinks it was last month, 
 was three weeks) Mr. Parker was so much indisposed that he could not 
 speak to him. Mr. Edlyne says that during the time abovementioned 
 he knew that physick had been prepared for Mr. Parker, who complained 
 of being out of order, altho' he used sometimes to go abroad in the even- 
 ings. I must not pass over this head without remarking to you the 
 
 * We do not remember Parker saying this, at any rate, if he did, it does 
 not seem to have been recorded in the diary. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 321 
 
 disesteem that such opposition naturally creates in the minds of all the 
 people about. I have been told by some of the Black People that it is 
 commonly spoke among them that Mr. Parker and I were at variance, 
 and that 'twas thought he would be for Rama Comattee. 
 
 " The other witnesses offered by Mr. Parker are Mr. Newlin and Mr. 
 Sarson, both clerks in the Accomptant's Office ; them he brings to prove 
 that he gave due attendance at the Office in bringing up the books. It 
 is certain they, not Mr. Parker, have been cheifly instrumentall in that 
 business, Mr. Newlin in making the entrys and Mr. Sarson in copying 
 fair, but even now the books are not up, according to the R* Hon'ble 
 Company's orders in the 6th paragraph of their letter of June, 1703, 
 which positively directs they shall never be a week behind unposted upon 
 any pretence whatsoever, notwithstanding which they are still near five 
 months unposted. 
 
 "Another matter of moment I wDl just remind you of is that Mr. 
 Parker not only owns that he erased his name from the Consultations 
 and added the postcript on the Rice Affair, but even defends and vindi- 
 cates himself for it, which I think is very extraordinary and leaves us 
 without any hope of his amendment in this particular especially. 
 
 " I expected Mr. Parker here according to our order but he has excused 
 himself and sent his reply to my remarks on his answer, which you have 
 now heard read, and to which I shall make answer as follows: Mr. 
 Courtney, who was formerly Cheif of Mahim, says he never knew the 
 Second had that power or did order a guard from Mahim with prisoners 
 or any other occasion without the knowledge of the Gov"^, and Mr. Home 
 confirms the same ; but Mr. Midford says when he was Capt. of Mahim 
 Fort he has done it by Mr. Wyche's order in Mr. Aislaby's time, but 
 does not say whether 'twas with or without the GeneraU's knowledge. 
 To what Mr. Parker says farther in his defence against that charge I 
 observe that tho' Mr. Parker might do it once through ignorance (which 
 in my opinion he could not), I haveing positively told him at the Cape in 
 discourse on that subject, I would not suffer such practices, yet he 
 could have no other view in repeating those actions than opposing my 
 authority. 
 
 " To what Mr. Parker says relating to Capt. Gordon's behaviour, I 
 must remark that had he given unseemly language to Mr. Parker in 
 delivering my message, he ought to have complained to me of the affront 
 and not resented it in the manner he did. 
 
 " And the same remark also serves to what Mr. Parker alledges in his 
 defence for beating my servant Omer. 
 
 " Mr. Parker's remark about his adding a postscript to the report of 
 the Committee about the rice affair is not right, that not being the 
 opinion of the Committee, and Mr. Parker signed that report as a true 
 state of the case. 
 
 " You must also remember Mr. Parker further ownes what is alledged 
 against him concerning his saying he would not be at the tryal with a 
 safe conscience, and tells us it was because he could not speak twenty 
 words ; of what validity this part of his defence is, I leave you to consider. 
 
 21 
 
322 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 "As to the affair of Capt. Stanton, it is not materiall whether the 
 soldier was in the right or the wrong ; Mr. Parker says he clear' d him 
 after examination, which implys his not being guilty. But I say he ought 
 to have made me acquainted first and not suffered the merchants or 
 veriadores to have been judges in a case w°^ I reserved to myself. 
 
 " And now you have the whole state of this case before you and seen 
 severall of the heads of the charge proved by affidavits, and that the 
 other parts thereof are true, is well known to you, and fresh in your 
 memories. You must be sencible of the dangerous tendency of such 
 practices, and the necessity of a proper remedy, and therefore that we 
 may come to a resolution I now put the following question to you : 
 Whether the aforesaid charge against Mr. Parker is sufficiently 
 proved ? " 
 
 The question was debated upon by the members of the Board, 
 but the President's able and unequivocal summing up did not leave 
 much room for debate. As was the custom in those days, this 
 question was again put to Mr. Phillips, the youngest member 
 first, and the other members according to their standing.* They 
 were all of opinion that the charge against their brother 
 councillor was sufficiently proved — all, except Mr. John Braddyll, 
 who remained loyal to his friend to the last. Mr. Braddyll 
 boldly asserted that, in his opinion, the charge was not proved, 
 and desired leave to give his reasons in writing for his dissent 
 from the unanimous verdict of the Board, which was granted. 
 He thereupon set forth the following reasons for dissenting from 
 the views of the Council : 
 
 " Mr. Parker's erasing his name from the Consultations and adding an 
 exceptionable postcript to the report of the Committee relating to the 
 Rice Affair, was what ought not to be done, and what he would not have 
 done himself, but as he beleives Mr. Parker did not do it with a design 
 to injure the Company, or anybody else, he thinks that in a great measure 
 alleviates his crime, and added that he knew Mr. Parker to be as honest 
 a man as any upon the Island." 
 
 * The custom of allowing the junior member of Council to record his 
 opinion before all the others seems to be of very old standing. In his inter- 
 esting book on The English Factories in India, 1618-1621, Mr. Foster first 
 notices it in a Consultation dated March 9, 1621, and adds the following foot- 
 note to explain its origin : " It will be noticed that the members record their 
 opinions in order of juniority, the idea being that the younger merchants 
 would speak their minds more freely than they would if their seniors had 
 already expressed their views. This practice is still observed in the Governor- 
 General's Council, which is, of course, only a development of the Factory 
 Council of former days." 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 323 
 
 Braddyll's reasons seem to be far from convincing, and the 
 Board, too, did not think them worth serious consideration. He 
 was probably conscious of the fact that he was defending his 
 friend in a cause which must have seemed to them both wellnigh 
 hopeless, and it will be observed that, in his last effort on 
 Parker's behalf, Braddyll appeals to the Board for mercy rather 
 than justice. But the appeal was made too late. Parker was 
 given several opportunities for atonement and amendment, but 
 he had failed to seize any. Braddyll might have served his 
 friend better had he advised him to apologise. Perhaps he did, 
 but the Second on the Island was too proud to bend his knee. 
 All the same, much credit is due to the man who stood loyal to 
 his friend to the last, in the teeth of bitter opposition ; and the 
 test of Braddyll's loyalty lies in the fact that he was interested 
 in the suspension of Parker from his dual ofl&ce of Accountant 
 and Chief Justice of Bombay, as he knew, or must have known, 
 that he himself would be appointed to succeed him. 
 
 The trial of the Worshipful Lawrence Parker was now drawing 
 to a close. All that remained to do was to mete out punishment 
 to the defaulter. The question was therefore put " whether 
 Mr. Laurence Parker shall be now suspended from his place and 
 station, and from acting any further in the R* Hon'ble Company's 
 service, and from receiving any further either Sallary, Diet 
 Mony, or any other allowance, untill our R* Hon'ble Masters 
 pleasure shall be known." All the members of the Board 
 (except, of course, Mr. Braddyll, who thought Parker ought not 
 to be deprived either of his salary or diet money) being unani- 
 mously of opinion that he should be so suspended, the following 
 Resolution was duly recorded: 
 
 " Besolv'd that Mr. Parker be suspended, and he is hereby suspended 
 accordingly, from his place and station, and from acting any further in 
 the R* Hon'ble Company's Service, and from receiving henceforth either 
 Sallary, Dyet mony, or any other allowance, untill our Hon'ble Masters 
 pleasure be known. 
 
 " Order'd that the Sec^ give him notice thereof, and that Mr. John 
 Braddyll take charge of the Generall Books from him, and act as Cheif 
 Justice of the Court from this day." 
 
 Parker seems to have accepted his fate with resignation. He 
 made no further representation to the Board ; at any rate, there 
 
324 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 appears to be no entry to that effect in the diary for 1720. 
 There are also no means of ascertaining whether the Right 
 Honourable Masters approved of the Board's verdict and sen- 
 tence. In those days, when a voyage between England and 
 India occupied several months, and other means of communi- 
 cation were very limited, the policy of trusting ** the men 
 on the spot '* was, of necessity, more generally maintained 
 than at the present day, and the authorities at home must 
 have seldom interfered with the decision of the factors in India, 
 particularly in purely administrative matters. Parker may have 
 appealed to the Directors on his return to England ; but as 
 regards such appeal, if any, the Bombay records are silent. 
 So far as Parker was concerned, the trial ended with the order 
 of his suspension ; but we find Mr. Braddyll figuring in it again 
 a few days after. It seems that the reasons he had assigned 
 for dissenting from the unan^'mous verdict of the Board as 
 regards Parker's guilt were accepted with some hesitation, and 
 even his motive was misconstrued. Thereupon Braddyll wrote 
 the following letter on May 30, 1720: 
 
 " It appearing in the Consultation of the 6th Inst., relating to Mr. 
 Parker's suspension, that my opinion differ'd from the majority of the 
 Board, both in respect of the proofs brought against Mr. Parker as also 
 concerning his suspension, I thought it necessary to lay before your 
 Hon'^ &ca the following reasons which moved me to this (course), lest it 
 should be thought either by my Hon'ble Employers or your Hon"^ &ca 
 that I was governed in this affair by a spirit of obstinacy or opposition. 
 
 ♦j-Wth your Honrs &ca's leave, I shall first have regard to the following 
 question proposed to me by the Presid*, which is whether the charge 
 against Mr. Parker was sulficiently proved, to which I answer'd I 
 (thought) it was not. What moved me to think thus was the evidence 
 of Messrs. Cobbe, Bendall, and Edlyne concerning Mr. Parker's indis- 
 position, which are sufficient to convince me that Mr. Parker was so 
 much indisposed (at the time he was charged with absenting himself 
 from Consultations without good and sufficient reason) that he could not 
 possibly have attended without prejudice to his health. I shall with due 
 submission crave leave to mention another part of Mr. Parker's charge 
 which I thought not sufficiently clear'd, and that is his not giving due 
 attendance at the Accomptant's Office. Messrs. Newlin and Sarson were 
 asked whether they thought the business of that office was kept behind- 
 hand through Mr. Parker's neglect, to which they answer'd No : and I 
 am in some measure induced to regard the opinion of these gentlemen, 
 they having good experience in the Accomptant's business, and I am the 
 rather inclined to think it was (not) Mr. Parker's fault that the books 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 325 
 
 were a small matter behind last year, because his cheif assistant, Mr. 
 Newlin, was much indisposed at the time the bulk of the business was 
 to be transacted, which is too heavy for one person, and I beleive your 
 Hon' &ca are sencible that the books last year were more voluminous 
 than usuall. 
 
 " It may now necessarily follow that I proceed to the next question 
 proposed me by the President, and that was whether Mr. Parker was to 
 be then suspended from his place and station, and from acting any 
 further in the E* Hon'ble Company's service, and from receiving thence- 
 forth either sallary, dyet-mony or any other allowance, untill our Hon'ble 
 Masters pleasure be known : to which I made reply I thought he ought 
 not to be deprived of either. I was urged to give my opinion in this 
 manner having recourse to part of a parag'^ of the Hon'ble Company's 
 Generall Letter p , Stanhope which I understood to be a standing order. 
 The words are as follows : ' Wee say we empower you, the President and 
 Councill for the time being or the major part of them all being sum- 
 moned (and no just cause for their absence), to suspend any one of the 
 Councill if they have good reason for so doing, such as infidelity or dis- 
 obedience to the Gov'^ & Councill's authority.' And as it did not appear 
 to my reason that Mr. Parker had either been charged or found guilty of 
 any such crime, I was moved to give my opinion in the negative. Hoping 
 thereby I have given no offence, as none was intended, and remain with 
 all due respect," &c., &c. 
 
 The President and the other members of Council did not 
 allow Mr. Braddyll to have the last say in the matter. For they 
 wrote out a long reply und had it duly recorded in the Minute 
 Book as follows: 
 
 " Mr. Braddyll having deP in writing his reasons dated this day, for 
 dissenting from the resolutions of the Board on the charge against Mr. 
 Parker, the 6th Inst., as above enter'd, the President and other members 
 having taken the same into consideration, judged it necessary and resolved 
 that the following remarks be also enter'd : 
 
 " It is in the first place to be observed that Mr. BraddyU does not so 
 much as touch upon the proofs offer'd for support of the charge or make 
 the least objection against any one of them, but on the contrary makes 
 the evidence of Messrs. Cobbe, Bendall and Edlyne on Mr. Parker's in- 
 disposition the reasons for his opinion, and thereto adds that that part 
 of the charge for not duly attending the business of the Accomptant's 
 Office is not made good, because Mr. Newlin and Mr. Sarson being asked 
 whether they thought the business of that Office was kept behindhand 
 through Mr. Parker's neglect, answer'd. No ; he goes on and says, ' I am 
 inclined to think it was not Mr. Parker's fault because his Cheif Assistant, 
 Mr. Newhn, was much indisposed at the time the bulk of the business 
 was to be transacted.' These are his reasons for dissenting, on which the 
 following remarks do naturally occurr, vizt. : 
 
326 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 "That he has omitted to take any manner of notice of the charge 
 relating to Mr. Parker's opposing the Gov' in military affairs. To the 
 erasing his name from the Consultation and to the adding the postscript 
 to the Committee's report on the Eice Affair, which are things of a very 
 high nature, and what Mr. Braddyll himself thought so, especially eras- 
 ing the name and adding the postscript above mentioned, as appears by 
 the Consultation of the 6th May, where he declared he would not have 
 done so himself. 
 
 " In answer to the reasons which he says induced him to beleive Mr. 
 Parker could not attend the Tryall of Rama Comattee and at some other 
 Consultations, from the evidences of his indisposition before mentioned, 
 it is to be noted these will appear insufficient, when it is remember'd 
 that notwithstanding Mr. Cobbe was so positive, yet Mr. Parker owned 
 he could have gone abroad, and did actually go abroad in the evenings of 
 some of those days, his distemper cheifly affecting him in the use of his 
 speech, which also was by short spaces, and never lasted long at one 
 time. 
 
 " It is very plain y* the reason why the books were so much behind- 
 hand was partly owing to Mr. Newlin's indisposition, but this is very far 
 from being a good excuse for Mr. Parker : on the contrary it aggravates 
 his fault in not attending and doing himself (during that time at least) 
 that part of the business, neither does it appear that he made any one 
 entry in the books. 
 
 "Mr. BraddyU proceeds next on the question for (of?) suspension of 
 Mr. Parker, and for his dissenting in this also he assigns the R* Hon'ble 
 Company's orders, which he says seem to him to imply that the reasons 
 for which one of the Councill is to be suspended are such as infidelity or 
 disobedience to the Gov"^ & Councill's authority, in which he thinks Mr. 
 Parker is not guilty. To this it must be answer'd that the facts charged 
 on Mr. Parker are sufficiently (proved) and are evidently disobedience 
 and opposition to the Gov't's authority and a willful! neglect and omission 
 of his duty at this Board and on other occasions ; besides, it will by no 
 means follow that because the R' Hon'ble Company have not stated all 
 the cases in which a servant may deserve suspension, that therefore there 
 are none besides those they have enumerated, and we may humbly pre- 
 sume they will resent such practices and think our present proceedLigs 
 highly agreeable to their interest. 
 
 " 'Tis also to be observed that Mr. Parker pretends (the) occasion of 
 erasing his name was because the Presid* did excuse the Company's ser- 
 vants, and did not make it a Minute of Councill, and appeals to Mr. 
 Braddyll as a wittness ; whereas this was so far from being any part of 
 our debate that it never was mentioned once at the Board till the Councill 
 was adjourned, and the Presid* and Mr. Parker had conferr'd together in 
 another chamber, and the Presid* returning made the declaration already 
 taken notice of, which Mr. Parker in his minute of the 5 May confesses. 
 Nor did our Hon'ble Masters direct more than that we should settle the 
 quantum, not the persons that should pay, that being regulated by them, 
 agreeable to the custom in Persia, as P. their letter P. Cardonnell, Parag^ 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 327 
 
 ( ), will appear; besides, had it been an act of Council! and omitted to 
 be minuted, as Mr. Parker alledges, that in our humble opinion is not a 
 sufficient reason for his erasing his name." 
 
 It will be seen from the above that Mr. Braddyll was given an 
 effective reply to his letter of protest. But though vanquished, 
 he fought well for Parker, and all honour to him ! 
 
 (HI) 
 
 The next trial affords a fair illustration of the methods of 
 judicial administration then in vogue in Bombay. 
 
 " Mr. Braddyll," says the record, dated April 25, 1724, " having been 
 much insulted by a trooper last Monday night, when he was walking 
 out with his lady, having been almost rid over, and Mr. Braddyll calling 
 to him and bidding him take care and keep off, he returned in answer, 
 
 • God d 'n you ; if I had a pistol I would shoot you through the head 
 
 for a farthing.' Mr. Braddyll answering, ' Would you so ? ' He again 
 returned, ' Yes, I would — you are a rogue and a rascal.' " 
 
 Looking to the position Mr. Braddyll occupied at the time, 
 the fate of the insolent trooper was sealed. There was, how- 
 ever, a difficulty in identifying the accused, but after some 
 inquiry having been made as to who was on duty at that time 
 of night, one Matthew Bogle* was fixed upon and brought up for 
 trial before the Court, the Worshipful John Hope, Chief Justice, 
 presiding. Bogle, however, stoutly denied being the person 
 who insulted and abused Mr. Braddyll. 
 
 '♦ But," continues the record, " the corporal of the first guard declaring 
 that it was him and no other, and the officer of the guard confirming of 
 the same, and two witnesses to the insult, besides Mr. Braddyll, viz.. 
 Captain Montague and Ensign Mainwaring, both at the time in the same 
 place with Mr. Braddyll, the Court considering the circumstances, the 
 voice agreeing (no other trooper at that time being at the fort), the 
 corporal's confirmation, the words plainly proved, and nothing to the 
 contrary but a plain denial, the Court condemned him to receive thirty- 
 nine lashes in the public bazaar, and to be sent on board one of the 
 Company's vessels, there to serve during the Governor's pleasure, with- 
 out pay." 
 
 The evidence against the accused was considered to be un- 
 impeachable, but there was another incident in this trial which 
 
 * An unfortunate name before executive tribunals ! Vide the proceedings 
 against Governor Eyre of Jamaica in the sixties. 
 
328 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 must have made it impossible for the unfortunate trooper to 
 prove his innocence. This was the peculiar formation of the 
 tribunal which condemned poor Matthew Bogle, for we are told 
 that Mr. Braddyll was not only the prosecutor, but he was one 
 of the judges who tried the case ! It is hard to believe this 
 statement, but in those days a tribunal was considered not the 
 less judicial because of the presence and participation of the com- 
 plainant in its proceedings. Not only did Mr. Braddyll form one 
 of the Court which tried the prisoner, but he actually signed the 
 order awarding him thirty-nine lashes. 
 
 (IV) 
 But the interest of the trials described above sinks into in- 
 significance beside the one we are about to describe. During 
 the whole of the eighteenth century there was probably no event 
 in the judicial history of Bombay which gave rise to such keen 
 local interest as the trial of Kama Kamati. Nearly a century 
 after, an Englishman named Charles Joseph Briscoe, a man 
 high in the employ of Government and one who had the dis- 
 tinction of being an Alderman, was tried on a charge of bribery ; 
 and another, by name Kobert Henshaw, who had the confidence 
 of Government and the public alike, and was at the time occu- 
 pying the responsible and lucrative office of Customs Master, 
 was arraigned before the famous Recorder of Bombay, Sir James 
 Mackintosh, on the charge of issuing "permits " for a considera- 
 tion and effecting the clandestine export of grain. Both these 
 trials must have given rise to considerable excitement in Bombay 
 at the commencement of the last century, but even they failed to 
 eclipse, alike in interest and in importance, the earlier trial of 
 Rama Kamati.* Bamaji Kamati was a man of vast wealth 
 
 * As the name " Kamatee " appears in the early Bombay Eecords for 
 upwards of twenty years, with but slight variations, a writer in the Bombay 
 Quarterly Review is led to assume that the accused in this trial belonged to 
 the inferior caste of Kamatees. But the weight of evidence would seem to be 
 against such an assumption. Grant DufE is of opinion that the name must 
 have been Komptee. Da Cunha observes that Rama Kamatee was a 
 Shenvi Brahman of the same family of which there is now a prominent and 
 influential branch living in Goa, called Camota and Camotim. Douglas also 
 agrees with this opinion, remarking that Kamati's ancestors came originally 
 from Goa in the time of the Portuguese, and held high position in Bombay 
 under the English Government after the island was ceded to the latter. 
 Moreover, the Records themselves speak of this man as a Brahmin. The 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 329 
 
 and influence, and by his munificent charities and valuable 
 services had won the esteem alike of the public and of the 
 Government of Bombay during the early part of the eighteenth 
 century. He must have been a deeply religious man, for he 
 built several temples in our city, the principal one being at 
 Walkeshwar, which is still a favourite place of Hindu worship. 
 It may be noted in passing that the man who was afterwards 
 condemned to life-long imprisonment on the strength of false 
 evidence, mostly extorted by unchristian means, had not a little 
 respect and reverence for Christianity. For we are informed 
 that he and his caste-people witnessed the divine service which 
 was held on Christmas Day in 1718, when the Bombay Cathedral 
 was consecrated. "A whole crowd of black people," says Mr. 
 Edwardes, *' stood round about, among them Ramaji and all his 
 caste, who were so well pleased with the decency and regularity 
 of the way of worship, that they stood it out the whole service."* 
 Ramaji had evidently amassed much wealth by securing what 
 were known as tobacco farms. The earliest mention of him 
 that we have been able to find is in a letter the Bombay Council 
 despatched to Surat on February 5, 1686. They wrote : 
 
 " Tour Excy &ca are noe strangers to y® Bendeiroes of y® last years 
 Tobacco stand. One Eamagee Commattee, in whose behalfe we now 
 write, has by his experience the last yeare some incouragmt to advance 
 mony for tobacco in order to take y^ same againe this year, and will bid 
 as much as any, and doubts not but to carry y« day. He has hitherto 
 been very punctuall in his paymt^ and believe him to be a monyed man 
 such as those must be the men that farme rents, that has a stock allways 
 beforehand, in order to which has sent sever^^ to Surratt to purchase 
 a large quantity of Tobacco, and makes it his request to your Exc^ «feca. 
 that what Tobacco he shall buy between this and y^ raines may be sent 
 down in the Right Honourable Comp*^ shipp or vessells for y® more and 
 better security, for which he wholly putts himselfe upon your Exc^ &ca, 
 and doubts not your assistance therein." f 
 
 The above passage shows the high estimation in which 
 Rama Kamati was held by the English Government, and the 
 
 weight of evidence supports Da Cunha's opinion that Kama Kamati was a 
 Shenvi. His proper name was probably Kamat, a common name among 
 Shenvis even at the present day. 
 
 * The Rise of Bombay, p. 139. 
 
 t Forrest's Selections, i. p. 155. 
 
330 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 source and extent of his income. He had succeeded in gaining 
 the confidence of the authorities so completely that the latter had 
 placed him at the head of some native troops in Bombay, prob- 
 ably because their protege had descended from men who had 
 served in several wars in the Madras Presidency. But the 
 pedestal on which the idol was raised so high was soon broken, 
 and the idol itself was shattered to pieces. Government were 
 still very diffident about the loyalty of the men in their employ. 
 The memory of Keigwin's revolt still lingered, and the mutinous 
 spirit which had actuated it had not yet died out. Some of their 
 own countrymen had proved false, and sold their services to the 
 enemies of Government. The man who gave the English most 
 trouble during the first quarter of the eighteenth century was 
 Kanhoji Angria, the famous pirate.* He occupied the same 
 position among native pirates as did Kidd among European in- 
 terlopers. He commanded very great influence at the time, and 
 was in league with those whose loyalty to the authorities was 
 open to doubt. The Bombay Government had got an inkling of 
 this, and were keeping a close watch over the movements of some 
 of their most trusted servants, one of them being Rama Kamati. 
 Secret inquiries were instituted, till in the beginning of 1720 
 the matter came up for investigation. A Consultation of the 
 Bombay Council, dated February 26, 1720, records the following 
 entry : 
 
 " The President lays before the Board translate of several papers and 
 letters containing certain informations of Rama Comattee having un- 
 lawfully and treacherously held and carried on a correspondence and trade 
 
 * Among the many qualifications of this prince of pirates not the least was 
 his proficiency in writing letters which combined sarcasm with dignity. For 
 instance, two years after William Phipps succeeded Charles Boone as Governor 
 of Bombay, Angria sent him a letter of congratulation. Phipps, after twitting 
 him for the long delay, read a little homily regarding the drawbacks of war 
 and the advantages of peace and trade. The Pirate King was not at a loss for 
 a retort. "Your Excellency," he replied, "was pleased to write that war 
 proves most fatal to those whom the use of the sword is not understood, but 
 in the Government of His Excellency Charles Boone, nobody can say there 
 was not loss on both sides, for victories depend on the hand of God, and for 
 this reason great men take little notice of such losses. Your Excellency is 
 pleased to write that he who follows war purely through an inclination that 
 one hath thereto, one time or another will find cause to repent, of which I 
 suppose Your Excellency hath found proof, for we are not always victorious 
 nor always unfortunate " (Forrest's Selections, i, p. xxxviii). 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 331 
 
 with Conojee Angria both before and since the present war to the great 
 dishonour and prejudice of the Right Honourable Company : all which 
 are now read, and for a methodical proceeding against him, Ordered that 
 Messrs. Walter Brown, John Courtney, Owen Phillipps and John Home 
 collect and draw up from the said informations a regular charge and lay 
 the same before the Board with all convenient speed ; and that till we 
 can bring him to a trial, his moveable effects be secured under the 
 Company's seal; that the receiver of the revenues take charge of the 
 tobacco farm and that the Vereadores of Bombay and Mahim take care 
 of his oarts and those of the Right Honourable Company rented to him. 
 The aforesaid papers likewise giving us some reasons to suspect that 
 Dulba Bandaree has been an accomplice with Rama Comattee in carry- 
 ing on the said correspondence, Besolved that a guard be immediately 
 set on his person and goods till we can examine farther into this affair." * 
 
 The Government, it will be observed, had proceeded cautiously 
 in the matter. Considering the position of the accused, who 
 was then one of the leading Hindus of Bombay, and the gravity 
 of the charge alleged against him, they had every reason to 
 hasten slowly. But they were evidently satisfied with the 
 genuineness of the proofs they had obtained, and were morally 
 convinced of the guilt of the accused. Conformably to the above 
 order, Messrs. Brown, Courtney, Phillips, and Home drew up 
 an indictment against Rama Kamati, consisting of seven 
 articles. It was drawn up in English, and a copy, signed by the 
 Secretary, was ordered to be given to the accused, together with 
 its translation in Portuguese, requiring him to be prepared with 
 his reply by March 17th next. It is interesting to note that the 
 indictment was translated into Portuguese, and not into the 
 language of the person charged, and that, as Perry, C.J., 
 pointed out in support of his contention that English law was 
 introduced in Bombay soon after its cession by the King of 
 Portugal, it was drawn up in the form prescribed by the English 
 law. The preamble to the indictment ran as follows : 
 
 " Articles of treason and other high crimes exhibited by the Honour- 
 able C. Boone, Esquire, President and Governor;of iBombay and Council, 
 on behalf of the Right Honourable United Company of Merchants of 
 England trading to the East Indies, against Rama Kamati, Brahman, 
 inhabitant of Bombay, for several offences done and committed by him, 
 the said Rama Kamati, by advising, abetting, and assisting the enemy 
 Kanhoji Angria, whereby he hath endangered the safety and welfare of 
 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, zxvi. part i. p. 144. 
 
332 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the said Right Honourable Company by endeavouring to introduce the 
 enemy into the said island in order to subvert and extirpate the English 
 and their Government thereof and to seize and bring into great peril the 
 person of the said Honourable the Governor." 
 
 The indictment set forth the following seven charges : 
 
 •* (1) That in or about the month of December in 1717, when the said 
 Governor and President was in treaty with Kanhoji Angria for the 
 delivery of the ship Success '"^^ belonging to Govardhandas, late broker 
 to the Right Honourable Company, which had been some short time 
 before taken up by the said Angria, he the said Kamati wrote a letter to 
 Angria advising him that the said ship did not belong to the English or 
 any of their dependants, but to some merchants in Surat, and that there- 
 fore he need not deliver her up without a considerable ransom. 
 
 " (2) That in October, 1718, after the breaking out of the war, he the 
 said Rama Kamati wrote a letter to the said Angria telling him of the 
 preparation and readiness of the English fleet to proceed against him, 
 and particularly that it had been resolved in Council at Bombay to make 
 a descent on the island of Cundry (Kenery) on the 17th of the said 
 month, and withal advising him, the said enemy, to be on his guard and 
 lay in provisions and a sufficient number of men and war-like stores for 
 the defence of the said island of Cundry. 
 
 " (3) That in or about the same month of October, 1718, he did 
 intercept or cause to be intercepted a letter written by the directions 
 of the Portuguese General of the North to the Honourable Governor 
 and President of Bombay, intimating an inclination in the Portuguese 
 to enter upon a treaty for joining their forces to the English for the 
 more vigorous carrying on of the war against Angria ; which letter he 
 not only kept from the knowledge of the said Governor and President 
 but privately sent to the enemy with another from himself containing 
 further advices on that occasion. 
 
 "(4) That the said Rama Kamati did counsel and advise the said 
 enemy to attempt and invade the island of Bombay with armed force 
 and to seize the person of the Honourable the Governor thereof, laying 
 down the plan of the time and manner for putting in execution the said 
 wicked purpose. 
 
 " (5) That he did carry on an unlawful trade and commerce with the 
 said enemy at several times, notwithstanding the known orders and 
 proclamations to the contrary, and particularly in batty which he 
 purchased in Angria's country during the war, as also some wool and 
 potashes which he sent with his grandson-in-law, Garru Sinay (Gharu 
 
 * The Sticcess not only brought about, in a measure, the ruin of Rama 
 Kamati, but involved the English in a war with Angria and his family, 
 which lasted for nearly forty years. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 333 
 
 Shenvi), to the enemy's country and received turmeric in return 
 thereof. 
 
 *'(6) That about the month of November, 1718, the Honourable 
 President and Oovernor thought fit to put into his hands the im- 
 mediate care and command of all the fighting sepoys which were 
 then to be employed against the enemy ; when the better to carry on 
 and effect his malicious designs and purposes, he secretly endeavoured 
 to intimidate and discourage them from the performance of their duty to 
 the Eight Honourable Comp^ ; and particularly when Antonio Francisco 
 D'Costa, subhedar of a company of sepoys, spoke of an offer made to him 
 by the chief ofiBcer of Mopont under Angria [perhaps Mohopada, above 
 Panvel], for the dehvery of that fort, he received the notice thereof with 
 coldness and neglect ; and was further told by Druga (Durga), son of 
 said Eama Kamati, not to be too busy in such matters, lest he meet 
 with the fate of Antonio D'Mello and be sent to St. Helena. 
 
 " (7) That on a rumour of a discovery of these practices, the said 
 Eama Kamati being apprehensive of the consequences, did in the 
 month of December, 1719, remove and convey off the island to Thana 
 or elsewhere, part of his movable estate and particularly 14 chests of 
 treasure. All which matters and facts charged in the several articles 
 before-mentioned are proved and made out by living witnesses now 
 on the spot, and the certificates of other persons, together with the 
 letters of the said Eama Kamati, directed to the said Kanhoji Angria, 
 contrary to his duty and obligations. Whereby he appears to be the 
 principal author of the war and the occasion of its so long con- 
 tinuance by thus secretly and wickedly combining with the enemy 
 against the dignity and interest of the Eight Honourable Company 
 and the liberty and life of their Honourable Governor and all the 
 English inhabitants of the said island."* 
 
 From the particulars of these charges it will be seen that Rama 
 Kamati had to meet a very strong indictment. Excepting the 
 fifth charge, in which Angria' s friend was accused of having 
 exchanged with him some wool and potashes for turmeric, all 
 the others were very serious, and the Government of Charles 
 Boone were evidently possessed of unimpeachable evidence, 
 both oral and documentary, to prove the guilt of the supposed 
 traitor. Of the oral evidence in this trial we shall have 
 occasion to speak later; of the documentary, we shall quote 
 only two of the letters said to have been written by Rama 
 Kamati, and sealed with his own seal, to Kanhoji Angria. 
 The first of these, referred to in the second charge, is a 
 curious specimen of the style adopted by the leading Hindu 
 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part i. pp. 145-146. 
 
334 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 merchant of Bombay in addressing the Pirate Prince of India. 
 It runs as follows : 
 
 " To the opulent and magnificent as the sun, valorous and victorious, 
 always courageous, the Hberal, prudent and pillar of fortitude, the 
 essence of understanding, the protector of Braminees, defender of the 
 faith, prosperous in all things, honored of kings, above all councillors, 
 Senor Cannoji Angria, Sarqueel. Kamajee Comatee, your servant, writes 
 with all the veneration and readiness for your service and with your favor 
 I remain as always. 
 
 Our General here has resolved in Council to attack and take the Fort 
 of Cundry (Kenery), and thus it is agreed to environ the said Fort the 
 17th of October, and the Armado, powder and ball, and all other neces- 
 saries for war are ready. I therefore write Your Honor that you may 
 have the said Fort well furnished. As for the side of the Rajaporee, 
 I have spoken to and agreed with Allee Naiq Loucandee that they of 
 Bajaporee shall not help either party ; thus I have given this notice. I 
 do not write more, only beg that you'll retain me in your favor. 
 
 " Dated the 12th of October, 1718." * 
 
 Alas for the short-lived glory of long titles ! The ever- 
 ready and reverent servant was soon confined to life-long 
 imprisonment, in spite of the fact that his patron was 
 valorous and victorious, and prosperous in all things — except 
 in saving his friend from the dungeon. Kanhoji was himself 
 laid low by the English, though not without some resistance. 
 The second letter also was supposed to have been written by 
 Kamati to Angria soon after the former had intercepted the 
 important message from the Portuguese General of the North 
 to the Governor of Bombay — an act of disloyalty and treachery 
 which forms the basis of the third charge. Campbell cites 
 it as follows : 
 
 " This is to let your honour know that the Portuguese of Bassein have 
 wrote to our chief, which letter is concerning you, and therefore Dalba 
 Bhandari has sent it to you, by which you will understand everything. 
 Dalba Bhandari and myself are with one mind, the least of all your 
 servants, and we assure you on our part we shall never be wanting in 
 your service. We further advise you that our Chief is always both 
 day and night at Parel and he has no power in his company only his 
 own chamber servants ; and for this reason we write you that by night 
 
 * The Bombay Quarterly Review, iii. 1856, p. 49. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 335 
 
 you may send six or seven galivats * who, landing, will gain a victory 
 without doubt. Upon the whole your honour is a prudent man. When 
 you have read this letter, we desire you would keep it and not put it in 
 the office, neither the others at present. I do not write more, always 
 hoping for your protection. 
 " Dated the 22nd of Suffar." f 
 
 If this letter had, in fact, been written by Rama Kamati, one 
 could have felt no sympathy for a traitor so daring and despicable. 
 But the circumstances of its having been proved a forgery long 
 after the innocent man had pined away in prison fills one with 
 contempt for those who sat in judgment on him and condemned 
 the unfortunate Shenvi Brahmin. It may be noted here that 
 Dalba Bhandari had to share his master's fate for the part he 
 was supposed to have played in writing and despatching this 
 letter to Kanhoji Angria. 
 
 Rama Kamati was not a man to be frightened either by the 
 length of the indictment or the seriousness of the charges he 
 was called upon to meet. Being of a cool and calculating nature 
 he must have sat himself down to weigh carefully the allegations 
 made against him, and prepare a defence which would convince 
 the Government of his loyalty and the public of his innocence. 
 But he must have felt the difficulty of his task. To begin with. 
 Government were his prosecutors as well as his judges. The 
 tribunal was composed of the President and Council. The 
 accused could not ask for a transfer of his case, for there was no 
 other Court which could take cognisance of such a case. More- 
 over, Rama Kamati had got an inkling of the fact that his 
 prosecutors had extorted certain valuable information from some 
 of the principal witnesses, and that they had got up the case 
 against him by means which were not above reproach. But 
 where was the good of pointing this out to the judges who had 
 themselves stooped to such expedients ? He had to meet the 
 charges somehow ; so, like a reasonable man, he took up pen and 
 paper, and wrote out a long statement in his own defence. 
 Instead of condensing this in our own words, we shall reproduce 
 the whole of it below. Campbell makes room for this remarkable 
 
 * Galivats or gallevats were a kind of galleys or war-boats with oars, of 
 small draught of water, which continued to be employed on the west coast 
 of India down to the latter half of last century. 
 
 t Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part i. p. 145. 
 
336 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 document in the first part of his Materials, which runs as 
 follows : 
 
 " In the preamble is nothing material more than that the defendant 
 asserts the witnesses are all brought over to swear against him by bribes, 
 fair promises, threats and punishment, for which reason their evidence 
 ought not to be taken, and insinuates his former good services deserve 
 better treatment. In answer to the first article he says the charge is of 
 no significancy, as his giving notice to Angria could be of no advantage, 
 because as soon as he has taken any ship or vessel, he immediately 
 makes a strict inquiry who she belongs to of the officers and others 
 aboard, and is perfectly well acquainted with every individual ship 
 belonging to Surat, for which reason, he adds, it would be folly in him to 
 send such advices. In his defence to the second article he alleges that 
 when our fleet came before Cundry the fort was so ill provided with men 
 and ammunition that the enemy ran the risk of throwing succours of 
 both into it after it was besieged by us. From this he infers that the 
 enemy would of course have taken better care in furnishing the garrison 
 (which was so weak that even the women were obliged to assist in the 
 defence of it) had he given the notice he was charged with. He further 
 adds for his justification that it was he who first told the Governor of the 
 weakness of that place, and after the Governor was gone thither he desired 
 Mr. Parker to confirm the same by writmg to his Honour, which he thinks 
 is sufficient proof he is not the author of these letters. Touching the 
 third article, he alleges there is no proof of the letter mentioned in his 
 accusation was delivered to him, and seems to insinuate there was no 
 such letter sent. To clear himself of the charge in the fourth article he 
 pleads his former good services and the many obligations he lies under to 
 the Eight Honourable Company and the English nation in general, and 
 to the Governor in particular, which would make it the highest ingratitude 
 imaginable in him to be guilty (even in thought) of such a piece of 
 cruelty, and thinks it would be a great folly to attempt such a thing, 
 considering how well the island is guarded by several stout frigates and 
 forts and a number of good EngUsh officers. As to the fifth article, he 
 denies to have had any dealings with Angria during the war, and says 
 the Governor gave Garru (Gharu) Sinay leave to come hither to celebrate 
 the marriage of his grand-daughter, and that what goods he carried with 
 them were bought publicly during the cessation of arms and were only 
 designed to defray his charges, which he looks on as no crime. To 
 invalidate the charge in the sixth article he alleges that if Antonio 
 Francisco D'Costa had any such offer made him, it is probable to believe 
 he would have revealed it to the Governor or Captain Stanton, who was 
 his commanding officer, and not to the defendant. He therefore thinks 
 that a sufficient reason to conclude it was not communicated to him, and 
 further adds that all the sepoys were not under his command, some of 
 them (the Pattanees) being under the direction of Umerji. He defends 
 himself from the charge of the last article by insinuating that the 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 337 
 
 three letters mentioned in the other articles are all false, because they 
 were not his own handwriting. He concludes with saying that it is easy 
 for those who can forge letters to make a false seal also. He repeats 
 that his accusers have made use of bribes, threats, and fair promises to 
 procure evidence against him. He humbly hopes that what he has 
 represented and his former good services will induce the Board to clear 
 him from the charges laid against him, urging it is highly improbable he 
 would trust a secret of such importance to anybody else when he was 
 able to write himself." * 
 
 But instead of inducing the Board to clear him of the charges, 
 Rama Kamati's statement of defence seemed to have convinced 
 them of his guilt. His past services were not taken into the 
 slightest account, and the counter-charge of threats, bribes, and 
 fair promises was repudiated with some vehemence. It is also 
 doubtful if they gave sufficient weight to the answer Kamati 
 made to each of the charges. Having regard to the very peculiar 
 position Government occupied in this trial — of being both 
 prosecutors and judges — a strictly impartial inquiry was hardly 
 to be expected. They reiterated all the charges, and resented 
 the accusation of bribery, corruption, and extortion. 
 
 *' His assertion in the preamble," Government wrote in reply, " that 
 the witnesses were all brought over to swear against him by bribes and 
 threats is a reflection on the justice of this Board and ought to be looked 
 upon as a reproach and no testimony, since he has not brought one 
 single proof of it. (1) His answer to the first article is only a bare denial 
 and evasion of the charge without bringing any evidence to clear himself 
 of it. (2) The enemy's neglecting to follow his advice is no manner of 
 proof that he did not send it, nor against the evidence of the person that 
 wrote it. (3) The oath of Govindji (who wrote this letter) is proof enough 
 of the 3rd article. (4) His former good services (for which he has been 
 well rewarded) are not a sufficient reason to believe that he is not guilty 
 of what he is now charged with, when we have a letter under his own seal 
 and owned by the person who wrote it under his direction. (5) His 
 alleging the goods were carried off the island during the cessation of arms 
 is a mistake, because there was no cessation of arms at all. (6) That 
 Antonio Francisco D' Costa did not tell the Governor nor Captain Stanton 
 can never be esteemied a sufficient proof that he did not tell Eamaji, 
 especially since Captain Stanton swears he, the prisoner, owned to him 
 that Antonio Francisco D 'Costa had told him so and Captain Stanton had 
 at that time gone down the coast. (7) His answer to the last or 7th 
 article is foreign to the purpose, and we have a cloud of witnesses to 
 make good the charge contained in it." f 
 
 * Bombay Oaaetteer Materials, xxvi. part i. pp. 146-147. 
 t Ibid. pp. 147-148. 
 
 22 
 
338 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 It was but natural that the Board should look upon Kamati's 
 accusation of bribery as a reflection on their sense of justice. 
 But the facts that were elicited long after the trial had ended, 
 and the unfortunate man had died in prison in 1728, fully 
 justified his fears, for there was gross miscarriage of justice in 
 this case, as we shall presently see, and it is highly improbable 
 that when they replied to Kamati's written statement of defence, 
 the Board were not aware of the manner in which important 
 evidence was extorted from the principal witness, Govindji ; 
 their protesting against the accusation was therefore adding 
 insult to injury. 
 
 The preliminaries having been duly arranged, the matter 
 became ripe for judicial hearing, which must have lasted 
 several days. The proceedings of the trial are too prolix to 
 be of general interest. But there is at least one important 
 feature which has been brought to light by a writer — pre- 
 sumably Anderson — in one of the early volumes of the 
 Bombay Quarterly Review. This was the torture sanctioned 
 by Charles Boone, who presided over the tribunal which con- 
 demned Eama Kamati to life-long imprisonment. It is said 
 to be the last instance of any English Government making use 
 of a barbarous practice which had long been abolished in Great 
 Britain,* although continued in France up to the period of the 
 Revolution. Governor Boone had evidently taken this illegal 
 step on his own responsibility, without even consulting his 
 colleagues, for it was first brought to the notice of the 
 tribunal at the examination of the prisoner on Sunday, 
 March 27, 1720.t The prisoner, we are told, hearing his 
 clerk, named Govindji, summoned as a witness, raised a pre- 
 liminary objection against any evidence that he might ofi'er, 
 because, he explained, the witness was acting under com- 
 pulsion. That this announcement created a sensation we can 
 readily believe. An explanation was, of course, demanded, 
 whereupon Governor Boone, seeing that further secrecy was 
 of no avail, volunteered the following information. Fourteen 
 
 * The last case of judicial torture in England, according to Douglas, was in 
 1640, though declared illegal in 1628. It was used in Scotland during the 
 reign of Charles II. and abolished in 1709. 
 
 t It is interesting to note that the Court transacted business even on 
 Sundays. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 339 
 
 days ago, he said, Govindjee, the witness, being confined in 
 the "Trunk,"* and seeing Sergeant Collison engaged in 
 writing, had borrowed from him pen, ink, and paper, with 
 which he had himself indited a note. The wary sergeant 
 suffered him to complete it, and then, having snatched it out 
 of his hand, carried it to Major Vane, his commanding officer, 
 who transmitted it to the Governor. No address was written 
 on it, but it was supposed to have been intended for Rama 
 Kamati, as it informed some one that the writer had been 
 examined about some letters and money, but had made no 
 disclosures and was resolved not to make any. It also 
 suggested that the unknown should not be sparing with his 
 money, but use it liberally and judiciously. No further notice 
 was taken of this matter at the time, nor until some days after, 
 when Govindji had contrived to write another letter which, 
 also being intercepted, was found to state that the former 
 letter had fallen into the hands of Major Vane, and that 
 the writer was most anxious to regain his liberty. Further 
 information was given that a clerk attached to a company of 
 sepoys had rolled a letter up in a parcel with some condiments 
 and delivered it to a kitchen-boy, who threw it into the 
 prison. Governor Boone thought this too good an oppor- 
 tunity to miss, so he resolved to procure the evidence of 
 Govindji and his clerk on these material points. On his 
 own responsibility, therefore, he examined the clerk respecting 
 the contents of the letter, but could not induce him to make 
 any disclosures. 
 
 " So," says the writer in the Bombay Quarterly Beview, *' availing 
 himself of his antiquarian knowledge, and remembering, we presume, 
 that the degenerate Romans allowed an unrestricted use of the qucestio 
 in cases of treason,! his Honour resolved to try whether the secret could 
 
 • A corruption of the Portuguese "tronco," a word used originally in 
 Lisbon for a prison or jail. 
 
 t Da Cunha does not agree with the writer's opinion that it was Boone's 
 antiquarian knowledge which prompted him to sanction the torture in this 
 case. "The rdle of the Inquisitor," he observes, " which he played so well 
 on this occasion has been attributed by some to his antiquarian knowledge, 
 as if he were a Venetian Doge. But imitative proclivities aside, archaeology 
 has never yet been known to inspire one to be guilty of such atrocious prac- 
 tices. His studies of the Spanish Inquisition might, perhaps, have led him 
 to act the part of a Don Juan de Torquemada in Bombay " {The Origin of 
 Bcmbay, p. 350). 
 
340 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 be wrenched out, and, to use his own words, the man did not confess, 
 tiU irons were screwed upon his thumbs, the smart whereof brought him 
 to confession, that there was a letter in the rag with the Kismishes (con- 
 diments) which Govindjee's son had deUvered to him to be conveyed to 
 his father.' Govindjee himself was then examined, and although he 
 denied all knowledge of the letter, his equivocation betrayed him, so 
 that it became necessary to squeeze the truth out of him also. His 
 Honour, as chief inquisitor, had the terrible irons applied, and Govindjee 
 confessed all that was required." "^ 
 
 Governor Boone has been rightly condemned for sanctioning 
 the use of a practice which was both inhuman and illegal. This 
 is the only blot on his otherwise exemplary career in Bombay, 
 but it is one which will stick to his name as long as the memory 
 of his administration of this Imperial city lasts. 
 
 " We can never forgive Mr. Boone," writes Mr. Edwardes, " for 
 countenancing the torture of the ill-starred Govind. The memory 
 of what he efifected towards ameliorating the helpless condition of 
 our island is completely overshadowed by regret for this act of in- 
 humanity, regret which is heightened by the knowledge, now vouch- 
 safed to us, that Kama Kamati was guiltless, that the incriminating 
 letters were the merest forgeries ! " f 
 
 Boone's conduct — it was indeed a crime — was not allowed to 
 pass unnoticed even then. As has been remarked in a previous 
 chapter, there was at least one member of Council, Lawrence 
 Parker, who protested most vehemently against this illegal 
 procedure. " It was against the laws of our country," he 
 wrote, "to extort a confession from any man; and this having 
 been done with a servant of Kama Comatee on the said trial, 
 he could not set there with a safe conscience." I True, these 
 words fell on deaf ears, for they Tvere utterly ignored by his 
 colleagues, but they remind us that nearly two centuries ago 
 there was in Bombay a judge who knew his duty and performed 
 
 * The Bombay Quarterly Review, iii. 1856, p. 50. 
 
 t The Bise of Bombay, p. 155. 
 
 J In this connection Douglas asks : ' ' Did this expression of opinion cost 
 him his seat, for Parker's name disappears from the records ? " It may have 
 been one of the causes which contributed to his disappearance from the 
 Board, but the principal charge against him was, as we know, that he 
 had clandestinely erased his own signature from an important minute of 
 proceedings. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 341 
 
 it with courage and conviction. Apart from its illegality, the 
 evidence procured by means of the torture proved, more or less, 
 ineffectual, for instead of strengthening the case for the prosecu- 
 tion, it provided Rama Kamati with a defence of which he made 
 the best use. But there were other witnesses who were sup- 
 posed not to have been tampered with, and the documentai-y 
 evidence was considered to be conclusive proof against the 
 accused. At the very commencement of the trial, the Presi- 
 dent having been informed that some persons had promised 
 to make a further discovery of the treasonable practices of 
 Rama Kamati and Dalba Bhandari, provided a pardon was 
 secured to them, it was ordered that the Secretary should 
 draw up a proclamation to that purpose. It was chiefly by 
 such means that the evidence against the accused was con- 
 cocted. His letters to Angria were produced in Court; they 
 were alleged to have been written by him, and the seal 
 attaching to some of them was sworn to be his. Then a 
 witness was brought forward to depose that having gone to 
 Colaba, and having induced a favourite dancing-girl to inter- 
 cede with Angria for the restoration of the Success, the 
 pirate chief assured her that the ship did not really belong 
 to the English, as he knew by the information received from 
 Rama Kamati, but to a merchant of Surat. A Portuguese 
 secretary was summoned to prove that he had written the 
 letter addressed by the General of the North to the Governor 
 of Bombay, which the accused was charged with intercepting. 
 The oral evidence does not strike us as particularly convincing, 
 though the incriminating letters must have left no room for 
 doubt in the minds of the judges that the prisoner at the bar 
 was guilty. In spite of this, however, they could not find him 
 guilty of the capital offence — i.e., treason. In the diary dated 
 April 11, 1720, there occurs the following brief entry : " Rama 
 Kamati was this day found guilty of high crimes and mis- 
 demeanours as by the trial will more fully appear. The Board 
 ordered that his person be confined to prison during life and 
 his estate forfeited to the Company." Though the life of 
 the unfortunate man was spared, he did not survive his fate 
 long, for he died in prison eight years after. In execution of 
 this sentence much of Kamati' s valuable property, a part of 
 it being within the walls of what is now called the Fort, must 
 
342 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 have been confiscated by the authorities. Not long after the 
 sentence was passed a proclamation was published requiring all 
 persons having any demands on Rama Kamati to lay their 
 claims before the Court of Judicature within ten days, and one 
 of those who laid their claims, pursuant to this proclamation, 
 was the President himself, who put forward a demand on the 
 estate of the Shenvi Brahmin for Rs.12,791, qrs. 3, and reas 22.* 
 The Secretary was authorised to take possession of the prisoner's 
 estate, movable as well as immovable, and to dispose of his 
 effects by public sale. His immovable property in the Fort alone 
 was sold for Es. 20,000,1 while his cocoanut orchards and batty 
 grounds in and around Bombay were valued at Rs.37,989. 
 These the Council resolved to purchase for the Company, 
 and the Accountant was ordered to bring them on the books 
 accordingly. In this connection there is a very interest- 
 ing entry in the diary dated July 4, 1720, which runs as 
 follows : — 
 
 "There being a large Warehouse of 86 feet length in the Bazar 
 belonging to Rama Comattee, with an upper room over it, which last 
 will be very proper to hold the Court of Judicature in, and which the 
 President has caused to be valued by Major Vane and the Master 
 Carpenters and Bricklayers, who report it worth Rupees six thousand. 
 As that is much less than we can build a proper place for the Court to 
 sitt in, besides the benefit of the Warehouse, resolved that we purchase 
 it at that price on the Right Honb^^ Company s account, and that the 
 upper room be fitted up for that use, and that the 2 p'cent fines levied 
 on persons cast in the Court shall be applied in part payment thereof, 
 and y^ Warehouse may be appropriated as a granary for Batty or other 
 goods which we sometimes stand in need of." J 
 
 If the estate of Rama Kamati had been confiscated after 
 absolute proof of his guilt, the use of a part of it for holding 
 the Court of Judicature might have been regarded as singularly 
 appropriate. But considering that the whole proceedings, from 
 beginning to end, were vitiated by most questionable means 
 
 * Accounts were kept at Bombay in rupees, quarters, and reas up to at 
 least November, 1834. Reas, or rees, were small money of account formerly 
 in use at Bombay, being in value the twenty-fifth part of an anna (Hobson- 
 Jobson) . 
 
 f Warden says that this property was sold to one Hurjeevan Surput for 
 Rs.22,600 on August 25, 1786. 
 
 I Forrest's Selections, ii. p. 20. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 343 
 
 employed in procuring evidence, and having regard to the facts 
 that transpired long after the prisoner had passed away, the 
 purpose to which his warehouse was put seems a mockery. 
 
 The Government of Charles Boone has been severely criticised 
 for the miscarriage of justice which may be said to have cost 
 the innocent Brahmin his life. But it is easy to be wise after 
 the event, to condemn a procedure which, two centuries ago, 
 seemed to be almost irreproachable. That the Government 
 were both prosecutors and judges in this trial was no fault of 
 theirs. Such was the procedure followed, we suppose, in all 
 criminal cases at the time. The extortion of certain material 
 evidence was the work of only one individual, for which it would 
 be unfair to blame the whole tribunal. The conviction of the 
 accused was based on what seemed to them the clearest 
 evidence, admitting of no doubt. They must have honestly 
 believed that Rama Kamati had been guilty of treasonable 
 offences, that he had tried to play the traitor, though at the 
 same time professing to be a friend of the English. That 
 such was the conviction of Charles Boone is made abundantly 
 clear by a passage that occurs in a letter he wrote to the 
 Portuguese General, who ventured to cast doubt on Rama 
 Kamati 's guilt : 
 
 "It is your pleasure," he observed rather bitterly, "to pronounce 
 Rama Comattee an innocent man, and in some measure to reflect on 
 my proceedings towards him, which as it is not agreeable to the gallant 
 character your Honour bears in the world, might well excuse my silence 
 in that particular, both as it relates to affairs of a Foreign State, and 
 condemns an action which your Honour is a stranger to. However, such 
 is my desire to oblige you and defend my own reputation, that I aflQrm 
 to your Honour you are misinformed, and he must indeed have had 
 both artful and potent friends to induce your Honour to a contrary 
 belief. The circumstances of the seal, and Captain Antonio Felloes 
 information are but a small part of his charge. I had good reason to 
 be offended with his conduct and to cause an enquiry thereof to be laid 
 before me, and upon manifest proofs passed a sentence, which I am 
 convinced the offender himself thinks mild and much less than his 
 demerit." '■' 
 
 We may well hesitate to believe the last statement, for Rama 
 Kamati appears to have memorialised the Court to revise the 
 * Forrest's Selections, ii. p. 15. 
 
344 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 sentence passed on him ; but the above extract shows that the 
 President and Council were of opinion that they were acting 
 in the matter according to the dictates of their conscience and 
 in strict conformity with justice. It may be — indeed, it seems 
 likely — that the Shenvi Brahmin was trying to play a double 
 game, and was in treasonable communication with Kanhoji 
 Angria ; but the evidence adduced to prove that there was 
 treason was afterwards found to be entirely false. 
 
 "Never even in Indian Courts of Law," says the writer in the 
 Bombay Quarterly Review already referred to, '* were perjury and 
 forgery used with less scruple and more subtlety. Many years after- 
 wards, when the condemned man pined in a prison, his family had sunk 
 into the depths of poverty, and his judges reposing comfortably in the 
 belief that they had administered impartial justice, it oozed out that vile 
 caitiffs had forged the letters which were produced against him, and 
 attached to them fictitious seals."* 
 
 The least that can be said of Charles Boone's Government is 
 that it had been made the tool of a base conspiracy, and as such 
 had been unwittingly guilty of a cruel act of oppression. And 
 what reparation did its successor offer to the family of the 
 innocent man ? It seemed disinclined, perhaps out of shame, 
 even to acknowledge the gross injustice of its predecessor's act. 
 This is how it recorded its opinion of a trial which is un- 
 doubtedly the most remarkable in the annals of the early his- 
 tory of judicial administration in Bombay : *' Though the then 
 President and Council might act consistently with what appeared 
 to them, yet from the information of people it is looked upon by the 
 generality of the inhabitants to have been a rigorous measure." 
 Not only did the inhabitants regard it as a rigorous measure, 
 but the generality of them must have bitterly resented this 
 travesty of British justice. It would have been more states- 
 manlike if the Government had acknowledged that Charles 
 Boone and his colleagues had erred egregiously in sending Rama 
 Kamati to the *' Trunk" for an offence of which, though he 
 may have been morally guilty, he was innocent in law. The 
 Court of Directors also were not liberal enough in making 
 amends to his unfortunate family. The only satisfaction made 
 was the allowance of a small pension to Eama Kamati' s son, 
 * The Bombay QiLo/rterly Beview, iii. p. 52. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 345 
 
 to whom they paid a further sum of four thousand rupees in 
 compensation, not for the injustice his father had suffered, but 
 " for loss he had sustained by wrong valuation " ! We hardly 
 know what to condemn most in this reprehensible affair, the 
 torture sanctioned by Governor Boone, the injustice done to the 
 accused, even on the hypothesis that there was a substratum of 
 truth in the charges, its tardy acknowledgment by the autho- 
 rities, or the curious stinginess displayed by the Court of 
 Directors in making amends to Rama Kamati's family. We 
 shall let the reader decide.* 
 
 A month after Rama Kamati was found guilty and sentenced 
 to life-long imprisonment, the trial of Dalba Bhandari, his 
 accomplice, commenced. Though only second in importance 
 
 * A short account of Rama Kamati's life and career appeared in the 
 Bombay Gazette recently. As the account is succinct and, on the whole, 
 accurate, we give it below: "Rama (Kamati), as is well known to all who 
 have studied the history of our city in the past, had a very sad and altogether 
 unmerited end. After nearly forty years of prosperity, which he used for the 
 benefit of his community by founding several temples which exist still, and 
 also for that of the city at large, he fell on evil days and evil tongues which 
 wagged very glibly against him. We were in those days much at war with 
 Kanoji Angria, the great pirate on the West Coast, who annoyed us continu- 
 ously during the first quarter of the eighteenth century from his eyrie in 
 Kolaba, the fort of Alibag, in our close vicinity. The Angria was always on 
 our brain then, and from the President and Governor down to the meanest 
 inhabitant of this town every one was interested in keeping that truculent 
 chief and his sea-dogs from ofi this island. Boone was then our Governor, 
 an excellent administrator to whom Bombay owes much. But it seems that 
 the Angria was too much on his brains and had upset his otherwise calm and 
 careful judgment. Some persons, envious of the prosperity and high position 
 of Rama — he was put in 1718 in command of all the fighting sepoys against 
 Angria, so much was he trusted by the high authorities — plotted against him, 
 and in 1720 secretly informed Boone that Rama had all along been in treason- 
 able correspondence with the enemy and had engaged to betray this island 
 one day to him, including of course Boone himself and his Council. These 
 unscrupulous foes of Rama forged documents proving his guilt to the satis- 
 faction of Boone, who, having not a shadow of doubt about it, applied the 
 torture to poor Rama, who was brought to a mock trial and condemned. All 
 his property was confiscated and himself imprisoned for life. A rich Bhan- 
 dari, Dalba by name, also suffered as Rama's accomplice, and thus the 
 conspiracy prevailed in its nefarious aim of ruining a loyal citizen. After 
 his death in 1728 the truth appeared that Rama had been innocent, and that 
 the evidence against him had all been forged and concocted. We hope Boone 
 heard of this in his retirement in England, but we do not know what amends 
 he made to Durga Kamat, the son of Rama, whom he had unwittingly 
 ruined." 
 
346 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 to the above, this trial seems to have attracted little attention, 
 and the published accounts of it are very meagre. But from the 
 original diary for the year 1720, lodged at the Bombay Record 
 Office, we have been able to glean a few details which throw 
 additional light on this affair. The indictment against the 
 accused was published on May 13, 1720, on which date a Con- 
 sultation was held, when the Secretary, Mr. Owen Phillips, 
 read the following indictment : 
 
 " Dulba Bandaree : You stand indicted of severall high crimes and 
 misdemeaners by you done and comitted contrary to your duty and 
 allegiance to the R* Hon'ble Company, and the known orders and pro- 
 clamations of their Hon'ble Gov*^ by advising and perswading the inhabi- 
 tants of this Island to take the passes of the enemy, Conojee Angria, 
 during the present war, and concealing a treasonable correspondence 
 which was carryed on by Rama Comattee with the said enemy Conojee 
 Angria in or about the month of Dec"", 1718, whereby you have as much 
 as in you lay endanger'd the safety and welfare of this His Majesty's 
 Castle and Island Bombay, the estate and prerogative of the R* Hon'ble 
 Company, and the life and liberty of the said Hon'ble Gov' and all the 
 English inhabitants thereof. 
 
 " What do you say ; are you guilty of this charge or not guilty ? " 
 
 It will be observed that Dalba Bhandari's indictment was 
 drawn up in a form somewhat similar to the one used for such 
 purposes at the present day. Though short, it embodied a 
 sufficiently serious charge couched in very clear terms. The 
 indictment was read out to the prisoner both in the English and 
 Portuguese languages, but a copy drawn up in Portuguese 
 alone was delivered to him, probably because he was well 
 acquainted with that language, as were several natives in 
 those days. The accused pleaded not guilty, and said the 
 President was his witness, and related a long story of his 
 services during the troubles with the Portuguese and, lately, in 
 adjusting the articles of peace with Angria 's agents. But he 
 was told that these matters were foreign to the charge, and that 
 he should confine himself to the terms of the indictment, and 
 submit his answer the next day : " but," ends the entry in this 
 day's Consultation, "behaving himself disrespectfully, he was 
 checkt for it and ordered to withdraw." 
 
 The trial was resumed the next day (May 14th), when the 
 following entry was recorded : 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 347 
 
 " This meeting being appointed to go on with the tryall of Dulba 
 Bandaree, he was called in and told by the Presid* that his behaviour 
 yesterday was very unbecoming, that he was a prisoner and called upon 
 to answer to a heavy charge, that everything he had to offer in his own 
 vindication should be heard with all the patience imaginable, but that it 
 became him to carry himself more respectfully to the Board." 
 
 After this gentle admonition, the evidence for the prosecution 
 was led. The first witness called was Abdulla Barda. It seems 
 that Abdulla was confined, along with the other prisoners, on an 
 information laid against him for having taken Angria's pass, but 
 having confessed his crime and promising further disclosures in 
 the case, was " cleared." Dalba, therefore, objected to the 
 deposition of an accomplice being made use of against him, 
 particularly as Abdulla was kept in prison so long, and there was 
 no knowing if the thumbscrews were applied to him or not, as 
 in the case of poor Govindji in the previous trial. But his 
 objection was evidently overruled, for Abdulla's deposition was 
 duly recorded as follows : 
 
 " Abdulla Barda, Moor Inhabitant of Mahim, aged thirty-five years or 
 thereabouts, declares that in the month of Sufar the year before last, 
 Dulba Bandaree sent for him and deF him a packett of letters which he, in 
 an obliging manner, desir'd he would send with all the secrecy imaginable 
 to Callaby, which he did accordingly, by Baupojee, Moor Inhabitant of 
 Versova, and that at the time when the guard was sett on Dulba 
 Bandaree's house, he the deponent heard him say, why was a guard put 
 on his house, he was not like Rama Comattee ; and that in the time of 
 the warr, he the deponent with his brother having consulted together 
 went to Dulba Bandaree's house, and asked him how they should do to 
 send their boats to sea at a time when Bombay was at warr with Angria, 
 to which the said Dulba Bandaree, Vissu Bandaree, Kensu Bandaree and 
 Sancra Sinay answer'd that they must do as they had always done, 
 which was to take Angria's pass. 
 
 *' He further declareth that 'tis true that he the deponent spoke to 
 Facuir Bingaree of the letter and the pass which he sent for, for his 
 gallevat was by the way of Versova, and further says that in or about the 
 middle of the last month, he the deponent being at Dulba Bandaree's 
 house about eight a clock in the morning, his brothers Vissu Bandaree 
 and Kensu Bandaree by his order, did (in the presence of him the 
 deponent) deUver a bundle of gold Rup^ to Narsojee Purvoe, a servant in 
 Mahim customhouse, and order'd him to go to Bassein by the way of 
 Tannah, and deliver the same mony there, and that there went in his 
 company Woyna Butt Braminee : to the truth of which he has hereunto 
 set his name this 17 April, 1720." 
 
348 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Abdulla's deposition was read to the accused, who said it was 
 all false. The President asked him if he knew anything of 
 Kama Kamati's carrying on a treasonable correspondence with 
 Kanhoji Angria, either directly or indirectly, that had induced 
 him to tell Abdulla Barda that he was not like Kamaji. The 
 prisoner answered in the negative and offered to show that he 
 knew nothing at all of this matter. The next witness sum- 
 moned was Faquir Bingaree, mentioned in Abdulla's deposition. 
 He seems to have deposed that one day, finding Abdulla Barda 
 
 " sad and melanchoUy, and on asking what he was so very much 
 (troubled) at, he said, 'twas a matter of great consequence which he 
 could not discover to anybody, upon which said Facuir Bingaree told 
 him as he (was) his friend, if he would let him know it, he would discover 
 it to nobody : (upon) which Abdulla Barda answer'd, As you are my 
 friend, I'll trust you the secret, which is this : Dulba Bandaree sent to 
 call me and deF a letter, desiring I would send it to Callaby with the 
 utmost secrecy (and) expedition, and that I should trust to him and not 
 discover it to anybody, for that if I discover'd it he should loose his life 
 and everything else : this the said AbduUa Barda told me, enjoyning me 
 to secrecy upon oath, and is all that passed between us. And further 
 the said Facuir Bingaree declares that when Dalba Bandaree and Sancra 
 Sinay went to Trimbuck he the deponent went with them as far as 
 Sophara and then returned, and told them they must take care of them- 
 selves the remaining part of their way, to which they answer'd there was 
 no danger, for they had got good security, or a passport." 
 
 To the above depositions Faquir Bingaree added the follow- 
 ing significant declaration : 
 
 "All this I do declare to be truth of my own free will without any 
 manner of compulsion whatsoever, and will always defend and declare 
 the same whenever I am ask'd. Signed by me in Bombay, the 16 of 
 
 April, 1720. 
 
 ** Facuir Bingaree." 
 
 But in spite of this solemn declaration, the prisoner main- 
 tained that Faquir Bingaree's deposition was all false, and 
 suggested that money would induce him to say anything. He 
 pointed out that if he had taken Angria' s pass to go to Trimbuck, 
 he need not have gone a roundabout way, and even ventured to 
 prove that the letter, which he was supposed to have given to 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 349 
 
 Abdulla Barda to be delivered to Callaby, was not sent by way of 
 Versova. In this admission the Court found a good opportunity 
 of entrapping Dalba Bhandari, but this wily Maratha was much 
 too shrewd to be taken in so easily. For when the Court 
 inquired which way the letter was sent, he quietly replied that 
 no letter was sent at all. 
 
 The next witness in the case was Govindji, the unfortunate 
 man whose evidence in the previous trial was obtained by the 
 application of torture. He was shown the letter which he was 
 supposed to have written to Kanhoji Angria by Rama Kamati's 
 order, and which he now declared on oath he wrote in the 
 presence of the prisoner, who was privy to its contents. The 
 said letter with its seal was thereupon shown to the accused, and 
 he was asked if he knew whose it was. He answered, with 
 callous indifference, that as his word would not be believed, it 
 signified nothing for him to speak, but being pressed for a reply, 
 he at first desired to be excused, but at last said it looked like 
 Rama Kamati's, though he thought there was some difference. 
 The prisoner again asserted his innocence and said he knew 
 nothing about that letter. Thereupon Govindji was asked " what 
 Ramajee and the Prisoner talkt of whilst he was writing it ; he 
 says they walked about the room and talked together, but he 
 does not know what, that the letter was read before the prisoner 
 and delivered to Ramajee, but he does not know whether he gave 
 it to the prisoner or no, neither does he know which way it was 
 sent." Govindji was then ordered to withdraw, and the depo- 
 sitions of Bapuji Columbia and Diego Bareito were read and 
 recorded. These two witnesses were probably called to corro- 
 borate the evidence of Abdulla Barda, who was, after all, an 
 accomplice. 
 
 This closed the case for the prosecution. The President 
 summed up to the prisoner all the evidence against him, to which 
 the latter answered he would say nothing against it. He was 
 then asked to withdraw, "but," adds the record, "carrying 
 himself very unseemly as he was going out (tho' before he had 
 a caution to the contrary), he was again reprimanded for it and 
 then withdrew." It is curious to note that, throughout the 
 trial, Dalba Bhandari conducted himself in a strange manner, 
 and persisted in his "unseemly behaviour" to the end. His 
 conduct presents a marked contrast to that of Rama Kamati ; 
 
350 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the latter conducted himself throughout with dignity and 
 decorum, whereas his supposed accomplice behaved unbecom- 
 ingly towards the Court both at the commencement and end of 
 the trial. May it not be that what looked like " unseemly con- 
 duct " to the tribunal was nothing more than the spirit of 
 defiance, bordering on desperation, which every prisoner, who is 
 persecuted rather than prosecuted, must necessarily feel towards 
 his persecutors ? For it will be remembered that the principal 
 charge brought against Dalba Bhandari was that of concealing 
 the treasonable correspondence which Rama Kamati was sup- 
 posed to have carried on with Kanhoji Angria — a correspondence 
 which had its existence chiefly in the imagination of the Court, 
 and the proof of which was obtained by the application of 
 torture. 
 
 The trial was concluded the same day, when the following 
 entry was recorded in the diary : 
 
 " After some debate it was agreed that the indictment has been 
 fully proved against the Prisoner, and that he ought to be severely fined 
 for the same, and then the question was put how much he should be 
 fined. Resolved and Agreed that he be fined the sum of six thousand 
 rup^ to be paid in three months time, and that he be kept in prison till 
 said sum, and his, and Vissu Bandaree's former debt to the R* Hon'ble 
 Company be satisfyed, and in case he don't pay said sum of six thousand 
 Rup« and his and Vissu Bandaree's former debt to the R' Hon'ble 
 Comp* in said term of three months, that his estate be sold to make it 
 good, and that he be obUged to give sufficient security for his future good 
 behaviour. 
 
 " The prisoner being called in, the Presid* told him the Board had taken 
 notice of his unbecoming behaviour during the time of the Tryall, and 
 had considered the severall evidences to the indictment against him, 
 which were so full and clear that they had found him guilty of the same, 
 and then acquainted him with the Resolution of the Board thereon, and 
 he was order'd to be carry'd prisoner to Mahim Fort." 
 
 Though the resolution of the Board is clearly worded, it is 
 rather strange that, according to some published accounts of this 
 trial, the exact nature of the sentence passed on Dalba Bhandari 
 and the period of his incarceration are supposed to be involved 
 in some doubt. Two recent writers state that Bhandari was 
 sent to the " Trunk " to keep company with Kamati, though 
 they make no mention of the fine inflicted on him. However, 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 351 
 
 both of them may be right, for Bhandari was probably locked up 
 in Mahim Fort until he paid the fine and his other liabilities. 
 That the prisoner was not able to pay his fine for some time 
 after the sentence is made clear by the following entry recorded 
 in the Consultation dated August 13, 1720, the last faint echo 
 of this trial : 
 
 *' Ambaidas Takidas and Santari Govardhan presented a petition in 
 behalf of Dalba Bhandari, requesting he may be allowed a further time 
 of four months for payment of the fine of Es. 6,000 and his former debt of 
 Rs. 1,493-2-37, setting forth that he is not capable of paying it soon, and 
 offering themselves for the security thereof. After some debate on the 
 affair, it was resolved that as the fine we have laid on him is consider- 
 able, and that if we make a sale of his estate (agreeable to a former 
 order of Council) the money cannot be soon collected, that their request 
 be granted with this proviso, that if it be not paid by that time they 
 shall pay the interest thereof from this date (13th August, 1720)." * 
 
 Government did not forget to reward those who were instru- 
 mental in bringing about the downfall of Rama Kamati and 
 Dalba Bhandari. On September 6, 1720, one Hassan Ally 
 made a petition representing that the Government had given 
 him some hopes of having his and his brother's estates (which 
 had been confiscated) restored to him on his coming over to 
 Bombay and giving some information against Rama Kamati. 
 On a consideration of this petition the following minute was 
 recorded : 
 
 "It appears to the Board that he (Hassan Ally) has been highly 
 in^rumental in making severall discoverys of said Rama Comattee and 
 Dulba Bandaree, their traitorous designs against the Government, and 
 also behaved himself very well in severall actions he has been employed 
 in : Agreed that whereas they have a creditt on the R*' Hon'ble Com- 
 pany's books for rupees two thousand four hundred and sixty, three 
 quarters and seventy-three raes, that after the demands on them are 
 satisfyed, the residue be paid to them." 
 
 The Government of Charles Boone could not but have 
 regretted their misplaced liberality when they found that both 
 Rama Kamati and Dalba Bhandari were wrongly convicted. 
 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materiah, xxvi. part i. p. 148. 
 
352 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 That these two important trials must have given rise to some- 
 thing more than mere local excitement can easily be imagined. 
 Both the prisoners were men of position and wealth in Bombay : 
 the charges brought against them were of a serious nature, and 
 the man with whom they were supposed to have carried on 
 treasonable correspondence was one with whom the then Govern- 
 ment of Bombay was on terms of hostility. Kanhoji Angria's 
 influence on the sea was unsurpassed : but even on land his 
 name struck terror in many a staunch heart. There were also 
 some other incidents, as we have seen, which invested these 
 trials with almost sensational interest. The inhabitants of 
 Bombay were greatly agitated over the affair, and the Court was 
 obliged to adopt certain measures to restore order and con- 
 fidence. On the day on which Dalba Bhandari's trial was 
 concluded, we find the following entry recorded in the diary : 
 
 " Then the Presid* proposed to the Board the issmng out a proclama- 
 tion for quieting the minds of the people and granting a full pardon to 
 all persons who have hitherto been concerned with Ramajee and Dulba 
 Bandaree in their treasonable practices against the Government, pro- 
 vided they return to their duty, and obedience, and behave themselves 
 as faithful! subjects for the future (Rama Comattee and Dulba Bandaree 
 excepted) which was approved and agreed to, and the Secretary order'd 
 to prepare the same against (in ?) the afternoon for our approbation." 
 
 The Secretary lost no time in preparing the proclamation, 
 which was duly promulgated in the town and island of Bombay. 
 
 The only point that remains in some obscurity in the trial of 
 Dalba Bhandari is as to whether any amends were made to him 
 or his heirs when the Government of Bombay was apprised of 
 the forgery of letters and fabrication of seals, on the strength of 
 which mainly Eama Kamati was convicted. An entry in the 
 diary for 1724,* when William Phipps was President and 
 Governor of the town and island of Bombay, throws some light 
 on this point, though it does not make it quite clear whether the 
 fine of six thousand rupees inflicted on Dalba Bhandari for his 
 supposed participation in the treasonable correspondence was, 
 
 * The diaries for the years 1721, 1722, and 1723 seem to be missing. 
 Mr. Balwant Mahadeo, who has been in charge of the Bombay Record 
 Office for a number of years and who, with the permission of the authorities, 
 was good enough to place all the necessary records at my disposal, informs me 
 that these three volumes never seem to have been lodged at the Record Office. 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 353 
 
 wholly or in part, remitted to him. Nearly four years had 
 elapsed since the conclusion of the trial, and the only member 
 of Council who had the privilege of holding office under both 
 Charles Boone and William Phipps was Mr. John Braddyll. As 
 the entry is of some importance, we shall reproduce it below : 
 
 " Dulba Bandaree upon his being pressed for discharging the fines laid 
 upon him by S' Nicholas Waite on acco* of Tobacco and also the other 
 by the late Presid* and Councill, humbly requests his case may be again 
 taken into consideration in order to relieve him. The which being 
 agreed to, the Board peruses what was thereupon wrote by the late 
 Presid' and Councill, Anno 1716 in his favour, with the Hon'ble Com- 
 pany's orders thereon, also what was wrote then concerning it in the 
 25th Para, of our letter of 27th August, 1722, in answer to which 
 the Hon'ble Company are pleas'd to say they referr it to us either to 
 moderate or forgive such part of those fines as remains unpaid. 
 
 " Mr. John Braddyll, a member of the then Councill, when the fine of 
 six thousand Eup^ was laid on him in Mr. Boone's time, is desir'd to 
 give his opinion candidly how far, in his judgment, the said Dolba 
 Bandaree was deserving thereof, to which he declares that two evidences 
 appearing at that time against Dolba Bandaree for his keeping a 
 criminal correspondence with Angria, he could not avoid consenting to 
 fine him as aforesaid ; but he was afterwards made sensible said evi- 
 dences had been practised with and tortured to declare what they did 
 against him, and as it does now appear to him he does think he was 
 fined without any manner of reason. 
 
 '* And again examining into the cause why S"^ Nicholas Waite fined him, 
 which is said to be for mismanaging of the Tobacco farm committed to 
 the care of him and his brother, do find our Hon'ble Masters solely 
 benefitted by what was gained by his moistening the Tobacco, and that, 
 thereby the Hon'ble Company in the sale of nine hundred and twenty- 
 one maunds under Dulba Bandaree's management gained one thousand 
 and four hundred Xeraph^ more than they did by one thousand and fifby- 
 one maunds during the management of the Veriadores. The Board 
 taking the same into consideration are of opinion (more especially) that 
 the latter fine is altogether a hardship upon him. 
 
 " And our Hon'ble Masters having given us the liberty aforesaid, and 
 he remaining now debtor to said fines of Rup^ five thousand three 
 hundred and sixty-seven, three quarters and ninety-eight raes, it is 
 resolved and unanimously agreed that on his paying one thousand Rup" 
 he be fully acquitted of the remainder of said fines." 
 
 From the second paragraph of the above entry it will be seen 
 that at least one member of the tribunal which found Dalba 
 Bhandari guilty was afterwards convinced of his innocence, and 
 had virtually to admit that the evidence of the two witnesses who 
 
 23 
 
354 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 had deposed against him had been tampered with and obtained 
 by means of torture. But although Mr. John Braddyll gave 
 out as his candid opinion that Dalba Bhandari was fined " with- 
 out any manner of reason," all that the Board decided was 
 that the fine inflicted by Sir Nicholas Waite for his mismanage- 
 ment of the tobacco farm was '' altogether a hardship upon him," 
 not because it was, in the first instance, levied unjustly, but 
 because the then Government of Bombay had actually bene- 
 fited by Bhandari's mismanagement of the farm. So that the 
 point, whether the whole or any part of the fine of six thousand 
 rupees in which Dalba Bhandari was mulcted as a result of his 
 trial was remitted to him or not, still remains involved in obscurity. 
 Even if some amends were made, they must have been quite 
 inadequate to the ignominy and injustice suffered by him. 
 
 (V) 
 The last trial that yet remains to be described in this chapter 
 is the one recorded in the proceedings of the Court of Judicature 
 of Bombay in the year 1726. The pages of this ancient record 
 are fast crumbling to pieces, and the ink has almost faded. It 
 is with difficulty that the manuscript can be deciphered ; a few 
 words in it have become quite illegible. Rama Kamati's trial 
 has been the subject of notice and criticism in several books 
 dealing with the early history of Bombay ; that of John Stan- 
 more and Robert Richardson, both mariners belonging to the 
 ship called the Barrington, has, we believe, never before been 
 noticed, and if not rescued and reproduced here may be con- 
 signed to oblivion for ever. The trial took place in 1726. 
 Nearly half a century had then elapsed since the military broke 
 out in open revolt under the banner of Captain Keigwin ; but 
 the spirit of insubordination and the violence and discontent 
 that had characterised the closing years of the seventeenth 
 century were still rampant in the town and island of Bombay. 
 If the conduct of the military was mutinous, that of the mariners 
 was not less reprehensible. The trial of Stanmore and Richard- 
 son will show how violently the servants of the Company at 
 times behaved themselves. The information of Captain John 
 Hunter, commander of the ship Barrington^ was in the first 
 instance submitted to the Honourable William Phipps, Esq., 
 President and Governor of his Majesty's castle and island of 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 355 
 
 Bombay, and Council, who referred it to the Court of Judicature 
 for the investigation of the charges. The Court was held for 
 this purpose on Wednesday, June 15, 1726, at which were 
 present the Worshipful John Hope, Chief Justice, Mr. John 
 Braddyll, Mr. George Percivall, Mr. Henry Lowther and Mr. 
 Ephraim Bendall. The Court having assembled, the Register 
 (Registrar) acquainted the Bench that he had received from the 
 Secretary the information signed by Captain John Hunter, com- 
 mander of the ship Barrington, which he had orders to lay 
 before them ; that therein the said Captain Hunter charged two 
 mariners belonging to the said ship, namely John Stanmore and 
 Robert Richardson, with several offences, that they had due 
 notice of their trial, and that all parties concerned, having been 
 summoned, had duly attended. Then John Stanmore was called 
 to the bar and Captain Hunter's information was read to 
 him as follows : 
 
 "That on Sunday the 5th of June last past, the said Capt. Hunter 
 sent his cockswain to call his boat's crew together, and then to go on 
 board ; he returning, acquainted him that the boat's crew had abused 
 him very much, cursing and throwing stones at him, positively refusing 
 to go on board; upon which the said Capt. thought it necessary to 
 apply to the officer of the Main Guard, who immediately sent him a 
 Corporall and two men, who the boat's crew resisted, particularly Jn° 
 Stanmore and Rob* Richardson, now prisoners in the Trunk, who draw- 
 ing their knives threatned the Guard, and the rest of the boat's crew 
 seeming to agree with them in resisting the Guard, the Corporall sent to 
 the Main Guard (for) two more men, when with great difficulty they were 
 carried to the waterside, all the time cursing the Commander and the 
 Guard; the Cap* meeting them there, and not only commanding but 
 intreating them to go on board, they absolutely refused, particularly Jn" 
 Stanmore, who cursing the Cap* to his face, told him he was a better man 
 than he and bid him kiss his backside, and the hke scurrilous language. 
 Notwithstanding this the Cap* only bid them go into the boat, and he 
 would go on board with them ; they still persisting in their mutiny, the 
 Guard forced them into the boat, and the Cap* stepp'd in after them, 
 the &^ Jn° Stanmore still continued his abusive language, declaring 
 when it was in his power he would cut off the Cap*'^ throat ; the Cap* 
 bidding him be quiet or he would oblige him, he immediately struck at 
 the Captain and repeated it three several times ; the Cap* getting up, the 
 B^ Jn° Stanmore snatched his sword and broke it, and seizing hold of the 
 Cap* attempted to throw him overboard, which he had effectually done, 
 had he not been prevented by the Officer of the Guard then attending ; 
 at this being enraged he cursed his Cap* publickly declaring that it was 
 but a Uttle way to Angria and a Black Flagg, that he would be revenged ; 
 
356 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Eob' Eichardson being the forwardest in assisting and abetting s^ Jn° 
 Stanmore in his villanous and mutinous design, being also the person 
 who jointly with the s*^ Jn° Stanmore resisted the Guard, drawing his 
 knife ; he is together with the s*^ Jn° Stanmore a prisoner in the Trunk, 
 and humbly submitted to your Hon"^ &ca. Councill's Justice. There are 
 a great many witnesses to the particulars of this information ; several 
 gentlemen of the island, besides the Guard, being present, particularly 
 Mr. Henry Lowther, a member of this Hon'ble Board. 
 " The whole is submitted to your Hon"^ &ca by, 
 
 " Hon"'!^ Sir and Sirs, 
 " Your Hon"^ most Obed* Serv* 
 
 " John Hunter. 
 " Bombay, Jv/ne the 10th, 1726." 
 
 From the above information it will be seen that the charges 
 against the two prisoners were very serious indeed, particularly 
 those against John Stanmore. Stanmore 's gravest offence did 
 not consist in his scurrilous language, his drawing the knife and 
 threatening the guard, even his breaking the Captain's sword or 
 attempting to throw him overboard, but in the statement that 
 "it was but a little way to Angria and a Black Flagg." This 
 amounted to high treason, for Kanhoji Angria was at that time 
 the sworn enemy of the English, hostilities having been formally 
 declared against him. After the information was read to the 
 first accused, and he was reminded of the very heavy charges 
 he had to meet, particularly those dangerous words about Angria, 
 which, if proved, would be deserving of condign punishment, he 
 was asked what he had to say. In reply, Stanmore denied most 
 of the charges and evaded the rest. Thereupon, the Court pro- 
 ceeded to examine the witnesses for the prosecution. The first 
 in the list was Andrew Hunter, the coxswain, whom the 
 Captain had sent to call his boat's crew together and then go on 
 board. He deposed, on oath, to all the particulars mentioned 
 in the information, adding that Stanmore was not in the least 
 drunk but quite sober. He was apparently a very honest 
 witness, for when the Court asked him if he had heard the 
 accused using any such words as going to Angria and a black 
 flag, he declared he had not, nor did he remember that they 
 were spoken in the boat. Hunter was speaking the truth, for 
 the words were uttered not in the boat, but, as subsequent 
 witnesses deposed, in a punch-house by the waterside. For 
 instance, Daniell Hedley, a mariner, deposed as follows : 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 357 
 
 " That being in company with Bartholomew Burkes, Jn'' Morgan, Jn° 
 Clayton, Patrick Goody and Eichard Morphew at the Punch-house on 
 Sunday the 5th Instant, he heard John Stanmore publickly declare in 
 the foresaid company, that if he should meet with any of Angria's 
 vessells, he would joyne him and sacrifice everyone in the Barring ton^ 
 he had a fancie so to doe, and particularly the Cap*, and that if he could 
 get to Angria he would neither spare age nor sex but murder all, and 
 endeavour'd to animate the rest to the same viliany." 
 
 The next witness was Sergeant Beard, who was the first person 
 to go to the help of the Main Guard. He deposed : 
 
 " That comming to the seamen at the Punch-house to oblige them to 
 goe down to their boat, they refused, and one Rob* Richardson drew out 
 his knife without any sheath, that immediately charging them to take 
 care what they did and not resist the Guard, they were a little quiet and 
 he took from Richardson his knife, they still continuing stubborn, he 
 was reinforced by Sergeant Bryant and more men, when they obliged 
 them to goe down to the waterside, where everything passed as before 
 deposed by Andrew Hunter," &c. 
 
 It will be observed from Sergeant Beard's deposition that 
 although Robert Richardson was proved to have actually drawn 
 out his knife, the seriousness of his guilt was appreciably lessened 
 by the fact that he quietly made it over to the witness. 
 
 The above evidence was corroborated by the testimony of 
 several gentlemen of the island, who were mentioned in Captain 
 Hunter's information. Messrs. Kellet, Robinson, and Edwardes 
 declared that 
 
 " on the beach s* Stanmore continuing his abusive language towards the 
 Cap* in a bold, daring manner, the Cap* gave him some blows with his 
 cane, which caused some little encounter between them, the Capt's hatt, 
 wigg and cane being forced or falling from him which Richardson 
 gathered up and carried into the boat after him. That when they were 
 in the boat with the Guard, s"* Stanmore still more provoked the Cap* 
 with his saucy and impud* language, whereupon the Cap* rose from his 
 seat and stroke him once or twice with his cane, on which s*^ Stanmore 
 closed in with the Cap*, who falling backward, the s^ Stanmore endea- 
 voured to throw him overboard, that the boat not being put off the 
 shoar, the people brought s*^ Stanmore ashoar, who, tying his hands 
 behind him, he was thus conveyed to the ship." 
 
358 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 These gentlemen must have been much concerned about the 
 safety of Captain Hunter, for they added that 
 
 •' they were in pain for Cap' Hunter, lest being in the power of such 
 villains he should be murthered in the boat or thrown overboard, and 
 used intreatys with him not to go off with the people, but could not 
 prevail, but upon their further importunity he took into the boat a 
 Sergeant and two men and then went on board." 
 
 The evidence of Ephraim Aurelius, master of the punch-house, 
 was perhaps the most curious and not the least convincing. He 
 deposed as follows : 
 
 " That when the boat's crew returned to his house after having been 
 with the Cap*, they each of them took a billet of wood and put it under 
 their seats, swearing, particularly Jn° Stanmore, that they would beat 
 the Guard, and knock their Cap*'^ brains out if he came along with 
 said Guard, and immediately joined hands, thereupon swearing to stand 
 by one another, and after some time they mutually agreed that if any 
 one of them should afterwards for this fault be tyed upon board in order 
 to be whipped, the rest should immediately goe and cut him loose and 
 stand by him and not suffering him to be punished, and upon this they 
 shook hands. He says Stanmore was the most active man in this com- 
 bination and that he did not appear in the least drunk any other way 
 than by a violent passion which he vented in very scurilous language 
 against his Cap*, threatning and cursing him for his treatment on board 
 and the like." 
 
 A conspiracy had evidently been hatched among the crew in the 
 punch-house to break out in open revolt against constituted 
 authority, the moving spirit being John Stanmore. 
 
 The evidence for the prosecution having closed at this stage, 
 John Stanmore was acquainted by the Court that they had gone 
 through the evidence and that they were too well convinced of 
 what he stood charged with by his Captain, and that even that 
 portion of the evidence which he stoutly denied, namely, the 
 words spoken in the punch-house threatening to join Angria and 
 encouraging the other seamen to do likewise, was very probable, 
 though only Hedley had deposed to it. 
 
 "The deposition," they added, "of the Master of the Punch-house 
 of his and the rest of the crew's behaviour, and the combination they 
 entered into to knock their Commander in the head and to stand by one 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 359 
 
 another, being of the same nature, and is only the unhappy forerunner 
 of Piracy, which generaly commences in murder, is continued in the 
 same barberous way, and concludes in a wretched and infamous exit." 
 
 Stanmore was then called upon to enter upon his defence. The 
 wretched man saw that his fate was practically sealed, that the 
 evidence was too strong for him to deny, the charges too clear 
 to evade, and that the judges were convinced of his guilt even 
 before they had given him a hearing. He pleaded that 
 
 " it was through passion he was guilty of what had happened, that 
 having been boat-keeper, he had no victuals all day neither had he drank 
 any liquor, which was the cause that enraged him and made him [at 
 first ?] * refuse to goe off till he had seen and complained to his Cap'. 
 That the Captain [had ?] struck him two or three times with his cane in 
 the boat, that made him lay [hold ?] of him to prevent his beating him 
 any more, that the sword was broke by accident, that this was the first 
 fault he had been guilty of, and he was sorry for it, and begged the 
 Cap*'s pardon, concluding that he had always done his duty and behaved 
 well and never had any disposition to be disobedient and mutinous ; he 
 denyes he ever spoke those words charged upon him by Hedley or that 
 he entered into the combination at the Punch -house as deposed by 
 Ephraim Aurelius." 
 
 If Stanmore had stopped here and thrown himself upon the 
 mercy of the Court, some indulgence might have been shown 
 him. But he went farther and protested more than he could 
 prove. He called certain witnesses to testify to his general good 
 behaviour in the past, but their evidence only aggravated his 
 guilt. For instance, one Mr. Flowers, chief mate of the 
 BarringtoUf having been summoned to attend at the request 
 of the prisoner, declared on solemn oath that he knew no good 
 of him (Stanmore), that he bore a very bad character on board, 
 being very troublesome and fractious, that he had once before 
 on board struck a superior officer and in the Gulf of Mocha had 
 attempted with several others to run away with the ship's boat, 
 and that if the prisoner had nothing to eat or drink that day it 
 was through his own fault. The witness concluded his testimony 
 regarding the character of the accused by saying that he had 
 very good reason to believe, from the behaviour of the prisoner 
 and the account he even gave of himself, that he was of ** vile 
 
 * This word and the two following ones in brackets are not quite legible in 
 the MS. record. 
 
360 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 and dangerous principles." Curiously enough, all the seamen 
 present agreed with their mate's account of the prisoner and no 
 one had a good word to say of him. Captain Hunter was then 
 called upon hy the Court to give his own account of the prisoner 
 at the bar. He deposed as follows : 
 
 "That observing him very often caballing on the Forecastle, and 
 having good reason to suspect him, he had him removed into the after 
 Guard, that he might always have him in his eye ; that one great reason 
 he had to be suspicious of him was a declaration he one day made before 
 his Purser, Mr. Samuel Brunts, and two other persons, viz., John Hart 
 and Ebenezer Wilson, of a very vile action of his in the Archipelago. 
 The crew of a Saittee, whereof he was one, having quarelled with some 
 Turks freighters and passengers aboard, cut them in pieces, seized the 
 goods, sold them in several ports, and shar'd the amount of the said 
 goods and the vessell amongst them, being near fifty thousand pounds 
 in value, at the same time bragging that with his own hands he killed 
 three of the said Turks, and that he would doe it again without any 
 remorse. . . . That his mate and mariners had given an account of his, 
 the s^ Stanmore's, behaviour and character on board, which with what 
 the Court had now before them was a demonstration how vile and 
 dangerous a fellow he was, as he humbly conceived too dangerous to be 
 trusted with his liberty on board any ship ; that he hoped he would now 
 be restrained from doing more villany, and that he would sensibly be 
 made to feel the reward of his past actions." 
 
 The testimony of the commander was as damning to the accused 
 as that of the mate and his fellow-mariners. Indeed, it was far 
 more damaging to him, for Stanmore's participation in that 
 ghastly affair in the Archipelago was for the first time brought to 
 the notice of the Court. Captain Hunter did not content himself 
 by merely asserting what he had heard from the purser. He got 
 Mr. Samuel Brunts to put in writing all the facts as he had 
 heard them stated from the prisoner's own mouth, and summoned 
 both John Hart and Ebenezer Wilson to swear to the truth of 
 the statement. This was annexed to the proceedings, which 
 were eventually submitted to the Governor and Council, pre- 
 sumably for confirmation of sentence. The purser's declaration 
 is such a curious document, and throws such a weird light 
 (reminiscent of Defoe and the Voyage Round the World) on the 
 irresponsible conduct of British seamen in those days, particu- 
 larly of the type of John Stanmore, that we are tempted to quote 
 it in full : 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 361 
 
 " The Declaration of Sam" Brunts, Purser of Ship ' Barrington. 
 
 " Sheweth 
 ** That on the 8th day of April, 1726, Jn^ Stanmore did on the Forecastle 
 declare before me, the Deponent, Jn° Hart and Ebenezer Wilson, that in 
 the year 1714 he sail'd with one George Aptall (a Greek native of Smirna 
 but educated at the University of Oxford and naturaliz'd), commanding a 
 Saittee called the Mary, who was freighted to Moors, Merchf^ of Tunis, 
 by Tho^ Bradley, Esq., Consul at Canea, from that place to AUex^ and 
 thence to Tunis ; in their passage from Allex* thither, there arose a 
 disturbance on board the said vessell between the Mercht^ Freighters, 
 their passengers (consisting of about 50 persons) and the Saittee's Com- 
 pany, wherein the latter plead that the former rose upon them, and they 
 in the defence of lives kill'd many of them, setting the rest a shore at 
 the Island of Christiana (but by the best account they most of them 
 swam for their lives) ; the vessell was immediately thereupon carried to 
 Malvasia on the Island of the , the said George Aptall, and his 
 
 crew, where they victualled and water'd, and thence sailing along shoare 
 sold the goods of the murder'd and dispers'd Moors, which amounted to 
 about ^50,000, but the bulk of the cargo with the vessel was sold at 
 Ancona, it being without the knowledge of the Saittee's Company, till 
 they came up to the Gulph of Venice, as he the said Jn° Stanmore pre- 
 tends, but nevertheless he confess'd at the same time that he shar'd in 
 the produce thereof as did they all, as also, that with his own hands he 
 did with a scimeter, which he had taken from an Algerine, kill three 
 Moors at one stroke each ; the goods and vessell being sold as above, 
 and the money shar'd, they all shifted for themselves, Jn° Stanmore 
 taking his tour through Itally came to Livorno, whence he went 
 passenger home to England. He also declared scoffingly that he had 
 heard that Cap* Tho^ Masters in the Smirna Merch* coming the next 
 ship to Tunis, after the Tunizeens had news of this (barbarous and 
 pyraticall) action of theirs, was detained ship and men for a year there 
 by the Bey of that place and with a great deal of trouble gott clear of 
 them at last. Dated on Board the Barrington, this Eighth Day of April, 
 Ann. Dmn. 1726. 
 
 *' Sam^^ Brunts. 
 " Wee Jno Hart and Ebenezer 
 Wilson do confirm the above 
 declaration and hereunto 
 
 doe sett our hands, Bombay, " Jno Hart. 
 
 June 22d., 1726. " Ebenezer Wilson." 
 
 When Stanmore was asked about the truth of the above 
 declaration, which was read out to him, he acknowledged it to 
 be, in the main, true, but added in his defence that it was the 
 Turks who took the aggressive first and fired two pistols at their 
 Captain, whereupon they attacked them in the manner specified 
 
362 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 by Samuel Brunts. But when pressed as to what became of the 
 vessel and the goods upon it, he equivocated, and pleaded that 
 he was only a seaman and did what the captain bid him. The 
 Court, however, had had enough of his prevarication and ordered 
 him to withdraw. 
 
 Then came the turn of Robert Richardson, who was put up at 
 the bar ; the charge having been read out to him, he was asked to 
 submit his plea and enter upon his defence. His guilt, however, 
 was of a less serious nature, and there were no aggravating 
 circumstances against him. In the most penitent manner, he 
 acknowledged his fault of being drunk that day, which, he 
 pleaded, was most of, if not all, his crime. He denied being 
 with the boat's crew at the punch-house, much less caballing 
 with them in their despicable design, but admitted drawing out 
 the knife when, he urged, he was too drunk to know what he 
 was doing. Moreover, he had not abused his Captain, nor was 
 he violent. He humbly begged pardon and promised never to 
 do the like in future. Both the Captain and the chief mate 
 gave him a good character and recommended him to the favour 
 of the Court. The Court thereupon promised to take their com- 
 mendation into consideration, and ordered him to withdraw. 
 
 Here the trial practically ended. Witnesses for the pro- 
 secution as well as defence had been duly examined and 
 evidence on both sides carefully sifted. The Chief Justice made 
 a summary recapitulation of the whole evidence against Stan- 
 more, showing the gravity of his offence and the probability of 
 his having committed it. 
 
 " A contempt for and disobedience to superiors being what destroys 
 all society," his Honour observed, " and is the step that naturally leads to 
 sedition and mutiny ; that Stanmore had gone very far towards it, for 
 not content with disobeying his Cap* and using him contemptuously and 
 scurilously with vile language, he had presumed to assault him and 
 attempt his Ufe, without the least excuse, for himself being sober, and 
 without any occasion given ; that what Hedley and AureUus deposes 
 makes the matter much worse ; the combination entered into and Stan- 
 more's threatning to join with Angriaif he met him, and had opportunity, 
 savouring very strong of Mutiny and Pyracy, the information of Brunts 
 adding to the character and making it appear very notorious and black." 
 
 After briefly summing up the evidence, the Chief Justice 
 desired the opinion of the Justices whether Captain Hunter had 
 
SOME INTERESTING TRIALS 363 
 
 made good his charge against John Stanmore. And the Justices 
 being unanimously of opinion that he had, the Chief Justice 
 asked them to consider what punishment should be awarded to 
 the accused. We find the sentence thus recorded in the pro- 
 ceedings : 
 
 "After some debate, it was unanimously agreed (Mr. Bendall, the 
 Puisne Justice, giving his opinion first) that the s^ Jn° Stanmore for 
 his said offences forfeit all his wages on board ship Barrington, that 
 he be three several days publickly whipped, viz., on Saturday the 25th 
 Instant to receive 39 lashes along the side of each Europe ship (the 
 Cadogan Budi Barrington), the Satturday following twice 39 at two Gates 
 of Town, 39 at each ; and the next Satturday the same, once at the other 
 gate and once at the Punch-house ; and to suffer imprisonment six 
 months and be afterwards sent to England by the first opportunity." 
 
 The question as to what punishment Richardson deserved was 
 next considered. The Justices, in consideration of his truly 
 penitent behaviour, and the fact that it was his first offence, 
 which he had apparently committed through the evil effect of 
 liquor, and not from malice or any ill disposition, and also 
 having regard to the excellent testimony both his Captain and 
 chief mate bore him, it was unanimously agreed that he only 
 receive a slight chastisement for the neglect of his duty, and 
 it was accordingly ordered that the Marshal carry him to the 
 Bunder and there at the waterside give him eleven lashes and 
 then deliver him to the orders of his Captain. 
 
 Thus ended this extraordinary trial. The whole proceedings 
 in the case were submitted to the Right Honourable the Go-vernor 
 and Council of Bombay, as is made clear by the following entry: 
 
 " The Marshal was then required to bring his prisoners on Wednesday 
 next being the 22nd Instant to the Barr of this Court to receive their 
 sentence, and accordingly on Wednesday the 22nd the Chief Justice 
 pronounced sentence upon them and after having sworn Mr. Sam" Brunts, 
 Jn° Hart and Ebenezer Wilson to the anexed information, adjoiurned the 
 Court. The whole is submitted to your Honr^ &c. by 
 
 " Hon">ie Sir and Sirs, 
 
 " Your most Obed* Serv*« 
 
 " John Hope, Ch. Just. 
 " Jno Braddyll. 
 " George Pbrcivall. 
 " Henry Lowthbr. 
 *' Ephraim Bendall." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 
 
 WHEN Mr. Francis Warden,* Chief Secretary to the Govern- 
 ment of Bombay, published his able and elaborate Report 
 on the Landed Tenures of Bombay in 1814, he laid not only the 
 authorities under obligation, but lawyers as well as historians 
 also, who readily acknowledged the debt of gratitude they owed 
 him. The report bears ample testimony to the research and 
 learning of its author in his treatment of a subject which, till 
 then, was enveloped in obscurity. At the time of preparing the 
 report, more than a hundred and fifty years had elapsed since 
 the English first obtained possession of the town and island of 
 Bombay, but no attempt was made during that period to trace 
 the history of landed tenures from its commencement. Warden's 
 exhaustive report may be said to have supplied the needed 
 elucidation.! Not that he was the first in the field. Captain 
 
 * Warden was a voluminous writer. He is said to have compiled a volume 
 of Selections from the Records of Government, and written accounts of the 
 province of Oman, the Arab tribes of the Persian Gulf, and a number of other 
 tribes and provinces. 
 
 t In an interesting contribution on " The Internal Economy of Bombay a 
 Century Ago, 1726-1740," in one of the early volumes of the Bombay Quarterly 
 Review, a writer speaks of Warden's report in the following scathing terms : 
 •' Upon this some labour was evidently bestowed, but the information con- 
 tained in it is so scanty, the style so bald, the arrangement so defective, that 
 it is quite unworthy of a Secretary to Government, and would probably have 
 been as well prepared if undertaken by one of the clerks in his establishment. 
 Although we have frequently referred to it when collecting materials for the 
 present article, we have usually been compelled to turn from it for our supply 
 to other sources." This unfavourable verdict was passed half a century ago. 
 Much water has passed under the bridges since then, but no more light has 
 been shed on the subject of land tenures in Bombay. On the contrary, the 
 matter seems to have grown more obscure by lapse of time. Our sources of 
 
 364 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 365 
 
 Dickinson had anticipated him in the investigation of the various 
 tenures under which land was held in Bombay, particularly that 
 part of it which was situated within the precincts of the Fort. 
 Dickinson's report, however, was far from complete. Not only 
 was the scope of his inquiry restricted, but he had refrained 
 from going back to a remote period, because, he observed, " it 
 will perhaps be fully sufficient for the present purpose to show 
 that the Hon'ble Company were in possession, it is difficult to 
 say of what portion, of the fort so long back as the year 1720." 
 Warden, on the contrary, carried his researches to the cession of 
 the island by the Crown to the Company, and made a minute 
 examination of the rights and interests of Government, on the 
 one hand, and those of private individuals, on the other, in the 
 landed property in Bombay. 
 
 "A comprehensive review of this nature," he remarked, " is essential 
 to that full consideration of the subject which its great importance 
 demands ; and to the want of such a review I attribute the doubts and 
 uncertainties under which we at present labour, in regard to the line of 
 conduct to be pursued towards the landholders." * 
 
 And in order to make this review as clear and comprehensive 
 as the materials at his disposal would permit, and to elucidate 
 the policy adopted by Government, at various times, in the 
 assignment of lands, as also to render his account intelligible and 
 interesting to the general reader, he not only inquired into the 
 nature of the tenures and the rights and duties of tenants, but 
 gave a brief summary of the principal events which constitute 
 the early history of Bombay. We, too, have attempted to trace 
 the history of the English in Western Lidia before speaking 
 of the efforts they made in introducing the administration of 
 justice and establishing Courts of Judicature in the town and 
 island of Bombay. In doing so, we have touched upon certain 
 matters which directly pertain to the origin and evolution of 
 landed property, as, for instance, the treaty of Humphrey Cooke 
 in 1664 and the convention of Gerald Aungier in 1674. We 
 propose to deal with these in fuller detail here. We shall 
 attempt to trace the history of landed tenures from a period even 
 
 information are few, and we have no hesitation in saying that Warden's 
 report has proved perhaps the most fruitful source for our purpose. 
 * Landed Temi/res of Bombay, Government Selections, No. 64, N.S. para. 2. 
 
366 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 earlier than that fixed upon by Warden, from the time, in fact, 
 when the Portuguese held sway in and around Bassein, and the 
 Manor of Mazagaon and the island of Bombaim were rented to 
 two eminent subjects of the King of Portugal. Two important 
 points should be noted at the outset. Though Warden's report 
 throws a good deal of light on the subject, it was not possible 
 even for him to state with any degree of certainty the exact 
 nature and extent of the landed property, and the different 
 tenures under which it was held at the date of the cession or 
 when Aungier's Convention was signed. The rights of private 
 individuals and the interests of Government were so inextricably 
 mixed up that, though several attempts were made to distinguish 
 and define the claims of the two parties, disputes regarding the 
 ownership of land continued almost up to the middle of the last 
 century. Humphrey Cooke was, as we have already seen, 
 largely responsible for this deplorable state of affairs. While 
 accepting the terms of the treaty which was forced upon him by 
 the Portuguese in 1664, he had omitted to take the obvious 
 precaution of ascertaining the King's rights in the property 
 which Catherine of Braganza had brought to Charles II. as part 
 of her dower. Moreover, Cooke's dishonesty had made the 
 confusion worse confounded. He was proved to have granted 
 fictitious title-deeds to those who offered him handsome bribes in 
 the honest belief that they were given undisputed possession 
 of valuable estates. When the Crown ceded the town and island 
 of Bombay to the Company, the latter could hardly have known 
 the extent and nature of the property ceded, for even the Crown's 
 rights had not then been ascertained. By far the greater portion 
 of the property consisted of low-lying land, mostly swampy, and 
 occasionally covered by the sea, or uncultivated land on the 
 barren ridges, such as the Malabar, Warli, and Chinchpogli 
 Hills. Almost the only valuable property, a part of which was 
 cultivated or considered fit for cultivation, was that lying in and 
 around the Fort. The Portuguese claimed a large share in it, 
 but their claims were summarily rejected by the Company. 
 Disputes arose in consequence, which were not settled till Gerald 
 Aungier came on the scene and entered into an agreement with 
 the povo of Bombay. It is worth noting, however, that Aungier' s 
 Convention referred only to those lands which came under 
 the designation of fazendary lands, paying pension and tax, 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 367 
 
 and not to foras, or salt batty grounds. These had not come 
 into existence at the time, for they were recovered from the sea 
 some years after. The disputes regarding salt batty grounds 
 continued long after the povo of Bombay came to a settlement 
 in 1674, whereby the Company waived all claims to the estates 
 then in the possession of the inhabitants and confirmed their 
 rights in them, on the latter paying a yearly contribution of 
 twenty thousand xeraphins to the Company, including the quit- 
 rent or foras paid at the time. Efforts were made, from time 
 to time, to settle disputes regarding foras lands, but without 
 success. The Government adopted a policy of laissez-faire in 
 the matter. Whenever the question arose they tried to shelve it 
 as long as they decently could, or merely patched matters up 
 temporarily. The Court of Directors also did not seem to be 
 anxious to face the situation, which was growing worse almost 
 every year. In short, the authorities, both at home and in India, 
 avoided settling the land question once for all. Landed estate 
 has been likened to an animal with its mouth always wide open, 
 and it was allowed to remain in that position till it swallowed 
 the greater portion of the most valuable property in Bombay, the 
 ownership of which was undoubtedly vested in the East India 
 Company. The result was that landholders as well as tenants 
 surreptitiously encroached upon property to which they had no 
 more right than the man in the moon. For instance, when a 
 ** curumbee," or cultivator, was given a plot of ground by 
 Government, with the object of encouraging him to settle down 
 on the island, he tilled it for some years, appropriating to himself 
 all the produce of the land. The fruit of his labours brought 
 him a little money and filled him with ambition to possess him- 
 self of a shed which he could call his own. So the ground 
 primarily intended for cultivation was quietly converted into a 
 building site, without formal sanction of the authorities. Getting 
 richer and bolder, the " curumbee " would next think of parting 
 with the possession of the land for a consideration, or bequeathing 
 it to his heirs. The purchaser did not press for good title-deeds, 
 and the fraudulent transaction was not brought to the notice of 
 the Government. When the latter, however, claimed possession 
 of the land, their claim was resisted tooth and nail, the owner 
 maintaining a permanent and irrevocable interest in the soil. The 
 audacity of the usurper, in this instance, was as great as the 
 
368 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 apathy of the Government. That we have not drawn a fanciful 
 picture of the situation may be verified by the following passage 
 from the report Mr. Smyth, the then Collector of Bombay, laid 
 before Government as late as 1790. Therein Mr. Smyth had 
 traced, at some length, the origin of the tenures of lands which 
 belonged, by right, to the Government, but which were en- 
 croached upon by private individuals, who refused to part with 
 them. Mr. Le Messurier, who was Advocate- General of Bombay 
 in the middle of the last century, referred to this important 
 document while submitting his own Keport on Foras Lands 
 on the occasion of a memorial presented by certain inhabitants 
 of Bombay, complaining that lands held by them on the foras 
 tenure had been appropriated by the Government as a site for a 
 hay-market, without compensation. In the course of his observa- 
 tions the learned Advocate- General stated, quoting from Mr. 
 Smyth's report : 
 
 " The report states, also, that others disputed the power of the Com- 
 pany to prevent their converting the grounds they held for cultivation 
 into building ground, or to dispossess them ; and that the greatest part 
 of the grounds had become the apparent property of the richest part of 
 the Natives ; that the ground had been allowed to descend to the heirs 
 of the occupants ; that the rights of the freeholders were claimed by the 
 tenants, subject only to the payment of the foras rent to the Company; 
 that the lands themselves had in several instances (some of which Mr. 
 Smyth alludes to) been taken into execution under process from the 
 Mayor's Court for the payment of debts." ^^ 
 
 It will thus be seen that the rights of landholders, who were in 
 no better position than tenants-at-will, were actually recognised 
 by a court of law. In 1805 the question came for judicial 
 investigation before the Recorder's Court, Sir James Mackintosh 
 presiding, whether a certain plot of land allotted to one Nasser- 
 wanji Cowasji by the Government belonged, by right, to the 
 Company or to the plaintifi", in whose occupation it was at the 
 time. Mr. Thriepland, the then Advocate-General, argued 
 the case for the Company, who were the real defendants, with 
 great ability, and so far convinced the Court of the genuineness 
 of the official claim that judgment was given in favour of his 
 clients. But there can be no doubt that the Recorder decided 
 * Foras Lands in Bombay, Government Selections, No. 3, N.S. para. 14. 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 369 
 
 the case in favour of the defendants with considerable rehictance. 
 For although he declared the law to be with the Company, he 
 evidently thought that equity and justice were on the side of 
 the plaintiff. In delivering judgment, Sir James Mackintosh 
 observed : 
 
 " Though the eventual right of resumption might be known to many 
 or most of the inhabitants, the Company certainly suffered an expectation 
 to be created, and very generally entertained, that the right in question 
 was one, the exercise of which was so exceedingly rare on their part as 
 not to require being very much or at all taken into account in the trans- 
 mission of property from one individual to another ; hence the large sums 
 so frequently paid on such occasions ; hence the loans advanced on the 
 security of such lands, and the imposing credit which they enable their 
 possessors to obtain. While such things are familiarly known and daily 
 brought under the eye of Government, the unwary occupants may not have 
 regular conveyances, enabling them to maintain possession in a Court of 
 Law, but they have to allege a tacit acquiescence, a presumptive right, 
 which in the eye of commerce {sic. conscience ?) and moraUty give them 
 almost an equal claim to subsequent forbearance, and must, in every 
 case of resumption, where an adequate price has been bond fide paid, 
 make the act appear and be felt as a grievous hardship, if not an open 
 and downright injury." * 
 
 But we are afraid we have strayed from the point at issue and 
 anticipated events. The only other point remaining to be noticed 
 is the value of landed property which prevailed in Bombay in the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its insignificance might 
 have been one of the causes which induced the Government to 
 remain indifferent to their interests in the soil for a very long 
 time. Suffice it to note that on the lands which Aungier 
 bartered away in 1674 to the inhabitants of Bombay for an 
 annual quit-rent of d61,200, stand to-day buildings of the value 
 of several millions sterling, and that early in the eighteenth 
 century the whole of Malabar Hill was let on lease at a yearly 
 rent of Rs.l50. 
 
 Simao Botelho, the eminent Portuguese statesman who played 
 such an important part in the political and religious history of 
 Western India about four hundred years ago, observes, in his 
 valuable Tombo, that from the year 1534, when the province of 
 Bassein was ceded to the King of Portugal by Sultan Bahadur 
 
 * Foras Lands in Bombay, Government Selections, No. 3, N.S. para. 20. 
 
 24 
 
 I 
 
370 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 of Gujarat, to 1547, the land was let or rented annually for a 
 fixed sum of money. 
 
 "Most of the villages," writes Da Cunha in his History of Bass ein 
 and Chaul, " were given for an insignificant quit-rent, generally in per- 
 petuity, to the Portuguese families resident in Bassein and Goa. The 
 possessors of these villages were to all intents and purposes like the 
 feudal lords of the mediseval times." 
 
 Da Cunha then quotes Gemelli Careri thus : 
 
 " If the peasants take the land to till in the place of their abode, they 
 pay no other duty to King or landlord (though some exact some days 
 of personal service) ; but those that hold in fee pay an imposition 
 according to what they are worth, every four months, to the King's 
 factors or treasurers, residing in all the northern cities. These villages 
 are given in fee to soldiers who have served long, or to other persons 
 who have well-deserved of the Crown, for three lives, after which they 
 generally endeavour to renew, but to the Church they are given for ever." 
 
 This system of land assessment was called by the Portuguese 
 arrendamento — that is, hiring or renting. Da Cunha conjectures 
 that such must have been the traditional system of collecting 
 the revenue in India, enforced not only during the administration 
 of the Mahomedan rulers, but perhaps prevailing at the time 
 of Bhima Deva, or even earlier.* In 1548, however, the system 
 seems to have undergone a drastic change. D. Joao de Castro, 
 who was then Viceroy of Goa, found himself in a predicament. 
 The Portuguese treasury was not in a flourishing condition, and 
 the income derived from the newly acquired territory was not 
 large enough to defray the cost of administration. There were 
 a number of soldiers who had distinguished themselves in the 
 siege of Diu and elsewhere, but the Viceroy had nothing to offer 
 them by way of reward for their eminent services to the Crown. 
 Castro, however, combined originality of ideas with the boldness 
 of a pioneer. He suggested that the land, in and around Bassein, 
 which was lying fallow, should be parcelled out among these 
 brave soldiers, who might be allowed to till, plant, and improve 
 it, and also to appropriate the produce of the soil, at the same 
 time holding it in the name of the King and paying a small 
 * The Origin of Bombay, p. 215. 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 371 
 
 quit-rent of from 4 to 10 per cent, of the ordinary rental. This 
 plan had the merit of solving a problem which might have taxed 
 the resources of the Portuguese G-overnment. The Viceroy 
 expected his officers to defend the country as well as colonise the 
 territory of Bassein and its dependencies. The new system was 
 known as aforamentOy a Portuguese term which had its origin in 
 the Latin root /oro, meaning quit-rent. It is true that in course 
 of time this system was much abused by the /omros, as the 
 tenants holding land under this tenure were designated, but it 
 served its purpose very well then. It involved, like the feudum 
 of ancient English law, both a right and a duty — the right to 
 possess the land and enjoy its produce, the duty to pay the 
 small quit-rent and offer military service to the King. But in 
 the eighteenth century the foreiros claimed the rights without 
 the duties. "Like the degenerate Romans," remarks Da Cunha, 
 " they had lost the virtues of their ancestors, and were, as in the 
 time of Nero, only clamouring for panem et circenses, bread and 
 spectacles." It may be noted that Simao Botelho strongly 
 objected to this novel experiment in the administration of 
 agrarian laws, mainly on the ground that it would cause con- 
 siderable loss to the treasury. But Joao de Castro had the 
 support of the King, who must have felt that there was no 
 alternative for him but to give effect to the suggestion of his 
 Viceroy. The grants under the new scheme were rather 
 lavishly distributed, and the system itself was extended to 
 Bombay and the neighbouring islands which subsequently 
 came under Portuguese dominion. Villages, varying in number 
 from one to six, and even whole islands, were given to private 
 individuals who had rendered their country signal service. 
 Botelho again protested against the too rapid increase of such 
 gi-ants, and suggested that instead of villages and islands being 
 granted, "drowned" lands — that is, lands liable to be flooded by 
 sea, or swamps — should be allotted in perpetuity, free of rent, 
 reserving only a small quit-rent for the State. This was an 
 admirable suggestion, which would have increased the revenue 
 of the Crown, but it fell on deaf ears. A similar proposal was 
 made in 1677, when Bombay was under the British, but it was 
 long before the swampy lands were reclaimed and the valuable 
 property on which modern Bombay stands was recovered. In 1679 
 the Court of Directors ordered that the marshy grounds should 
 
372 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 be drained and rendered fit for agriculture, and again in 1703 
 they wrote, more specifically, as follows: *'The Government has 
 been directed to encourage speculators to stop the breaches 
 where the sea overflowed the island, by allowing them to hold 
 the land they recover for a term of years free of rent, reserving 
 only a small quit-rent to the Honourable Company." * So the 
 spirit which animated Simao Botelho to make the suggestion 
 had not died out with him. 
 
 Under the system of aforamento, the island of Monbaym, as 
 Botelho styled this city in his TombOy fell to the lot of one 
 Mestre Diogo. In 1548 Diogo paid an annual quit-rent of 
 1,432 J pardaos to the Royal Treasury, but in the Foral^ or 
 register of rents, the income of the island was stated to be 14,400 
 fedeas,\ and, later on, 1,S75 pardaos.l The next occupant of 
 the manor of the island of Bombay was the famous Portuguese 
 physician and naturalist, Garcia da Orta. The exact date of 
 the grant to him is not known, but Da Cunha surmises, on 
 collateral evidence, that it must have been somewhere about 
 1554-55. Garcia da Orta refers to Bombay, in his Colloquios, 
 as the island the King granted him as a gift on his paying 
 a fixed amount of quit-rent. Here, the lordly foreiro must 
 have lived in some style, having built for himself a splendid 
 manor-house on the spot where the arsenal now stands, behind 
 the Town Hall. It was surrounded by spacious pleasure-grounds 
 and a beautiful garden which captivated Fryer's fancy and 
 excited his admiration. Besides Bombay, § several other places 
 
 * Government Selections, No. 64, N.S. para. 200. 
 
 f The fedea was a nominal coin of local currency in Bassein, its value being 
 15 reis. Four fedeas made one tanga, while five tangas in silver went to a 
 pardao, which was equivalent to 300 reis or nearly 8 annas. Tanga or tanka 
 was a coin largely in use in Gujarat before the advent of the Portuguese, 
 being y^o ^^ * rupee in value. The term •' fedea," though not the coin of that 
 name, is still in use in Bombay, and represents 4 pies in value, just as 
 dukani is still with us, being worth 2 pies, though the coin itself must be 
 exceedingly rare. 
 
 J Pardao was the popular name given by the Portuguese to a gold coin 
 from the native mints of Western India, which entered largely into the early 
 currency of Goa, and the name of which afterwards attached to a silver 
 money of their own coinage, of constantly degenerating value {Hobson-Jobson, 
 p. 837). 
 
 § It should be noted that when we speak of Bombay in this connection 
 we do not mean the large tract of land which lies to-day between Colaba and 
 Mahim, but one of the seven districts into which the island was then 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 373 
 
 were rented to wealthy landlords. For instance, the ca9abe of 
 Maym (Mahim) was rented for 36,057, and that of Karanja for 
 80,000 fedeas. The island of Salsette fetched 285,725 fedeas, 
 while the ca9abe of Thana brought in an income of only 75,626. 
 There was yet another important district of what now constitutes 
 the town and island of Bombay, namely, the Manor of Mazagaon, 
 which, during the first half of the sixteenth century, fetched not 
 more than 8,500 fedeas. But it was destined to rise in impor- 
 tance and value, as we shall presently see.* It will be seen 
 from the above that the ancient constitution of Bombay and 
 other islands under Portuguese dominion was feudalA The 
 King allotted large tracts of land, even villages and islands, to 
 private individuals on their paying a small quit-rent, in return 
 for which he expected military service from them. These 
 grants were generally limited to a certain number of years or 
 lives, but in cases where the services of the foreiro were 
 regarded as particularly distinguished, or where the grantees 
 represented religious orders, they were made in perpetuity. 
 Not only were the tenants themselves expected to render service 
 in time of need, but they were supposed to be always ready with 
 a small militia of men and other resources for the defence of 
 the country.]: 
 
 divided, the other six being Mahim, Parell, Vadela, Sion, Veroly (Worlee), 
 and Mazagaon. Sir Michael Westropp thought that the site on which is 
 built the present native town was probably styled Bombaim in those days. 
 
 * When the island, or village, of Mazagaon, as it was then styled, was 
 leased to one Antonio Pessoa under the tenure of aforamento in 1548, Simao 
 Botelho cited it as an instance of the excessive liberality of Joao de Castro in 
 granting lands to private individuals. 
 
 f In this connection it is interesting to note what a writer says about the 
 Mahrathas in his account of the war which was waged in the eighteenth 
 century between them and the English : " The Mahratta nation consists 
 of many tribes governed by Rajas, acknowledging the sovereignty of the 
 chief Raja, who resides at Sattarah, and paying a rent to him ; in other 
 respects, they are like the ancient feudatories in Europe, independent ; each 
 governing his own subjects, being at the head of armies, and doing them- 
 selves justice upon any wrongs offered by their neighbours, but bound by a 
 certain service when called on by the chief Raja, and furnishing a number of 
 troops both to defend him against enemies, pr to assist him in expeditions into 
 the neighbouring provinces " {An Historical Account of Bombay, 1781, p. 67). 
 
 I It was probably due to this custom that, according to Antonio Bocarro, 
 the cagdbe or the principal place of the village Mombaim, as he calls Bombay, 
 had, in 1634, eleven Portuguese casados, or married settlers, and some blacks, 
 making altogether seventy musketeers able to serve in war. 
 
374 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Let us now pay a visit to the Manor * of Mazagaon as it 
 existed in the sixteenth century, and examine the diflferent 
 articles of the Letters Patent by which the grant was made, or 
 rather renewed, in 1637 by Don Philip, King of Portugal, to 
 Bernardino de Tavora. Sir Michael Westropp observes in his 
 judgment in the case so often cited in these pages that, prior 
 to the cession of the island to Charles 11. , this is the only 
 patent about which authentic information is available, and for 
 the details of which he was indebted to Mr. Warden, who has 
 annexed a copy of its English translation to his report on 
 Landed Tenures of Bombay. The Manor of Mazagaon was 
 leased to one Antonio Pessoa in 1548 for the term of the life 
 of the survivor of the lessee and his wife. On his death in 
 1571 (when, presumably, his wife had also died), it was again 
 leased to Lionel de Souza, a man who had distinguished him- 
 self in warfare and was married to Donna Anna Pessoa, the 
 daughter of the original lessee. The Royal Charter conferring 
 the manor on him stated that having regard to 
 
 " the great services that the said Lionel de Souza had done to me in 
 the parts of India, where these many years he serves me, continuing in 
 my service and as a Captain of his vessels at his own expense as often as 
 it ofifers, as well in company of my Viceroys and Governors of India, as 
 in any other things with which he is charged by the said my Viceroys and 
 Governors, by reason of the great experience that he has of the country, 
 and the length of his service therein ; and I having all regard both to 
 his age and the obligation I am under to him for his merits ... it 
 seems to me good, and it is my pleasure in pursuance thereof, to confer 
 a favour on the said Lionel de Souza, and to let him the said village 
 Mazagaon to be holden as Emphyteusis for ever {em fatiota jpara sempre), 
 and that there be paid to me as quit-rent for the same every year, at the 
 quarters and times established, as well by him as his heirs and successors 
 who conformably to this my charter may succeed him, one hundred 
 and ninety-five Pardaos of gold and three tangas of silver at the rate of 
 six double pices and one quarter the silver tanga, which is the same 
 that the said Antonio Pessoa, his father-in-law, paid. . . ." f 
 
 * Sir Michael Westropp hesitates to say if Mazagaon could be considered 
 a manor within the technical meaning of that term according to English 
 law, e.g., as carrying with it the right to hold a court baron and other like 
 privileges. And as a manor, in that sense, depends entirely on immemorial 
 custom, and cannot be created by Crown grant, it is difficult to say that it 
 could be. Parliament even cannot create a manor, though it might create an 
 estate to which manorial incidents might attach, in imitation of a true manor. 
 
 t Forrest's Selections, ii. pp. 359-360. 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 375 
 
 We find from the above that the famous sea-captain, who had 
 served his Majesty Sebastian so faithfully, was granted the 
 village of Mazagaon, which, adds the charter, *' is in this island 
 of Mahim,* dependency of Bassein," on the same terms regard- 
 ing payment as it was leased to his father-in-law, but he was to 
 hold it by the tenure of emphyteusis. The question naturally 
 suggests itself here — what was emphyteusis? Peculiar in its 
 origin and development, the emphyteutic tenure dates back to 
 a very remote period. It is supposed by some to have been the 
 ancestor of the modern lease, and even of the feudal system, 
 as it was a favourite type of tenure for settling Roman veterans 
 on the frontiers, where they naturally came in contact with the 
 barbarians. But these are only theories ; the proved facts 
 about emphyteusis will be found in any commentary on Jus- 
 tinian's Institutes. It was a tenure which was unknown to the 
 classical Roman Law, and grew up in the later days of the 
 Empire — probably about 100 a.d. onwards. Its main feature 
 was that the tenant, unlike the ordinary hirer in a contract 
 of locatio'conductioj had, like the English lessee, technical 
 possessio, and was capable consequently of bringing "real" 
 actions and interdicts instead of being obliged to rely on his 
 contractual rights. In this he resembled the borrower on 
 " precarium " and the bond fide possessor of goods which are 
 really not his to possess. He had the specific action technically 
 known by the term " emphyteuticaria " ; he paid, generally, a 
 rent called pensio or canon, and his tenure was normally for a 
 long period or for ever. This was a very convenient arrange- 
 ment for the corporations, ecclesiastical and other, which began 
 to be great landholders about the beginning of the Christian era, 
 as it put the tenant practically in the position of an owner, 
 with whom they had no more trouble as long as he paid rent. 
 The ordinary hirer, under the classical contract of locatio- 
 conduction left the lessor under the burden of many contractual 
 responsibilities. Emphyteusis was, we believe, regarded in the 
 nature of a contract, not as the creation of a real right, that is, 
 a conveyance; but it was an ''innominate" contract, irregular 
 and elastic. These are some of the facts gathered from English 
 
 * The location of Mazagaon in the island of Mahim seems to be a mistake, 
 and it is likely that the island of Bombaim was really meant. The latter 
 was frequently designated the island of Mahim. 
 
376 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 books on the subject. The tenure is in constant use to this 
 day in the West Indian island of St. Lucia (formerly French). 
 Let us now see how this tenure, which was first introduced into 
 the country by the Portuguese, affected the landholders in 
 Bombay. ^'Emphyteutical grants or leases," says Westropp, 
 C.J., in one of the footnotes which illuminate some of the more 
 recondite passages in his judgment already refeiTed to, 
 
 " are either perpetual or for a long term of years, on condition that the 
 grantee or lessee of the lands should cultivate, plant or otherwise im- 
 prove them, as the word emphyteusis signifies. Such grants are subject 
 to conditions as to liability to quit or ground rent and other charges, 
 and as to alienation, according to the diversity of the grants and 
 according to the custom, or usage of the place where the lands are 
 situate." * 
 
 One outstanding feature of the emphyteutic tenure would 
 seem to be this, that the grantee held the land for the express 
 purpose of improving it, just as Garcia da Orta held the island 
 of Bombaim. Along with the communal tenure, it was much in 
 vogue in Portugal, where land was divided into small estates 
 and parcelled out among yeomen landlords, who, in many 
 respects, resembled the English copyholders. Originally con- 
 fined to barren lands, the tenure was extended in its application 
 to fertile lands also, and even to houses and buildings. The 
 emphyteutas, as the grantees were called, could let their pro- 
 perty to sub-tenants on nearly the same terms as those on 
 which they held it. It is worth noting that an estate held in 
 perpetuity by virtue of this tenure was transmissible to the 
 heirs t and assigns of the grantees. 
 
 " According to the Roman Law," says Sir Michael, "the emphyteuta, 
 though not dominus, had nevertheless jus in re, and a true possession 
 within the technical meaning of that term as used by the Roman lawyers. 
 He was entitled to a real action, and at his death his estate or interest 
 was transmitted to his heirs." 
 
 Maine, Palgrave, and other writers trace the fief of the Middle 
 Ages to the emphyteusis of the Romans, such as the fields held by 
 
 * Bombay High Court Reports, iv. p. 85. 
 
 t Not, of course, the heirs of real property according to English rules. 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 377 
 
 that tenure by the veterans of the Roman army on the frontiers 
 of the Empire. According to Maine, the emphyteusis marks 
 one stage in the current ideas which led ultimately to feudalism. 
 This tenure, like that of aforamento, eventually, under the in- 
 fluence of feudal ideas, came to imply military service from the 
 grantee. Hence it was that the whole population of the island 
 of Bombay was, as in feudal Europe, bound together by the 
 system of land tenure. Other European nations in India seem 
 to have enforced a similar tenure, for Warden in his report ob- 
 serves: *' The inhabitants of Madras and of all the other English, 
 Dutch, French, and Danish Colonies in India were (we are 
 informed) bound to furnish military service on emergencies; 
 hence it appears that the lands all over India were held by a 
 feudal tenure." * Whether, before the cession, estates besides 
 the Manor of Mazagaon were held in emphyteusis, it is impos- 
 sible now to say, but, as pointed out by Sir Michael Westropp, 
 it is worthy of note that the quit-rent payable for a large part 
 of the island (the whole of it, probably, which was in occupation 
 or cultivation at the time of the cession) to the Portuguese 
 Government, and which was afterwards commuted under Governor 
 Aungier's Convention, bore the same name of pensio (pensao, 
 pension) as that of the annual payment made by the emphyteuta 
 to the dominus emphyteuseosA But let us resume our examina- 
 tion of the Letters Patent granting the Manor of Mazagaon to 
 Lionel de Souza in 1571. It was conferred upon him on the 
 above-mentioned conditions, with remainder on his death to his 
 wife. Donna Anna Pessoa, as chief tenant. She was, however, 
 to pay a moiety of the rents and profits to her and Lionel de 
 Souza's two sons, Ruy and Manoel de Souza, and to hold herself 
 responsible for the payment of the quit-rent to the royal officers 
 at Bassein. On her death the village was to remain in his 
 (Lionel de Souza's) said sons, vested in the elder as head or 
 chief tenant. Then followed a long and rather involved clause 
 regarding a limitation 
 
 *' in favour of the sons of the elder son and then* issue, with a remainder 
 over, on the exhaustion of his issue, to the other son and his issue, and 
 on the failure of heirs descendants of those sons, to the heirs and suc- 
 
 * Government Selections, No. 64, N.S. para. 167. 
 t Bombay High Court Reports, iv. p. 86. 
 
378 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 cessors of the survivor, with remainder to such descendants of Lionel 
 de Souza as he should by will nominate." * 
 
 The emphyteuta, or grantee, was permitted to reside at Chaul, 
 but directed that he should repair to Bassein when the King's 
 ** service is to be done." Another important clause in the 
 charter proceeded thus : ** The which Village it shall not be in 
 his power to sell, exchange, or to alienate without the King's 
 leave, or that of his Viceroy," nor could it be divided, but should 
 " go always in one sole person." In accordance with these 
 provisions, Mazagaon seems to have remained intact for a long 
 time, but parts of it were eventually sold, exchanged, or alien- 
 ated after the cession of Bombay to the British Crown. These 
 Letters Patent were duly registered at Goa and also at Bassein 
 in 1572, and were produced before and recognised by the officers 
 of the Crown of Portugal in the years 1580, 1583, 1589, 1590, 
 and 1632. The Manor of Mazagaon, with its appurtenances, 
 formed the principal private estate in the island, even at the 
 time when the latter was ceded to the English in 1661, and paid 
 the largest amount of rent or pension.! What parts of the 
 island were regarded as its appurtenances it is difficult to say 
 with any degree of certainty. Da Cunha observes that, in the 
 first few decades of the eighteenth century, the Manor of 
 Mazagaon was reduced to a mere skeleton of its former self, 
 having been deprived of the village of Warli in 1726, of the 
 Vezry Hill in 1749, of the Bardeen batty fields and the Puckere- 
 wall Gardens, as well as of the Char Garden. I Whether these 
 may be regarded as its appurtenances it would be hazardous to 
 speculate. In 1637 the manor seems to have changed hands, 
 though it remained in the same family. The then occupant, 
 Ruy, alias Luis de Souza, was found incapable of properly 
 administering the village, owing to advanced age. So by the 
 Letters Patent dated June 3, 1637, King Philip of Portugal 
 
 * It is in a high degree doubtful whether any such contingent or vested 
 remainders could at any period of the Roman Law have been created in 
 emphyteusis. 
 
 t In the return giving the revenue of the island submitted by Deputy- 
 Governor Gary to Charles II. in 1667 the rent of Mazagaon is put down at 
 9,300 xeraphins, while Bombay, which stands second in the list, paid only 
 6,334 xeraphins. 
 
 J Tlie Origin of Bombay, p. 224, 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 379 
 
 confirmed to Bernardino de Tavora, only son of Ruy, an instru- 
 ment of assignment and gift of the said village and its appurten- 
 ances, whereby he was to hold the same in emphyteusis for ever 
 {em fatiota para sempre) subject to the quit-rent payable to the 
 Crown of Portugal, *' which said village," the Letters Patent 
 continued, 
 
 " it shall not be lawful to sell, give, or exchange, or in any other way to 
 alienate, without my leave or that of my Viceroy or Governor of India ; 
 nor yet shall it be in the least divided, but shall go entire in one only 
 person, who shall himself cultivate, and take the uses and fruits it may 
 produce, as his own property, in the same manner that Lionel de Souza 
 and Ruy de Souza, his (Bernardino de Tavora's) grandfather and father had 
 and possessed the same." * 
 
 The new patent was duly registered at Goa as well as Bassein 
 in the year in which it was issued. The circumstance worth 
 noting — one which Sir Michael Westropp seems to have omitted 
 to notice — is the following significant note added to the copy of 
 this patent : *' Maneckji Navroji Hill, the Cart Charney, and 
 Warli are part of this estate." But all these valuable estates 
 were sold, one after another, till in the middle of the eighteenth 
 century the fragment that remained of the once extensive manor 
 was divided into six lots and farmed out to private individuals. 
 The year 1731 seems to have proved particularly unfortunate 
 in the history of the village of Mazagaon. For, among the un- 
 published papers in the appendix to Warden's report, there is 
 a warrant of attorney, executed at Bassein on May 17, 1731, by 
 Martinho de Silveira de Menezes (on behalf of himself and his 
 son Joao Vicente), and also by his wife Donna Mariana de 
 Noronha, to Wissia Senoy Tellung (Vishvanath Shenvi Telung), 
 a Brahmin inhabitant of the town of Bassein, to sell the village 
 of Mazagaon and its appurtenances for 21,500 xeraphins, and 
 to execute the necessary conveyances. Later on in the same 
 year, a deed of sale appears to have been executed and duly 
 registered at the Government Secretariat, bearing the date 
 August 3, 1731, by which the above-mentioned Wissia Senoy 
 Tellung, with the consent of the Governor of Bombay, sold and 
 conveyed the village of Mazagaon for 20,000 xeraphins to 
 Antonio de Silva and Antonio de Limas, with all its appurteii- 
 * Bombay High Court Reports, iv. p. 85. 
 
380 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 ances and services, new and ancient, with the two houses of lord- 
 ship, one ruined and the other standing, and the administration 
 perpetual and general of the church of Nossa Senhora de Gloria, 
 situated in the said village, and of the patrimonial estate thereof, 
 ** to the end that they, by themselves and by their heirs and 
 successors, attorneys, and executors, may possess, enjoy, and 
 disfruit the said Village," &c., on condition, however, of their 
 paying the annual pensions of the said church, &c., according to 
 the will of Senhor Christovao de Souza, a former quit-rent tenant 
 of the said village, and administrator of the said church. The 
 title of Martinho de Silveira de Menezes was stated in the deed 
 to be '* by the nomination made of the said Village, &c., to him 
 by the Donna Senhorinha de Souza, his grandmother, deceased, 
 by reason of its appertaining to him as the eldest and most im- 
 mediate descendant of Senhor Lionel, the first quit-rent tenant 
 (Foreiro) and possessor of the said Village."* To follow the 
 further course of the history of this manor would serve no useful 
 purpose here. Suffice it to note that, like other big estates on 
 the island, Mazagaon was eventually leased out, and when in 
 1779 the leaseholder claimed to be the proprietor and lord of 
 the village, he was clearly given to understand that he had no 
 claim to any such assumption and that the Government suffered 
 him to receive only such benefits as he was entitled to by his 
 lease, t In Naoroji Beramji v. Rogers, the learned judge 
 (Westropp) observes that, with the exception of the patent of the 
 Manor of Mazagaon, he has not succeeded in obtaining any in- 
 formation as to patents of dates prior to the cession of the island 
 to Charles 11. in 1661. But this fact does not preclude him 
 from holding, in another important case,| that it was quite 
 probable that other large estates in Bombay were gifted to 
 private individuals on the same tenure and under similar con- 
 ditions as those obtaining in the Letters Patent of Mazagaon. 
 
 *' Though it is impossible now to say with certainty," says Sir Michael, 
 "that many, or any, other lands in Bombay other than those of Mazagaon 
 were held, before the cession to Charles II., in emphyteusis, the circum- 
 stance that the other lands would appear to have been held by Letters 
 Patent, the feudal motives already suggested, the continual necessity for 
 
 * Bombay High Court Reports, iv. pp. 87-88. 
 
 t Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 446. 
 
 X Lojpes V. Lopes, Bombay High Court Beports, v. p. 172. 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 381 
 
 military organisation, and the undoubted fact that the quit-rent payable 
 to the Portuguese Government for a large part of the island, probably the 
 whole of it, which was in occupation or cultivation at the time of cession, 
 bore the same ancient name oi pensio {pensao, pension), render it far 
 from improbable that the six other districts in the island, beside Mazagon, 
 or several of them, were also held in emphyteusis, and were accordingly 
 descendible according to the rule of primogeniture." '•' 
 
 Let US now come to the early British period, which dates 
 from 1661, when, by the famous Marriage Treaty, the Crown 
 of Portugal ceded to the King of England the port and island 
 of Bombay in full sovereignty. We must again quote the 
 eleventh article of this treaty, which runs as follows : 
 
 " The King of Portugal, with the assent and advice of his Council, 
 gives, transfers, and by these presents grants and confirms unto the King 
 of Great Britain, his heirs and successors for ever, the Port and Island of 
 Bombay in the East Indies with all its rights, profits, territories, and 
 appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging, and together with all 
 income and revenue, as also the direct and absolute Dominion and 
 Sovereignty of the said Port and Island of Bombay, and premises 
 with all their royalties, freely, fully, entirely and absolutely." 
 
 In one of the foregoing chapters we have already dwelt, at 
 some length, on the disputes to which this loosely-worded 
 and contentious clause gave rise. The Portuguese contended 
 that by this article the island of Bombay, and that alone, was 
 ceded, without any of its dependencies or even appurtenances ; 
 the English, on the other hand, argued that both the islands 
 of Salsette and Karanja were included in the treaty. While 
 the two parties were hotly contesting their respective claims, 
 and the monarchs of the two countries were leisurely writing 
 polite letters to each other and to their representatives in 
 India, the troops under Sir Abraham Shipman were dying 
 by the hundred on the island of Anjediva. There was 
 certainly not much substance in the contention of the 
 Portuguese. Those who settled the various clauses of the 
 Treaty of 1661, on behalf of Charles II., must have set a 
 
 * Lopes V. Lopes, Bombay High Court Reports, v. p. 179. Emphyteutic 
 land at Rome was certainly not so descendible. And the limitations con- 
 tained in the above-recited royal grant, even if valid, did not establish any 
 such rule of descent. 
 
382 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 high value on the town and island of Bombay, for, as 
 observed in a previous chapter, they included in it not only 
 its dependencies and appurtenances, but even referred to the 
 ** towns and castles therein." True, the towns and castles 
 existed only in their imagination, and their geography of 
 Bombay, which, they said, was ** within a very little distance 
 from Brazil," provokes a smile. But all the same, they 
 regarded the island as a valuable asset of the Crown. More- 
 over, the island of Salsette was actually traced out on the 
 map which was submitted to the commissioners as part of 
 the territory to be ceded when the Marriage Treaty was 
 being drawn up.* Those who brought about the marriage 
 between Charles II. and Katherine of Braganza would, no 
 doubt, have objected to that part of the treaty which ceded 
 Bombay to the royal bridegroom, if they had known that the 
 island consisted mostly of waste and swampy lands and 
 barren hills, and that a very large portion, if not the whole, 
 of the cultivated property had been gifted to Portuguese or 
 Indo-Portuguese inhabitants prior to the cession. " The 
 growth of the island," says Douglas, speaking of Bombay at, 
 or soon after, the cession, 
 
 " was cocoanut woods and other palms, miles in length, of which Mahim 
 wood was the chief, interspersed with jack and mango trees ; also, on the 
 low grounds, rice or paddy fields. The rest of the island was swampy, 
 covered occasionally by the sea in the lower portions, or barren and 
 uncultivated on the higher ridges, such as Malabar, Worli, and Chinch- 
 pugli Hills." 
 
 The point worth noting is that most of these fields and 
 tree-gardens — they were called oarts,t from the Latin word 
 hortuSf a garden — were in the possession of private persons, 
 mostly cultivators who could not boast of superabundance of 
 wealth or prosperity. If the wealth of a city is to be judged 
 by the wealth of its inhabitants, then, at the time of the 
 cession, Bombay must have been a very poor place indeed. 
 Let us now turn our attention to certain events which con- 
 siderably added to the difficulties of the English in ascertaining 
 
 * Douglas' Bombay and Western India, i. p. 87. 
 
 f A name still retained in Bombay, e.g., the Nanabhai Beramji Oart, 
 nearly opposite the Marine Lines Station. 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 383 
 
 the rights of the Crown and of private individuals in the 
 landed property on the island. The news of the Marriage 
 Treaty between England and Portugal, and the consequent 
 gifting away of the island to the English, created quite a 
 scare among the Portuguese proprietors in Bombay. They 
 were mostly ignorant people, but had intelligence enough to 
 foresee trouble. Many of them held land by a tenure the 
 terms of which were vague and not easily definable ; many 
 more held it by means not above suspicion. They dreaded 
 the advent of the English, for they had a presentiment of 
 the fate that was soon to overtake them. The landholders, 
 therefore, hastened to strengthen their rights in the soil by 
 fair means or foul. Luckily for them, they found an English- 
 man who was willing to help them, provided he was rewarded 
 for his trouble. While the disputes over the terms of the 
 Treaty were being settled, a sort of interregnum was pro- 
 claimed in Bombay, which lasted till 1666. On the death 
 of Sir Abraham Shipman, Cooke, who had acted as his 
 secretary, succeeded as head of the provisional Government 
 of the island. In him the Portuguese proprietors found a 
 ready instrument to further their own interests. Those who 
 were doubtful about the tenure of their property had their 
 doubts removed, and those who had no claims whatever to an 
 estate had their claims established, on payment of substantial 
 bribes to the head of Government. 
 
 " We have only to turn to Bruce's AnnaU,'' says Douglas, " a work 
 to be depended on, to discover that a sheaf of fictitious title-deeds and 
 forged documents, the manufacture of which was connived at by Cooke 
 himself, and for which he had taken bribes, were made to do duty with 
 wonderful alacrity, in the interests of this new proprietary who were now 
 so anxious to foist their claims on theEnghsh." 
 
 The extent of corruption to which Humphrey Cooke, the 
 first Governor of Bombay, had stooped may be gauged by the 
 fact that when, in 1666, an inquiry was instituted into his 
 conduct, it was found that, instead of carrying the revenues 
 to his Majesty's account, he had extorted the sum of 12,000 
 xeraphins from the inhabitants and converted it to his own 
 private use. 
 
 We shall now examine the terms of the Convention into 
 
384 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 which Cooke entered with the Portuguese in 1665. It marks 
 an important stage in the history of land-tenures in Bombay. 
 It is said that Cooke was obliged to enter into this " Treaty 
 of Surrender," as it is appropriately called, " to preserve his 
 own life and the lives of the remaining troops." Most of 
 the latter had died through want of provisions, unhealthy 
 climate, or, as Fryer bluntly put it, their own intemperance. 
 Disputes were still raging between the English and the 
 Portuguese, and the probability of an amicable settlement 
 was remote. Neither party budged an inch : each insisted on 
 construing the terms of the Treaty as best suited its own 
 interests. The Portuguese could well aiford to hold out in- 
 definitely ; they had been in the country for more than a 
 century, and were inured to its climate. Not so the English. 
 Their position had become almost untenable, and certainly 
 insecure. Antonio de Mello e Castro, the Viceroy of Goa, 
 was astute enough to see that circumstances were propitious 
 for him to dictate terms to the English, and he was not far 
 mistaken. Cooke had probably got tired of waiting. He 
 must also have been unnerved by the sad fate that had 
 befallen Sir Abraham Shipman and the troops under his 
 command. He, therefore, readily agreed to the terms of the 
 Convention, the essence of which was that the English con- 
 sented, under certain conditions, to accept only the town and 
 harbour of Bombay, substantially renouncing all claim to the 
 neighbouring islands, e.g., Salsette and Karanja. The new 
 Treaty, consisting of fourteen articles, was executed on 
 January 14, 1665, at the casas grandes da Senhora da Illia, 
 i.e., the large house then occupied by the lady of the island, 
 Donna Ignez de Miranda, which, years before, was in the 
 possession of the famous Garcia da Orta. It is not necessary 
 to examine all the articles of this Capitulation ; it will suffice 
 for our purpose to note only a few of those which have some 
 bearing on the subject treated of in this chapter. We reproduce 
 below five of them, as they are found in Appendix B to the 
 second volume of Forrest's Selections. They run as follows : 
 
 " 6th. That all the inhabitants residing at Bombay, as well as those 
 who may have estates in the said Island, when they should not like 
 to reside in the said Island, it shall be free to them to farm out their 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 385 
 
 estates, or sell the same on the best terms they may be able to obtain ; 
 and if the English gentlemen should require them, it shall be for their 
 just and equal value and not on any other terms, but if the English 
 gentlemen should not chuse to buy them, nor the holders live in them, it 
 shall be free to them to alienate the same, and until they do so, it shall 
 likewise be free to them to enjoy and make use of the same as they have 
 hitherto done without the least contradiction on the part of the English 
 gentlemen. 
 
 '* 7th. That the inhabitants of the said Islands of Salsette, Caranjah 
 and Baragao and of other places of our jurisdiction, shaU freely fish in 
 the said Bay and Eiver and in the arm of the sea which enters and 
 divides Bombay from Salsette by Bandora till the Bay ; and the English 
 gentlemen shall not at any time prevent them nor will they at any time 
 and under any pretence whatever demand any tribute on this account, 
 and the inhabitants of Bombay shaU be allowed to do the same with the 
 same liberty and freedom. 
 
 " 10th. That although the Manor right of the Lady, the Proprietrix of 
 Bombay, is taken away from her estates if she lives in the Island, they 
 are not to be entermiddled with or taken away from her unless it be of 
 her free will, she being a woman of quality they are necessary for her 
 maintenance, but after death, and her heirs succeed to those estates, 
 the English gentlemen may if they chuse take them, paying for the same 
 their just value, as is provided in the case of other Proprietors of Estates, 
 and should the English gentlemen now wish to take her houses to build 
 Forts thereupon, they shall immediately pay her their just value. 
 
 " 11th. That every person possessing Kevenue at Bombay, either by 
 Patrimonial or Crown Lands, they shall not be deprived thereof except 
 in cases which the Laws of Portugal direct, and their sons and descen- 
 dants shall succeed to them with the same right and clause above 
 mentioned, and those who may sell the said Patrimonial or Crown 
 Estates shall transfer to the purchaser the same right and perpetuity 
 they had, that the purchaser may enjoy the same and their successors 
 in the like manner, 
 
 " 13th. That the inhabitants of Bombay and the landholders of that 
 Island shall not be obliged to pay more than the foros they used to pay 
 to His Majesty, this condition being expressly mentioned in the capitula- 
 tions." * 
 
 Before proceeding, it will be useful to define the Portuguese 
 term, foros, which occurs in the last article. Put shortly, foi^o 
 means a quit-rent payable by tenants-in-chief to the lord of the 
 manor, and it is from this word that the Portuguese tenure 
 of ajoramento derives its origin. Mr. Thriepland, who was 
 Advocate-General of Bombay in the beginning of the last 
 century, while arguing an important case regarding the owner- 
 * Forrest's Selections, ii. pp. 378-379. 
 
 25 
 
386 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 ship of a certain plot of foras land in 1805, observed that the 
 term " foras " conveyed to every native who heard the word pro- 
 nounced a fixed and determinate idea of the nature of the terms 
 by which the lands were held. 
 
 " It is called foras," he added, " a Portuguese expression, the meaning 
 of which is rent, but which in this island denotes the rent in particular 
 which is paid by a cultivator or person permitted to occupy ground for 
 the purpose of improving it, but without any lease or other grant by 
 which he can maintain possession during the continuation of a term." * 
 
 But if lawyers and others are agreed upon the meaning of 
 the word " foras," there is not the same unanimity of opinion 
 among them regarding its origin. According to Sir Michael 
 Westropp, " foras " is derived from the Portuguese word " fora " 
 (Latin /oras, from /oris, beyond), signifying outside. Etymologi- 
 cally, therefore, he defined the word as meaning the rent or 
 revenue derived from outlying lands. 
 
 "The whole island of Bombay," the learned judge observes, "fell 
 under that denomination when under Portuguese Kule, being then a 
 mere outlying dependency of Bassein. Subsequently, the term foras 
 was, for the most part, though perhaps not quite exclusively, limited to 
 the new salt batty ground reclaimed from the sea, or other waste ground 
 lying outside the Fort, Native Town, and other the more ancient settled 
 and cultivated grounds in the island, or to the quit-rent arising from that 
 new salt batty ground and outlying ground." f 
 
 Sir Michael adds that the quit-rent in Governor Aungier's 
 Convention, called foras, also bore the still older name of pensio 
 {pensao, pension), and since the date of that Convention has 
 been chiefly known by the name of pension, but that it was 
 payable in respect of the ancient settled and cultivated ground 
 only. Warden, however, does not seem to concur in this view. 
 He thinks that the term "pension" has from the first been 
 entirely misunderstood, if it has been considered in the light of 
 a tax. " The tenor of the article of Aungier's Convention," he 
 explains, " proves that it was not the quit-rent. The Portuguese 
 word pencao means, when applied to estates, a payment for the 
 
 * Oovemment Selections, iii. N.S. para. 17. Cf. the metayer tenancy of 
 sugarcane land, common in Tobago. 
 
 f Bombay High Court Eeports, iv. p. 40, note* 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 387 
 
 enjoyment of land — the bonus or the premium paid for the fee- 
 simple on the compromise of a doubtful tenure." This defini- 
 tion fits in with the object with which Aungier entered into the 
 Convention with the povo of Bombay ; but it seems to be a 
 matter for surprise that these two terms, pension and quit-rent, 
 were not more distinctly specified therein. It will be interesting 
 to see how another eminent and earlier judge in Bombay defines 
 this ancient term. Says Sir Erskine Perry, with the lucidity of 
 expression for which his judgments are deservedly admired : 
 
 " In the capitiilation made to Ensign Cook there is a provision in 
 respect of the accustomed Foras, which, perhaps, is equivalent to the 
 celebrated Spanish word Fueros we hear so much of in modern times, or 
 it may mean the rent reserved for outlying grounds, for lands lying fora 
 (outside) the demesne lands. Then there is the fixed sum called pension 
 or pensao of the Portuguese, corresponding, I suppose, with the word 
 pensio which denoted, in middle ages, a settled sum paid for land, for 
 I find it used by Bracton in respect of the King's tenants in ancient 
 demesne, who, he says, a gleba amoveri non possimt quamdiu solvero 
 possunt debitas pensiones." * 
 
 Da Cunha, however, enters a short but emphatic caveat, and 
 affirms that foro has no connection whatever with, fora, nor can 
 the latter be derived fi*om any Latin word. He rather derives it, 
 if it is at all to be traced to a Latin origin, from forurriy a 
 public place, where public affairs, like the payment of rents or 
 tributes,! were transacted. If the learned doctor had given no 
 other reason than this for his definition of the word, we might 
 have hesitated to accept it in preference to the one put forward 
 by the erudite Chief Justice. But in support of his contention 
 he points out a very significant fact which seems to have escaped 
 Sir Michael Westropp's notice. Da Cunha observes : 
 
 * Perry's Oriental Cases, p. 487. 
 
 t Da Cunha seems more than justified in deriving the word *• foro " from 
 the Latin /orwm, which originally meant a public place, and then a legislative 
 place, and finally the lord's court, where the lord of the manor held his feudal 
 court and collected his feudal rents. In Low Latin forum came to mean not 
 only the public or market place, but also the price of things sold there. In 
 the Spanish Dictionary, by Newman and Barrete, the following meanings 
 are attributed to the word "foro": (1) Court of Justice or the hall where 
 tribunals hold their sittings. (2) Bar. (3) Lordship, the right of a superior 
 lord, of whom lands or tenements are held. And Vieyra, in his Portuguese 
 Dictionary, defines " foro " as meaning Court or Hall of Justice, and " forum '» 
 as an acknowledgment or quit-rent payable to the lord of the manor. 
 
388 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING ^ 
 
 " And in order to justify this far-fetched derivation of the word foro from 
 for a, he (Westropp, C.J.) confined the quit-rent to the outlying ground, 
 and to the island of Bombay, as a mere outlying dependency of Bassein. 
 But the fact generally known that the foro was imposed both on the 
 inlying as well as on the outlying ground, and that it was not limited to 
 Bombay, but was indifferently applied to Bassein, to Salsette, and to all 
 other parts of that province, ought to have convinced him of the feeble- 
 ness of his hypothesis." * 
 
 If the fact stated above be correct — and there seems no reason 
 to doubt its correctness — it upsets Sir Michael's theory regarding 
 the derivation of this term. For, deriving it from the Portuguese 
 term fora, meaning outside, the learned Judge concluded that 
 foras indicated the rent or revenue derived from outlying lands 
 only. But according to Da Cunha, foras referred to inlying 
 lands also. Hence the theory put forward by the latter appears 
 more convincing than that advanced by Sir Michael. And as it 
 involves no point of legal nicety, the scholar's view may be pre- 
 ferred to the Judge's in this instance. + 
 
 To return to the abortive Convention of 1665. It will have 
 been seen that the Portuguese had safeguarded their own 
 interests even to the detriment of those of the English. But 
 they soon discovered that the Treaty was not worth the paper it 
 was written upon. Humphrey Cooke must have chuckkd while 
 affixing his signature to it, with all the solemnity befitting the 
 occasion, for he certainly could not have intended to observe all 
 its terms. As soon as he found himself in possession of Bom- 
 bay, and safely harboured in the castle, he quietly repudiated 
 most of the terms agreed upon. The Portuguese Viceroy pro- 
 tested against this breach of faith, but he protested in vain. As 
 noted in another chapter, the Convention was never ratified 
 either by the Crown of England or that of Portugal. On the 
 contrary, King Charles II. repudiated it in terms which admitted 
 of no doubt. In a letter dated March 10, 1676, more than a 
 decade after the bogus Treaty was signed, the King referred to 
 the " very unjust Capitulation " Humphrey Cooke was forced to 
 submit to, which neither he was empowered to come to, nor 
 
 * The Origin of Bombay, p. 229. 
 
 t The roads from the Fort crossing the ** Flats " or Foras Lands, between 
 Malabar Hill and Parel, were generally known as the "Foras Roads" ; but 
 this general title seems to have been superseded by other names, though this 
 ancient term is still preserved in a road called the " Foras Road.' 
 
LANDED PROPERTY IN EARLY BOMBAY 389 
 
 anyone else to impose upon him. ** We, therefore, are deter- 
 mined to protest," added his Majesty, " against the said 
 capitulation, as prejudicial to our Royal dignity and derogatory 
 to our right, which we hold in the higher estimation for coming 
 to us, in part of her dowry, with our aforesaid dearest Consort." 
 And when in 1699-1700 an attempt was made by the Portu- 
 guese to induce the Government of Bombay to recognise the 
 Treaty, it failed completely. And again, in 1723, when a 
 memorial was sent home by the Portuguese authorities in India, 
 complaining of certain outrages committed by the English on 
 the inhabitants of Portugal at Bombay, in contravention of the 
 Treaty entered into by Cooke, the Court of Directors repudiated 
 the Convention in clear terms. They replied, in effect, that the 
 Treaty was unauthorised, both with respect to England and 
 Portugal, as it was never ratified by them or either of them, and 
 that therefore it necessarily followed that all that was built upon 
 it fell to the ground. 
 
 " In respect to the validity or invalidity of the articles in question," 
 writes Warden, presumably summarising the above reply, " and whether 
 King Charles owned or disowned them, the Directors replied, in the first 
 place, that it plainly appears from the instructions given to Sir Abraham 
 Shipman that the King of England had given no power to sign any such 
 articles, but the orders import quite the contrary ; and the Portuguese 
 memorial, which mentions the names of the Commissioners that made 
 the agreement with Cooke, says not one word of their being named or 
 authorised by the Crown of Portugal as such, which certainly would not 
 have been omitted had there been any prospect in Europe of the necessity 
 or intention of such a preliminary agreement ; whereas, on the contrary, 
 the Viceroy was singly and purposely sent to dehver the premises pur- 
 suant to the articles of marriage between the two Crowns, so that the 
 pretended articles were not only imposed upon Cooke contrary to the 
 directions of the King of Portugal himself, which was to dehver up 
 Bombay upon the treaty of marriage without any further conditions, but 
 are also inconsistent with the right of the King of England, as is mani- 
 fest from the articles themselves, but more particularly so from the 11th 
 article thereof, by which it is provided that those who are possessed of 
 the inheritance of lands in Bombay should not be deprived of them, but 
 for crimes only which the law of Portugal does order, which condition is 
 to be perpetually annexed to the land notwithstanding any alienation ; so 
 that if an owner of land in Bombay commits any crime against the laws 
 of England, even high treason against his most sacred Majesty, he is not 
 to forfeit his land there, because the law of Portugal does not so order it. 
 This instance alone shows the absurdity of those articles, and that they 
 
 I 
 
390 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 could not be terms agreed upon by the Kings of England and Portugal, 
 but were a gross imposition contrived by a faction of the Portuguese in 
 the Indies against the command even of their own prince." * 
 
 We shall, therefore, be justified in ignoring altogether the 
 Treaty of 1665, while tracing the subsequent history of landed 
 property in Bombay. Cooke's subterfuge must have helped him 
 to tide over the difficulties which beset him at the time ; but 
 it certainly did not remove the confusion regarding the owner- 
 ship of land in and around the Fort. On the contrary, what, 
 according to Douglas, was plain sailing in 1662, had become 
 in 1666 a dangerous area beset with hidden shoals. In that 
 year Sir Gervase Lucas was sent out by the King to succeed 
 Cooke, who had been dismissed, in the Government of Bombay. 
 Sir Gervase transmitted an account to the authorities in Eng- 
 land, bearing on the importance and value of the island and 
 its exposed situation, but particularly emphasising the improvi- 
 dent Convention his predecessor had entered into with the 
 Viceroy of Goa, whereby he had agreed to receive the island 
 without the King's rights being ascertained, or even a statement 
 given of the extent of them as transferred to the Crown of 
 England. In his letter to Lord Arlington, dated March 21, 
 1666-67, Sir Gervase, amongst other things, stated that he was 
 making every effort to increase the King's revenues, but from 
 the indefinite conditions on which Cooke had received it, it was 
 impracticable to ascertain which of the inhabitants were legally 
 possessed of sufficient titles to their estates, no stipulation 
 having been made relative to the King's sovereignty of the soil, 
 as some of the best estates in the island refused to pay rent, 
 and produced titles which could not be disputed, though 
 believed to be fictitious. He also added that the island, when 
 properly cultivated, and the rights ascertained, would be very 
 productive, f It took years — generations, we may say — to 
 ascertain the King's rights in the soil, and to decide which 
 of the inhabitants held estates by virtue of valid claims and 
 which by means of fictitious title-deeds. A guide of extraordi- 
 nary skill and ability was needed to steer clear of the pitfalls 
 which infested the road to success in Bombay at this time. 
 Luckily, there was such a man in the service of the Company, 
 and he was no other than Gerald Aungier. 
 
 * Warden's Beport, para. 189. j Ibid. para. 12. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 
 
 IN 1668 the Crown, considering the island of Bombay an 
 unprofitable and troublesome possession, transferred it to 
 the East India Company, " in free and common socage as of 
 the Manor of East Greenwich, on payment of the annual rent 
 of £10 in gold." The two important clauses of the charter con- 
 firming this transfer, which had some bearing on the subject 
 under examination here, provided that the inhabitants 
 
 " and other our subjects in the said Port and Island, shall and may 
 peaceably and quietly have, hold, possess and enjoy all their several 
 and respective properties, privileges, and advantages whatsoever which 
 they lawfully had or enjoyed, at the time of the surrender of the said 
 Port and Island to us as aforesaid or at any time since, anything in these 
 presents contained to the contrary notwithstanding," 
 
 and that the Company or their assigns should not at any time 
 " sell, alien, transfer, or otherwise dispose of the said Island and 
 premises, or any part or parts thereof, to any Prince, Potentate, 
 or State, or other person or persons whatsoever, but such as 
 are or shall be the subjects and of the allegiance " of the Crown 
 of England. The first of the above provisos makes it clear, 
 as is pointed out by Sir Michael Westropp, that no higher or 
 other rights were conferred on the inhabitants of Bombay than 
 those they were entitled to under the Marriage Treaty of 1661. 
 The Crown ceded to the East India Company the whole of the 
 port and island of Bombay, including its appurtenances and 
 dependencies, and not only that portion of the territory which 
 Cooke was forced to accept in 1665. But what constituted the 
 boundaries of the city, and which of the islands and districts 
 
392 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 were to be regarded as its dependencies and appurtenances, the 
 agents of the Company did not profess to know. Much less did 
 they know what, of right, belonged to the Crown, and what to 
 the Portuguese estate-holders.* Disputes regarding land arose 
 almost from the day Sir George Oxenden, the first Governor 
 under the Company's rule, landed in Bombay ; but there were 
 other important matters pressing for settlement. While send- 
 ing a commission to Sir George to receive charge of the island, 
 the Court of Directors transmitted to him an estimate of the 
 revenue, amounting to ^2,833 per annum, with directions to 
 engage any of the King's troops who might be disposed to enter 
 into the Company's service. It was further directed that, as 
 an encouragement, these soldiers were to be allowed half-pay 
 on condition of their becoming settlers on the island and afford- 
 ing their labour for the cultivation of it.t These directions 
 testify to the anxiety of the authorities in England to popu- 
 late the then sparsely-inhabited island of Bombay, and to 
 cultivate lands which were mostly barren or covered by the sea. 
 According to the reliable testimony of Dr. Fryer, the total 
 population at this time was estimated at about 10,000 souls, 
 largely composed of ** fugitives and vagabonds " — or, as another 
 writer characterises them, of "outcastes." There was also a 
 sprinkling of Bhandaris, Curumbees (Kunbis), and Kolis, 
 mostly tillers of the soil. The industrial element, however, 
 was almost insignificant, and the Directors at home and the 
 agents of the Company in India made strenuous efforts to 
 introduce more of it into the island. In these well-meant 
 attempts their zeal probably exceeded their discretion, for large 
 tracts of most valuable property must have been allotted to 
 immigrants who volunteered to settle down on the island, on 
 very loose conditions and under restrictions far from burden- 
 
 * As regards the extent and tenure of the land the ownership of which 
 vested in the East India Company by virtue of this transfer, Sir Erskine 
 Perry makes the following observations in a case he decided in 1848 : '* In 
 the island of Bombay, however, whatever may be the case elsewhere, there 
 appears to be no doubt that aU the soil of the island, which was not in private 
 hands at the time of the cession, vested in the East India Company. The 
 island belonged to a European Power, with whom the feudal laws as to landed 
 property prevailed, and the Company also hold the island by feudal tenure 
 from the Crown" {Hough v. Leckie and others, Perry's Oriental Cases, p. 496). 
 
 t Warden's Report, para. 15. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 393 
 
 some. It is not unlikely that these benevolent but hastily- 
 considered attempts to improve the cultivation and increase the 
 population of Bombay contributed to the muddle towards which 
 the question of landed estate soon drifted. Not only were soldiers 
 encouraged to become settlers, but Oxenden was instructed to 
 invite natives from other parts of India as well. While effect 
 was being given to these directions, disputes between the 
 Portuguese and the English regarding land came to a head. 
 The Jesuit College at Bandora, for instance, claimed a con- 
 siderable extent of land to which they were not entitled. The 
 Governor of Bombay refused to admit their claim and formally 
 rejected it. Thereupon the Jesuits had recourse to force — a 
 step they must have sincerely regretted soon after. For the 
 astute Governor held that their action was an act of treason 
 against his Majesty, and declared their lands and rights 
 forfeited to the King. The Jesuits protested most vehemently, 
 and even appealed to the Directors ; but the latter replied that 
 their claims, though admissible by Portuguese usages, were not 
 to be considered as valid in an English settlement. It will be 
 interesting to know, at this stage, the approximate value of the 
 territory that was ceded to the East India Company. A 
 detailed estimate of the revenues of the island was sent to the 
 Secretary of State by Deputy- Governor Gary a year after the 
 cession, which contained the following table : 
 
 Rupees 
 
 . 
 
 
 Xeraphins. 
 
 6,438 
 
 2 
 
 13 
 
 Kent of Mazagaon 
 
 ... 9,300 
 
 40 
 
 3,321 
 
 1 
 
 69 
 
 „ Mahim 
 
 ... 4,797 
 
 2 45 
 
 1,645 
 
 3 
 
 54 
 
 „ Parell 
 
 ... 2,377 
 
 1 56 
 
 1,203 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 „ Vadella 
 
 ... 1,738 
 
 40 
 
 547 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 Sion 
 
 790 
 
 60 
 
 395 
 
 1 
 
 48 
 
 „ Veroly 
 
 571 
 
 1 34 
 
 4,932 
 
 1 
 
 80 
 
 ,, Bombaim... 
 
 ... 6,344 
 
 2 61 
 
 6,611 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 
 „ Tobacco Stauk or Frame 
 
 ... 9,555 
 
 00 
 
 1,661 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 
 „ Taverns 
 
 ... 2,400 
 
 00 
 
 12,261 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 
 The accounts of Customs 
 
 ... 18,000 
 
 00 
 
 12,261 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 
 The accounts of Cocoanuts 
 
 ... 18,000 
 
 00 
 
 50,740 
 
 
 
 88 
 
 
 73,870 
 
 1 18 
 
 801 
 
 3 
 
 58 
 
 More may be advanced 
 
 ... 1,129 
 
 1 62 
 
 51,542 46 Total 75,000 
 
 Which at 13 xeraphins for 22s. 6d. sterling amounts to ^£6,490 17s. 6d. 
 
394 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 The total revenues of the town and island of Bombay, there- 
 fore, amounted to less than ^6,500 in 1669, an amount which 
 was not large enough to defray the bare cost of administration. 
 Regulations were in consequence published by the Company, 
 directing, among other things, that a town should be built 
 on a regular plan, that inhabitants, chiefly English, should be 
 encouraged to settle in it and be exempted for five years from 
 the payment of customs, that revenues be improved, without, 
 however, the imposition of any burdensome taxes, and that the 
 manufactures of all sorts of cottons and silks be encouraged and 
 looms be provided for the settlers. In 1699-1700 the Directors 
 issued certain instructions on the subject of the claims of the 
 Portuguese to lands in Bombay, in order to ascertain whether 
 the lands belonged to the Crown of Portugal or to individuals 
 at the date of the cession, declaring at the same time that all 
 acquisitions posterior to that date must be held to be based on 
 an imperfect title. An inquiry such as the one proposed must 
 necessarily have involved a considerable amount of time and 
 labour. But it was thought imprudent to delay the strengthen- 
 ing of the harbour or the building of the town, which had already 
 been sanctioned. To facilitate the action of the local Govern- 
 ment the Directors authorised them to purchase certain lands in 
 the immediate vicinity of the Fort, provided the whole expense 
 did not exceed £1,500.* They were also directed to allow " a 
 moderate toleration " to those inhabitants whose lands were 
 utilised for the purpose, but this indulgence was not to be ex- 
 tended to the Jesuits. What the authorities exactly meant by 
 ** a moderate toleration " it is difficult to say. In pursuance of 
 these instructions some lands in the immediate vicinity of the 
 Fort were purchased by Government, but it is doubtful if a fair 
 price was paid for them. The temper of the Portuguese estate- 
 holders was not of the sweetest at this time. The Jesuits were 
 
 * It is worth noting that the name " the Port " was at that time applied 
 only to the castle and the ground within its walls and bastions, and that 
 after 1718, when the town was surrounded by a wall, it was used to denote 
 the more extended enclosure. Another point of interest in this connection 
 is that at the time of the cession the English got possession of the castle and 
 its environs only, and not of the many acres of land which lay around it, and 
 which ought to have belonged to them by right. This outer cincture was 
 purchased bit by bit, and Douglas says that from 1760 to 1812 the English 
 expended Rs.7,37,927 in such purchases. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 395 
 
 the avowed enemies of the English, and the reception and 
 encouragement they gave to Cooke in his designs on the 
 Government of Bombay proved their bitter hostility. Under 
 these circumstances it was impolitic of the Directors to have 
 ordered the purchase of lands on *' a moderate toleration " from 
 certain inhabitants only and not to have extended that doubtful 
 indulgence to the Jesuits. It must have given rise to much 
 discontent, and appreciably added to the difficulties under 
 which the authorities laboured. The crisis was probably 
 precipitated thereby, and the consequences would have been 
 very serious but for the tact and foresight of Gerald 
 Aungier. 
 
 Almost the first measure Aungier introduced in Bombay 
 on assuming charge of the Government was the establish- 
 ment of a Court of Judicature. He then revised certain 
 regulations regarding articles subject to customs, and levied 
 a port duty of 1 per cent. A survey of the island was next 
 prepared under his direction, when it was found that the 
 amount of the revenues derived from the lands had been 
 over-rated, owing to the large proportion of them being 
 claimed and retained by the Jesuits. 
 
 "With regard to the projected town," writes Warden, "the expenses 
 incurred in erecting the Fort had rendered it a subject for future con- 
 sideration ; and as the claims for rights to lands near the town had been 
 numerous, he (Aungier) had removed the fishermen to some distance, 
 and intended to build houses on the ground where their huts stood, but 
 it would require time to adjust the foundations of the rights to lands 
 before houses for the settlers and merchants would be erected."* 
 
 The services of a Mr. Herman Blake were next requisitioned, 
 and he was appointed Engineer and Surveyor- General of 
 Bombay in 1670. His labours were chiefly directed towards 
 ascertaining the rights of Portuguese estate-holders to the 
 property in dispute, but the survey prepared by him is not 
 forthcoming. Three years after, the Governor himself prepared 
 what may be called a statistical account of the island, specify- 
 ing the division of it into the districts of Bombay and Mahim, 
 with an account of its inhabitants, European and native, the 
 extent and magnitude of the fortifications, the strength of the 
 * Warden's B-eport, para. 23. 
 
396 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 garrison, and the practicability of rendering Bombay a seat of 
 trade equal to Surat without interfering with the purchases 
 or sales at that Presidency.* As more fully described in 
 Chapter IV., Aungier introduced several wholesome measures 
 in Bombay, and gave every possible encouragement to out- 
 siders to settle on the island. His reputation for sagacity 
 and forbearance, and the religious toleration he invariably 
 showed to all, without distinction of class or creed, had 
 spread far and wide in the Western Presidency, and people 
 were flocking in to enjoy the benefits of a wise and tolerant 
 administration. But this sudden influx of population again 
 brought the land question to the fore. Disputes between the 
 Government and the inhabitants grew more bitter every day. 
 Aungier recognised the necessity of determining this question 
 once for all. It had drifted for years, and the difficulty of 
 solution had increased a good deal. He set himself to the 
 task the magnitude of which had deterred others from under- 
 taking it, and solved the problem in a manner which reflects 
 the highest credit on his statesmanship, and has earned him 
 a name and fame which will always cast a lustre on the early 
 history of this Imperial city so long as it is told. 
 
 Before speaking of Aungier' s Convention and the terms 
 agreed upon between the Government and the inhabitants, 
 it will be useful to ascertain the approximate area of the town 
 and island of Bombay and of its appurtenances. Otherwise, we 
 shall find it difficult to understand why a shrewd man like 
 Gerald Aungier bartered away property, now worth crores of 
 rupees, for an annual quit-rent of a few thousand xeraphins. 
 The most reliable authority on this point is Dr. Fryer, who 
 commenced his tour in the East Indies in 1672 and finished it 
 in 1681. He was in Bombay when Aungier was its Governor. 
 We need make no apology for quoting at some length from the 
 learned doctor's Travels in the East Indies and Persia. De- 
 scribing the island of Bombay and the neighbouring districts, 
 Fryer says : 
 
 • Commenting on this, Warden observes: "This speculation afEords only 
 the result that, however comprehensive the views of President Aungier might 
 be, taking the whole of the preceding details into consideration, the prospect 
 of an enlarged commerce from Bombay was precarious, if not doubtful." 
 But even Warden could not say that Aungier proved a false prophet. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 397 
 
 " It is a full mile in length ; the houses are low and thatched with the 
 oleas of the cocoa- trees; all but a few [the] Portuguese left, and some 
 few the Company have built. . . , There is also a reasonable handsome 
 bazar at the end of the town. . . . On the back side of the towns of 
 Bombaim and Mahim are woods of cocoas, under which inhabit the 
 bandaries (those that prune and cultivate them), these hortoes being 
 the greater purchase and estates in the island for some miles together, 
 till the sea breaks in between them, over against which, up the bay a 
 mile, lies Masoegoung [Mazagaon] , a great fishing town, peculiarly 
 noted for a fish called bumbalo, the sustenance of the poorer sort 
 who live on them and batty, &c. ; the ground between this and the 
 great breach is well ploughed and bears good batty. . . . Beyond it 
 is Parell . . . to which appertains Seain [Sion], manured by Columbeens 
 [husbandmen], where live the Trasses or porters also, &c., &c. Under 
 these uplands the washes of the sea produce a lunary tribute of salt left 
 in pans or pits made on purpose at spring-tides for the over-flowing, and 
 when they are full are incrustated by the heat of the sun. In the middle 
 between Parell, Mahim, Sion, and Bombaim, is a hollow wherein is 
 received a breach, running at three several places, which drowns 40,000 
 acres of good land, yielding nothing else but samphire ; athwart which 
 from Parell to Mahim, are the ruins of a stone causeway made by 
 Pennanes. ... At Salvesong the Franciscans enjoy another church 
 and convent ; this side is all covered with trees of cocoas, jawkes 
 and mangoes ; in the middle lies Verulee [Worlee], where the English 
 have a watch. On the other side of the great inlet to the sea is a great 
 point abutting against Old Woman's Island, and is called Malabar Hill, 
 a rocky, woody mountain, yet sends forth long grass. . . . Thus have 
 we completed our rounds, being in circumference twenty miles, the 
 length eight, taking in Old Woman's Island, which is a little, low, 
 barren island, of no other profit but to keep the Company's antelopes 
 and other beasts of delight." 
 
 Long as is this extract, it will have an important bearing on 
 the subject when read in connection with Governor Aungier's 
 Convention. 
 
 The disputes regarding lands lying in and around the Fort 
 had, as we have already noticed, given rise to much bitter 
 feeling between the English and the Portuguese. Government 
 were accused of high-handedness in depriving some of the 
 estate-holders even of their just rights, and the latter were, 
 in their turn, charged with forgery and getting up false title- 
 deeds. The authorities were anxious to increase the revenues 
 of the island somehow, and in their excessive zeal they had 
 confiscated lands even of some of those who were hond-fide 
 holders or purchasers — a proceeding naturally resented by the 
 
398 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 latter. The Court of Directors thereupon instructed the 
 President to inquire into the titles of those who held lands, 
 and to ascertain their rights in the property. But the 
 landholders protested against this inquiry on the plea of 
 their being too poor to defray the cost which the proposed 
 scrutiny into their titles would entail. Finding that their 
 orders had given rise to much discontent, the Directors 
 again wrote to Aungier, who was then at Surat, to abandon 
 the inquiry. But at the same time they maintained their 
 sovereign rights over all foras or outlying lands, and sug- 
 gested that, in conjunction with the landholders, a lump 
 sum might be fixed as their rent payment, leaving to the 
 seniors of the landholders to allot to each individual holder 
 his proper share.* When Aungier came to Bombay in 1672 
 he gave ejffect to these instructions, and in accordance there- 
 with appointed a general assembly of the chief representatives 
 of the inhabitants of Bombay, " having just regard to the quiet, 
 content, and satisfaction of the good people in general and to 
 the establishment of this Government on the firmest basis of an 
 everlasting and universal peace and tranquillity." This assembly 
 seems to have met at the castle on October 1, 1672, to consider 
 the terms of an agreement. The Governor and Council having 
 freely given their assent to the people's own desire for the 
 further consideration of the compact, the representatives re- 
 assembled on the 4th of October following, when they pre- 
 sented to Aungier a document containing twelve articles 
 which they had agreed upon at that meeting. It opened 
 with a short preamble as follows : *' The substance of the 
 composition between the Honourable East India Company 
 and inhabitants of this isle, Bombay and Mahim, subjects 
 of the said Company, and others having lands of inheritance 
 on this isle or living in other places." We reproduce below 
 the twelve articles seriatim : 
 
 " 1. That for the better way of agreeing in the express charges that 
 the Company have for the defence of this isle, the inhabitants and 
 others aforesaid do offer to the Honourable Company 20,000 Xeraphins 
 
 * These instructions included a survey of the island, but on the ground 
 of expense this part of the instructions seems not to have been carried 
 out. 
 
AUNGIEE'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 399 
 
 (Es.13,850) yearly, including in this sum the quit-rents that they did 
 pay formerly and desire these conditions, namely : 
 
 " 2. That by virtue of this contract all law-suits and controversies 
 shall cease between the Honourable Company and the said subjects 
 interested in this isle, concerning the possession they had formerly in 
 their estates thereon when His Sacred Majesty of Great Britain took 
 possession of it. 
 
 " 3. That by the said composition the Honourable Company shall of 
 new confirm the estates of the said inhabitants, notwithstanding any 
 suspicion that the present possessors may have fallen into until this 
 present time. 
 
 " 4. That if the Honourable Company do grant to any person not to pay 
 what may come to their shares, then the said sum shall be deducted out 
 of the 20,000 Xeraphins, and this in respect of this composition is made 
 upon all estates and lands of inheritance of those interested on the isle. 
 
 " 5. That the estates that are seized on shall be delivered again to the 
 old possessors of what conditions soever. 
 
 " 6. That in respect the restoring the several estates the Honourable 
 Company would be pleased to excuse the measuring the same that the 
 people may not be also at great charge considering their extreme 
 poverty. 
 
 " 7. That for the time to come if any estates on the isle come to the 
 Honourable Company by any title whatsoever, or likewise by cutting 
 any tree, or seizing any oarts or batty grounds for the use of building 
 the city or other ground for the defence of it or any other fortification, 
 that the quantity that amounts to the said estate with the quit-rents 
 shall be deducted according to the value of the palmieras or the ground. 
 
 "8. That the possessors may dung the trees and ground with babaxim 
 and cuta as they ever did do,-^ without paying anything for the same as 
 a duty by way of excise or custom, but what was formerly paid. 
 
 " 9. That in case of any storm or other damage (which God forbid) the 
 
 * Babaxim, generally written bobsay, is a kind of small fish : kut or cuta 
 is fish manure, very largely used in Bombay and elsewhere. The unhealthi- 
 ness of the climate of Bombay was partly attributed to the exhalations from 
 the putrid fish or kut with which the lands were manured, so that the 
 practice was repeatedly prohibited, and as often, on the petition of 
 " corrumbees," again permitted. For instance, in 1733 a report was made to 
 Government that the Cunbis, who cultivated the rice-grounds, had fied to 
 Salsette, because they were restricted from using fish-manure. In 1739 the 
 principal landholders of Bombay and Mahim set forth in a petition " the 
 inevitable ruin of themselves and families by the entire prohibition from the 
 Government of the Eoot manure," and prayed for consideration and relief 
 from their grievance. And again, in 1742, the Fazendars or freeholders 
 offered Rs. 10,000 to Government, on condition that the prohibition against 
 kut should be removed. Their petition was referred to the Court of Directors, 
 who rejected it. It is interesting to note that kut manure is largely used 
 even at the present day in and around Bombay, particularly in fishing towns, 
 such as Bandora, Versova, and others. 
 
400 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Honourable Company shall deduct out of the 20,000 Xeraphins according 
 to the loss of their estates which shall be done by honest persons from 
 the said inhabitants. 
 
 " 10. That for the more expedient raising the sum as likewise the 
 valuing the estates, and for the giving satisfaction to the Honourable 
 Company at the time to come, the inhabitants shall appoint the persons 
 to whom the Company shall give power for raising the said sum, which 
 shall be done for the quietness of the inhabitants and the interest of the 
 Honourable Company, as it will be only at the Company's charge to 
 allow two guards at both places, Bombay and Mahim. 
 
 "11. That the said 20,000 Xeraphins shall begia to be paid on the 
 9th February, 1673, in three payments every year, and the Honourable 
 Company shall not demand payment before that time. 
 
 " 12. That one of the principal things in this composition is the quiet- 
 ness and security of the inhabitants, who desire his Honour with the 
 Gentlemen of his Council and other Ministers of the Honourable Com- 
 pany to accept and establish^this contract with the conditions herein 
 mentioned, and that it be confirmed by His Sacred Majesty of Great 
 Britain and the Honourable Company with all that is necessary to be 
 done without any invocation [innovation ?] . All which the inhabitants 
 desire to be done with all possible speed." * 
 
 Such were the proposals made by the chief representatives of 
 the inhabitants of Bombay ; but as the Government does not 
 seem to have been represented at that assembly, and as the 
 articles of agreement referred to matters of the gravest impor- 
 tance, deserving of mature consideration and debate, the 
 Governor deemed it necessary to convene another general 
 assembly, 
 
 "whereunto all the people in general interested in this affair were 
 invited to appear, that the debates and controversies on both sides, 
 being pubUcly and fairly stated and all scruples amicably and justly 
 controversed, a happy issue and accommodation might be confirmed, to 
 the security as well of the Honourable Company as of their subjects and 
 inhabitants in general." 
 
 This assembly was also held at Bombay Castle, on Novem- 
 ber 1, 1672, f at which there were present the Honourable 
 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. pp. 259-260. 
 
 f Warden says this assembly was convened on November 1, 1674, but he 
 is clearly in error. Campbell, Da Cunha, and Westropp all state that it was 
 held in 1672. It is probable that Warden was misled by the fact that another 
 General Assembly was summoned by Aungier two years later when the Con- 
 vention was ratified. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 401 
 
 Gerald Aungier, Governor and President, Mr. Henry Chowne, 
 Mr. John Child, Mr. George Wilcox, Mr. James Adams, 
 Attorney-General for the Company, Mr. Stephen Ustick, all 
 members of Council, and the Secretary, Mr. Samuel Walker, 
 while the povo, or people, of Bombay were represented by many 
 eminent men, mostly Portuguese, including an Attorney- 
 General, a Procurator, and, perhaps the most distinguished of 
 them all, the Lord of the Manor of Mazagaon. At this meeting 
 the twelve articles were publicly read and their contents debated 
 upon, all doubts and scruples on both sides having been first set 
 at rest. As a result of their deliberations, the famous Conven- 
 tion was signed. The preamble to it is as follows : 
 
 " Whereas since this isle of Bombay was surrendered to the possession 
 of EUs Sacred Majesty of Great Britain, some occasion of great dis- 
 content did succeed through the want of a due understanding what did 
 belong of right to the Crown and what did belong to the people, which 
 gave the original cause of seizing of lands and estates of several people 
 to the general disquiet of His Majesty's subjects. And whereas since 
 His Sacred Majesty did by his Koyal Grant bestow the isle of Bombay 
 to the Honourable East India Company, orders were issued out by the 
 Governor and Council of this isle, in obedience to His Majesty's and the 
 Honourable Company's commands, for restoring the said lands to the 
 persons who were aggrieved, provided that upon examination of their 
 titles they could show just right thereunto. It so happened that in the 
 examination and decision of the said titles, many doubts and important 
 causes did arise which might have given great cause of disquiet to the 
 present possessors of houses and estates in the isle that the titles in 
 right of which they held their lands had become exposed to censure. 
 The people, therefore, thought fit of their own free motion, by mutual 
 assent in a public declaration and manifesto, to propose to the Governor 
 and his Council that they would pay a yearly contribution, or composi- 
 tion, of twenty thousand Xeraphins to the Honourable Company, 
 including the present quit-rent of foras, provided that the present 
 possessors of their respective lands and estates may be confirmed and 
 established in their possessions and thereby be secured from all doubts 
 and scruples that may arise thereafter. Also that the lands formerly 
 seized may be restored to the pretenders thereunto." * 
 
 Such were the suggestions made by the povo for their own 
 
 content and satisfaction, in which the interests of Government 
 
 were, more or less, subordinated to theirs. But Aungier, though 
 
 anxious to come to an understanding with them, was equally 
 
 • Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 268. 
 
 26 
 
402 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 solicitous of the interests of his masters, the East India Com- 
 pany. Before signing the composition, therefore, he made 
 certain conditions which the povo of Bombay readily accepted. 
 The terms having been settled, it only remained for the 
 Governor and Council to declare their assent to the Convention, 
 " out of their earnest and unfeigned desire to promote the public 
 good, peace, and tranquillity of the isle, and to unite the hearts 
 of the inhabitants in a firm and indissoluble tie of obligation to 
 His Sacred Majesty and Honourable Company's service." The 
 Convention is comprised of fourteen articles, and though a 
 lengthy document, v^^e find it not only interesting, but necessary, 
 to append the whole of it below. Something more than mere 
 historical or antiquarian interest attaches to it ; indeed, it may 
 be said to be, to a certain extent, of some force and effect even 
 at the present day, for in the tax-paper sent out to each 
 proprietor of land (registered under Aungier's Convention) by 
 the Collector of Bombay there are still printed the words 
 ** Pension and Tax." And here it may be remarked, by way of 
 parenthesis, that the man to whom we are indebted for the 
 ** discovery" of this important document was no other than 
 Francis Warden. If for nothing else, for unearthing Aungier's 
 Convention, his name deserves to be recorded in the history 
 of Bombay. But for his researches it might have been lost to 
 us beyond hope of recovery, and what with moth and damp, 
 would have shared the fate of other documents of which no trace 
 can be found to-day. It is indeed strange that the Convention 
 did not attract the notice of earlier writers. It must have 
 been entered into and ratified when Fryer was in Bombay. 
 Perhaps the learned doctor did not think it a sufficiently 
 interesting or important measure to find a place in his book 
 of travels. But Bruce 's silence on the subject is more difficult 
 to account for. Curiously enough, he has dealt with the 
 administration of Bombay under Gerald Aungier at great length, 
 doing justice to the virtues of this truly great Governor, and yet 
 one of the most important events during his regime has been 
 left unnoticed in his Annals. Speaking of Warden's services in 
 this connection, Douglas observes : 
 
 " The two highest legal officers of their day, the Chief Justice, Sir 
 Erskine Perry, and Sir Michael Westropp (died January 14, 1890, aged 73, 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 403 
 
 at Cannes), saw what an important bearing it (the Convention) had on 
 the land questions which came within the sphere of law, subject to their 
 decision ; and the one by his lucid explanation, so welcome to all who 
 are outside the ken of legal phraseology, and the other by statements 
 equally lucid, but showing a vast deal more of erudition and historical 
 research, have made, we venture to say, the judgments in which these 
 explanations and researches are contained, a standard and text book on 
 the land question in Bombay to the legal student for all time coming." * 
 
 Let us now examine the terms of the Convention. Its fourteen 
 articles are as follows f : 
 
 "1. That in consideration of the twenty thousand Xeraphins to be paid 
 annually at three payments into the Honourable Company's treasury, 
 the said Governor and Council do in behalf of the Honourable East 
 India Company promise to put a final end to all claims, pretences, and 
 law-suits whatever which have arisen or may arise between the Honour- 
 able Company and the people, touching the titles, lands or estates of 
 palmeiras, cocoanut-trees, or batty grounds, throughout the whole isle, 
 excepting what is by joint agreement accepted, 
 
 "2. That to the present possessors be granted new patents, confirmed 
 according to the respective titles, by which their heirs and successors 
 shall enjoy their estates. 
 
 " 3. That if the Governor and his Council at present in power, or their 
 successors, shall think good, in behalf of the Honourable Company, to 
 exempt any person enjoying the said lands from paying his proportion of 
 the said contribution, or shall make use of any part of the said lands for 
 the necessary occupation of the public, abatement shall be made out of 
 the said contribution, in proportion to the lands so exempted or disposed 
 of, and this in respect the said contribution is made upon all the estates 
 and lands of inheritance of the whole isle. 
 
 " 4. That all estates of batty grounds and cocoanut-trees seized by 
 former Governors and now in possession of the Honourable Company 
 shall be restored to their respective owners, and they, their heirs and 
 successors, confirmed in their said possession as above is expressed. 
 
 " 5. That if, in time to come, any of the said lands and estates shall 
 fall to the Honourable Company by any title whatsoever, as also if any 
 
 * Bombay and Western India, i. p. 88 (footnote). It is true, however, that 
 questions of land-holding do not seem to attract the ordinary historian. The 
 Act of 12 Car. II. which abolished feudal tenures receives little notice in popular 
 English history. 
 
 f The Convention forms the substance of No. 3 of the appendix to 
 Warden's original Report, but the copy of it in the High Court Law Library 
 is sheared of all its appendices, nor does it find a place in the Proceedings of 
 the Geographical Society (vol. iii. for 1839-40), where the Report itself is 
 reprinted, though not in full. Campbell, however, has not omitted to 
 publish it in the Gazetteer Materials, from which we have quoted these articles. 
 
404 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 trees shall be cut down, or any oarts of batty ground made use of for the 
 buildmg of cities, towns or fortifications, then the value of the said lands 
 and trees shall be computed, and a proportionate abatement made out of 
 the contribution, as is expressed in the third article. 
 
 "6. That as to the particular of dunging the palmeiras and batty 
 grounds with fish, it is agreed unto by the Governor and Council and 
 granted of as much import to the contribution that what part of the isle 
 hath this year been permitted to be dimged with babaxim (small fish) 
 shall be still permitted, reserving the ground which is comprehended 
 within the line of the city which by God's assistance is intended to be 
 built. But in respect the above said dunging the ground is forbidden 
 generally by express orders from the Honourable Company of London, 
 it is necessary that their license be had thereunto. For the effectual 
 securing of this it is convenient that the people do send their humble 
 petition to the Honourable Company by their ships, and the Governor 
 and Council will intercede in their behalf and doubt not but that the 
 Honourable Company will be pleased to confirm the grant, seeing it is so 
 profitable to the pubhc. 
 
 "7. That in case hereafter by reason of any storm or calamitous 
 accident (which God divert) part of the said lands or estates be destroyed 
 or rendered incapable of bearing fruit, it shall be referred to the 
 Governor and Council then being to make such reasonable allowance of 
 the contribution as shaU consist with equity, good conscience, and ease 
 of the inhabitants. 
 
 "8. That for the greater convenience and ease of the people in raising 
 the said sum of 20,000 Xeraphins, Hberty shaU be granted to the 
 interested for to nominate and appoint from among themselves such 
 persons of sober and honest reputation as they shall think fit for the 
 proportionate valuation of all estates and lands, for the collecting and 
 receiving the said money and paying it into the Honourable Company's 
 treasury, which said persons are to be confirmed by the Governor, and 
 shall take oath on the Holy Evangelists to deal justly and impartially 
 with all. That the Honourable Company shall not be at any charge in 
 receiving the said sum. But for the greater authority and accommoda- 
 tion of the said persons so appointed, two officers shall be ordered by the 
 Governor in behalf of the Honourable Company to assist them in their 
 said office, as occasion shall require. 
 
 " 9. That all royalties, rights, privileges, and immunities which did 
 formerly belong to the Crown of Portugal, of (sicY' Foras and Boyal 
 rents of what nature and condition soever, shall be reserved as of right 
 they belong to the Honourable Company. 
 
 " 10. That in regard to the little isle Colio f (Colaba) reaching from the 
 
 * A mistake seems to have crept in while copying out this article from the 
 original. It is probable that the word intended to be used was " and," not 
 '• of." The substitution of " and " certainly makes the article more intelligible. 
 
 t ColiOy or as it was called by the Portuguese Candil, probably derives its 
 name from the aboriginal race of fishermen still known as Coli, or Koli, who 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 405 
 
 outward point westwardly of the isle to the paccari (pahhadi)^ or parish 
 called Polo (Palav=Apollo) f will be of great use to the Honourable 
 Company, in the good design which they have for the security and 
 defence of this whole isle, it is hereby agreed that it shall be totally and 
 wholly reserved for the use of the said Company, they making such 
 reasonable satisfaction to the person interested therein as hereafter is 
 expressed. 
 
 "11. That whereas by the manifesto presented by the people the first 
 payment of the 20,000 Xeraphins should begin the 9th of February next 
 ensuing, it is agreed the first payment due on the 9th February shall be 
 suspended to the 9th June following, being the year 1673, which said 
 sum shall be left in the hands of the people, by the Governor and 
 Council, towards purchasing and buying out those persons who have 
 estates and lands in the Colio, whom they are obliged to satisfy in their 
 respective demands, always provided that the people shall pay the quit- 
 rent due the 9th February as was formerly accustomed. 
 
 " 12. That in regard the Company have expressly ordered a survey to 
 be taken of the whole isle, it is necessary that the lands and estates of 
 each person be measured, the charges whereof shall be limited with a 
 just moderation for the ease of the people. 
 
 "13. That there shall be reserved for the Honourable Company all 
 grounds on the waterside within the compass of the isle to be disposed of 
 in necessary occasions for the public, excepting such grounds wherein 
 there are at present planted gardens of cocoanut-trees or rice-grounds, 
 as also churches, houses, or warehouses of stone. And whensoever, for 
 the public good, it shall be necessary to make use of any of the said 
 places or properties, the Governor and Council shall make satisfaction to 
 the interest in a reasonable manner. But the people are to take notice 
 that in this they receive a particular favour from the Honourable Com- 
 pany, their Governor and Council, in regard that in all kingdoms of the 
 
 then occupied a village or hamlet on the isle, which would appear to be that 
 now known as Colaba or Koolaba — Arabic for a strip of land running out into 
 the sea. Colaba was otherwise known as the Old'Woman^s Island. 
 
 * Paccari or Pakhadi is Marathi for a paved path, or an alley (literally, a 
 wing) of a village. 
 
 t " Polo, a corruption of Palwa," says Sir Michael Westropp, " is derived 
 from Pal, which, inter alia, means a large fighting vessel, by which kind of 
 craft the locality was probably frequented. From Palwa or Palwar, the 
 bander now called Apollo is supposed to take its name." But Da Cunha 
 combats this derivation. He would rather trace the origin of the word to 
 pallav, which, in Marathi, means " a cluster of shoots or sprouts," also " an 
 embellishment." But the author does not seem to be quite certain about 
 this. For he adds : " What those features of embellishment were, whether 
 connected with the cluster of the masts of the fighting boats or some physical 
 peculiarity of the place, I must leave to the imagination of the reader." On 
 the other hand, the learned Judge's derivation obtains force from the fact 
 that both in Portuguese and Marathi there are words meaning a small boat 
 corresponding to the word palwa. 
 
406 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 world the ground on the waterside from the distance of forty yards at 
 least froEQ the high water-mark belongs as a sovereign right and privilege 
 to the Kings or Princes thereof. 
 
 •' 14. That seeing the principal aim and intention of this happy agree- 
 ment and composition is designed for the security, tranquillity, peace and 
 universal content of the respective inhabitants, the Governor and Council 
 do in behalf of the Honourable Company establish and ratify this agree- 
 ment, as perpetual and irrevocable, between the Honourable Company 
 and the people, and for the further satisfaction of the inhabitants and 
 people, they do promise to prevail with the Honourable Company to 
 establish and confirm the same by patent made under their hands and 
 seals, and given under our Hands and sealed with the Honourable Com- 
 pany's Seal in Bombay Castle, the 12th of November, anno. 1672." * 
 
 To this agreement the Governor and all the members of 
 Council solemnly put their signatures — including Captain John 
 Shaxton, Deputy-Governor, who ''by reason of sickness being 
 absent from the Public assembly this general agreement was 
 sent him by the Governor's order and he declareth his full con- 
 sent to all contents thereof as appears by his own handwriting 
 annexed hereunto " — as also one hundred and twenty of the 
 eminents of the povo, on behalf of all the inhabitants of the 
 town and island of Bombay. 
 
 It may be said without exaggeration that Governor Aungier's 
 Convention marks the most important epoch in the history of 
 land tenures in Bombay. It was productive of far-reaching 
 results which even his prophetic eye could hardly have foreseen. 
 The best and truest verdict on this, perhaps the greatest event 
 in an administration which was packed with incidents tending to 
 the welfare of the people and the growth of the Company, is 
 that recorded by James Douglas in the following significant 
 words : " The Convention of Aungier was a great, a wise, and 
 a statesmanlike measure ; that it is not only the basis upon 
 which the lands affected by it rest, but that upon it rests a 
 goodly part of the wealth, population, and commercial greatness 
 of our city." f And the far-reaching effect of the Convention is 
 thus pointed out by "Warden : 
 
 "At this early period, therefore, were the inhabitants secured in their 
 possessions, and all who now hold property subject to the payment of 
 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. pp. 260-262. 
 t Bombay and Western Lidia, i. p. 91. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 407 
 
 what is called pension, possess it by a tenure of which the Government 
 cannot deprive them, unless the land is required for building 'cities, 
 towns, or fortifications,' when reasonable satisfaction is to be made to 
 the proprietors." * 
 
 It is true that the agreement was never formally ratified by the 
 Court of Directors, though its last article distinctly made pro- 
 vision for its ratification. But, as Sir Michael Westropp pointed 
 out, there is no doubt that it has been acted upon alike by the 
 Government of Bombay and the inhabitants. Both parties had 
 solemnly agreed that it should be "perpetual and irrevocable," 
 and perpetual and irrevocable it has remained up to the present 
 day. In the absence of positive proof of its ratification, the fact 
 that it has never been repudiated either by the Company or the 
 Crown has its own significance. Cooke's Convention was ex- 
 pressly repudiated, because it contained evidence of coercion on 
 the part of the Portuguese authorities and of corruption on that 
 of the Governor. It would be almost a sacrilege to speak of 
 Aungier's Convention and Cooke's Capitulation in the same 
 breath. The one was the outcome of free will — "it being the 
 afi'air of their " {i.e., of the povo, or estate-holders) " own 
 request and seeking after" — the other of compulsion — "which 
 capitulation," wrote the King, "neither he, Humphrey, was 
 empowered to come unto, nor anyone else to impose upon him 
 in contravention to a compact framed in so solemn and religious 
 a manner." The former was entered into by a man whose 
 integrity was unquestionable, the latter by one who had accepted 
 bribes and forged title-deeds. Not that Aungier had fewer 
 opportunities than Cooke to be corrupt if so minded. On the 
 contrary, there was greater scope for corruption in 1674 than in 
 1664. Cooke was, after all, a makeshift Governor ; but Aungier 
 had succeeded Oxenden in the Government of Bombay by right 
 of seniority. He might have done a number of things without 
 attracting the notice of the Directors. For instance, like Cooke, 
 he might have stooped to bribery and other vile practices to 
 satisfy the claims of Portuguese landlords even at the expense 
 of the Company's interests, and at the same time filled his own 
 pockets. But, as Douglas observes, "no temptation of human 
 passion or ambition could seduce Aungier from his allegiance to 
 the one path of duty on which he had entered, and no accusation 
 * Warden's Report, para. 33. 
 
408 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 can be brought against the English for using their authority 
 unjustly." Even a cursory glance at the Convention will con- 
 vince everyone of the spirit of conciliatoriness and strict impar- 
 tiality which permeates its fourteen articles. The Portuguese 
 estate-holders were growing desperate in respect of their claims, 
 and the authorities themselves had got tired of the disputes, which 
 had been continuous from the date of the cession. Aungier 
 must have felt the necessity of meeting the people more than 
 half-way. Hence we find him acceding to most of the condi- 
 tions, though not unmindful of the interests of his masters. 
 The sum for which he bartered away most valuable lands in 
 Bombay — 20,000 xeraphins, or about £1,200 * a year — seems to 
 us to-day a mere bagatelle. But we must not judge of the 
 bargain by the money-value of the property obtaining at the 
 present day. We should rather judge of it by the description 
 of the town and island of Bombay and of its extent and impor- 
 tance which is left by Fryer and quoted above. A great part of 
 the island was, as we have seen, practically worthless, being 
 covered by the sea. The territorial acquisitions which the 
 Marriage Treaty of 1661 brought to England, though consider- 
 able in area, were worth but little in value. If the whole island 
 had been put up to auction at the time it might not have fetched 
 an annual rental of even £2,000. So that the bargain struck by 
 Aungier with the povo of Bombay was not as bad as it looks on 
 paper. Moreover, the Convention did not touch the feudal 
 superiority of the Crown ; that was left intact then and for all 
 time to come. Only, the possession of those who held lands on 
 payment of a certain amount of quit-rent was confirmed on their 
 guaranteeing to pay twenty thousand xeraphins every year. All 
 land lying outside the island and having no owners was recog- 
 nised as vested in the Crown — i.e., virtually in the Company. 
 In other words, the Company got whatever was not liable to 
 rent, including the foreshore. This may not have appeared a 
 desirable acquisition then, but it should not be forgotten that 
 what was regarded in the days of Aungier as an utterly worthless 
 piece of territory, namely, the foreshore, has proved to-day 
 perhaps the most valuable property in Bombay. There is 
 another point in the Convention deserving of notice, and that 
 is the acquisition of the isle of Colio. If Aungier' s Convention 
 * Probably equivalent to £4,000 or £5,000 to-day. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 409 
 
 had been productive of no other result than this, it would still 
 have deserved a place in the history of Bombay. Aungier was 
 quick enough to perceive the value of Colaba and the possibilities 
 of its development. Being an island, it did not form part of the 
 territory which the English acquired at the cession. But the 
 Portuguese did not object to its alienation a few years after, as 
 it was not worth their while retaining it without the island of 
 Bombay. Hence it was purchased by the English — a purchase 
 which is another proof of the foresight of Gerald Aungier. 
 There is yet another event which proves the strict impartiality 
 with which this, the most famous of our early Governors, tried 
 to give effect to the terms of the Convention. Two years after 
 it was entered into, the rumour spread over the island that the 
 compact was not the outcome of the free will of the inhabitants, 
 as it was represented to be, but a coercive measure. This must 
 have surprised and irritated Aungier. In order to vindicate his 
 conduct in the affair he immediately took certain measures, 
 which have been recorded in the following " Consultation," 
 dated July 16, 1674: 
 
 " Whereas the Governor and Council being given to understand that 
 several inhabitants of the isle did give out divers words tending to the 
 dishonour and discredit of the Honourable Company's Government on 
 this isle, saying that the above said contract, made between the Governor 
 or Honourable Company and the Povo, was an unjust and accursed con- 
 tract. Whereupon the Governor summoned all the Povo to meet at a 
 General Assembly in Bombay Castle this day, where, being assembled 
 accordingly, the Governor declared the cause of their assembly here this 
 day, desiring them to declare their minds freely without the least appre- 
 hension of fear concerning their sense of the said contract, and whether 
 they owned those exclamations against it, declaring further that they 
 were at their own liberty whether it should be disannulled and made 
 void, or be confirmed. Whereupon the Povo in general stated they never 
 exclaimed against the said contract, but were thoroughly satisfied there- 
 with and of the justice thereof, it being an affair of their own requesting 
 and seeking after. They desired that the Governor and Council would 
 be pleased to ratify unto them and confirm the said contract. This was 
 unanimously on both sides agreed on, and signed and confirmed by both 
 parties in Bombay Castle, the 16th July, 1674, 26th CaroH Secundi Kegis 
 Anglia."* 
 
 The above passage testifies to the solicitude which Aungier 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials^ xxvi. part iii. p. 262. 
 
410 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 invariably showed for a free expression of public opinion. He 
 was most anxious that the Convention should rest on the 
 people's free and unfettered will, without the least pressure 
 from outside. Curiously enough, those who objected to the 
 terms of the compact were his own countrymen, who were 
 smitten with earth-hunger even at that early stage in the 
 development of Bombay. They refused to close with the Con- 
 vention, probably because more favourable terms were not 
 offered them. "But Aungier was inexorable," writes Douglas, 
 ** as every English landholder knows to this day by his tax- 
 papers. We cannot make fish of one and flesh of the other. 
 Pay like your neighbours." Even after the Convention was 
 ratified some of the malcontents seem to have complained to the 
 Court of Directors. Aungier's reply was characteristic of him. 
 In a despatch dated January 17, 1675-76, he wrote : 
 
 " When the contribution of 20,000 Xeraphins per annum raised on the 
 lands were established, certain English, very few in number, who pos- 
 sessed lands, refused to pay what was assessed on them, pretending they 
 did not sign the contract, which we thought not prudent to take much 
 notice of during the war. But, since, we have demanded what they owe 
 thereon, which they have much complained of, and we presume will pre- 
 sent your Honours with a petition, whereunto we have only to say that 
 a few might be gratified if the consequences were not evil. Private pro- 
 perty is generally too eagerly pressed, without regard to public inconveni- 
 ence. It may so fall out that a great part, if not the whole, of the lands 
 on the island may fall into the hands of the English, who might pretend 
 the same privilege, and therefore we thought it not safe to begin an evil 
 example. But we submit to your better judgment; it were well if the 
 English were encouraged to plant on the island, which would be made 
 secure, if all the land were possessed by them. But some better way 
 may be found to privilege them above others, which we recommend to 
 your Honours' better judgment." * 
 
 Aungier may have been wrong in his surmise, as Douglas thinks 
 he was, that, if the English proprietors were excluded from the 
 provisions of this agreement, they might one day hold the fee- 
 simple of the entire island and jeopardise the feudal superiority 
 of the Crown ; but the fact that reflects credit on the man is the 
 sense of justice which actuated him to avoid any distinction 
 whatever on the score of racial diversity. 
 
 ♦ Bombay High Court Reports, iv. . 45, note. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 411 
 
 There are a few points in connection with Aungier's Conven- 
 tion which deserve a passing notice here, as some doubt seems 
 to have been entertained regarding them. The first is that the 
 military service which the estate-holders were required to render 
 to the King was left absolutely untouched by the compact. The 
 then possessors of lands and estates in Bombay were confirmed 
 in their possessions on payment of a yearly contribution of 
 20,000 xeraphins to the Company, including the quit-rent, or 
 for as, which was paid at the time. But there was no mention 
 made of the military service in this clause, nor was it stated 
 anywhere in the agreement that it was commuted by the 
 authorities in consideration of the annual payment. And when, 
 a few years after, some of the Portuguese inhabitants refused 
 military aid during the war with the Mogul, on the ground that 
 under Aungier's Convention they were exempted from further 
 liability in that respect, they were considered to have forfeited 
 the rights to their lands. It was not till 1718 that a tax was 
 imposed on the landholders in lieu of military service. Another 
 point, perhaps more important than the above, is that the Con- 
 vention referred only to fazendari lands, and not to foras 
 or salt batty grounds. Indeed, the salt batty grounds — that is, 
 those grounds which were submerged and recovered from the sea 
 by persistent efforts — were not in existence at the date of the 
 compact. All land in Bombay, when Gerald Aungier was 
 Governor, may be broadly classified into fazendari land and 
 Government land. This classification has its origin in the mode 
 in which the assessment was made, for a difi'erent rate of tax, 
 pension, or assessment was applicable to Government land and 
 fazendari land. The term " fazendari " is derivable from the 
 Portuguese word fazendeiro, from fazenda, an estate, but there 
 seems to be some doubt as to its meaning. According to Da 
 Cunha, *' fazendeiro " means an estate-holder or proprietor ; but 
 Sri Erskine Perry says that the word never seems to have been 
 used to designate a proprietor, and that it does not appear that 
 the Portuguese law contains any trace of a tenure similar to that 
 called fazendari in Bombay. He defines it as "a cultivator, a 
 tiller, a husbandman." But, as already noted, in course of time 
 the fazendar of an estate also became its proprietor, by right of 
 usurpation, if not of ownership. On this point Perry, C.J., 
 makes the following observations in his lucid and learned 
 
412 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 judgment in Boe d. Dorabji Dadi Santuk v. The Bishop of 
 Bombay : 
 
 " The origin of the relation between fazendars and householders, where 
 the possession is ancient and no proofs of a contract are forthcoming, is 
 altogether unknown. Whether the fazendars were the original owners 
 of the soil, or mere cultivators and farmers holding of other persons, such 
 as the Jesuits, and religious houses once existing in Bombay ; whether 
 the house occupiers have encroached upon the fazendars, and have 
 turned their permissive right to occupy into an indefeasible right on 
 certain conditions, like the copyholders and tenants of the Northern 
 manors in England ; or whether the fazendars have encroached upon the 
 Government, and usurped the right to claim the Government assessment 
 from the tenants, it is by no means easy to say." * 
 
 The fact that the Convention speaks of the lands as *' lands of 
 inheritance," and makes mention of "the heirs " of the owners, 
 coupled with other evidence, has led Sir Michael Westropp to 
 conclude that even at that early date the Portuguese inhabitants 
 were amenable to the laws of England rather than to those of 
 their own country. But the latter argument seems rather weak : 
 ** heirs," in Portuguese as in Latin Law generally, is the proper 
 and accepted word to designate successors, testamentary or 
 intestate. 
 
 Let us now cast a rapid glance at the events which followed 
 Aungier's Convention. The only other incident of note that 
 occurred before Gerald Aungier passed away in 1677 was the 
 raising of a militia in Bombay, consisting of six hundred men, 
 maintained by about one hundred of the principal landowners on 
 the island. The patriotism displayed by the inhabitants of this 
 Imperial city, even at that early stage, deserves special mention. 
 This help was not tendered in lieu of the military services which 
 they were expected to perform under their feudal tenure ; it was 
 in the nature of a supplementary aid to Government. On Mr. 
 Henry Oxenden succeeding as Governor, a report was submitted 
 to the Directors on the internal affairs of the island, stating that 
 the revenues from Customs then amounted to 30,000 xeraphins, 
 and the duty on tobacco to 20,000 xeraphins, per annum. He 
 added that though the inhabitants were numerous — the popula- 
 tion of Bombay having increased from ten thousand to sixty 
 thousand during Aungier's beneficent administration — they 
 * Perry's Oriental Cases, p. 604 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 413 
 
 mostly belonged to the poorer classes, to whom every indulgence 
 had been shown in the hope of inducing a larger number of wealthy 
 native merchants and manufacturers to settle on the island. The 
 authorities had decided to make Bombay the chief centre of 
 trade and power on the Western coast. With the view of en- 
 hancing its importance, commercially as well as politically, they 
 did everything in their power to attract people to it from outside. 
 They retained the Gentoo soldiers in their service, and gave 
 them lands for maintenance, on condition of their paying h^lf 
 the produce of the soil to the Company. To the English soldiers 
 was offered half-pay after seven years' service, with land to 
 settle on if they gave their labour in return for the cultiva- 
 tion of it. In short, every possible facility was afforded to 
 the immigrants, and in their zeal to populate the island the 
 Government sometimes jeopardised their own interests. The 
 increase of population necessarily meant a corresponding in- 
 crease in civil and military charges, and a decrease in the 
 extent of the property available for cultivation. The Directors 
 thereupon ordered, in 1679, that all houses on the island should 
 be valued and a proportionate tax imposed upon each, that the 
 uncultivated land be surveyed and let out on rent, and that the 
 marshy ground be drained and rendered fit for agriculture. As 
 regards this latter proposal, the Bombay Government had already 
 decided, in 1677, to entrust the reclamation of "flats" — as 
 marshy lands in and around Bombay came to be known in later 
 days — to private individuals. 
 
 " We are of opinion," they wrote, " that it is more consistent with your 
 interest to leave them to be drained by others than to drain them at 
 your own charge. We therefore shall embrace any fair proposals by 
 able undertakers, reserving to you those just rights and advantages which 
 we can acquire." 
 
 The Court of Directors approved of this suggestion, adding 
 that 
 
 " if from any of the coasts near Bombay you can exchange aqua 
 quantities of salt for rice, nothing can be so profitable to us as to convert 
 all those drowned lands when they are rescued from the sea into salt- 
 pans after the manner of those at Eochelt in France or Santuvaly in 
 Portugal." 
 
414 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 But the undertakers declined to pay any other rent to the 
 Company than a bare acknowledgment for reclaiming inundated 
 land, and at the same time claimed the fee-simple in them 
 for ever. This the authorities naturally objected to, but offered 
 them the lands on a lease for a term of years, on payment of a 
 small quit-rent, reserving to themselves the fee-simple. A tax 
 on houses was imposed in 1679, but it did not suffice to defray 
 the cost of administration ; so, a few years after, a duty of 
 half a dollar was levied on all ships anchoring in the harbour 
 of Bombay, and of one rupee per annum on each shopkeeper 
 on the island. But even these expedients failed to equalise 
 revenue and expenditure. Besides, the growth of population 
 in Bombay did not bring in its train a corresponding increase 
 of wealth and prosperity. For ten years after the Convention 
 was signed, the landlords complained that the proportion of 
 the quit-rent they were required to pay under it was too high. 
 The authorities were, however, of a different opinion. In 1682 
 the Directors wrote to the Bombay Council as follows : 
 
 " We do not wonder the Povo (people) would not pay us the quarter 
 parts of the lands they possess ; but that was the measure, and we shall 
 expect the performance of it. The Xs.20,000 was computed at that 
 time as agreeable to the proportion of a fourth part, and it may be was 
 fully so much then. But we know the mildness of the Company's 
 Government. The great charge they have been at in the fortifying of 
 Bombay, and consequently the increase of trade, hath augmented the 
 value of the lands of that place, and it is but equitable that the revenue 
 should grow better with the meliorating of their lands at our great charge. 
 We, therefore, require you to exact that proportion from them." * 
 
 In 1689 Bombay was raised to the dignity of a Kegency, and 
 in order to make it commercially supreme, certain improvements 
 and innovations were proposed to be carried out, as, for instance, 
 the establishment of a post office and an insurance office. 
 To meet this extra expenditure it was resolved that a pro- 
 gressive duty should be imposed of from one shilling to two 
 shillings and sixpence on every house in Bombay. But while 
 every effort was being made to improve the financial condition 
 of the island, unforeseen circumstances minimised the chances of 
 success. We have devoted a long chapter to the decadence 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 263. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 415 
 
 of Bombay at this period, and have investigated some of the 
 causes which contributed to it. One of these was the invasion 
 of Bombay by the Siddee, who had managed to get possession 
 of Mahim, Mazagaon, and Sion in 1688. On this occasion 
 the Jesuits were found to have given active support to the 
 enemy, and some of the Portuguese inhabitants had refused 
 to assist in the defence of the island, claiming exemption 
 from military service on the pretext that Aungier's Convention 
 had absolved them from such liability. The Portuguese envoy 
 in London presented a memorial to the King in support of this 
 contention. But the Directors of the East India Company 
 had no difficulty in exposing its fallacy. They replied that 
 the inhabitants of the island of Bombay, while they were subject 
 to the King of Portugal, paid one-fourth part of the profit of 
 their lands as quit-rent, which President Aungier, soon after the 
 island came into the possession of the Company, commuted for 
 an annual payment of twenty thousand xeraphins, reserving 
 to the Company, as representing the King, the right to the 
 military services under which the lands were held by the Crown 
 of Portugal ; that during the late war with the Mogul, not 
 only had the payment of this sum been refused, but the right 
 to military service denied, and during the recent hostilities 
 the Portuguese inhabitants had, by refusing military aid, 
 forfeited the rights to their lands, though it was admitted that 
 they, by the cession of the island to England, had become 
 subjects of the King, to whom by their tenures they were bound 
 to afi'ord military service, either personally or by substitute, 
 more particularly during an invasion ; and that lands held by 
 ecclesiastics were equally bound to furnish military service 
 either by the possessors or by their substitutes.* In proof 
 of this they called attention to the fact that the tenure under 
 which military service was required was general all over India, 
 whether the colony was French, Dutch, or Danish. Accordingly, 
 the lands of the Jesuits, who had actively assisted the Siddee, 
 were ordered to be confiscated by the Deputy- Governor of 
 Bombay, but final decision was deferred until the arrival of 
 the President from Surat, who was to adjudge the claims of 
 the Portuguese and restore the lands to such of them as could 
 exculpate themselves, or confirm the right of the Company 
 * Warden's Beport, para. 53. 
 
416 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 to such portions as had been the property of the guilty. The 
 Court of Directors approved of this measure, holding that 
 the confiscation was justified by the precedent of Signer de 
 Tavora, which had been decided by Charles II. and the Privy 
 Council twenty years before, but at the same time ordered 
 that the lands be restored to such of the claimants as might 
 be found innocent. Conformably to these orders, lands were 
 restored to those proprietors who were proved not to have 
 actually assisted the Siddee in his invasion, on condition of 
 their paying one-fourth part of the produce for the first year 
 as a fine. Other lands in Bombay also became Government 
 property by virtue of the forfeitures made to the Company. 
 For instance, as we have already seen, when Rama Kamati 
 was found guilty of treason and conspiracy, his most valuable 
 estate within the Fort was confiscated, and eventually sold to 
 one Hurjeevan Surput for Rs. 22,600. And again, when, in 
 consequence of the Portuguese obstructing the communication 
 between Mahim and Bandora and harassing the English, a 
 proclamation was issued on July 5, 1720, requiring all persons 
 who lived in other parts and had estates on the island to repair 
 to Bombay with their arms within twenty-one days, on pain of 
 forfeiture of their property in case of non-compliance with the 
 order, the estates of some of the defaulters were seized by 
 the Government. For, on the expiration of the prescribed 
 period, none of the absentees appearing, the Vereadores were 
 ordered to enter upon and receive the produce of their estates, 
 and those who had demands on such property were referred 
 to the Chief Justice.* The Portuguese landlords seem to have 
 resisted the action taken by the English in the matter (which 
 indeed appears high-handed), and according to one report they 
 even maltreated the two messengers who conveyed the pro- 
 clamation to Salsette. 
 
 •' They seized and carried the unfortunate pair," says an early historian, 
 " with irons on their limbs, in mock triumph, first to Tanna, then to 
 Bandora, where they put their fortitude to the test by hoisting them on 
 a gibbet. The two men of peace were indeed suffered to return sound in 
 wind and Umb ; but according to their own artless admission, they were 
 made very sore and mighty terrified." f 
 
 * Warden's Report, para. 66. 
 
 t The Bombay Quarterly Review, iii. 1856, p. 63. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 417 
 
 However, a cannon-ball thrown into the fortified church of 
 Bandora brought the Portuguese to their senses, and the terms 
 of the proclamation were carried out without further resistance. 
 
 Warden has been at some pains to ascertain what, precisely, 
 were the lands that belonged to private individuals and what 
 to the sovereign at the date of Aungier's Convention. The 
 materials at his disposal were very scanty, and most of them 
 of doubtful value. But with the help of Fryer's descrip- 
 tion of the town and island of Bombay, combined with his 
 own research into the early history of the place, and other 
 collateral evidence, he has arrived at certain conclusions, which 
 may be summarised as follows : That the whole space within 
 the walls of the Fort, with the exception of the custom-house, 
 warehouses, and the few houses built by the Company, was 
 private property ; that the space at the end of the town 
 also fell into the same category ; that Parell and its demesnes, 
 including Sion, belonged to the Jesuits ; and that the side 
 where the Salvesong was situated, " all covered with trees 
 of cocoa, jawkes and mangoes," must also have been private 
 property, inclusive of the lands held by the ecclesiastics. 
 
 " In regard to the Crown lands," says Warden, " we are left entirely in 
 the dark, with the exception of the 40,000 acres of good land covered by 
 the sea, Malabar Hill, and Old Woman's Island; but even supposing 
 that more than a moiety of the island was in a barren state, and 
 consequently public property at the period of the cession, a considerable 
 portion must have been alienated under the operation of the orders of 
 the Honourable Court to invite strangers to settle on the island ; to 
 let the uncultivated land out on rent ; to assign portions of land to 
 Gentoo soldiers for their maintenance, the Company receiving half the 
 produce." * 
 
 To this must be added the wholesale forfeitures authorised 
 by the Directors at the commencement of the eighteenth 
 century, which must have comprised large tracts of ground 
 at Parell and its vicinity, mostly belonging to the Jesuits. 
 Moreover, as a result of the Court's orders in 1669, to 
 purchase certain lands in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
 Fort, several private estates must have changed hands and 
 become the property of the Crown. But after making allow- 
 * Warden's Report, para. 66. 
 
 27 
 
418 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 ance for all these considerations, the hroad fact remains that, 
 at the end of the seventeenth century, the greater portion of 
 cultivated lands within the Fort belonged to private individuals 
 rather than to the sovereign. The next question inquired into 
 by Warden was the manner in which the Government were 
 in the habit of leasing lands belonging to the Company, and 
 the principles on which this practice was based. It may be 
 said at the outset that no definite policy seems to have 
 governed the action of the authorities in the matter; and it 
 was this indefiniteness which ultimately led to the confusion 
 regarding the tenures of land in Bombay. No reliable infor- 
 mation as to the terms on which lands were leased out since 
 the date of the Convention is forthcoming, but Warden expresses 
 the opinion that, until 1718, the new tenants held their lands 
 as feuds at the will of the lord under an implied engagement 
 to afford military service when required. He also lays down 
 the following startling proposition : 
 
 " That the mode in which the Government has been in the practice of 
 permitting individuals to occupy ground, or, in other words, that the 
 custom of the manor has, upon every principle of equity, converted the 
 pubhc into private property — lease into copyhold tenures — and that 
 the Company have forfeited whatever right they might have possessed 
 to resume lands, or to alter the tenure which custom has established."* 
 
 But if the mode observed by the Government pointed to 
 this conclusion, the intention of the Company seems to have 
 been totally different. Whether with regard to cultivated 
 land within the Fort or uncultivated ground without, they 
 had always insisted on the right of the sovereign being 
 strictly guarded, and were opposed to the grant of a fee- 
 simple or absolute inheritance of any house or ground. This 
 is made clear by what the Directors wrote to the Bombay 
 Government on March 28, 1717, when it was brought to 
 their notice that an old house and ground in Bombay, called 
 Sir John Weybourne's estate, was sold to one Mr. John Hill, 
 **to him and his heirs for ever." Disapproving of this transac- 
 tion, they wrote : 
 
 * Warden's Report, para. 69. It is needless to remark that a valid custom 
 must go back in its origin to the year 1189 a.d. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 419 
 
 " We do not like this way of giving anybody a fee-simple or absolute 
 inheritance of any house or ground on Bombay. It may one time or 
 other be of ill consequence. We will have no more of it. But do allow 
 you to grant leases for a term of years or for lives with a liberty of renewal. 
 In that case do not give a very long term ; for once Bombay could be made 
 secure and fit to invite merchants and useful inhabitants to reside there, 
 we cannot doubt the ground-rents rising considerably."* 
 
 We find that Sir John Weybourne's estate changed hands at 
 this time rapidly and rather mysteriously. 
 
 " There is something extraordinary," says Warden, in paragraph 220 
 of his Eeport, " in the sale and repurchase of this old house and ground. 
 On the 20th of February, 1715, the Government bought of John Hill, in 
 behalf of the Company, all that messuage, &c., commonly called or 
 known by the name of ' Sir John Weybourne's House,' for Ks.3,000, 
 and on the 9th December, 1719, the Government sell this very property 
 to the very same person for Es.180 only." 
 
 This is certainly inexplicable. The value of property in 
 Bombay could not have sustained such a heavy fall in the 
 course of a few years. The tendency at the time was 
 rather to rise than decline. There is something more in the 
 sale and repurchase of this house than meets the eye. We 
 have already noticed that, under Aungier's Convention, though 
 the amount of the quit-rent payable to the sovereign was 
 fixed, the right to the military services of the tenants was 
 not commuted, but rather expressly recognised and reserved. 
 This duty, however, seems to have proved irksome to the 
 estate-holders, and more than one attempt was made by them 
 to get an exemption. In 1715 the Vereadores proposed to 
 enter into an agreement with the G-overnment, whereby they 
 craved exemption from finding trained bands of militia in 
 consideration of their paying fifteen thousand xeraphins every 
 year. The matter was referred to the Company, who called 
 upon the Bombay Government to report whether the sum 
 was a sufficient equivalent, and if it would alter the ancient 
 constitution of the island in such a manner as to prejudice 
 the Company's interests. Whether such a report was sub- 
 mitted or not, we do not know, but there can be no doubt 
 that military service continued to be exacted. Two years 
 after, the Directors, in their despatch dated February 21, 1717, 
 reminded the Government of their promise to improve the 
 * Campbell's Bombay Oazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 301. 
 
420 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 ground-rent within the city walls by letting lands on 
 renewable leases, or by fines or quit-rent, or whatever way 
 the Government should judge best for the Company's 
 interest. 
 
 "The consideration of their prodigious charge," they wrote, " and the 
 people's protection and liberty are very cogent arguments, if rightly 
 managed, to convince every one why that ground ought to be valued 
 higher than it otherwise would." 
 
 Probably in pursuance of these orders, military service, so long 
 exacted from the estate-holders in Bombay, was, in 1718, com- 
 muted to a tax imposed on "all the inhabitants residing within 
 the town walls." This tax marks another important stage in 
 the history of landed tenures in Bombay, for it is said to have 
 altered the ancient constitution of the island, the Company 
 having thereby resigned their feudal claims.* About this time 
 the Government took upon themselves the defence of the town, 
 and surrounded it by a wall." f Finding the revenues inadequate 
 to meet this additional expenditure, they had to resort to certain 
 expedients, one of which was the imposition of the above tax. 
 But the principal inhabitants complained that the quit-rent was 
 raised too high, and several of them evaded payment by building 
 houses outside the town wall. Finding their complaint reason- 
 able, it was resolved that the quit-rent should be reduced by 
 one-half, but by way of supplying the consequent deficiency in 
 the revenues, it was, at the same time, ordered that all houses 
 within the distance of a cannon-shot from the city should pay 
 the same quit-rent in proportion as those built within. A 
 proclamation was drawn up, embodying the above terms, and 
 published, as usual, on October 3, 1720. 
 
 During the next decade the land question was allowed to 
 drift, probably because the Government was too much occupied 
 with efforts to restore the revenues of the island, which had 
 decreased to an alarming extent. They did everything in their 
 power to invite strangers to settle in Bombay, on condition of 
 their cultivating barren land or reclaiming ground lying under 
 
 * By 12 Car. II, (1660) " knight-service " was generally abolished in 
 England. 
 
 f In an inscription which was removed from the Apollo Gateway in the 
 middle of the last century, it was stated that the town wall was completed on 
 June 1, 1716, when Charles Boone was Governor. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 421 
 
 sea water. The whole of Malabar Hill was let on lease at a 
 rental of only one hundred and fifty rupees per annum ; and the 
 island of Colaba also for a proportionate amount. An extensive 
 plot of ground lying along the Back bay was let in 1728 to five 
 persons, on condition that they should plant 1,355 cocoanut- 
 trees. In this connection it is interesting to observe that some 
 years previously the Court of Directors had ordered that all 
 cocoanut and toddy trees standing within a mile of the principal 
 fort should be felled, but it was some time before these orders 
 were carried out. High value was set on the services of men 
 known as Bhandaris, who supported themselves by cultivating 
 palm-trees and drawing and distilling arrack. They had enjoyed 
 the privilege of selling arrack for a long time past, on condition 
 of rendering military service and keeping a guard at the Governor's 
 door from 9 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. Seven years after the 
 island had passed under the Company's rule, a sum of 200xeraphins 
 was demanded of them by the Government for allowing them to 
 continue to enjoy the monopoly of manufacturing and selling arrack, 
 but afterwards all their dues were remitted in consequence of the 
 bravery they displayed at the time of the Siddee's invasion. It was 
 on account of their warlike qualities and their splendid capacity for 
 work that an application from a number of Bhandaris, desiring 
 to settle on the island, was favourably received. The petition 
 was presented to Government through their Mukadum, Esu Naik, 
 who proposed renting between three hundred and four hundred 
 cocoanut-trees belonging to the Company, situated within the town 
 walls, at a certain yearly rent for each tree, for the term of seven 
 years. In this connection, the Consultation dated April 20, 1733, 
 records the following entry : 
 
 "As the said Bhandaris are highly deserving of encouragement, being 
 not only laborious and industrious in their occupation, but likewise bred 
 to the service of arms and ready on all occasions, it is agreed that the 
 said Esu Naik have betwixt three and four hundred trees for the term of 
 seven years at the usual rent of four and a half larees * for every tree 
 or three-quarters of a rupee silver money or sixty pice in pice money. 
 That they shall dehver up the said trees at the end of the sixth year 
 in the same good condition that they received them, but shall pay the 
 said rent for the term of seven years complete, as is more particularly 
 
 * Larees or larims were a peculiar kind of money formerly in use on the 
 Persian Gulf and on the West coast of India. 
 
422 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 expressed in the conditions of this farm ; and that the said rents shall 
 be punctually paid in quarterly payments."* 
 
 Even at that early date Government were keenly alive to 
 the value of cocoanut-trees, which brought in a steady income 
 and provided a welcome addition to the revenues of the island. 
 Cocoanuts both at Bombay and Mahim were also sold by lots, 
 every year, to the highest bidder, at what was known as a public 
 outcry ; and in 1733 we find that Navroji Rustamji and Sivaji 
 Dharamset were the highest bidders at Ils.22J per thousand 
 of 1,100 cocoanuts. The arrack rent about this time also 
 amounted to the respectable sum of Rs.l4,300.f This is, how- 
 ever, somewhat of a digression. The fact worth noting is that, 
 until then, no system of leasing land within the Fort or on the 
 island generally was regularly observed, nor were the titles of 
 householders ascertained, nor was a survey of all or parts of the 
 island attempted until the year 1731, when, for the first time, 
 it was ordered that a survey should be made of all lands within 
 the Fort, whether occupied by natives or Europeans. In that 
 year an attempt also seems to have been made to equalise quit 
 and ground rents. The Consultation dated December 3, 1731, 
 contains the following entry : 
 
 " The mensuration of the ground within the town walls at present 
 occupied by the English as well as Black inhabitants made, by order of 
 Council, by a Committee of this Board with the assistance of Captain 
 William Saunderson, Clerk of the Works, and of Ramji and Rango, 
 Purvoes, is now laid upon the table with a calculate of quit-rent and 
 ground-rent at a certain sum the square yard, which is and has been 
 hitherto paid in a manner entirely unascertained, whereby some people 
 have been prejudiced and others favoured. To prevent this abuse for 
 the future it is agreed that the English inhabitants shall hereafter pay 
 the same quit-rent for their houses that they have hitherto been assessed 
 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 333. 
 
 t In this connection Douglas relates the following amusing story: 
 " Norman Macleod's conversation on the Tree Tax, on the morning after his 
 arrival in India, was, as nearly as I can remember, ' What sort of a tree is 
 that?' 'A palm-tree.' * Yes, I know it's a palm-tree, but what kind of 
 palm-tree ? ' 'A toddy palm-tree.' ' Yes, I think I have heard the name 
 before; and what are these letters painted white upon it?' ' For taxation.' 
 ' You don't mean to say the trees in India are taxed ? ' ' Yes.' * Oh, India I 
 the very hairs of your head are numbered!'" [Bombay and Western India, 
 i. 98, note). 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 423 
 
 in. But for such ground as they may have taken in since the building 
 of their houses or may hereafter take in, they shall pay an additional 
 quit-rent of 6 res for each square yard, but be free of ground-rent. All 
 Native or Black inhabitants shall pay for the ground that they now 
 occupy or shall hereafter occupy a quit-rent of 6 res and a ground-rent 
 of 5 res for each square yard." * 
 
 Warden gives a long extract in the 75th paragraph of 
 his Report, apparently quoting from the Consultation of the 
 same date (December 3, 1731), observing that in order to 
 prevent the abuse arising out of the loose manner in which quit 
 and ground rents were exacted, 
 
 " it was resolved that all persons that have a mind to build apply to the 
 Land Paymaster, and signify to him in what part of the town and what 
 sort of a house they design to build, and on the Paymaster's being 
 satisfied that the spot of ground they have pitched upon is a proper 
 situation for such a house, he is to grant them his license for building, 
 receiving as fees for the same two rupees and no more, provided the 
 said house is built with stone and mortar and covered with tiles, and 
 for such houses as are covered with cadjans, one rupee ; and upon any 
 of the inhabitants applying to the Secretary for a lease or certificate to 
 ascertain their title to the house to be built by license of the Paymaster, 
 he is to grant them such a lease or certificate for the same on paying 
 one rupee and no more." 
 
 According to Campbell, the Bombay Government went a step 
 further, and suggested to the Court of Directors, in 1732, that 
 both ground-rents and quit-rents should be remitted. With- 
 out awaiting the Company's instructions in the matter, they 
 seem to have suspended the collection of these rents, for when, 
 two years after, the Directors decided not to remit or abate 
 either of these two taxes, they were obliged to recover all the 
 arrears. This naturally gave rise to much discontent among the 
 estate-holders. They had, from the commencement, resented 
 the payment of either ground or quit rent, and in a petition sub- 
 mitted that, if Government stood in urgent need of money, a 
 further impost might be levied on trade rather than that they 
 should be compelled to pay a tax which was the more vexatious 
 to them on account of its novelty. To us this seems a weak 
 argument to advance, for rent is recognised as the least objec- 
 * Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 302. 
 
424 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 tionable form in which the subject can pay directly for the 
 support of the State, while import duties are always felt as 
 impediments to commerce. At the same time, it should be 
 remembered that the rents had been fixed for good and all by 
 Aungier's Convention. The petitioners took care to point out 
 that 
 
 " in the first agreement between the Honourable Company and the 
 inhabitants of this island, it was stipulated that in consideration of the 
 annual payment of xeraphins 20,000 (which pension is now collected), 
 the land that had been taken from any of the inhabitants should 
 be restored and their estates ascertained, when your petitioners con- 
 ceive it was intended they should not be subject to farther taxes on 
 estates. Notwithstanding which they now pay quit-rent for all houses 
 built on their own ground. Also that when they made a voluntary gift 
 of Es.30,000 (besides the 2 per cent.) towards building the town wall, 
 they humbly hoped they should not be liable to any farther charge for 
 such ground belonging to the Honourable Company as they might 
 obtain liberty to build upon, though they are now obliged to pay the 
 heavy duties of both ground and quit rent." 
 
 But their prayer could not be granted, as the Court of Directors 
 had already issued orders that both quit-rents and ground-rents 
 should be continued as before and the arrears forthwith collected. 
 So inefficient was the machinery of the State, however, that 
 for a year and a half no steps were taken by the authorities to 
 enforce the orders, issued in 1731, that all persons intending to 
 build on the island should apply to the Land Paymaster and 
 obtain a license or certificate from him. This neglect on the 
 part of Government grew so scandalous that they were obliged 
 to adopt stringent measures, in consequence of which the 
 following orders were issued on May 18, 1733 : 
 
 *• It being found by experience that little regard has been paid by the 
 inhabitants within and without the walls to an order of Council made 
 the 3rd of December, 1731, directing that all persons who have houses, 
 or hereafter may have any, should apply to the Secretary for a regular 
 lease of the said house or houses, paying him one rupee as his fees for 
 drawing out the said lease, it is agreed that we order a publication to be 
 made enforcing the said order, under penalty of dispossessing all such 
 persons as shall not produce an authentic lease signed by the Secretary 
 in six months from the date of the said publication, ascertaining their 
 right to the said house or houses and the ground they are built on." 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 425 
 
 It was at the same time provided that the Secretary, in 
 framing such leases, " should grant a term of forty-one years, 
 renewable on the party's paying a fine of a half-year's rent 
 of the said house or tenement, according as the same shall be 
 valued by the Second in Council and the Collector of the 
 revenues for the time being and the possessor." * The above 
 proclamation betrays the ignorance of Government regarding 
 the nature of landed tenures then in force in Bombay, as well as 
 the weakness of their position. If they had really understood 
 the question they professed to decide by one stroke of the pen, 
 they would not have issued orders which were as ill-considered 
 as they were unjustifiable.! For, what did the authorities 
 attempt to do ? They required all the landholders indiscrimin- 
 ately — even those whose estates were secured under Aungier's 
 Convention — to apply for regular leases for the term of forty-one 
 years, renewable on the payment of a fine, on pain of forfeiture 
 of their property in the event of their refusal ; in short, they 
 tried to transform, all of a sudden, possessors in fee-simple into 
 lessees. " Was it to be expected," asks Warden, " that tenants 
 who had obtained possession according to the custom of the 
 manor would have taken out leases for forty-one years for lands 
 which had descended in the family for upwards of half a century 
 probably ? " The Bombay Government of 1733 evidently 
 entertained such an expectation. And what was the effect of 
 this injudicious proclamation ? Six months after its publication 
 it was discovered that no leases had been applied for and no 
 forfeitures made ; in fact, the land revenue remained as before 
 under no regular system, and the solution of the problem of 
 
 * Warden's Report, para. 76. 
 
 f In this connection it may be noted that in 1742 the Government of 
 Bombay undertook to inquire into the origin of the pension tax and the 
 manner in which it was first settled and assessed, and eventually to discover 
 if it was kept up to the original scale or if any augmentation could be 
 effected. The inquiry was made under considerable difficulty, owing to the 
 dearth of materials for a competent knowledge on the subject, and particu- 
 larly as no assistance was forthcoming from any of the registers then in 
 existence. Much of the information having been collected from the most 
 intelligent inhabitants on the island, the report was prepared by the President 
 and Council and preserved in the Consultation Book of the period for future 
 guidance. It will be found in Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. 
 part iii. p. 304, and is well worth reading, as it throws much valuable light 
 on the subject treated of in this chapter. 
 
42S BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 landed tenures became more difficult than ever. A variety of 
 other measures of a similar nature were adopted by Government 
 with the view of ascertaining and preserving the sovereignty 
 of the Crown, on the one hand, and the rights of the people on 
 the other, in the soil, but they were not productive of any 
 practical results. "We are," says Warden, '*as much in 
 ignorance of the royal rights on the island in 1814 as our fore- 
 fathers were two hundred years ago." And we may add that 
 our ignorance has not lessened with the lapse of another century. 
 Warden is most emphatic in his denunciation of the policy 
 pursued by Government in this matter. He has been driven 
 to the conclusion that these hasty and ill-considered proclama- 
 tions have weakened the Company's rights, and in a manner 
 legalised the claims of private individuals. 
 
 •* The mere issuing of a proclamation," he observes, " proves nothing ; 
 those futile and unmeaning measures appear to me as strong presumptive 
 evidence against the Company. The proprietors of land have disobeyed, 
 or rather disregarded, the orders of the Government in every instance, 
 the penalties fulminated against any act of contumacy have not been 
 exacted, and they still remain in undisturbed possession." ^' 
 
 In proof of this may be cited another measure which was 
 adopted in 1739. At this period the Marathas had come into 
 some prominence through the prowess of their arms, and there 
 was some fear of the island being attacked by them. Both the 
 Government and the public were agreed upon the necessity of 
 constructing a ditch round the walls of the Fort, which was 
 in a wretched condition. The principal merchants of Bombay 
 became so alarmed at the prospect of being governed by the 
 Marathas that they willingly untied their purse-strings and, in 
 1739, subscribed the sum of Rs. 30,000 towards the con- 
 struction of the ditch, "which," say the records of the period, 
 
 * Later on in the report, while controverting Dickinson's opinion on this 
 point, he again observes : " I do contend that the Company have relinquished 
 their right to resume any part of the ground within the Fort paying rent at 
 their will and pleasure. They may resume it for public purposes on paying 
 a full value of the property. That ' the most rigid orders have been issued 
 from time to time to preserve its spirit,' I admit ; but I have failed to dis- 
 cover a single instance where those orders have been 'enforced.' The non- 
 enforcement of those orders affords to my mind presumptive evidence of the 
 weakness of the Company's cause, and of an abandonment of their rights." 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 427 
 
 '* was as much as could have been expected from that body, 
 considering the low declined state of trade." At the same time 
 that this work was commenced, Government remarked on 
 
 " the irregular practice that had obtained of planting trees and building 
 houses, through the permission or connivance of the Government, within 
 the distance prescribed for the safety of all regular fortifications, against 
 which the necessary precaution having hitherto been entirely disregarded, 
 it behoved the Board to come to such a resolution as may effectually 
 prevent this evil in future, and obviate such irregularities and incon- 
 veniences as have arisen for want of a proper control in the buildings, 
 works, and plantation of trees both within and without the walls." 
 
 In accordance with the above Consultation, the following 
 order was duly promulgated : 
 
 " That no houses be made or rebuilt, nor any trees planted, within the 
 distance of four hundred yards from the town walls, nor any houses 
 erected within the said walls until the ground be surveyed by the 
 Engineer for the time being, and by him to be recommended to the Land 
 Paymaster for his approbation and leave." 
 
 In spite of these orders, however, houses and trees were not 
 removed till long after the middle of the eighteenth century. 
 So late as in 1757 seven or eight hundred houses were situated 
 within the proscribed limits ; in 1759 a hundred and thirty-five 
 houses, chiefly inhabited by Purvoes, were to be found close to 
 the Apollo Gate ; and later still, several houses and trees were 
 standing near the wall at the north end of the town. According 
 to one authority, the continued delay in the execution of these 
 orders probably arose from the great expense of compensating 
 owners of property, as it was found that even within a radius of 
 a hundred yards from the town-wall the houses and trees were 
 valued at nearly Rs.37,000.* But there was another cause, 
 and a more likely one, which might also account for the delay. 
 The owners of houses had their own way of influencing the 
 authorities. The device known as " the greasing of the palm " 
 was not unknown at the time. It was extensively practised in 
 those early days. Indeed, if we are to believe the records of the 
 period, the most daring forgeries were sometimes perpetrated. 
 For instance, when a search was made for the original proclama- 
 * The Bombay Quarterly Review, iii. 1866, p. 333. 
 
428 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 tion published on July 6, 1739, prohibiting the erection of houses 
 and planting of trees within certain limits of the town walls, it 
 was found to have been surreptitiously erased. The consequence 
 was that householders disregarded the orders it promulgated in 
 the most flagrant manner, and the authorities were powerless to 
 enforce the penalties as they could not prove that any such 
 orders had ever been issued.* Rents were also fixed dispro- 
 portionately at times, and there is at least one instance on 
 record to prove this. The Consultation dated June 18, 1742, 
 has the following entry : 
 
 " In the account delivered to the 31st July, 1741, the rates for people 
 within the town wall are 6 res the square yard for Europeans, 11 res for 
 others, and 30 res for one Fakir Rafi&k No. 238. Why this is so we 
 know not. For those without the town wall the rates are 15, 30, and 
 45 res the square yard, but why the same differs must be explained." f 
 
 There were probably several other entries in the Consultation 
 Books of the period requiring elucidation, but which were not 
 brought to the notice of the authorities, and never explained. 
 
 The chapter must now be brought to a close. We are afraid 
 we have far exceeded the limits at first assigned to the examina- 
 tion of landed tenures in early Bombay. This is at best an 
 imperfect attempt to trace the history of a subject which perhaps 
 is not capable of an adequate treatment on account of the paucity 
 of material. Those who wish to follow the further course of its 
 history must study the pages of Warden's invaluable report. 
 Much interesting information on foras lands in Bombay, or 
 salt batty grounds, may also be gathered from the report sub- 
 mitted to Government in 1843 by Mr. Le Messurier, the then 
 Advocate- General, and the papers published in connection with 
 it, which have been reprinted in Selections from the Records oj 
 the Bombay Government, No. III., N.S. Besides these two 
 sources, there is the Statistical Account of the Toivn and Island 
 of Bombay, by Mr. J. M. Campbell, the eighth chapter of which 
 deals exhaustively with revenue and finance from the date of 
 the cession. Warden, Le Messurier and Campbell tell us 
 almost everything that can be known regarding the history of 
 our landed tenures, except in so far as comparative jurispru- 
 
 * The Bombay Quarterly Review, v. 1857, p. 170. 
 
 t CampbeU's Bombay Gazetteer Materials, xxvi. part iii. p. 304. 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 429 
 
 dence may furnish us with reasonahly secure inferences from the 
 practice of other places. 
 
 In conclusion, we give helow a brief summary of the events 
 described in this chapter. They have followed one another in 
 quick, and rather bewildering succession, and a short re- 
 capitulation may be useful. To begin from the beginning, the 
 town and island of Bombay was received by Humphrey Cooke 
 from the Viceroy of Goa without the Crown lands having been 
 first ascertained or a statement given of their extent. It thus 
 became almost impossible to discriminate between the inhabitants 
 who were legally possessed of sufficient titles to their estates and 
 those who had no right whatever to hold even a square yard of 
 land in Bombay. Some of the best estates refused to pay rent, and 
 produced titles which could not be disputed, though believed to 
 be fictitious. Government were thereupon obliged to resort to 
 high-handed action, which caused much discontent and gave rise 
 to many a bitter dispute. With the view of allaying the fears of 
 the inhabitants, Gerald Aungier entered into a Convention with 
 the povo of Bombay, commuting for the annual payment of 
 20,000 xeraphins whatever rights the Company might have 
 possessed over the estates on the island, under a reservation, 
 however, of the quit-rent and (as is the better opinion) , according 
 to the ancient constitution of the island, of a claim to military 
 service from the inhabitants. At the date of this Convention 
 the greater portion of the property within the Fort belonged to 
 private individuals, though all uncultivated lands and marshy 
 grounds vested, by right, in the Crown. Subsequently, many of 
 the estates in the island, particularly those belonging to the 
 Jesuits and other Portuguese inhabitants who were found to be 
 affected with treason, were forfeited to the Crown and devolved 
 upon the Company ; but no register showing the extent of the 
 property thus confiscated is forthcoming. Then, in pursuance of 
 the orders from the Court of Directors, to let all uncultivated 
 land in Bombay out on rent, to invite settlers on the island, and 
 to assign portions of lands to Gentoo soldiers for their mainten- 
 ance, a considerable portion of Crown lands must have been 
 alienated. On the other hand, as a result of the purchases and 
 exchanges made from 1707 onwards, much of the private property 
 within the Fort must have vested in the Company, though after- 
 wards transferred to individuals. The tax levied in 1718 on 
 
430 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 every description of property in Bombay, which is said to have 
 altered the very constitution of the island, commuted the military 
 services reserved under Aungier's Convention. Two years after, 
 the quit-rent was reduced to one-half its original amount, but 
 extended to all houses within cannon-shot of the town walls. An 
 additional quit-rent was imposed in 1731, but a distinction was 
 drawn between English inhabitants and natives, for the former 
 were required to pay a quit-rent of 6 reas per square yard, 
 without paying any ground-rent whatever, while the latter had 
 to pay not only the same amount of quit-rent, but a ground-rent 
 of 5 reas as well. In 1733 a proclamation was issued by 
 Government, fixing a limited period of forty-one years for leases, 
 to be made renewable on payment of one year's rent, but it re- 
 mained a dead-letter. Similar orders were promulgated, decla- 
 ratory of the Company's right in the soil, but no steps were 
 taken to enforce them, and the inhabitants continued in un- 
 disturbed possession of their estates. As regards foras lands, 
 or salt batty grounds, it may be noted that they were once 
 covered by the sea and reclaimed in the early part of the 
 eighteenth century, thence becoming the property of the Com- 
 pany as grantees of the Crown. They were then let out for the 
 purpose of cultivation at a very low quit-rent, the object being 
 not merely the improvement of the soil, but the increase of the 
 population of the island. People from the neighbourhood were 
 cordially invited to settle on lands thus reclaimed, and the 
 settlers were allowed not only to enjoy the produce but even to 
 sell the benefit of the soil, subject to the payment of a small 
 quit-rent. In course of time these immigrants built huts on 
 the ground for themselves and their families, and even sub- 
 stantial structures. A benevolent Government allowed them 
 this indulgence, not out of philanthropy merely, for they con- 
 tributed to the prosperity of the island and increase of trade. 
 Growing bolder, the tenants regarded these lands as their in- 
 heritance, and even sold them ; in their instruments of sale and 
 transfer they designated them as their hereditary property. 
 Moreover, such property was permitted to descend from father to 
 son, and taken in execution under process from the Mayor's 
 Court for the payment of debts. At the end of the eighteenth 
 century the Government of Bombay became alarmed at these 
 encroachments on their rights, and threatened to put an im- 
 
AUNGIER'S CONVENTION AND AFTER 431 
 
 mediate stop to them. The tenants protested, but in vain. As 
 an amicable settlement could not be brought about, the matter 
 was referred to the Recorder's Court in 1805, when the Company 
 were judicially recognised as the legal proprietors of all salt batty 
 grounds in Bombay. But it is worthy of note that, though Sir 
 James Mackintosh declared the law to be with the Company, he 
 evidently thought that both equity and justice were on the side 
 of the tenants. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 GLEANINGS FEOM AN OLD EECORD 
 
 WE shall bring this volume to a close with a few gleanings 
 from an old record we have come across during our 
 search in the Record Room. On the top floor of the present 
 High Court buildings there is a small winding staircase, by 
 the side of the Assistant Commissioner's Office, which leads you 
 to what may be appropriately called the Law's Lumber-room in 
 Bombay. It is an unpretentious -looking apartment, on the top- 
 most storey, situated in such an obscure comer that its very 
 existence is known to but few. And yet it is a treasure-house 
 more valuable to the historian and the antiquary than perhaps 
 any other part of this noble structure. There the records lie, 
 unrecognised and uncared-for, buried under thick layers of dust, 
 eaten up, more or less, by the ubiquitous white ant. As you 
 enter the room they seem to stare at you reproachfully, as if to 
 complain that they have been neglected cruelly and that, in some 
 measure, you are to blame for the neglect. Out of pity you 
 gently remove the dust that has well-nigh suffocated them, and 
 you find them open their eyes, dimmed with age, imploring to 
 be rescued from the oblivion in which they have thus lain for 
 full one century and the better part of another. The first thing 
 you notice in the room is a pile of huge volumes lying on the 
 floor in a state of utter confusion. They look like account-books, 
 but a closer examination brings to light the fact that they are 
 proceedings of the Mayor's Court. The history of the Mayor's 
 Court, constituted by Royal Charter in September, 1726, but 
 established in Bombay nearly two years after, is writ large 
 in these volumes. They give the history of this Court from the 
 very commencement, for the earliest Minute Book records the 
 
 498 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 433 
 
 fact that the Court met in the Town Hall of Bombay on February 
 15, 1728, when William Henry Draper, Esquire, the first Mayor, 
 opened the proceedings with a short congratulatory speech upon 
 the honour done them, at the same time acquainting the Alder- 
 men there assembled that a speedy and exact distribution of 
 justice was required of them in return. Whether these Minute 
 Books record the proceedings of the Mayor's Court from year to 
 year till 1798, when it was superseded by the Recorder's Court, 
 it is difficult to say with any degree of certainty. They are all 
 lying huddled together, the later volumes burying the earlier 
 ones, while a few of them are to be found in the larger Record 
 Room on the first floor. The proceedings of the Recorder's Court 
 are well arranged on shelves in this room, which contains many 
 other important and ancient documents relating to litigants in 
 Bombay of a bygone age. The most remarkable fact about these 
 records is that, in spite of dust, damp, and destruction by white 
 ants, not to mention long neglect, they have been preserved to 
 us in fairly good condition. In some of the volumes the paper 
 has crumbled to pieces, the ink has all but faded, and white 
 ants have pierced through and through, from cover to cover ; 
 but, on the whole, time has dealt with them gently. One 
 almost wishes these records had been indited on leaves — if 
 that had been possible — as was done in Calicut a couple 
 of centuries ago. Hamilton, describing the country of the 
 Zamorin, and the religion, laws, and customs prevailing in it, 
 says : 
 
 " They make use of no pens, ink and paper, but write on leaves of 
 flags or reeds that grow in morasses by the sides of the rivers. They 
 are generally about 18 inches long and one and a half broad, tapering at 
 both ends, and a small hole at one end for a string to pass through. It 
 is thicker than our royal paper and very tough. They write with the 
 point of a bodkin made for that purpose, holding the leaf athwart their 
 left thumb end over the foremost finger, and what they have to write is 
 indented, or rather engraven into the leaf, but it does not pierce the leaf 
 above half-way through. And on two or three of these leaves they'll 
 write as much as we can on a sheet of small paper. All their records 
 are written so on leaves, and they are strung and rolled up in a scroU, 
 and hung some time in smoke, and then locked up in their cabinets. And 
 I have seen some such leaves smoke-dried that, they told me, were above 
 1,000 years old." * 
 
 * A New Account of the East Indies, i. p. 318. 
 
 28 
 
434 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 The Minute Books of the Mayor's Court are not at all likely to 
 last half that period. They are already betraying signs of 
 decay, and in another century or so all that is left of them 
 will be dust. 
 
 During our search in the smaller Kecord Room we picked up 
 an innocent-looking volume, perhaps the thinnest of them 
 all. There was nothing uncommon or uncanny about it. 
 It was tinged yellow with age, and had a fringe around 
 its border — the work of white ants. Being the earliest in 
 point of time, dust had lain the thickest on it. On removing 
 it, we found that it bore this simple title : " June, 1726, to 
 January, 1727." This in itself was not illuminating, but the 
 date attracted attention, for if the Mayor's Court was established 
 in Bombay in February, 1728, this volume, we guessed, must 
 contain the proceedings of the Court of Judicature which was in 
 existence on the island even prior to that date. The conjecture 
 proved correct, for on the very first page of the Minute Book we 
 found the following inscription, written in bold characters : 
 
 " At a Court Present : 
 The Worship!! Jn" Hope, Esq. : Cheif Justice. 
 Mr. George Percival!, Mr. Henry Lowther. 
 Mr. Ephraim BendaU : Mr. Braddyl!, at tlie Warehouse. 
 " Wednesday, May the 26th, 1726." 
 
 This Court must have been the direct descendant of the tribunal 
 first established in Bombay by Gerald Aungier in 1670. It 
 held its sittings both on the island of Bombay and at Mahim, 
 and was the principal, or rather the only, Court of Judicature at 
 the time. We searched for earlier records of this Court, but in 
 vain ; it will be equally fruitless to try and find out how this 
 stray volume was smuggled into the Record Room, and got itself 
 prematurely buried under the more imposing records of the 
 Mayor's Court. With the object of scrutinising its fast fading 
 contents, we removed the interloper from its place of intrusion. 
 Then came the difl&culty which we fondly hoped had ended. The 
 effect of long neglect and damp was painfully evident. In trying 
 even to turn over some of the pages, albeit very gently, they fell 
 to pieces. The ink had also faded and the writing had become 
 blurred in more than one place. There was, however, one redeem- 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 435 
 
 ing feature about the record, namely, the remarkably good hand 
 in which it is written from beginning to end. All honour to the 
 Parbhu calligraphist — for, as we have already noticed, Perbes, or 
 Parbhu clerks, were generally appointed for such work in the 
 Courts of Judicature in those days — who must have written the 
 Minute Book ! That hand has ceased to write for nearly two 
 centuries : but what it wrote in 1726 is as distinct to-day as if it 
 were written only a few years ago. These proceedings must 
 have been copied from rough notes probably taken by the 
 Register — or as we now call this official, the Registrar — of the 
 Court at the time of the hearing of the cases recorded in this 
 volume. The clerk must have spent days in merely copying 
 these notes from the original. He has been, on the whole, very 
 careful, and the few mistakes that have crept in have been 
 corrected by a different hand — perhaps the Register's. But for 
 all practical purposes the record may be regarded as original. 
 Certainly, the signatures of the Chief Justice and other justices, 
 appended at the foot of each day's proceedings, are original. 
 From these we find that the Worshipful John Hope wrote a fair 
 hand, and never forgot to tack on to his signature the two dis- 
 tinguishing words " Ch. Just." The signature of Mr. John 
 Braddyll, the Councillor who was responsible for the dismissal of 
 the Rev. Mr. Cobbe, shows that he was a man of some educa- 
 tion and culture, and that of Mr. Ephraim Bendall has pecu- 
 liarities of its own. On the other hand, Mr. Henry Lowther was 
 evidently no proficient in calligraphy, for his signature shows 
 that he took no little pains is signing the proceedings of each 
 day as legibly as befitted a member of the Court of Judicature. 
 There is one signature we miss, that of Mr. George Percivall. 
 He generally formed part of the tribunal, whether it met at the 
 Warehouse or at Mahim, but he does not seem to have signed 
 any of the proceedings in this record, and we confess our inability 
 to assign any reason for it. 
 
 The Minute Book, as observed above, was lying in an obscure 
 corner of the Record Room, buried under a heap of dust and 
 debris, and at first we thought it had escaped the attention of all 
 who might, at one time or other, have visited this room. But 
 the searching eye of Mr. George Forrest does not seem to have 
 missed it. In Appendix E. to the second volume of his Selec- 
 Hons, giving extracts from the proceedings of the Court of 
 
436 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Oyer and Terminer, he has cited two remarkable passages from 
 this very record, typical of the mode of punishment prevailing 
 in Bombay at the end of the eighteenth century. There are 
 several other extracts in this appendix, but they are all gleaned 
 from the proceedings of the Mayor's Court. Of the two 
 passages cited by Mr. Forrest from the record under examina- 
 tion, and already noticed in an earlier chapter, one refers to the 
 exemplary punishment awarded to a Portuguese soldier, named 
 Ignatio de Liviera, who was convicted of robbery and attempt to 
 murder, and was sentenced to receive thirty-nine lashes three 
 several Court days, being tied to the gallows with a halter about 
 his neck and a paper over his head denoting his crime, and was 
 afterwards condemned to hard labour during pleasure, '* being first 
 marked with an iron in the cheek as a public testimony to the 
 seriousness of his offence " : the other concerns a Christian woman, 
 named Joana, who was given only fifteen lashes for having 
 returned to the island, although she was once banished from 
 it with her husband — for no fault of hers save conniving at his 
 evil practices — but upon this condition, that she returned no 
 more, and if she did, then to suffer the full penalty ordered by 
 the Government, namely, to lose one ear, and upon repeating the 
 crime, both — the punishment for all women of ill-fame for re- 
 turning after legal expulsion from the island. Both these 
 instances find a place in this book in the chapter entitled " The 
 Barbarity of the Age." But these two extracts alone do not 
 make up the Minute Book of 1726-27. Mr. Forrest selected 
 them probably because he was struck with the novelty and the 
 barbarity displayed in the method and manner of punishing 
 Joana and the wretched Liviera. He must have set apart an 
 appendix with the object of showing the cruel modes of punish- 
 ment obtaining in Bombay at the time. The record, however, 
 is full of similar instances. Besides, there are several other 
 matters referred to in its pages which lay outside the scope of 
 Mr. Forrest's inquiry. But they fall within the purview of our 
 examination, and we propose to notice them here, quoting 
 largely from the record itself. 
 
 This chapter will, we trust, serve another useful purpose. It 
 will throw light on the morals and manners of the people who 
 inhabited the town and island of Bombay during the first 
 quarter of the eighteenth century. Fryer and Hamilton have 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 437 
 
 left us interesting and, on the whole, reliable accounts of the 
 early administration of this city by a handful of Englishmen 
 whose chief concern was the increase of trade. Picturesque as 
 these accounts are, they lack what may be called the local 
 colouring which alone can render the description of a place or a 
 people lifelike. The Minute Book of the Court of Judicature 
 will, we trust, supply this desideratum. It contains many 
 curious illustrations not only of the manner in which justice 
 was dispensed and criminals punished, but of the habits, customs, 
 and even superstitions of the natives who had flocked into the 
 island, drawn to it mainly by the beneficent rule of Gerald 
 Aungier. The litigants were for the most part public or private 
 servants of the Company and of their agents, or people con- 
 nected with the shipping in the harbour. The Court was called 
 upon to decide all kinds of cases. As Kaye has pointed out, it 
 was at once a civil, a criminal, a military, and a prerogative 
 court. It proceeded with remarkable promptitude and despatch, 
 from the proving of a will to the trial of a murderer, from ex- 
 pending a vast amount of legal learning over the disputed 
 possession of a shybar * to the settlement of a family dispute 
 by the briefest appeal to common sense, from awarding a few 
 lashes to a juvenile offender to despatching a violent soldier to 
 the gallows with a halter round his neck or banishing a hardened 
 criminal whom even the terror of the lash had failed to reform — 
 from, in fact, deciding cases of the gravest importance to adjudi- 
 cating upon a matter of which even the Head Karkun of the 
 smallest village would disdain to take judicial notice to-day. 
 Multifarious were the duties of the Court in those days, too 
 numerous to recount here. It had to regulate the business of 
 the ** tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor" — and also we should add the 
 baker ! For, as we shall presently see, the Court had, on one 
 occasion, to direct the clerk of the market to lower the weight of 
 bread, on the bakers representing that the price of wheat 
 prevailing at the time was too high ; and, at another time, 
 there being a general complaint against the exorbitant prices 
 demanded by the "black" tailors of Bombay, the Court 
 framed certain rules regulating their charges. But we must let 
 the record speak for itself, in its own quaint style and spelling. 
 For convenience' sake, we shall divide this chapter into three 
 
 * A kind of ship. 
 
438 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 sections, the first dealing with criminal, the second with civil, 
 and the third with miscellaneous matters. 
 
 I. Criminal. 
 
 The very first entry in the record, dated Wednesday, May 25, 
 1726, when the Court met at the warehouse, presided over by 
 the Worshipful John Hope as Chief Justice and assisted by 
 Messrs. Percivall, Lowther, Bendall, and Braddyll as justices, 
 runs as follows : 
 
 " Ottar and his wife Belldars accuse Jany and Jivan, mother and son, 
 for robbing them of fiveteen rupees in silver, ten rupees pice, one small 
 joy * for a child and a shaul : the wife says that the boy Jevan was that 
 night at unseasonable hours several times at her house, and when asked 
 what he wanted he made several frivolous excuses that he was troubled 
 with the gripes and the like, that she being that night robbed could not 
 but beleive he did it, in which she was confirmed by the mother's owning 
 that she saw the shawl in her son's hands, who was then going to hide it. 
 The boy denyes the fact, and the mother says the woman who is robbed 
 taught her to accuse her son : this being improbable and the boy's 
 going to the house that night being very suspicious, the Court order 
 him twenty-one lashes in the publick Bazar and discharge the mother, 
 she not seeming concerned, but continue the boy in prison till further 
 order." 
 
 This was a reasonable order to pass, under the circumstances, 
 though according to our modern notion of punishment the 
 sentence seems to err on the side of severity, and the period of 
 incarceration — "till further order" — is indefinite. At the 
 present day, we do not send even the worst criminal to prison 
 " till further order," any more than sentence him to be burnt on 
 the cheek. As regards the lash, it was, as we have noticed 
 elsewhere, the usual form of punishment in those days, and fell 
 with the greatest impartiality on all ofi'enders, old and young, 
 male and female alike. 
 
 Here is the second entry on the same page : 
 
 " Shaik Ismale, Moor, accuses Gallon for robbing him of two gold 
 
 rupees and ten silver, with a hanckicher or cloth wherein they were 
 
 tyed ; it appears that it being Bamdam time they were all drinking 
 
 together, and the plaintiff being very drunk, when he came to be sober 
 
 * A piece of jewellery. 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 439 
 
 again, missed his money, and suspecting the defendant, who left the 
 Comp* first, he looked for him and found the hanckicher or cloth about 
 him and took it from him ; it appears by witnesses that the hanckicher 
 was found in his possession, which he owns, but says he does not know 
 how he came by it, being very drunk, but denyes the money but offers to 
 pay it by working for it : the hanckicher being found on him, the Court 
 order him thirty-nine lashes in the pubUck bazar, and return to prison 
 till further order." 
 
 We shall come across some curious names in this record. Shaik 
 Ismale, the Moor or Mahomedan, needs no further introduction, 
 and our modern Hindu friend Kallian is probably disguised in 
 the word " Gallon." It seems that Gallon was again brought 
 before the same tribunal on the next Gourt day, a week after. 
 
 *' Gallon, being at the barr and persisting in denying he ever had the 
 money he stands charged w*^, the Court, considering the handkerchief 
 wherein the money was tyed was found upon him, order that he work 
 for the plaintiff till the whole be paid, and upon that condition discharged, 
 paying his fees." 
 
 A very just order to make, to be sure ! Next comes the 
 following entry bearing the same date : 
 
 " Nag Patel, a Bandaree, having abused the Marine Serv* to the Clark 
 of the Market in the execution of his office, seizing the said Nag Patel's 
 toddy mixt with water, which he resisted and struck the Marine, the 
 Court order him fiveteen lashes in the publick bazar and then discharge 
 him paying his fine and fees." 
 
 The Bhandaris were, on the whole, a law-abiding people, and 
 their services were highly valued by the English. Nag Patel 
 must have been one of the black sheep in the flock. He was 
 probably licensed to sell toddy, which he must have been in 
 the habit of diluting with water — a practice much in favour 
 even at the present day. 
 
 The last item in the proceedings of the day is also interesting. 
 The case has been stated thus : 
 
 "A matmaker womani named Haly having violently assaulted another 
 woman named Chiman and cut her in the head with a large knife used 
 for cleaving wood, the wound! proving dangerous and the woman a poor 
 simple woman, the Court order that she be punished with twenty-one 
 lashes in the publick bazar, pay for the cure, and then be discharged." 
 
440 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 The lash was no respecter of sex. More than a year after we 
 find another woman punished with even greater severity. One 
 of the passages in the proceedings dated Novemher 22, 1727, 
 runs as follows : 
 
 " Lacma, a fruit woman and an old offender, being four several times 
 convicted of petty larcenys and now found guilty of robbing a child to 
 the value of twenty-two rupees in jewels w*^^ she obstinately denyes to 
 discover, ordered 29 lashes in the publick bazar, and the same punish"** 
 during pleasure to be continued till she reveals where the s** jewels are, 
 and then after punish"** to be banished off the Island. Madou, a gold- 
 smith, charged w*^ receiving the s*^ joys or at least dealing w*^ her 
 previcating [prevaricating ?] with the Court, and being an idle vagabond 
 fellow, committed and ordered to be banished the Island." 
 
 But Joana's case, noticed elsewhere, was perhaps the most 
 remarkable. It is thus recorded : 
 
 " Joanna, a Christian woman, the wife of Manuel Pereir, banished the 
 ninth of March last past for several ill practices, with his s*^ wife, being 
 returned upon the Island without leave, the Kegisters being examined 
 and it appearing that the woman was only sent off the Island with her 
 husband without any crimes of hers specified save conniving at her 
 husband's practices, the Court are willing for this time to favour her 
 and only give her a small chastisement, fifteen lashes, but upon this 
 condition, that she return no more; if she do, then to suffer the full 
 penalty ordered by the government, to lose one ear, and upon repeating 
 the crime, both : the punishment for all women of ill-fame for returning 
 after legal expulsion from the island." 
 
 We hope Joana had occasion to lose neither of her ears. 
 The Court reassembled on Wednesday, June 8th, when the 
 proceedings open with an account of the following trial : 
 
 "Mr. Miller, first Liev* of the Britania, being robbed of a hand 
 escritoire, and having reason to suspect Antonio Gomes, a Topass cook 
 and his serv* of the fact, he having the key of the room all the evening 
 when the s** escritoire was taken away ; he being at the barr and charged 
 therewith, denyes he knows anything of the matter and pleads that as 
 there was two other servants who as well as he were in the house, went 
 into the room that night, which he denyes he ever did, they must know 
 what became of the escritoire and not he. The two moormeen serv*^ 
 named Ballou and Fuckero being hereupon examined, acknowledge they 
 were in the room at six a clock making their master's beds, the former, 
 Mr. Miller's own serv*, afiirming he felt the escrutore with his feet when 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 441 
 
 he made the bed, that it was there when he went away, when he left 
 the key with the cook, who acknowledges he had it but denyes he went 
 into the room. The Court having reason to think by these circumstances 
 that it is amongst them, and Mr. Miller acquainting them that all his 
 papers of consequence are in s* scrutore : in order to get the truth, if 
 possible, from them, lay ten rupees penalty on each of the naoormen, to 
 be forgiven them if they confess, they accusing s^ Gomes, and it appear- 
 ing he was at home alone that night, and consequently had an oppor- 
 tunity for committing s^ fact, besides standing charged with several 
 times stealing from his master, arack, and the like, ordered for his said 
 offences thirty-nine lashes in the bazar, to be in part remitted if he will 
 own where the scrutore is, and not otherwise." * 
 
 Although the offence with which the prisoner stood charged 
 on that occasion was not proved, still the Court awarded him 
 thirty-nine lashes for his thieving propensities and shady ante- 
 cedents. Master Gomes, however, made no confession, as pro- 
 bably he had none to make, for a few days after, the Court 
 records that 
 
 "Antonio Gomes, servant to Mr. Miller, continuing obstinate, ordered 
 thirty-nine lashes for his neglect, if not robbery, having the key of his 
 master's room when the escritoire was lost, and in great probabiHty be 
 the thief, but not being sufficiently proved, he is after receiving -his 
 punishment ordered to be discharged paying his fees." 
 
 So that the unfortunate man was flogged, not because he was 
 proved guilty of that particular theft, but because the Court was 
 of opinion that in all probability he was the thief. Queer ideas 
 the judges must have had in those days of the all-important 
 principle of criminal law — prove a man's guilt before condemning 
 him ! As it turned out, however, Antonio Gomes was not the 
 real culprit, but one Andrew D'Souza, who was afterwards 
 severely punished. The latter stood charged with yet another 
 offence which is noted in the record as follows : 
 
 '* Mr. Boucher accuses Andrew D'Souza, his serv*, of robbing him of 
 money to the value of 40 rupees several tinies by opening a small 
 
 * In this connection it is interesting to recall the fact, noted in another 
 chapter, that when a Mr. Jenkinson's escritoire had been robbed of fifteen 
 guineas by his slave-boy with the connivance of his horsekeeper, the wretched 
 Alexander and Fakir Rao were both sentenced to be hanged. In comparison 
 with this Antonio Gomes was punished with surprising leniency, but the 
 motive of this may have been to recover the papers if possible. 
 
442 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 escritoire with a small nail, beside a pair of gilt buckells and gold 
 buttons which were found upon him ; he acknowledges the theft, makes 
 the common excuse of being drunk and not being himself and the like, 
 but being an old offender, the Court order him two years' confinement at 
 the breach, thirty-nine lashes three several Court days ; and the gold- 
 smith, named Shama, for receiving the stolen buttons and lending mony 
 thereon, contrary to the repeated orders of Government against bying 
 or receiving any gold or the like of servants, fined twenty-five rupees 
 towards making good Mr. Boucher's loss, and thereupon being severely 
 reprimanded, discharged." 
 
 The goldsmith figures more than once in this record. This 
 class of men must have emigrated from Gujarat and settled 
 down in Bombay during Aungier's administration, contributing 
 not a little to the prosperity of the island by their industry and 
 integrity ; but during the period of decadence that set in there 
 at the end of the eighteenth century, they probably fell consider- 
 ably in the estimation of their rulers. For at the time of which 
 this record speaks, we find several of them hauled up and 
 punished for receiving stolen property. For instance, here is a 
 case in point : 
 
 " Hiree, sentenced last Court day for stealing some joys having since 
 confessed that she stole them and sold them to Narran Goldsmith, he 
 confessing the fact and acknowledgeing he knew the orders of Court not 
 to receive any gold or silver joys from any suspicious persons but what 
 Bagoosett approved, but did not apply to Ragoosett because, as he says, 
 there is a quarrell between them, which being looked upon as very 
 frivolous and he being an old offender as well as tricking the party, 
 cheating him of half the amount, besides disobedience to orders which 
 he acknowledges he was acquainted with, ordered that he receive thirty- 
 nine lashes in the publick bazar, paying the difference of what gold is 
 missing to the parties injured, and then discharged paying his fees." 
 
 Goldsmith Raghuset must have commanded considerable influence 
 in Bombay at the time. That he enjoyed the confidence of 
 Government is made abundantly clear by the following entry 
 dated March 15, 1726 : 
 
 " Ragouset accuses Vittul Goldsmith of a fraud committed by vending 
 silver cased with gold in stead of pure gold, producing the very peice ; 
 this being confessed, tho' with this paliation that his servant made it and 
 not he ; but he having endeavoured to stop the complaint of Ragouset, 
 paying him the value of the damage, the Court fine the Goldsmith 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 443 
 
 20 Kupees and upon Eagouset's request order that all new [?] gold- 
 smiths in future shall upon Kagouset acquainting the Court be obliged 
 to give security to Ragouset or the Court before they be permitted to 
 work," &c. 
 
 In one of the foregoing chapters we have examined some 
 of the principal causes that arrested the progress of Bombay 
 during the last quarter of the seventeenth and first of the 
 eighteenth century. Therein we have cited a few instances 
 showing the extent of demoralisation from which the inhabitants 
 of the island suffered at the time. By way of supplementing 
 these and substantiating what we have said in the previous 
 chapter, we reproduce below a few extracts from the record, 
 which will bring before our eyes the picture of that dark period 
 more vividly still. 
 
 " Caiton D'Mell, a Cofferee, accused of assaulting and robbing a 
 woman on the highway, knocking her down and taking a gold joy out 
 of her ear, being convicted of the same, he impudently saying in his 
 excuse that his design was only to lye with her, pleading it to be the 
 practice of the Cofferees at Bassein ; for this his crime and impudence 
 in Court condemned to receive thirty-nine lashes on three several days, 
 and to be marked with a red-hot iron, then to hard labour at the Breach 
 during pleasure." 
 
 " Kitono d'Mello keeping a disorderly house and living by it and being 
 a publick nuisance to the neighbourhood both by that and giving abusive 
 and ill language to them, condemned to receive forty-nine lashes and 
 then banished the Island." 
 
 *' Francisca Pereira alias Pot Pot, Midwife, accuses her slave-boy, 
 Joseph, of robbing her of several summs of money, parcels of goods, &c., 
 and charges Esperanca, a Christian woman, with being the receiver and 
 encourager of her Coffiree slave to rob and murder her ; the evidence is 
 the confession of the slave and the testimony of Gonsalvo D' Pereira, in 
 whose house the Christian woman lodges, who declares that he has 
 frequently seen s^ Cofifree bring parcells of money, victuals and several 
 other things, and that the Coffree was tempted to these practices by the 
 woman prostituting herself to him. The prisoner being a notorious 
 woman and of ill-fame, ordered she be tyed up with the slave CofiEree 
 three several market days, she to receive fifteen lashes each time 
 and he thirty-nine and then sent to the Breach to hard labour till his 
 mistress can dispose of him as she requests : and the woman immediately 
 turned off the Island and what money is in the Paymaster's hands 
 due to her husband till this time, Mr. Henry Lowther is desired to stop 
 and secure towards payment of what is stole." 
 
 "Caron Tuckar, being accused of several robbery s and particularly 
 
444 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 convicted of robbing Pillai, a woman, of copper-pots, some joys and 
 other things, all which he confesses but says he was drunk, he appearing 
 a very notorious offender and living by the practice, ordered three 
 several whippings in the publick Bazar, thirty-nine lashes each time, 
 and then sent to the Breach to hard labour during pleasure." 
 
 " Padre Alexander as a physician sues Michael Kasor for a cure 
 performed on him and his wife in a virulent venerial case ; the summ 
 he charges for physick without advice or attendance amounts to sixty- 
 five rupees for his wife and fifty-two three quarters for himself, in all 
 one hundred seventeen rupees three quarters. The Court, receiving 
 with indignation people of such character and who have the impudence 
 to avow their crimes in Court and then refuse payment and trouble the 
 Court, order that Michael Rasor give immediate security for payment of 
 the amount, and give him due caution how he behaves for the future." 
 
 " Madou Pilset being convicted of subornation on having ofifer'd to 
 accuse two innocent persons for a sum of money, and upon receipt of 
 the money having signed a false information, all which upon being 
 confronted he confesseth, and produces the very money received on this 
 ace* in Court, the Court for so heinous an offence condemn him to stand 
 to-morrow in the Pillory from the houre of eight till nine, then to receive 
 fifty lashes and recommitted to prison during the pleasure of the Court." 
 
 " AbduUa Moorman committed on suspicion of attempting to rob a 
 dancing wench ; upon the evidence it only appearing an act of drunken- 
 ness, but it being his frequent practice and leading a disorderly life with 
 the said woman, ordered twenty-one lashes and discharged on paying 
 his fees." 
 
 " Domingo Roderigues, a soldier inhabitant of Mahim, accuses Mack- 
 bull, a lascar, of breaking into his house in the night and robbing him of 
 one broken silver chain, two silver rings for the leggs, and five copper 
 potts. The prisoner confessing the fact and being an old and notorious 
 offender, the Court condemn him to receive thirty-nine lashes three 
 several market days, being the three several Thursdays following the 
 fourth, to be branded with a red hot iron, and then to be sent to the 
 breach to hard labour during pleasure, and order the stolen goods to be 
 restored to the prosecutor." 
 
 '* Bonna Limjee on behalf of a Persee widow complains of her slave- 
 boy, Govind, for neglecting his duty, refusing to obey her commands, 
 and frequently absenting himself from her service, to which he adds 
 that examining his box he found some silver which he owns, declairing it 
 to be his mother's and which they charge him with stealing, the boy 
 only saying he found the same : but not proving it, and the parties 
 desiring he may be punished by whipping and working some time at the 
 Breach, the Court order him thirty-nine lashes and then to be sent to the 
 Breach to hard labour for three months and then to be returned to his 
 mistress." 
 
 "Joseph Antonio D'Fonseca D'Marsellas E'Mello being accused of 
 several insults offered to some Banians, inhabitants of this island, 
 extorting money from them and threatening them w**^ death by stabbing 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 445 
 
 them w*** a knife which he carried about him for that purpose, to the 
 great terror of the subjects of this Island ; the several persons who 
 accuse him are Amboidas Tuckidas, Eansor Comatee, Bica Sinai and 
 Babou Shroff, creditable merchants whom he has particularly abused, 
 especially Babou Shroff, from whom he forced five rupees : this w*^ 
 several other enormitys being related of him and enquiry being made 
 into his character, the Court finding him to be a scoundrell vagabond, 
 an impostor and cheat, direct that he be punished in the most publick 
 manner by receiving thirty-nine lashes under the pillory and then be 
 banished off the Island in the first boat bound to the Portuguese 
 country." 
 
 *' Chandoo Ram, Makusett Manikbhut and Pilla Weaver, inhabitants 
 of this island, being convicted of unlawfully assembling together to game 
 in the house of Budombhut, a Brahmini, who entertain 'd them for the 
 purpose, humbly petitioning the Court, begging pardon and pleading 
 poverty, were severely [severally?] fin'd but three rupees each and 
 Budombhut five for entertaining them and then discharged." 
 
 "Domingo Carneiro, an idle vagabond fellow and bound over to his 
 good behaviour, having severall fresh complaints prefered against him, 
 viz., for keeping a disorderly gaming house, quareling and abusing his 
 neighbours and the like bad practices, is sentenced to receive thirty- 
 nine lashes in the pubHck bazar and then banished off the Island." 
 
 " Parlada, a Banksalee, charged with associating with the aforesaid 
 Carneiro, neglecting his business gaming, and thereby not only loosing 
 his time but his money and consequently disableing himself from 
 answering the severall demands of the merchants who supply the shop- 
 keepers with goods, for an example to others, ordered eleven lashes in 
 the publick bazar and then discharged." 
 
 "Luckshee Lockra accused Somno of breaking open his house and 
 robbing him of two joys belonging to his child ; he denyes the fact 
 as to the robbery but makes the common excuse for his going into 
 the house that he had been drinking ; it appears that the mother of the 
 child being alarmed when he came into the house, made an outcry, and 
 the fellow running away, the rounds* coming that way persued him 
 into a house where two stone-cutters named Bogajee and Salvajee 
 lived, who refused to deliver him up, declaring they would die first, 
 but the rounds sending for more people to assist them, they then fled 
 and the prisoner was taken. The prisoner for his offence in breaking 
 open the house is condemned to work at the Breach six months, after 
 
 * The rounds, it will be remembered, were first appointed in Bombay in 
 1694, when Sir John Gayer was Governor. On September 13, 1694, the 
 following order was issued to the Subhedars of the different districts of 
 the island: "Being informed that certain ill people on this island go about 
 in the night to the number of ten or twelve or more, designing some mischief 
 or disturbance to the inhabitants, these are to enorder you to go the rounds 
 every night with twenty men at all places which you think most suitable to 
 intercept such persons. If you meet any of them, these are to empower you 
 to bring them perforce or otherwise to this Castle." 
 
446 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 having re°^ thirfcy-nine lashes in the publick bazar : Bogajee and Salvajee 
 for their offence having received a very severe reprimand were released 
 paying their fees." 
 
 These extracts will suffice to show that there was considerable 
 room for improvement in the morals and manners of Bombay at 
 the date of this record. 
 
 In the chapter headed " The Barbarity of the Age/* we have 
 noticed the trial of an innocent woman named Bastok, who was 
 found guilty of witchcraft and other diabolical practices and 
 sentenced to receive eleven lashes at the door of the Cathedral. 
 ** Black Art " was practised in Bombay freely, in spite of the 
 fact that the authorities took stern measures to suppress it, and 
 punished its professors with some severity. Superstition and 
 ignorance were rampant in those days, and not only did the 
 uninitiated among the natives believe in the science of magic, 
 but those who practised it had absolute faith in their own power 
 to invoke the wrath of the Evil Eye. Bastok was not the last 
 person to suffer corporal punishment for witchcraft. There are 
 at least two trials described in the record under examination 
 which show that Chief Justice John Hope and his colleagues 
 regarded this practice with undisguised horror and severely 
 punished the culprits. We reproduce below the proceedings 
 of one of these trials : 
 
 " Domingo Rodrigues, a Christian soldier, being accused of perform- 
 ing some of those idolatrous practices in use among the Jentues, being a 
 sacrifice of rice, &c., matters to some infernal power to deprecate his 
 wrath against a poor sick woman then inhabiting in the said Domingo 
 Roderigue's house, he confessing the act, pleading ignorance and begging 
 pardon, the Court, in consideration of his ignorance and present peni- 
 tence, order that he only receive 39 lashes at the Portuguese Church 
 door on the Fryday following during the celebration of Mass and that 
 then he be dehvered to the Padre to be instructed and to suffer their 
 customary church discipline as limited by the Laws and Rules of this 
 Government." 
 
 It may be added that, in spite of these deterrent sentences, 
 "Black Art" flourished long in Bombay, known by different 
 names at different times, such as witchcraft, sorcery, fascina- 
 tion, &c. Such was the blind faith of some of these misguided 
 persons who professed to believe in it that, even at the risk of 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 447 
 
 forfeiting their lives, they confessed to the truth of the charges 
 brought against them.* In the middle of the eighteenth 
 century the offence known as ** fascination " f became so 
 common in Bombay that the Government had to interfere, 
 and in their zeal to end the practice rather than mend it, 
 they issued a proclamation not only declaring that they would 
 severely punish all persons found guilty of " fascination," but 
 also offering rewards for the detection of the offence. The 
 result was that the power and importance of the so-called 
 " magicians " was thereby increased, and the natives brought 
 many false complaints against their personal enemies charging 
 them with " fascination." Curious as it may sound, it was not 
 only the ignorant natives who were imposed upon by such 
 practices, but even Englishmen, some of them in very high 
 position, fell victims to the charms of the sorcerer. Indeed, 
 it is said of Thomas Hodges, Governor of Bombay between 
 1767 and 1771, that he was so completely under the influence 
 of a Brahmin sorcerer that he consulted him on almost all 
 affairs, public as well as private. 
 
 The picture which Fryer has left us of the morals and 
 manners of Bombay during the last quarter of the seven- 
 teenth century is by no means overdrawn. If we are to 
 believe the records, the morals of the people were worse even 
 than their manners. The establishment of the Mayor's Court, 
 nearly half a century after, marked no appreciable improve- 
 ment in the morality of the place. Not that the Government 
 were remiss in the performance of their duty (as they under- 
 stood it) in this respect. On the contrary, all breaches of law 
 and morality were punished with the utmost severity, and the 
 poor results obtained are fair material for the humanitarian 
 argument that indiscriminate harshness does not remedy crime. 
 The Court of Judicature would on no account tolerate an offence 
 of grave misconduct, and it lost no opportunity of impressing 
 upon the inhabitants the necessity of conducting themselves as 
 all good citizens should. There are at least two cases in this 
 
 * This was also often the case in England, the explanation advanced being 
 that the general sentiment was such that a person plausibly accused of 
 sorcery would, even if acquitted, find his life a burden to him. 
 
 t "Fascination" meant bewitchment. The word is probably derived 
 from fascinum, the obscene amulet which Roman women wore round 
 their necks to ward ofE the evil eye. 
 
448 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 record testifying to the solicitude the judges always evinced for 
 the morals and manners of Bombay. The first of these reads 
 more like a scene from a comedy, and is, indeed, almost word 
 for word anticipated in " Don Quixote," though it ended tragically 
 enough, at least for the offender. The entry runs as follows : 
 
 " Sommo accuses Ibrem of coming into his house by night with an 
 intention of robbing him : it appears that Sommo in the night hearing a 
 noise in his house got up and called for a light, which being come, he and 
 his son searched the house and found the said Ibrem concealed in a loft; 
 he in his defence pleads that it was true he was in the house, but not 
 with the intention of robbing ; says he had kept company with a woman 
 in the house for two years last past, that passing by that night she 
 called him in, and that he remained with her till, the house being 
 alarmed at some noise they made, she perswaded him to hide him- 
 self there till the search was over ; but that they suspecting some- 
 thing, came into the place where he was, when they beat him very 
 much; this being the truth of the fact, the Court to discourage such 
 practices for the future order Ibrem thirty-nine lashes in the pubUck 
 bazar and then discharge him, paying his fees, having given assurances 
 of his good behaviour for the future." 
 
 The course of true love never did run smooth ; but that of 
 false love is almost invariably rough, and brings the participants 
 into endless trouble ! The Court, while passing what in its 
 opinion was a mild sentence, had probably taken into con- 
 sideration the beating Ibrem had already received at the 
 hands of Sommo and his son up in the loft. The facts of the 
 other case are thus stated: 
 
 " Pasqual D'Silva keeping company with a leud woman, one Anna 
 D'Souza, and they giving great disturbance to their neighbours by their 
 mutual disorders and quarells and they having the impudence to avow 
 and defend this kind of Hfe in the face of the Court, it is ordered that 
 they severaly receive thirty-nine lashes in the publick bazar and then be 
 banished off the Island. Pasq" D'Silva being related to several persons 
 on the island who bear a good character, at their intercession the Court 
 is pleased to remit the corp" punishment and to accept of a fine of 
 twenty-five rupees offered in his behalf, but order that he immediately 
 leave the Island and return from whence he came." 
 
 Not only were acts of misconduct visited with exemplary 
 punishment, but even foul words had to be atoned for in the 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 449 
 
 public bazar. For instance, when one Mangjee charged Tatia, 
 a Moorman, with slandering his wife, and when the accused was 
 found guilty, the following order was recorded : 
 
 " The Court tell him that for the liberty he has taken of defaming a 
 woman without any cause and being an idle fellow, to warn him from 
 any future ill-behaviour of this kind, they order him nineteen lashes in 
 the publick market-place, then to be discharged paying his fees." 
 
 It may be added here that in the case of all old and incor- 
 rigible offenders, or those whose crime was of so heinous a 
 nature that corporal punishment was considered inadequate, 
 the Court generally ordered their banishment from the island. 
 Such criminals were, as a rule, despatched to Portuguese terri- 
 tory, perhaps to Bandora or Bassein. Whether the Governor's 
 sanction was always required to give effect to such an order 
 does not clearly appear from the record. When, however, one 
 Manuell Pereir, a soldier, and his wife were found guilty of 
 fraudulent practices, the Court ordered that they should be 
 turned off the island, ** leave being first obtained of the Governor 
 for so doing." 
 
 The Mint in Bombay was a source of great temptation to 
 those who were employed in coining money there. It had been 
 established on the island as early as 1670, when Aungier was at 
 the head of Government, and the earliest Bombay coins known 
 at the present day are said to be those which were struck in this 
 Mint in 1675. In 1681 one Mr. Smith was sent out from Eng- 
 land as Assay-Master on a salary of £60 per annum. But there 
 was no uniformity of currency at the time, as the Company's 
 coins were only one of the many varieties then in circulation. 
 Moreover, as no two coins had in them the same proportion of 
 alloy, the native money-changers had abundant opportunities of 
 imposing upon the people. An order was, therefore, published, 
 requiring all persons who had more than ten foreign rupees to 
 bring them to be re-coined at the Mint, or give notice to the 
 Custom-Master within three days that they intended to export 
 them ; otherwise, their money was to be forfeited, if discovered. 
 In spite of these precautions, however, offences against coinage 
 increased. Those who were employed at the Mint were often 
 found guilty of stealing the coins or the materials of which they 
 
 29 
 
450 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 were made. Two such cases have been recorded in the proceed- 
 ings of the Court dated October 11, 1727. 
 
 " Vissa Earn and Pandoo, Coppersmiths, being employed to make 
 rupees in the Mint and taking liberty to make use of s*^ money to the 
 value of one hundred and twenty rupees without leave or acquainting the 
 Mint Master, ordered thirty-nine lashes each in the publick bazar and 
 continued in prison till satisfaction be made to Eagouset for the whole 
 summ wanting and then sent off the Island." 
 
 *' Pillmatra accused of stealing seven dollars out of the Mint, first five 
 and then two, both which he confesses, and being an old offender, the 
 Court order that in the first place he pay Eagouset seven dollars for 
 which his house and effects are to be answerable, and then to receive 
 thirty-nine lashes at the Mint and thence to be conveyed to hard labour 
 at the Breach for the space of two months. Nagoo Patel being the 
 receiver and concealer of the theft and a confederate with, ordered the 
 same punish"^* at the Mint, and then to accompany him to the Breach, 
 there to work for two months." 
 
 It will be observed that in both these cases Ragouset, the 
 goldsmith, already referred to above, plays some part. He was 
 then known as the Mint Goldsmith, and must have superintended 
 the work of the other goldsmiths employed at the same place. 
 It seems that Ragouset had a nephew, named Gopal, who was 
 brought into trouble by some men working in the Mint, and 
 who, but for the influence of his uncle, might have shared the 
 lash with them. Though the extract relating to this affair is 
 lengthy, it is, we think, sufi^ciently interesting to deserve a place 
 in this chapter. 
 
 " Eaghusett Muckonsett, Mint Goldsmith, in a petition to the Court 
 sets forth that on the 25th of last month he observing a Tavisa or 
 Talisman in his nephew Gopall's turbett and enquiring where he got it, 
 he told him that one Herojee, a Seapoy, belonging to the Mint, had given 
 it him together w*^ a particular piece of root w°^ he pretended would add, 
 while he wore them, to his skill and credit in the world ; this giving the 
 petitioner some suspicion, he further strictly examin'd his nephew, who 
 then confest that he was privy to the s^ Herojee's taking some dollars 
 out of the Mint, and that Eama Sevant, a Seapoy, was also concern'd. 
 His s** nephew also intimaf* that he knew where the money was. He 
 sent his son Luckman w*^ him to the house of Eama, who upon the s** 
 Luckman's demand deliver'd him twenty-four dollars and ten rupees, 
 when proceeding to the house of Herojee he deliver'd him twenty dollars 
 more w*^ he had in his custody, upon w*^ taxing his nephew w*^ con- 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 451 
 
 cealing this fact, he reply'd that ever since he re*^^ the Tallisman from 
 Herojee, he had been out of his senses and knew not what he did. The 
 party concern'd attending and a strict enquirey made into the affair it 
 appears that the s*^ Gopaul being employ'd in the Mint under his Unckle, 
 took the afores"^ money and dehver'd the abovemention'd Rama and 
 Herojee, Sepoys, then Ukewise employ'd in the Mint, to carry home 
 and keep for him, w*'^ they readily did from the hopes they had of a 
 great share for the concealment ; it appears also that some plates of 
 silver were carry' d out, but upon some apprehensions againe restor'd to 
 their proper place ; Gopaul also charges Kidow, a goldsmith, of receiv- 
 ing some dollars from him to exchange for rupees, w*=^ the s^ Kidow 
 acknowledges and says that upon some suspicion that he had, he that 
 night went and acquainted Sirputt, another goldsmith belonging to the 
 Mint, therewith, from thence arose the enquiry ; the prisoners being 
 heard in their own defence, Gopaul only makes the premention'd 
 frivolous excuse of his being out of his senses, that he was very 
 young and did not know what he did, the contrary of w°^ appears 
 and no regaurd had to it ; Herojee and Eama plead that they only 
 took the money as he gave it them to keep for him, and not knowing 
 as he was Ragoosett's nephew, it might be his own or in his power to 
 make use of it, to w°^ they were told that as they being employ'd in 
 trust in the Mint knew very well no money was carried from thence but 
 what Ragoosett directed, not privately but in a public manner, neither 
 would he have lodged it in their houses but sent it to his own, and con- 
 sequently what they alleged for themselves was a sorry excuse ; besides 
 what Herojee design'd appear'd too plainly by imposeing the Tallisman 
 on Gopaul, w*=^ was only to perswade him to the fact, as if thereby it 
 might be conceal'd. They having nothing to gainsay to this, the Court 
 proceeded to sentence them, but Ragoosett and his relations interpose- 
 ing in behalf of Gopaul and urging that the money was all recover'd and 
 that he the s** Ragoosett was liable to any loss ariseing in the Mint, and 
 that he would be security for the young fellow's behaviour in future, 
 and begging the clemency of the Court in regaurd to his own character, 
 and the service he has done to the Hon'ble Company all his life-time, it 
 is after some debate agreed that the s<^ Gopaul be fin'd one hundred 
 rupees and to remitt his corporal punish"** and be releas'd from prison 
 paying his fees. Herojee and Rama for their offence to receive thirty- 
 nine lashes two several Court days, then sent to the breach to work 
 a year and a day, and Kidow the goldsmith, at the intercession of 
 Sirputt goldsmith, he having contributed in a great measure to the 
 discovery, being first severely reprimanded, is discharg'd, paying his 
 fees." 
 
 But for the fact that he was closely related to a man of 
 wealth and influence like Eagouset, the premier goldsmith of 
 Bombay, Gropal would have shared the fate which befell his 
 confederates, Herojee and Rama, There was something in a 
 
452 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 name, after all, even in those days ; and there was then much 
 more in Ragouset's name than meets the eye to-day. 
 
 Though the Court was most expeditious in disposing of the 
 cases brought before it, it did not decide important matters 
 without mature deliberation. When it found, for instance, that 
 the indictment against Henrique D'Sylva, who was accused of 
 having caused the death of his wife by kicking her, somewhat 
 defective, it remanded the case for fuller information. Nor did 
 it convict him of murder merely because the commission of the 
 capital ojffence was alleged against him or because the circum- 
 stances were highly suspicious. The trial of Sylva is thus 
 recorded in the Minute Book : 
 
 " Henrique D'Sylva being sett to the Barr and nobody appearing to 
 accuse him, he was told that his wife dying suddenly after he had kicked 
 her, he stood charged with being the cause of her death, and therefore 
 was now to answer thereto : he says that having some companions with 
 him at his own house, his wife being then at her father's, where he had 
 left her, she returning soon after him, he was angry with her for coming 
 home at that time and not staying where she was, that some words 
 passing, thereupon, he in his passion, being at the same time in drink, 
 gave her a kick, upon which she making a bobery or noise and it being 
 tolerable late, he went away and slept with the guard at the Town Gate ; 
 that in the morning coming home he found his wife dead to his great 
 surprise, and knows nothing further of the matter." 
 
 The parents of the deceased were summoned to give evidence 
 in the case. They, however, corroborated the story told by the 
 accused, giving him a general good character for his behaviour 
 towards his wife, and adding that they had no reason to think 
 the prisoner would voluntarily be guilty of such a heinous offence. 
 The Court thereupon passed the following order : 
 
 " The Court taking the premises into consideration and the matter 
 being truly stated and debated, unanimously agree, the black justices 
 giving their opinion first, that this case does not come up to willful 
 murder, but in all probability an unfortunate accident, and consequently 
 they find it no more than chance medley, and acquit him accordingly of 
 the murder ; but it being proposed, for example's sake, and to be a check 
 upon him and others for the future from getting drunk, &c., to give him 
 some corporal punishment, it was agreed to and he ordered thirty-nine 
 lashes in the publick bazar and then discharged, paying his fees." 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 453 
 
 Who were the "black justices" referred to in the above 
 extract '? They certainly could not have formed an integral 
 part of the tribunal, for their names do not occur at the 
 commencement of the proceedings for each day together with 
 those of the other judges. They were probably some respectable 
 native inhabitants who were asked to help the Court in its 
 deliberations or enlighten its members on points which were 
 beyond their knowledge, such as the manners and customs 
 of the various peoples then inhabiting the island of Bombay. 
 They may have occupied at the time a position somewhat similar 
 to that which the Assessors fill to-day in the Mofussil. They 
 were known as black justices to distinguish them, we suppose, 
 from their white colleagues on the Bench. The native magis- 
 trates and judges would strongly object nowadays to their being 
 styled " black justices," but in those days the phrase implied no 
 contempt. It may be added that this objectionable epithet 
 '' black " was long applied to natives in several official documents, 
 and, as Mill indignantly observes elsewhere, even Sir Elijah 
 Impey could find no better title for the native magistrates and 
 judges in India than that of *' black agents." 
 
 Though lawlessness reigned supreme in Bombay during the 
 first quarter of the eighteenth century, there were few cases of 
 capital oflfence, such as murder or manslaughter. In the record 
 under examination, which covers a period of nearly two years, 
 we come across only one such case, that of a Bhandaree stabbing 
 another under grave and sudden provocation. The facts are 
 stated thus : 
 
 " The Eegister informing the Court that on Monday last being between 
 the hours of twelve and one, he had notice given him that one Bandaree 
 had stabbed another, and that the criminal was fled ; whereupon, sending 
 for Mr. Jn° Man, one of the Surgeons of the Hospital, before the s* 
 Surgeon could arrive he had further notice the man was dead ; on which 
 he and the s^ Surgeon went to view the body and found him removed to 
 his own house dead, with a large wound in his breast, and w^'^ the s** 
 Surgeon declared was the occasion of his death : that he had examined 
 all the neighbours but could not find any who would or could give him 
 any ace*, the wife of the criminal excepted, who gave him the following 
 declaration: She says her name is Lacmy and her husband's name 
 Bapoo and that he is a Bandaree, and that she has been married to him 
 about two years : that she very well knew Bickoo, the deceased Bandaree, 
 they being neighbours when children ; that the dec^ came to their house 
 
454 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 on Monday last being July thirty-first, and her husband being then at 
 home he smoaked some tobacco with him ; that her husband then going 
 to the Town Hall to have his measures stamped, the s^ Bickoo sent a 
 boy he had then with him to buy some tobacco ; that he then came into 
 the house and set himself down upon a cott, that she then going into the 
 cookroom, he followed her and catching hold of her threw her down upon 
 the ground and offered violence to her ; that she crying out, her husband 
 came in the interim, when Bickoo got up into a corner, from whence the 
 husband pulling him, they had a strugle together, upon w°^ her husband 
 took his Kittarre or dagger, upon w*'^ she interposing had her finger cut ; 
 that immediately after her husband stabbed the s^ Bickoo, who making 
 great noise ran away out of the house and her husband after him, and 
 this is all she knows. All w°^ she now repeats in substance upon oath 
 in Court." 
 
 Two neighbours were also examined by the Court ; they 
 swore they heard no noise whatever, and as regards the character 
 of Lacmy, who was placed at the bar, " they knew not what 
 character the woman hath, nor ever took notice of the persons 
 that frequented her house, they being of another cast." But the 
 wife, mother, and other relations of the deceased did not allege 
 anything against the woman or her husband (who had discreetly 
 run away), except that the latter had kicked Bhicoo, though how 
 or why they knew not. Thereupon the following order was 
 recorded : 
 
 " The Court, taking the whole into consideration, find that Bickoo must 
 have been rude to or with the woman and which occasioned his death by 
 the husband, but it does not appear to them as yet that she is a bad 
 woman or any way encouraged it, and therefore at her request admit her 
 to bail ; and Essa Naique,'-' Muckadum of the Bandarees, is directed to 
 take her imder his charge, he giving security for her appearance." 
 
 Whether Lacmy was again placed before the Court, and 
 whether her husband was afterwards found and lashed out of the 
 world, there are no means of ascertaining. 
 
 If the Court was jealous of the honour of the town, it was no 
 less anxious to enforce discipline. Disobedience on the part of 
 inferior servants was visited with severe punishment. For 
 
 * Essa Naique was the Muccadum or leader of Bhandaris in Bombay to 
 whom Government had rented, in 1733, about four hundred cocoanut-trees 
 belonging to the Honourable Company for the term of seven years, at a 
 certain yearly rent for each tree. 
 
GLEANINGS PROM AN OLD RECORD 455 
 
 instance, when one Goverous Serrang accused Bhica alias Ismaljee, 
 a sepoy, of having assaulted him, in the river of Goa, with a 
 drawn sword without any provocation, and cut him in the arm, 
 
 " whereby he is therein disabled, besides the expence of the cure being 
 one hundred and fifty Xer*^, for which he prays the Court will doe him 
 justice on the criminal," the Court, " for an example to others and to 
 deter them from the like practices and for a security to the trade of the 
 island, which must be in consequence prejudiced if the inferior people 
 are allowed to insult their ofi&cers and particularly such a flagrant act 
 be not severely punished, orders that the prisoner receive thirty-nine 
 lashes three several market days, be then burnt in the" cheek and then 
 condemned to hard labour at the breach during pleasure." 
 
 Enough has been quoted from the record to show that the 
 justice which the Court dispensed in those days fell far below 
 our ideal of the present day. The guilty were punished with 
 undue severity, and sometimes even the innocent were con- 
 demned without a fair trial. But the judges were human after 
 all, and if the justice which they administered was swift, it 
 was not always unmixed with mercy. For instance, when 
 one Denis Henriques, a prisoner at the breach, petitioned the 
 Court to be released from his long confinement, and his wife 
 setting forth the lamentable condition to which she and her 
 family had been reduced for want of subsistence, the Court 
 ordered him to be released, the Governor's consent having been 
 first obtained. And again, when one Caron Tacur, a Columbee 
 (Kunbi) or farmer, petitioned the Court for mercy on himself and 
 his wife and children, who were on the point of starvation, 
 promising to amend his conduct and maintain his family by 
 honest labour, " the Court, in consideration that Columbees are 
 wanting upon the island, his poor wife and children, and his 
 penitence for his crimes, remit the last part of his punishment, 
 being to goe to the Breach, and after receiving his chastisement 
 to-morrow, order him to be discharged." 
 
 We have already cited cases in which Coffres or Zanzibar 
 slaves were charged with the commission of various offences. It 
 may be mentioned in this connection that slaves were amongst 
 the exports of the English factory at Surat, as elsewhere. The 
 Portuguese probably traded in this species of live-stock, and it 
 is a significant fact to note that even under English rule the 
 un-Christian traffic in human beings continued almost up to the 
 
456 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 beginning of the last century.* Several of the English inhabi- 
 tants in Bombay owned slaves, but their lot was far happier than 
 that of their African brethren in the West Indies. In this land 
 of freedom they were treated more like servants than slaves. 
 Sometimes they were trained up as soldiers. The importation 
 of Coffres was a source of constant anxiety to Government. 
 Special regulations had to be framed from time to time for the 
 conduct and treatment of slaves ; as, for example, in 1753 it was 
 ordered that " they be treated with the greatest humanity, 
 carefully instructed in their respective professions, and on no 
 account whatever be made either servants or drudges." The 
 influx of wealthy people into Bombay resulted in a large increase 
 of slaves, and even as late as 1780 there were no fewer than 
 431 slaves resident on the island, 189 of whom belonged to 
 Bombay proper, and the remainder to the district of Mahim.f 
 The task of converting these semi-civilised people into peaceful 
 and law-abiding citizens was one of considerable difficulty. 
 Their masters could not repose trust in them, for the Coffres 
 were addicted to the vice of stealing, and had the reputation of 
 being smart thieves. Hence we find the record replete with 
 cases of petty larcenies committed by them. We shall content 
 ourselves by citing only two cases : 
 
 "Ensign Parrat accuses his slave boy Cesar of robbing him on 
 Thiu"sday the 9th Instant of a summ of money amounting to two hun- 
 dred rupees or thereabouts with some wearring apparell and some other 
 small things. He declares that being upon the Battery Guard, he sent 
 his boy home upon some service, he staying long Mr. Parrat beat him, 
 upon which he ran away, when suspecting him, he sent to enquire about 
 his room and had a report made him that it was open and that it 
 appeared he was robbed ; upon enquiring further he found by a centinal 
 near his room that Lewis Pereir, a soldier, had been in his room with 
 the said boy, for which he afterwards absconded and was found in a 
 Bandaree's house, now a prisoner ; the said Lewis Pereere, after he was 
 taken, returned him six crown pieces and some other things which was 
 part of what Mr, Parrat was robbed off; he therefore accuses him as a 
 confederate with the boy and the Bandaree for conceeling, both knowing 
 they had robbed him. Lewis Perere and the boy confesing the crime, 
 the Court think it needless to examine the evidence but proceed to judg- 
 
 * In a letter dated December 31, 1804, an English skipper, named W. 
 Clarke, writes from Goa : "Insure Rs. 9,000 on 91 Coffres from Goa to 
 Colombo. They are very fine fellows, and you will doubtless be highly pleased 
 with the transaction." 
 
 t Edwardes' The Rise of Bombay, p. 208. 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 457 
 
 ment, and accordingly sentence the said Lewis Perere for the robbery, 
 seducing the boy, and his former vile and scandalous behaviour to 
 receive three several market-days 39 lashes in the publick bazar, be then 
 burnt in the cheek and then sent to the Breach to work during pleasure ; 
 the boy Cesar 15 lashes the same three days and at his master's request 
 to be returned to him; and the Bandaree named Gondojee Jacojee 
 appearing to have conceal'd these persons in his house, when he must 
 know they had robbed somebody by having Em-ope goods and money 
 with them and not acquainting some proper persons therewith, besides 
 the charge the boy exhibits against him of receiving ten rupees from the 
 soldier, ordered 39 lashes in the publick market-place and then dis- 
 charged paying his fees." 
 
 The other case is stated as follows : — 
 
 " Mr, Percivall acquainting the Court that two slave wenches of his 
 attended with an accusation against two prisoners conmaitted by him, 
 they were called in, who charge Babou Can, Moor Seapoy ; being called 
 upon to answer, confesses he rec"* two rupees from one of them named 
 Daphne to buy sweetmeats and some toys, but that he did not know 
 that it was stole, to w<=^ it is answered that he being a seapoy in the 
 house and in trust he has thereby aggravated his crime to the highest 
 degree, he knowing and every child upon the Island the orders of the 
 government in such cases, that not even a trifle is rec*^ from slaves with- 
 out acquainting their masters, that therefore he must suffer the punish- 
 ment in such cases, which is whipping three several times thirty-nine 
 lashes each, once at Mahim and twice under the gallows, and condemned 
 to hard labour at the breach during pleasure ; they likewise charging a 
 soldier with receiv^ some cloathes, named Joseph D'Eemade, w*'^ he 
 denyes, there being no other evidence, the Court discharge him and free 
 him from his recognisance. The two wenches at the request of Mr. 
 Percivall to receive thirty-nine lashes each immediately in the publick 
 bazar and then sent to their master's house at Mahim." 
 
 We must now bring the first part of this chapter to a close. 
 There remain to be noticed, however, trials of criminals who 
 were convicted of capital offences, such as treason, murder, rape, 
 and the like. In such cases, as has been observed elsewhere, 
 the Court of Judicature, after recording the evidence, submitted 
 the proceedings of the trial to the Governor and Council for 
 consideration of the sentence. It should be remembered that 
 the Governor and Council constituted the Supreme Court of 
 Judicature, and it was probably in their capacity as such that 
 criminals found guilty of the more serious offences were handed 
 over to the higher authorities for whatever orders they deemed 
 
458 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 necessary to pass. In a chapter dealing with some interesting 
 trials in Bombay, we have referred to the case of Stanmore and 
 Eichardson. There are two or three similar trials in this 
 record, the proceedings in which were submitted to the 
 Governor. It will be interesting to notice here at least one 
 of them. The trial opens as follows : 
 
 " To the Hon'ble WilP" Phipys, Esq., Presid* d Gov"- of His Majesty's 
 Castle dt Island, Bombay, Sc, dc, Councill. 
 
 " At a Court held on the 14th and by adjournment on the 21 st of this 
 Instant Decern'^, Ignacio D'Livera, a foot-soldier in Major Jonathan 
 Stanton's Company, being tryed for an assault and robbery committed 
 on the body of one Gopall, a young boy of nine years of age or there- 
 abouts, the fact appearing very black, and attended w*^ extraordinary 
 circumstances of barbarity and cruelty, liberty is taken to lay the case 
 before your Hon^ &c., and to beg your judgement on this criminal. 
 
 *' The prisoner being brought to the Barr, and in due form indicted, to 
 w*'^ after it was duly explained to him, he pleaded not guilty, the Court 
 thereupon called the evidence, who relate as follows : 
 
 " Gopall, the boy mentioned in the indictm*, says that he is about nine 
 years of age, the son of Namajee Trumpeter, belonging to Fakroo 
 Subadar's Comp*, an inhabitant of this Island living in Dungaree. That 
 he, the s*^ Gopall, on Tuesday being the 6th Instant in the afternoon 
 about six a clock mett w*^ one Ignacio D'Livera, a soldier (but whose 
 name was then unknown to him) by the North Gate, who desired him to 
 goe with him to Girgon to fetch some pice, and promised him to give 
 him six pice for his labour ; accordingly he went w*^ him first to his own 
 house by the Portugueze Church, w*^^ he showed him as the place he was 
 to carry the pice to, after w''^ he carried him to Girgon, when saying the 
 person was not at home from whom he was to have the pice, he told 
 him he might goe home, but that it being late and dark he would 
 goe along with him and see him safe ; this being about eight a clock, 
 he accordingly accompanied him, the s<^ Gopall, over the Batty 
 Grounds towards Dungaree, when coming to a place called Momba- 
 dew's Tank, he by force took from him a silver chain, one silver 
 ring and two smaU gold rings, upon w*^^ he, the s^ Gopall, being very 
 much frightened, begged of him not to hurt him, to which the 
 s"* soldier said, 'You will tell your mother and grandmother I 
 have taken your joys,' but he, the s** Gopall, promised him he would 
 not, but notwithstanding the s"* soldier first took of his Turbet and 
 would have strangeled him, but quitting that, he took a great stone and 
 beat him on the head w"* it till he fell down for dead, in w*=^ condition he 
 left him, and where he, the s** Gopall, lay tiU daylight next morning, 
 when he went to the house of one Changajee Naique Savant, nearest to 
 the place where he had been hurt, who then carried him home to his 
 mother's house." 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 459 
 
 Chanjagee Naique Savant was then called to depose to what 
 he knew of the affair, as well as Chiminy, mother of Gopall. 
 Their evidence substantially bore out the statements made by 
 the boy. Gopall was then bid to look at the prisoner and asked 
 if he was sure that that was the person who assaulted him near 
 the Mumbadevi Tank ; he replied in the affirmative, adding that 
 he knew him by sight very well. When Chiminy lodged a 
 complaint on behalf of her son to Major Stanton, and when the 
 latter asked Gopall to identify the culprit out of the two or three 
 soldiers that were placed before him, " he immediately pointed 
 out and pitched upon the prisoner at the Barr." The prisoner 
 was then ordered to enter upon his defence, which he did as 
 follows : 
 
 " He begun by denying the fact, and then giving ace' of himself how 
 employed, and where he was when this was said to be done, amongst 
 other things he mentioned some joys w°^ he rec*^ in his way home 
 that night from a soldier, w**^ w*'^ being urged and pressed, he 
 acknowledges they are the same of w*^^ the boy says he is robbed, 
 and says he rec<^ them from the afifores** soldier, whose name is Pis- 
 trell, who told him at the same time that he rec** them from a 
 comrade of his named Antonio Pereira, who bid him deliver them 
 to him, the prisoner, to keep for him. The two soldiers being sent 
 for, he was in the meantime asked what was become of s^ joys; he says 
 that when he was taken up by the Guard and examined, he had them 
 about him in his pocket, that next morning about three a clock being in 
 the Trunk, Pistrell came to him for them, and he accordingly delivered 
 them to him, and that probably they were now hid in the Guard room ; 
 where, by the way, notice is to be taken they were afterwards found. 
 The soldiers attending and both denying their knowledge of the joys, 
 the fact wherewith the prisoner stands charged or anything relating to 
 it, and appealing to the Eowliers of their Company's that they both 
 were at that time on Guard, one at the Bunder, and the other at the 
 Battery, the prisoner requiring them to prove it, the Court adjourned to 
 the 21st, when they and the EowUers were ordered to attend." 
 
 On December 21 the Court reassembled and resumed the 
 hearing of the case. 
 
 " On the 21st Instant the Court sitting and the prisoner at the Barr, 
 Jacinth D'Romad and Joan Baptist, the two Eowliers appealed to the 
 last Court day by Pistrell and Pereira upon oath declare, that on the 
 fifth instant, both Pistrell and Pereira were upon Guard, the first at the 
 Bunder, where he continued by doubling till the ninth, the latter at 
 
460 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the Battery and then at the Mandivie for the same time. The prisoner 
 having nothing to say against what they both deposed and being urged 
 with the inconsistency and weakness of his defence, freely confessed 
 himself guilty of the crimes wherewith he stands charged, but at the 
 same time accuses Joan Pisterell of being a confederate with him in 
 committing s^ fact, alledging that he first knocked the boy down, while 
 he robbed him, but this he was told from what before had been proved, 
 as also from the boy Gopall's affirmative that only he was guilty, was 
 very absurd, and the highest strain of malice to accuse an innocent 
 person whom the Court were obliged and did accordingly clear, and 
 unanimously found him alone guilty of the charge." 
 
 The evidence for and against the accused having been 
 recorded, the Court proceeded to sum up the case, as it were, 
 and with the object of justifying the course it took in submitting 
 the proceedings of the trial to the Governor and Council, made 
 the following very interesting observations : 
 
 "It is needless to observe to Your Hon' &c., that the s*^ Ignacio 
 D'Livere is fully guilty in all the parts of what he is charged with, viz., 
 not only robbing the boy of the afforesaid joys valued at 13 Eupees or 
 thereabouts, but also of an intention to murder him and using the means 
 for that purpose, leaving him as he immagined in a condition never to tell 
 any tales, and all this for so small a value as thirteen rupees : upon the 
 whole wee take the liberty to acquaint Your Hon*^ &c. that as to the 
 robbery simply considered wee would not have troubled you but pro- 
 ceeded to a sentence according to former Presidents, but being at a loss 
 how to find an adequate punishm* for the other part of his crime (the 
 usual one of damages, a severe fine and imprisonment being rendered of 
 no use by his poverty, &c., and no Act that wee know of reaching his life 
 — that commonly known by the name of the Coventry Act respecting 
 only dismembering and maiming, neither of w*'^ in this case has happened), 
 wee humbly beg Your Hon"^, &c., will please to take it into consideration 
 and sentence him as to Your Hon"^, &c., shall seem meet. The whole 
 being submitted to your Hon', &c., by 
 
 " Your Honr« Most Obed* 
 " Humble Servants, 
 
 " John Hope, C^ Jus'. 
 
 "Jn<^ Braddyll. 
 
 *' Hen^ Lowthbr. 
 
 " E. Bendall. 
 " Arthur Upton, Eeg'." 
 
 In the proceedings dated February 1, 1727, we find the fol- 
 lowing extraordinary sentence recorded against the prisoner : 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 461 
 
 *' The Hon'ble the Gov"^ and Councill having reccomitted the 
 punishm* of Ignatio D'Livere duely convicted of a robbery and an 
 attempt to murder to the Justices of this Bench, after due consideration, 
 his tryal being read, it is ordered that he receive thirty-nine lashes three 
 several Court-days, being tyed to the gallows with a halter about his neck, 
 with a paper over his head denoting his crime, and after condem*^ to 
 hard labour during pleasure, being first marked with an iron in the cheek 
 as a public testimony of the notoriety of his ofifence." 
 
 n. Civil. 
 
 We have remarked elsewhere that during the eighteenth 
 century the Court of Judicature in Bombay had to deal with the 
 suppression of crime and flogging of criminals rather than with 
 the settlement of disputes or adjustment of debts. Even in the 
 Minute Book under examination the truth of this statement is 
 borne out. But the Chief Justice and his colleagues were not 
 engaged in the trial of offenders exclusively ; they had several 
 civil matters before them, which must have taxed their patience 
 as well as their knowledge of law. Considering the difficulties 
 under which they laboured at the time — difficulties arising out 
 of causes over which they had no control — their patience must 
 have been sorely tried at times. But though their patience was 
 almost limitless, the scope of then- legal knowledge was strictly 
 limited. There cannot have been any lawyers in Bombay at the 
 time and but few law-books. A large majority of the disputes 
 which the Court was called upon to decide did not involve 
 intricate questions of law or nice points of procedure. They 
 mostly related to the payment of debts or partition of estates. 
 The function of the judge was somewhat similar to that which 
 the jury performs to-day : he generally based his decisions on 
 facts, allowing the law to take care of itself. The judge prided 
 himself on his strong common sense rather than on his know- 
 ledge of law. Briefly put, it may be said that three-fourths of 
 common sense and one-fourth of law generally constituted the 
 judgment of the Court. On occasions, however, the legal know- 
 ledge displayed was quite surprising. For instance, there is 
 a very interesting report on a prize case in this record, in 
 which the learned judges may be said to have surpassed 
 themselves, the question at issue being whether the possession 
 of a shybar which had been recaptured by the Portuguese 
 
462 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 from Angria, the pirate, vested in the captor or remained with 
 the original owner of the vessel. The matter came on for 
 consideration and decision at a special meeting of the Court, on 
 Tuesday, March 21, 1727, consisting of the Worshipful John 
 Braddyll as Chief Justice, and Messrs. King, Percivall, and 
 Lowther as his colleagues. It will he interesting, to reproduce 
 the whole report, which was finally submitted to the Governor. 
 It is stated in the record as follows : 
 
 " A Eeport to the Honourable WiW^ Phipps, Esqr., Presid* S Gov^ of 
 his Majestys Castle am.d Island of Bombay ^ dca. 
 
 "HONBLE S^, 
 
 " Your Hon' being already acquainted with the merits of the case 
 in dispute between the Portugueze and us concerning a Shybar named 
 Sacry, by a Report from this Bench dated the 9th of Feb^, 1725/6, wee 
 shall not repeat the same but proceed to acq* your Hon' that San- 
 tonaique, Merch* inhabitant of Goa, the pretended owner of s*^ Shybar, 
 having obtained letters of request for a rehearing, your Hone's leave 
 being first obtained, he was accordingly admitted and his case this day 
 reconsidered : What he had to offer was a certificate under the hands of 
 three ofi&cers then in the Portugueze fleet when s*^ Shybar was quitted 
 by the enemy and fell into their hands, w*'^ not being alltogeather the 
 same in substance with what is before related in the afforesaid report, 
 wee shall take notice of a particular or two wherein these vary and 
 hereto annex the original with a translate thereof in English. The 
 difference we observe in this certificate and the relation wee before rec*^ 
 is this : The Portugueze say that upon the Shybar's being quitted by 
 Angria, they immediately put their own people on board her and that 
 they stopped a hole in her bottom made by the enemy in order to sink 
 her. These two articles wee think necessary to mention as differing 
 from our former Report, tho' at the same time wee are of opinion they 
 are not any way material for reasons w*'^ wee shall hereafter give, a,nd as 
 little to the purpose as the liberty these gentlemen take in a certificate 
 of matter of fact of giving their opinion to whom s^ Shybar belongs : 
 Upon the whole wee think nothing that has been offered in the least 
 alters the case nor doe wee see the least reason for departing from our 
 former opinion, but persist therein, that she is no prize to the Portu- 
 gueze and consequently that Mahomed Hossan is the legal and just 
 owner of s^ Shybar and now legaly and justly possessed of her for the 
 following reasons w*^^ wee beg leave to lay before your Hon' : — To make 
 the vessel that is taken by the enemy a just and legal prize it is abso- 
 lutely necessary that she be brought infra presidia into some port or 
 harbour of the Prince of State by whose subjects she was taken: 
 Malynes in his Lex Mercatoria under the head of sea-laws positively 
 asserts, that if a ship or goods be taken by a professed enemy who hath 
 not brought it in presidia vel locum tutum for the making a prescription 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 463 
 
 or a right, and afterwards the same is taken and recovered by any friend 
 and the just owner claim the same, it ought to be restored to the owner; 
 agreeable to w*'^ is Grotius in his book De Jure Belliac Pad, things w*=^ 
 have not yet been carried infra presidia, notwithstanding they are still 
 occupied by the enemy, doe not change their master by the law of 
 nations, both w*=^ agree exactly with the case before us. This vessel, 
 tho' in the hands of the enemy, was never caried into any port of theirs 
 and consequently when rescued was no legal prize, the owner not having 
 lost his property in her, and restitution, when required, ought to have 
 been made ; if the enemy had carried her even into a neutral port, the 
 owner might have claimed and recovered her for want of the affore- 
 mentioned formality of carrying her first into one of their own ; but this 
 is a case so plain, and so many precedents may be produced for it, that it 
 is needless to trouble your Hon"^ further with it : wee shall therefore 
 conclude by summing up our opinion, and w*=^ with the utmost deference 
 wee submit to your Hon'^. That the Portugueze in rescuing and succor- 
 ing s^ Shybar acted as became an ally and friend against a common 
 enemy, but then we affirm the conclusion they drew from thence, that s** 
 Shybar was thereby a fair prize, is false and illegal, and with what 
 solemnity soever they condemned her, wee say it was the solemnity of a 
 tyrant power and not of law and contrary to all reason and justice, and 
 that consequently no cause appears why Mahomed Hossan should not 
 fully and finally be adjudged the legal and just owner of s^ Shybar and 
 without further dispute put in possession : Wee are with the utmost 
 respect, 
 
 " Hon'ble S>- 
 
 " Your Hon" 
 " Most Obed* & Most Humble Serv*« 
 
 '* Jn^ Braddyll. 
 
 •' Hez King. 
 
 " Ge^ Percivall. 
 
 "Henry LowTHER." 
 
 We may safely say that there is no case in this record on 
 which so much legal learning has been expended. The judges 
 seem to have most carefully considered the main issue raised 
 and decided the case after mature deliberation. They cite the 
 authority of two ancient writers, Malynes and Grotius, who 
 support their view of the law on the subject. The report 
 has been drawn up in a sufi&ciently intelligible form, but 
 the following note* may perhaps enlighten the reader on 
 
 * I am again indebted to my friend. Dr. Thomas Baty, for furnishing 
 me with materials for this interesting note. Dr. Baty has made a careful 
 study of Prize Law, and has written much on International Law, his latest 
 book on the subject having been very favourably received. 
 
464 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 some of the obscure points touched upon by the learned 
 judges : 
 
 " The question is evidently one of recapture. It is, as is well known, 
 always a question between the original owner and the recaptor, whether 
 the former is entitled to have any interest in the subject-matter of the dis- 
 pute. Its determination depends upon whether the property was ever 
 divested, and acquired by the first captor. The test of complete acqui- 
 sition has varied very much. A rule (said to be derived from a Lombard 
 game-law) which gained almost imiversal acceptance in the seventeenth 
 century declared twenty-four hours' undisturbed possession to be suffi- 
 cient for the purpose — a doctrine adhered to in the eighteenth and nine- 
 teenth centuries by such eminent writers as Lampredi and Kliiber. But 
 it is now universally held to be challenged by the modern (and apparently 
 the older) doctrine declared by Bynkershock, that the prize must be 
 taken into a safe port where she cannot be recaptured by the enemy. 
 Only then, according to the practice of most nations, does the owner lose 
 all claim to her (on payment of salvage), if she is recaptured. The 
 bringing of a prize into a safe port is called bringing her infra prcesicUa. 
 At the time of the case under discussion Great Britain followed the 
 ' infra prsesidia ' rule, while Portugal adhered to the twenty-four hours 
 rule,"^ and the contest seems to have arisen out of the conflict between 
 these two theories. If Angria, the captor, was a mere pirate, without 
 territory and acting under no commission, it is difficult to see how the 
 * infra prsesidia ' doctrine is to be applied. As a piratical capture can 
 never operate as a transfer of property or as a stage in its transfer at all, 
 being a mere theft, it seems certain that the Portuguese recaptors, in 
 the present case, must have been obliged to give the prize up on receipt 
 of meritorious salvage without any question. Consequently, it seems a 
 safe conclusion to draw — and history seems to confirm it — ^that the captor 
 can hardly have been a mere pirate, f and in that case the Court was 
 justified on English principles in declaring the necessity of the shybar's 
 being taken to a safe port in Angria' s territory before becoming liable to 
 capture by the Portuguese without regard to the claims of the original 
 owner. But, in any case, it is clear that the Portuguese must have been 
 entitled to heavy salvage, say one-third the value of the shybar. At the 
 same time, Wheaton tells us \ that Holland and Spain gave such property 
 wholly to the recaptors, provided that the pirates had had twenty-four 
 
 * At the present day, by special legislation, the original owner always gets 
 back his property (subject to salvage) in case of recapture, so far as Great 
 Britain is concerned. 
 
 f His position must rather have resembled those Barbary States whose 
 piratical practices so often raised questions as to whether their vessels were 
 really pirates. The received opinion was that they were not, as they acted 
 under the regular authority of a definite Government which could be called to 
 account for their malpractices. 
 
 I Maritime Captures, p. 237. 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 465 
 
 hours' possession ; and it is quite likely that Portugal also accorded this 
 unique recognition to piratical capture. 
 
 " Valin mentions a decree passed at Bordeaux in 1635, in favour of a 
 Dutch subject who had retaken a French vessel from pirates, and was 
 thus accorded by the French Court the same right which his own curious 
 law would have given him : an opinion reprobated by Pothier." 
 
 Let us now turn to some of the other interesting cases re- 
 corded in this Minute Book. A dispute of frequent occurrence 
 was as regards the possession of an oart or the partition of an 
 estate. In cases in which the parties were natives, the Court 
 generally appointed arbitrators by consent, particularly when the 
 adjustment of long and intricate accounts was involved, or re- 
 ferred the matter to officers who were known as Vereadores at 
 the time. Who were these Vereadores? Etymologically 
 defined, the term " Vereadores " means " verifiers," or " certi- 
 fiers." Sir Michael Westropp, while preparing his elaborate 
 judgment in Naoroji Beramji v. Rogers, seems to have consulted 
 the then Portuguese interpreter of the Court as regards the 
 definition of this term. The latter, instead of confining himself 
 to the definition, enumerated the duties of this officer. Accord- 
 ing to him, a 
 
 " Vereador is one who holds the staff or wand of power ; is a member 
 of Council or of the Chamber ; a functionary charged with the adminis- 
 tration of the police or the repairs of pubUc roads ; a bazaar superin- 
 tendent ; a magistrate or public functionary who fixes local tarififs or 
 
 taxes." * 
 
 But Da Cunha disputes the derivation of this term from the 
 Portuguese word vara, Latin virga, meaning a rod, and says 
 that a Vereador had nothing whatever to do with the holding of 
 the staff or wand of power. 
 
 " Vereador" observes the learned doctor, " simply corresponds to the 
 vfoxdi procurator, or attorney, and was in older times equivalent to consul 
 and decurio. He never held the staff of power in his hand, but wore 
 a toga or gown, as Vereador da Camara or member of the Municipal 
 Corporation." f 
 
 There also seems to be some difference of opinion regarding 
 
 * Bombay High Court Keports, iv. p. 90. 
 t The Origin of Bombay ^ p. 230. 
 
 30 
 
466 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the duties the Vereadores were called upon to perform. Accord- 
 ing to Westropp, C.J., the Vereadores assisted in collecting the 
 pension fixed hy Aungier's Convention ; also in mustering and 
 ofi&cering the island militia, and subsequently in collecting the 
 tax substituted in 1718 for military service. But, according to 
 another authority, they had to perform other duties as well. 
 Professor Wilson describes them, in his Glossary, as "a class 
 of native functionaries in the island of Bombay, whose duties 
 appear to have consisted in the guardianship of orphans and 
 the care of the ejBfects of deceased persons dying intestate " — a 
 definition which derives support from the cases cited below. The 
 Vereadores seem to have held ofi&ce under the Portuguese 
 Government, and when the English took possession of Bombay, 
 their services were continued. These officers must have 
 rendered useful service to the English, and helped the Court in 
 the settlement of disputes among the various communities then 
 inhabiting the island, by their intimate knowledge of the manners 
 and customs of the town. About the time of which the record 
 speaks, the Vereadores were given certain powers in regard to 
 judicial matters, but they exercised them so illegally and unjustly, 
 even to the extent of assuming jurisdiction to which they had no 
 right whatever, that in 1775 Government were obliged to take 
 severe notice of their conduct and pass orders restricting their 
 powers and regulating their duties. The judges had great faith 
 in their integrity and impartiality, and generally confirmed their 
 awards. Arbitrators were also appointed by the Court, and 
 when both parties agreed to their report, it was, as a matter of 
 course, confirmed judicially. We shall pick out only one such 
 instance out of the several which find a place in this record : 
 
 " Antonio D'Rosario on the one part and Matheas D'Mell on the other 
 jointly present to the Bench the Report and Judgement of the Arbitra- 
 tors chose on each part to adjust and divide the estate of Francis 
 D'Azevada dec**, to which they were mutual heirs, which award or judge- 
 ment the parties have assented and agreed to, and beg the Court to 
 approve and confirm the same and that it may be registered ; ordered 
 according to the prayer of said petition, which the Register is to see 
 executed." 
 
 But when the Court was not convinced of the bona fides of the 
 Vereadores, or when it found that their award was not just and 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 467 
 
 equitable, even though supported by the custom of the country, 
 they did not hesitate to set it aside. For instance, they over- 
 ruled the opinion of the Vereadores in the following case : 
 
 " Nimbajee Carpenter, in a petition to the Court, sets forth that where- 
 as the eight of April, one thousand seven hundred twenty-six, he lent to 
 Jeronimo Soldania Patel, Antonio Governe Tindal and Joseph Tindal, 
 three coolys, Dolcars of Mazagon, six hundred and fifty X^ for which he 
 had security half of an oart call'd Fofull Varee, the produce of which 
 half oart he was to enjoy the term of nine years, which was to be as an 
 equivalent for the interest ariseing from the said sum of six hundred and 
 fifty X^ during that term, but whereas he has enjoy'd the same for some 
 time and does not find the produce answer the legal interest of his money, 
 he begs that he may be releived and eas'd of his contract, and pleads in his 
 behalf the opinion of the Veriadores annexed to his petition (that it is the 
 custom of the country), the Court takeing this into consideration, over- 
 rule this opinion of the Veriadores as not founded on equity, for as they 
 themselves confess, had the produce been more than the interest, the 
 said Nimbajee had not been oblig'd to have accounted for it, when in all 
 reason and justice if it holds on one part it ought to hold on the other : 
 and decree accordingly that the contract is vallid and that both tke 
 partys are oblig'd to stand to it, the terms agreed." 
 
 Here is another action regarding an oart in which the Court 
 granted equity of redemption : 
 
 " Domingo Borges, soldier inhabitant of Mahim, sues Man" Lemos, 
 inhabitant of Mazegon, for an oart which he formerly mortgaged to him, 
 the s^ Man^ De Lemos, for one hundred and fifty X^, upon condition that 
 if the s** Domingo Borges did not, at the expiration of the s^ three years, 
 pay him the s^ sum of 150 X« with the interest of nine P.Ct., then the s* 
 oart to be sold to him, the s** Man" De Lemos for X^ 250 ; now the said 
 Domingo Borges proving by the testimony of Cap* Rich^ OUver that he 
 tendered the s^ money with the interest thereon within the compass of a 
 month after the experateration [expiration ?] of the affores^ term of 
 three years, and the defendant having nothing to object but the letter of 
 his contract. The Court overrule the same and grant equity of redemp- 
 tion to the s*^ Domingo Borges, and he offering to pay the money into 
 Court, the Court order the defendant to receive the same, and to give the 
 plaintiff a discharge in full, w<=^ having accordingly [been ?] done, he is 
 further ordered to surrender s^ oart and put the plaintiff into immediate 
 possession." 
 
 As we have already noticed, Ragouset, the premier goldsmith 
 of Bombay, appears more than once in criminal cases in the role 
 
468 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 of prosecutor. Being a man of means and owning some pro- 
 perty on the island, we should have been surprised if he had not 
 figured either as plaintiff or defendant in a civil suit. We find 
 him playing the part of plaintiff in the following case : 
 
 '* Kagouset Goldsmith, inhabitant of Bombay, sues Madousett Gold- 
 smith, inhabitant of Bundera, on a mortgage on three oarts situated in 
 Mahim for a sum amounting to 810 Eupees w*^ interest thereon, and 
 desires the Court to put in possession of s^ oarts in order to have them 
 sold and satisfaction made him, the other party having for a long time 
 trifled w*^ him and kept him out of his money without paying interest or 
 letting him enjoy the fruit of any part of the oarts. The Court, finding 
 the mortgage regular, drawn in due form and registered, have no manner 
 of objection to the petition, and Cundset, the defendant's son, attending 
 and having nothing to say but to beg time for his father's coming over, 
 the Court grant him twenty-one days, when they bid him acquaint his 
 father the Court would, upon his non-appearance, proceed and grant 
 Eagouset his due demands." 
 
 But the Court was not put to any further trouble in this 
 matter. For, about a month after, we find the following entry 
 recorded : 
 
 " Eagoosett Goldsmith begs leave of the Court to withdraw his action 
 against Madousett, inhabitant of Bundura, vi"* Court proceedings of 
 the 5th October, he having adjusted and rec*^ full satisfaction from the 
 partys, his request is granted." 
 
 There was another man at this time in Bombay, also a 
 Hindu, by name Kenso Ram, who must have commanded some 
 influence with the authorities. On September 21, 1726, he 
 presented the following petition to the Court: 
 
 "That having formerly obtain'd a dispatch from this Bench to the 
 Veriadores of Bombay to examine into a dispute between him, the 
 petitioner, and Trimbuckjee Carpenter, inhabitant of Salset, concerning 
 an oart call'd Millique, belonging to Banoo, nephew of said Trimbuckjee, 
 that the Veriadores, in persuante of said dispatch, having smnmoned the 
 said Trimbuckjee twice and a long time being past and he not appearing, 
 the Veriadores proceeded in their examination and accordingly past a 
 certificate in the petitioner's favour, which certificate is to his petition 
 annexed, which he begs the Court would please to confirm and to grant 
 him in possession of said oart, he paying the remainder of the money 
 still due for said oart." 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 469 
 
 Banoo, however, opposed the application on the grounds, 
 among others, that the said oart was his inheritance, it having 
 descended to him from his father, that he being young, Trim- 
 buckjee, his uncle, took charge of the estate and fraudulently 
 sold it to Kenso Ram for forty rupees, representing to him that 
 he had only rented it, that he was tricked into signing the 
 agreement of sale, the contents of which he was not acquainted 
 with, and that the said agreement was null and void, he being a 
 minor at the time. The Court was so far convinced of the 
 truth of Banoo's allegations that, after due consideration, it 
 arrived at the following conclusion : 
 
 "That the s** Trimbuckjee had no right to dispose of the estate 
 of the s** Banoo and that no act of s^ Banoo can be valid, he being 
 then a minor, and consequently the Veriadores' reasons for their certi- 
 ficate in favour of Kenso Ram are bad, they alleging nothing else for it 
 but that the s^ Banoo had before join'd with his s<^ uncle in two acts of 
 the same nature and for which Trimbuckjee at that time gave this 
 reason, that it was in order to pay his father's debts ; upon this the 
 Court being about to determine, Kenso Ram requested that they would 
 please to suspend their judgment, and that they would grant a pass to 
 the B^ Trimbuckjee to come upon the Island without being molested 
 for debt or the hke, that then he doubted not to give such reasons as 
 might quash the plaintiffs allegations, which in consideration of Kenso 
 Ram's character is agreed, and forty days alowed him to bring over the 
 3^ Trimbuckjee, during which time the Court are so far pleased to favour 
 him as to let the cause hang in suspence." 
 
 But the cause did not " hang in suspence long," for, only a 
 fortnight after, Trimbuckjee Carpenter appeared in Court, 
 pursuant to their letter of license. After the proceedings of the 
 last Court-day were read out to him, he was asked what he had 
 to urge on behalf of himself and Kenso Ram, when he replied 
 that Banoo's estate was sold in order to pay off the family debts 
 and that he had acquainted his nephew with the contents of the 
 deed of sale, which, however, the latter stoutly denied. There- 
 upon the Court passed the following decree : 
 
 " That Bonna (Banoo) was and is now a minor, and the legality of 
 what has been done by his said unckle is thereby destroy'd, and it ap- 
 pearing that the said Trimbuckjee Carpenter has appropriated the forty 
 rupees rec^ in hand of Kenso Ram to his own use, direct that the said 
 Trimbuckjee Carpenter pay back the forty rupees with aU the charges 
 
470 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 and damages aris^ from the premises to Kenso Ram, at the same time 
 obligeing the boy Bonna, when he comes of age, if he thinks proper to 
 dispose of the oart in dispute, to let Kenso Ram have the refusal thereof 
 according to the custom of this country, he being already legally pos- 
 sessed of one moiety." 
 
 There are one or two points worth noticing in this connection. 
 In spite of the wealth and influence which Kenso Ram pos- 
 sessed, the Court was not led into passing a decree in his favour. 
 They held a searching inquiry into the matter, and decided the 
 suit after patiently hearing both sides. The judges were above 
 prejudice, above outside influence of any kind. The days of 
 Nicolls and Vaux had gone ; their place was now worthily filled 
 by Hope and Braddyll, Percivall and Lowther — men who, what- 
 ever their faults, were just and upright, men who maintained the 
 best traditions of the Court of Judicature in Bombay. Another 
 point worth noting is the fact of Trimbuckjee Carpenter being 
 out of British territory and beyond the jurisdiction of the 
 Court. He had to be sent for by a special letter of license, 
 to guard him, we suppose, against molestation from his creditors 
 on the island. It was the favourite device with men unable to 
 pay off their debts, as it is even to-day, to escape into Portu- 
 guese territory, and, as they thought, beyond the reach of the 
 law. But there must have been some sort of understanding 
 between the English and the Portuguese, whereby criminals as 
 well as debtors, who evaded summons of the Court by remaining 
 outside its jurisdiction, were handed over to the proper authori- 
 ties. This system worked well, on the whole, but sometimes 
 there was a hitch, as is apparent in the following case : 
 
 " The petition of Isabella Roderigues, Joan D'Penha, and Francisco 
 Roderigues sets forth that they having entered an action against Math^ 
 D'Cruz, inhabitant of the other side, which was refer'd to the Veriadores, 
 who by the then Chief Justice having duly twice summoned him, the s* 
 Math^ D'Cruz, in return have rec^ letter of request from the Chief Justice 
 of Bassein forbidding them to proceed and summoning the petitioners to 
 appear there, but whereas they are inhabitants of this Island and the 
 estate in dispute being likewise here, they pray this Court to determine 
 this and direct the Veriadores to proceed according to their usual form in 
 examine into this affair, and to report the same in due time to this Court, 
 where they pray they may be heard and justice done them, which the 
 Court see no reason for why they should not grant and order the Register 
 to issue out their orders to the Veriadores to proceed and report the 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 471 
 
 same in due time : and accordingly to give notice to the s^ Matheaa 
 D'Cruz that if he does not appear (to specifie to him) on a certain day 
 which they are to appoint, the Court will proceed to a finall determina- 
 tion and register his contempt." 
 
 The Court was very particular that its letters of request 
 should be strictly obeyed. For when one Babou Chitty, who 
 had gone " on the other side," i.e., beyond the jurisdiction of 
 the British Court, failed to answer the summons issued to him, 
 the Chief Justice severely reprimanded him " for not paying a 
 more exact obedience" to the order of the Court. The dispute 
 in which Babou Chitty was involved was rather interesting. He 
 had evidently contracted for the sale of certain property in the 
 hands of one Antonio Telles De Moneses, but tried to evade 
 fulfilling the contract on the plea that the owner had not a just 
 title to sell the estate, and in support of his contention produced 
 a paper he had obtained from the Chief Justice of Bassein. The 
 Court, however, held that this was no legal objection, for the 
 following reasons : 
 
 " The plaintiff being guardian to the parties concerned, who were his 
 creditors and in one family, and consequently what occasion for any 
 pubHck division ; and as there was none made nor occasion for any, how 
 could it be enter'd in the publick registers of Bassein, which is the objec- 
 tion in s<^ paper ? Besides, the s*^ Antonio Telles De Moneses has made 
 it appear that he has cleared the s** estate from all debts and incum- 
 brances and has his title thereupon free and fully vested in him, and 
 which is confirmed to him by the Judge of the Orphans, who is to be 
 deemed a legal and proper magistrate in such cases. The contract there- 
 fore is without all dispute valid and ought to be executed agreeable to its 
 tenour. The Court therefore absolutely confirm the former decree and 
 order that Babou Chitty comply with it without any further delay, and 
 whereas the plaintiff offers to goe on the other side, and put the s** Babou 
 Chitty in immediate possession, provided he pay the money or give 
 security, he is required to doe the one or the other or an execution shall 
 be issued out against him and his estate and the whole sold to make 
 satisfaction to this as well as his creditors, with which resolution he is 
 now acquainted." 
 
 We have observed above that most of the matters which the 
 Court, in its original civil jurisdiction, was called upon to ad- 
 judicate were petty, and did not tax either the patience or the 
 learning of the judges. At times, however, an action of some 
 
472 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 importance, involving knotty points of law and intricate ques- 
 tions of fact, was brought by wealthy merchants, when the Court 
 rose to the occasion, and spared no pains to get at the truth and 
 give what in its opinion was a fair and equitable judgment. For 
 instance, when one Bhairamsett, agent for Sunderdas Vistumdas, 
 *' a Hindu Merch* inhabitant of Bendure," presented a petition 
 to the Court on November 16, 1726, a long discussion ensued. 
 The facts of the case are so interesting that, in spite of its great 
 length, we shall take the liberty of transcribing the whole proceed- 
 ings from the record. The petition set forth the following facts : 
 
 " That Balshette, a Merch* inhabitant of Onore, bought of the s"* Sun- 
 derdass rice to the amount of one thousand pagodes,* w*'^ rice he loaded 
 on ship Bussorah Merch\ whereof Mons"^ Senequier, Frenchman, was 
 Supercargoe on a voiage to Muscat and for w*=^ Balshette promised to pay 
 on return of s^ ship to the port of Onore, and whereas the time proposed 
 for the return of said ship hath long been elapsed and no appearance 
 of s** ship at s*^ port, Sunderdass having demanded s^ money of Bal- 
 shette, he in lieu thereof hath given him a letter to the s<^ Mons"^ Sene- 
 quier, now in Bombay, therein directing him to pay to the order of s* 
 Sunderdass for one thousand pagodes out of the amount of his goods 
 and the remainder to be accounted for at Surat : he therefore prays the 
 Court would examine into this affair and cause the s^ Mons'^ Senequier 
 to pay the s"* thousand pagodes and deposite the same in some good 
 hands tiU he can produce such better proofs as may be more satisfactory 
 to the Court." 
 
 Monsieur Senequier was thereupon summoned and examined 
 by the Court. His depositions have not been recorded : there 
 are no notes of evidence in this Minute Book, such as are 
 usually taken down at some length by the judges to-day. 
 Probably the Eegistrar kept rough notes of the oral evidence for 
 the consideration of the Court. After Senequier' s examination 
 was over, the Court proceeded to state the facts of the case as 
 follows : 
 
 *' Cassisett hires the Bussorah Merch* of Nanaby, Parsee Carp', for 
 
 * Pagoda was a coin current in Madras. One of the earliest uses of the 
 word, applied as a designation of value in money out of the limits of Madras, 
 occurs in the Mayor's Court Charter of 1726, which enacted that appeals lay 
 from the Mayor's Courts to the Governors and Councils, and thence to the 
 King in Council, in causes involving sums above the amount of 1,000 
 pagodas. 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 473 
 
 9,000 rupees on behalf of his brother or kinsman Boozby in Onore, being 
 thereto commissioned by him, taking up money from the s"^ Nanaby to 
 defray the expence of the outsett. The ship proceeds to Onore and 
 from thence and Mang* is loaden w*^ rice for a voyage to the Gulph of 
 P.sia, but she putts into Muscat and there the cargo is sold. The ship 
 returns again to Onore, where Boozby relades her w*^ a cargo of 
 rice, &c., and is return'd back again to Muscat, w*^^ orders to be sent 
 back so early as to take in a Mallabar cargo at Callicut and proceed 
 therewith the same season. The ship being detain'd long in her voyage 
 to Muscat and her bussiness delayed by troubles there, the Cap* could 
 not proceed w*^ her to the coast, but dispatches her to Surat w*^ 300 
 tomns cons*^ to Boozby' s agent Cassiset in Surat. The ship putts into 
 Gogo, not being able to reach Surat thro' the lateness of the season, 
 and the Cap* stays at Muscat to recover the rest of the money and then 
 proceeds in a vessell w**^ the efifects for Bombay. Cassiset takes up 
 money at Eespondentia in Surat, Boozby does the same at Onore, &c., 
 Balshette, a kinsman of Boozby's, p'tends to be p'tner and writes to the 
 Cap* to pay 1,000 Pag^ for what he is indebted to Sunderdass for rice he 
 bought to lade on her. Nanaby now writes to the Cap* to pay nothing 
 to Boozby but to bring all the money to Surat, to answer freight 
 charges, &c. ; Boozby is run from Onore and in the Porf-^ country and 
 is a bankrupt ; Cassisett is also gone from Surat, and not satisfied the 
 Eespondentia creditors, to defraud whom as well as his other creditors 
 these voiages of Boozby's seem to have been calculated, and w°^ upon 
 the strength of this creditt Boozby has effectually done : and it appears 
 Balshette was in the secret, having intercepted Mons"^ Senequier's 
 letters advising him not to proceed the voiage on reasonable presumption 
 it was undertaken for the afors"* ill purposes. Mons' Senequier from his 
 commission &ca. makes it appear said Balshette is none of his employers 
 and consequently has no title to draw upon him, but must seek satisfac- 
 tion from the principalis, what is to be expected from the remaining 
 stock being very little ; s*^ Mons' Senequier having made returns to 
 Boozby agent and brother Cassiset of 300 Tomands w°^ is sunk by the 
 s^ Boozby or his agent. The ship charges he computes at about 200 
 Tomands more and admitts he has about 200 more in his hands, out of 
 w**^ is to be deducted for 40 candy of dry dates and six horses left in the 
 hands of Boozby at Onore and w*^^ he has converted to his own use ; the 
 remainder, w*^^ is very inconsiderable considering the demands, Mons"^ 
 Senequier professes he is ready and will upon his arrival from Surat 
 pay to those who have a title to call upon him and are ennabled to 
 endemnifie him from any further trouble." 
 
 From the above-mentioned facts, which we confess have not 
 been marshalled well, it will be seen that the transaction out 
 of which this dispute arose took place at the port of Surat, 
 and that most of the parties interested in the suit also lived in 
 
474 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Surat. Consequently, the Court referred the parties to that place, 
 and, in doing so, passed the following orders : 
 
 " Upon the whole the case appearing to be thus truely stated, the 
 Court cannot see how they can releive Sunderdass according to the 
 tenour of his petition. Balshette undoubtly is in the secret with Boozby, 
 being his p'tner. Boozby since he received the three hundred Tomns 
 sent by Mons"^ Senequier on the ship, has been at Onore w*^ Balshette 
 and Sunderdass, and might out of the s*^ summ, if he meant, honestly 
 have discharged Sunderdas' debt. Nanaby, to whom Boozby is indebted 
 15,000 Eups. upon ace* of s^ ship and voyages, with very good reason 
 desires Mons' Senequier to bring what money he has to Surat; the 
 Respondentia Cred" who have the first and best title to be paid out the 
 effects on board s^ ship are not yet paid anything nor likely to be 
 except very little as circumstances now stand. Surat is the port of the 
 ship sailed from and where most of the parties concerned live, the 
 remain^ effects are about to be transported thither by Mr. Senequier 
 and there being a better opportunity there to unravel this entangled 
 affair and all parties to adjust their affairs as they shall see cause, for 
 w°^ reasons the iCourt wave determineing in this point any further then 
 thus stateing the case as it appears to them and referr the partys to 
 Surat, where both the complainant and defendant are bound and their 
 principals live, and where without controversy Mons"^ Senequier wiU be 
 obliged to adjust with his employers from whom he is to have his dis- 
 charges, they being the proper persons w*** whom he is to account." 
 
 An equally interesting case, but one involving an entirely 
 different question, was that which Chief Justice Cowan and the 
 other justices decided on June 28, 1727. The point there 
 raised appertained to a certain custom or practice prevailing " on 
 the other side," as the Portuguese territory was briefly called. 
 It is recorded in the Minute Book as follows : 
 
 "Antonio D'Silva, attorney for Simon MurzeUo of Mahim, in a 
 petition to the Court sets forth that his principall being farmer of a 
 village on the other side, which he took of Rama Santa, legal attorney 
 to the proprietor of s^ village, into whose hands he again resigned it, 
 when his lease expired; at which time the Currumbees of s^ village 
 were indebted to him in a very considerable summ, for which he sued 
 them in the Court of Bassein, upon which Rama Santa gave him an 
 obligation for a sum (as it now stands liquidated) amounting to five 
 hundred and ten X^, being in part as security for some particular Cur- 
 rumbees and the residue some batty belonging to Simon MurzeUo for 
 which Rama Santa rec*^ the money : and whereas there still remained 
 due 827-0-1 X^ which was disputed whether Rama Santa was to recover 
 and pay or not ; a petition was thereupon presented to Jn® Hope, Esq', 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 475 
 
 the then Chief Justice, who was pleased to refer the same to four 
 merchants, arbitrators (to which the attorney of Eama Santa agreed, 
 appointing two of s** arbitrators on his part), who having determined 
 the same according to their judgment and declared it as their opinion 
 from the ace** and certifficates that they have perused and examined, 
 that Rama Santa ought to pay the summ of five hundred and ten X^ in 
 hand, and that it is further incumbent upon him to recover the other 
 summ of 827 X^ from the Currumbees of s^ village and pay the same to 
 Simon Murzello in due time, it plainly appearing to them that it is the 
 custom and practice on the other side, that the new farmer stands 
 obliged to recover (?) and pay to the old all the debts due from the 
 persons occupying the premises ; all which he humbly beg the Court 
 will please to confirm and order accordingly. The attorney of Rama 
 Santa (Ganba Purvoe) being called and asked what objections he had 
 to make why the prayer of s^ petition should not be granted, he pretends 
 he has several objections to several particulars of the ace*, which, as he 
 would insinuate, the arbitrators would not attend to. The Court 
 acquainting him they were willing to satisfie all persons, they would 
 indulge him so far as to grant him one week to revise s"* acct^ and make 
 his objections and appoint the same four persons to hear and answer 
 thereto and to report the same to the Court next sitting." 
 
 A week after, the arbitrators adjusted the accounts and gave 
 their award, which so satisfied Ganba Purvoe, Rama Santa's 
 attorney, that he raised no objection to the Court passing a 
 final decree in favour of Simon Murzello for the two sums of 
 money found due to him. But if his attorney consented to the 
 decree, Rama Santa himself did not ; for we find that about a 
 month and a half after it was passed, another attorney on his 
 behalf made an application to the Court for leave to appeal to 
 the Governor-in-Council. This fact invests the case under 
 notice with an interest peculiarly its own, for it is the only 
 isolated instance of a civil matter, in this record, in which such 
 an application was made and granted. As has been observed in 
 another chapter, an appeal lay to the Governor and Council, as 
 constituting the Superior Court of Bombay, from all decisions 
 of the Inferior Court. And it was under this regulation that 
 Rama Santa applied for leave to appeal. Li the proceedings 
 dated August 16, 1727, we find the following entry: 
 
 " Vittojee Sinay, petitioning the Court for leave to appeal from their 
 sentance and decree against Rama Santa, inhabitant on the other side, 
 the Court granted him leave and order execution to be stop'd till further 
 order." 
 
476 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Curiously enough, a similar entry finds a place in the record 
 immediately after the above. It runs as follows: 
 
 " Kama Santa having appointed a new attorney to act for him, he 
 appear'd this day in Court and petitioned for leave to appeal to the 
 Hon'ble President and Councill, which was granted him, and an order 
 given to stop the execution of the former sentence of this Court till 
 further orders." 
 
 Whether Kama Santa did file an appeal afterwards, and with 
 what result, there are no means of ascertaining. Probably the 
 Governor and Council kept a separate Minute Book in which 
 were entered the proceedings of all appeals and other cases 
 which the court of first instance was not empowered to hear. 
 
 Much of the trade in Bombay in the seventeenth and 
 eighteenth centuries was carried on by sea. The port of 
 Bombay was then the largest and the busiest on the Western 
 coast. Naturally, therefore, many of the litigants were seamen, 
 and the Court was well occupied in settling disputes among 
 them. In this record there are to be found cases in which the 
 captain sued his mates and mates their captain. We shall pick 
 out for reference the one which seems the most interesting. 
 The nakodah or owner of a certain ship sued two of his mates 
 for loss occasioned to him by their refusal to proceed on a voyage 
 on the ground that the ship was unseaworthy. The action has 
 been thus stated in the Minute Book : 
 
 " Wallydaud Caun, Noquedah and owner of ship Mahomet Servary, 
 complains of Hon' Joan Babtist Cailbot and Mon' Lewis Bracelet, first 
 and second mate of s^ ship, and in a petition sets forth that he has 
 several good reasons to beleive that the loss of his passage to Bengali, 
 where he was bound, is owing to his s^ two mates, and whereas for that 
 reason he thinks it necessary to discharge them, he prays the Court 
 would oblige them to repay so much of what they have rece** as impress 
 as there is wanting of the three months for which they rece** the s^ 
 advance. The defendants being called upon to answer thereto, they on 
 their part alledge that the ship was not fit for the sea, making a great 
 deal of water and being unprovided with tackle and other necessarys for 
 a voiage, which they confirm by the testimony of the other marriners 
 present in Court, to which they add that at their first setting out from 
 Surat, being obliged after six days to return again, they then remonstrated 
 that the ship was not in a condition for such a voiage, which remon- 
 strance signed by themselves and several others they produce in Court ; 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 477 
 
 notwithstanding which the owner himself then coming on board in order 
 to proceed the voiage and urging and intreating them to continue with 
 him, they were prevailed upon so to doe, but finding by that time they 
 were off this Island, they could proceed no further without endangering 
 themselves, the ship and all that was in her, they put into this Port, and 
 whereas they have done their duty on board so long and as far as was 
 consistent with their security, considering the incapacity of the ship, 
 they humbly leave it to the Court whether any part of the impress is to 
 be returned, and conclude humbly praying that in consideration of their 
 great disappointment and loss of time, the Court would please to order 
 their immediate discharge. The Court taking the premises into con- 
 sideration unanimously agree that the Noquedah has not made good the 
 allegations of his petition, that for the above consideration he has no 
 title to any part of the impress money advanced and that the defendants 
 ought to have their discharge, and the Noquedah having nothing to 
 object, he was accordingly ordered to discharge them." 
 
 Not only was the nakodah obliged to discharge his mates, 
 but he was called upon to pay whatever money was due to them, 
 after the accounts between the parties were adjusted by four 
 arbitrators appointed by the Court, including the " Moody and 
 the Codgi." 
 
 Disputes regarding inheritance were not infrequent. In such 
 cases the Court must have experienced no small difficulty in 
 deciding between the parties. There were so many different 
 communities even then in Bombay, divided into castes and sub- 
 castes, and observing customs to which the English were perfect 
 strangers. In cases in which the litigants were Portuguese, the 
 Court generally referred the matter to the Veriadores first, and 
 allowed itself to be guided by their judgment ; when they 
 happened to be natives, the Codgi and the Chugulars, as these 
 native officers were called, seem to have been consulted. We 
 shall cite an instance of each of these two cases : 
 
 "Domingo Dias, inhabitant of Bundora, and Manoel D'Kemedios, 
 having maried the two daughters of Paula D'Penha, the wife of the 
 latter (D'Remedios) dying without children and her portion in con- 
 sequence thereof being to return to her mother, she for some good con- 
 siderations was pleased to remit some part of the s"^ portion to her s^ 
 son-in-law and to receive a composition for the whole. Domingo Dias, 
 the husband of the surviving daughter, objects to this as injuring his 
 right, since his wife is to inherit the whole after the death of her mother, 
 and consequently alledges the mother has no power of making any such 
 composition. This being referred to the Veriadores, they give it as their 
 
478 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 opinion that the s** Paula D'Penha being independant of anyone and sole 
 proprietor of her estate during her life and that her daughters are not to 
 inherit till after her decease, notwithstanding which they had given 
 them handsome portions, she has it in her power to accept of a composi- 
 tion for that which by the death of one of her daughters reverted into 
 her hands, in consideration of the good behaviour of her son-in-law, the 
 desire of her deceased daughter, or the like ; Domingo Dias in answer to 
 this (not attending in person tho' duely summoned) only giving the 
 several opinions of the lawyers on the other side, who differ much and 
 disagree. This Court is of opinion that in reason and equity from the 
 above considerations and several others which are and may be urged, the 
 s** Paula D'Penha hath a power to make s** composition, and therefore 
 confirm the opinion and act of the Veriadores and decree accordingly." 
 
 In the other case the parties were Mahomedans, or Moors, as 
 they were called in those days. There, one Abramji Sherif, on 
 behalf of his mother, his sister, and himself, widow and children 
 of Sherif Ally, sued Amadji and Daudji, sons by a former wife of 
 the said Sherif Ally, for their proportion of the estate left by 
 the deceased. The facts have been thus stated in the record : 
 
 ** Sheriff Ally, inhabitant of Mahim, dies and leaves behind him by his 
 first wife, deceased, two sons, and by a second wife now living one son 
 and one daughter : his effects consist of a house and grab at Cambay 
 and a house and a great many other goods and chattels at Mahim, the 
 particulars whereof are set down in an inventory, but the value not 
 ascertained. The surviving wife and her children demanding their share 
 applyed themselfs to the then Chief Justice, who referred them to the 
 Codgi and Chugulars. They after taking an inventory give it as their 
 opinion that the surviving wife and her children should have one moiety 
 (the surviving wife, in consideration of this, waving her dowery, which 
 according to their custom she may demand). The two eldest brothers are 
 in possession of the house and grab at Cambay and pretend that there 
 being a debt upon both, the remainder will not amount to the value of 
 the house and effects at Mahim ; notwithstanding they will be content 
 with that for their share. The widow and her children, on the other 
 hand, object that the house and grab are worth a great deal more (or 
 why should they chuse it) and demand what debts there are, for they 
 know of none ; and add that they have reason to beleive a great deal is 
 hid and concealed by their brothers. They pray in the meanwhile that 
 they may be permitted (?) possession of what effects there is now in 
 Mahim, and that the two brothers may be obUged to ace* with them for 
 the whole, from whence an equal dividend may be made. Amadjee Shreif , 
 the oldest brother and defendant in this cause, being called upon to 
 answer hereto, objects nothing to the act of the Codgi and Chugulars, 
 but alledges that the plaintiffs, when his father died, conveyed away out 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 479 
 
 of the house a bag of money to the value of five hundred rupees, but 
 there appearing no proof thereof, and the plaintiff offering to purge him- 
 self of this by an oath in Court, it was admitted and he (was ?) sworn 
 accordingly. The defendant then urged that the grab at Cambay had 
 cost a great deal in repairs and the like, but this being since the death of 
 their father, the Court direct the Codgi and Chugulars of Bombay and 
 Mahim to examine the whole affair, make a just estimate of the value of 
 the whole, as well the grab and house at Cambay as the effects here, as 
 they stood at the death of their father, and to calculate an exact dividend 
 of the whole and then report the same to the Court." 
 
 What the report of the ** Codgi " and the "Chugulars" was, 
 we cannot say, for the record is silent about it. But the follow- 
 ing entry from the proceedings of the next Court-day shows how 
 litigants sometimes behaved themselves : 
 
 " Amadjee Shreif and Abramjee Shreif, the two brothers litigant last 
 Court, having appeared before the Codgi, persuant to the order of Court, 
 but behaving there very indecently, quareling, giving ill language and 
 striking one another, upon the report of the Codgi, the Court as a 
 punishment for such behaviour fine them each ten rupees and commit 
 them till they pay it." 
 
 The Court was at times seriously hampered by the difficulty of 
 understanding native languages. There was an officer known as 
 the '' linguist " attached to the establishment of the Court, but 
 if we may judge of his qualifications by the amount of the pay 
 he drew, they cannot have been of a high order. The linguist, 
 we find, was allowed the princely sum of Rs.6 per mensem — a 
 sum which will not now tempt even an illiterate person to serve 
 as a peon. Ten years after the establishment of the Mayor's 
 Court in Bombay, one Bhicu Sinay, who had been acting as 
 interpreter without pay, was confirmed in his appointment on 
 Rs.8 per month. We are not surprised that Bhicu had to ask 
 for an increase in his monthly allowance as it was " too small 
 for the trouble and support of his place " ; after some consider- 
 ation it was agreed to allow him a gratuity of one hundred 
 rupees for the time past, his pay at the same time being 
 increased to Rs.l5.* But it was not till 1778 that an officer 
 
 * Bhicu Sinay, be it noted, was appointed interpreter to Government. 
 Whether he acted as interpreter to the Court as well, or there was a separate 
 linguist given to the justices, it is^ifdcult to say. 
 
480 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 with the required qualifications and a salary worthy of the post 
 was appointed as interpreter to Government. In that year the 
 Board being of opinion that the employment of linguists in 
 transacting business of importance with the country people was 
 very improper, a Civil Servant named James Sibbald was 
 appointed to act as interpreter with the respectable salary of 
 Rs.300 per mensem.* This, is, however, somewhat of a digres- 
 sion. Whenever the Court experienced some difficulty in 
 deciding a matter owing to its ignorance of native languages, it 
 referred it either to the Codgi and the Chugulars or to some 
 trustworthy men of its own choice. For instance, when the widow 
 of one Narjee Nagjee, a Bhansalee, sued another Bhansalee for a 
 debt due to her, being the balance of an account, and when the 
 Court found that the account-books of both parties were kept in 
 the '* Gentue " language, it ordered Ramchandra and Odejee to 
 examine the said books and report the result next Court-day. 
 Another case illustrating this point is stated as follows : 
 
 " Seid Buddum, for a long time a prisoner for a debt to Seidally 
 Chubdar, being called to the barr, and pleading he was only a person 
 in trust, a hired servant, and had no concern in the charge against him 
 for a debt of 204 rupees to Seidally for sword-blades, whereas he was 
 only a person imployed to carry them, and Seidally denymg this, and 
 the case appearing very intricate from the difi&culty of understanding the 
 language, the Court order that the Codgi and three Chugulars examine 
 this affair and report the same next Court-day." 
 
 An action was brought by a Portuguese and his wife for the 
 recovery of a small debt, and it will be interesting to notice the 
 details here, as they throw light on the morals and manners 
 prevailing in those days. The facts of the case are as follows : 
 
 " Michal Razer in behalf of his wife Rose Razer, sues Mr. W"' Cordeux 
 for a sum of money he pretends to be due to his said wife when in Persia, 
 but she not being able to prove that she ever entrusted Mr. Cordeux 
 
 * The Directors, however, disapproved of this appointment, and wrote on 
 July 5, 1780 : *' The appointment of Mr. James Sibbald to act as interpreter 
 in transacting business with the country people at a salary of Rs.300 a month 
 does not meet with our approbation. Our affairs have hitherto been con- 
 ducted without an officer of that denomination ; neither will we sufEer such 
 innovations. If you wish for our good opinion, you must be studious rather 
 to retrench than to increase-our expenses, which are already too burthen- 
 some." 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 481 
 
 with any money ajiy further [than ?] that she put a chest into his room 
 wherein her money lay, of which she kept the key and went to it when 
 she pleased. On the contrary, Mr. Cordeux charging her with severall 
 summs expended for her use, but which she claims with great impudence 
 as her due for some familiarity betwixt them. The Court after anim- 
 adversion on such behaviour and the assurance of pubUckly averring it 
 in a Court think the claims on both sides pretty equally (balanced) and 
 both partys acquiescing therein, direct their quitting their severall claims 
 and giving each other mutuall releases." 
 
 Another case arose out of the above action. It is stated 
 thus: 
 
 " Mr. Henry Lowther charging Mr. Will"* Cordeux upon the testimony 
 of Cap* Bates and the aforesaid Michael Eazer and his wife with abusiag 
 his character by taxing him, the said Mr. Lowther, with not paying to 
 the said Eose Eazer the full sum of what he had remitted him and 
 thereby perswading her that Mr. Lowther had wronged her, the Court 
 severely reprimanded him and acquainted him that nothing was of a 
 worse nature than making free with gentlemen of worth and dignity, 
 and fine him the summ supposed to be wanting, viz., a defect in the 
 exchang, being rupees ninety-one, to the poor of the parish." 
 
 The fact worth noting in this case is not the severe reprimand 
 which the Court very properly administered to William Cordeux, 
 but the presence and participation of the complainant in the 
 trial. For the plaintiff formed one of the tribunal which decided 
 this action. The pleasure — we trust it was unmixed with 
 malice — with which Mr. Henry Lowther must have signed the 
 proceedings of that day can be easily imagined ! 
 
 No love was lost between the Portuguese priests and the 
 English. But when the Padre was at times obliged to seek the 
 relief of the Court he was given a patient hearing and impartial 
 justice. For instance, the following action was brought by 
 Padre Pedro against one of his flock on December 7, 1726 : 
 
 " Padre Pedro, in behalf of the Eoman CathoUc Church at Mahim, 
 begs leave to enter an action against Diogo D' Costa, an inhabitant of 
 the same place, for a legacy left to the said Church by his dece^ wife, 
 praying that they may have a hearing in this Court, and that Diogo 
 D'Costa may be summon'd in due time to answer thereto, w*^ is admitted 
 and the Eeg*^ order'd to acquaint Deog D'Costa therewith." 
 
 The facts of the case are more fully stated in the proceedings 
 
 31 
 
482 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 of a subsequent date (February 11, 1727). As they may be 
 found interesting we reproduce them below : 
 
 "The affair between Padre Pedro, the present incumbant in the 
 Church of St. Michall at Mahim, in behalf of s^ church, and Deoge 
 D'Coast, inhabitant of Mahim, concerning a legacy left by the wife of 
 the B^ Dioge D'Coast to s** church, being taken into consideration, the 
 parties present in Court being heard : it appears that upon a contract of 
 mariage between the s^ Dioge D'Coast and his wife, she reserved to 
 herself the disposal of one moiety at her decease; after mariage he, 
 the s*^ Coasta, borrows money upon his s^ wife's oarts and redeems one 
 therewith belonging and formerly mortg'' by his father, her consent not 
 appearing to have been obtained. She dies and leaves her moiety to her 
 relations and the church of St. Michael, Dioge D'Coast keeps the posses- 
 sion of the whole, pretending he had jointly with her during her life spent 
 the estate rec* by her and that in consequence thereof there are several 
 debts outstanding w*=^ he is obliged to pay out of the remainder in his 
 hands ; amongst the rest in his inventory he incerts a debt due to his 
 three brothers out of the oart by him redeemed, being an overpluss 
 arising therefrom. Now the Padre objects that as the s"* Dioge D'Coast 
 has converted s^ money to his own use, he thinks it reasonable he should 
 pay s** debt and not the legatees jointly, his wife nor they having any 
 concern w*^ what belongs to his brothers and is a transaction solely 
 relating to him and his brothers. The Court cannot find that the s** 
 Dioge D'Coast's wife has been consulted on this occasion, nor knew 
 anything of this affair, and she declaring (in her last will w<=^ by the 
 custom of this country she had a power to make) that she left her 
 moiety as affores^, it supposed she beleived herself rich enough and 
 capable of making such a donation. The Court upon the whole are of 
 opinion the s** Dioge D'Coasta is solely liable to pay his own debt, w°^ 
 this to his brothers appears to be abstracted from his wife, and accord- 
 ingly order that he pay the Padre his part according to the tenour of the 
 will out of his half w'^^ they declare vaUd, a just calculation being first 
 made by the Veriadores of Bombay, whom the Eeg*" is ordered to acquaint 
 with the pleasure of the Court in this case and to require a speedy 
 obedience to this order and a report finaly adjusted to be returned to the 
 Register for the Court's perusal next Court-day, that a dividend be made 
 accordingly." 
 
 Pursuant to the orders of the Court, the Veriadores audited 
 the accounts and found that the estate was worth 2,973 xera- 
 phins, out of which the Padre was entitled to a dividend of only 
 180 xeraphins. But D'Costa raised various objections from 
 time to time and evaded the payment of what was found due 
 to Padre Pedro. The action dragged on for months, mainly 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 483 
 
 owing to the defendant's refractory attitude, till at last the 
 patience of the Court was exhausted and it was constrained to 
 take Dioge severely to task. We hear the last of this matter 
 — at least in this record — on July 12, 1727, when the following 
 order was recorded : 
 
 "A controversy arising between Padre Pedro of Mahim and Dioge 
 D'Coasta concerning a partition made by the Veriadores of the s** Dioge 
 D'Coasta's estate, and they both appealing to this Court : D'Coasta, the 
 defendant, being required to acquaint the Bench what objections he had 
 to the s** partition, but alledging nothing but what had been already 
 determined by the Court, the Court, after reprimanding him for his 
 litigious behaviour, confirm the act of the Veriadores and order the s^ 
 D'Coasta to deliver to the Padre the contract of sale he has now in his 
 possession as he voluntarily acknowledges he ought to doe in Court." 
 
 The question of appointing trustees to look after the estates 
 of deceased persons, as also the supervision of their conduct, 
 legitimately fell within the province of the Court as a Court of 
 Equity. The proceedings of June 1, 1726, contain an elaborate 
 petition from Mr. William Henry Draper, the future and, we 
 believe, the first Mayor of Bombay, concerning certain matters 
 of trust. It opens as follows : 
 
 "To the WorsMp^^ JvP Hope, Esqr, Sca.^ Justices of the Court of 
 *' Judicature. 
 
 "WoRSHip^^ S« & Sirs,— 
 
 "Having heretofore had occasion to represent to your Worship, 
 &c., the case of my deceased spouse's marriage agreement w*^ Mr. 
 Sutton (relation being thereunto had may more fully and at large 
 appear, as also the state of Mr. Strutt's affairs), her former husband, 
 therein depending, by vertue of which mariage agreement and her 
 having been appointed sole executrix to Mr. Strutt's will, she became 
 liable to make good the two-fifth parts of s** Strutt's estate, as by the 
 will doth appear, as also to the demands of simdry other persons 
 interested in the s<* estate, w*=^ persons are now pressing your petitioner 
 to a compliance therewith." 
 
 Mr. Draper then confesses his inability to satisfy the demands 
 made on Mr. Strutt's estate, as he had failed to recover such 
 sums of money from the trustees of Mr. Sutton as, by virtue of 
 
484 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 the aforesaid marriage agreement, might have become due to his 
 deceased wife. The petitioner continues : 
 
 '• The present posture of those affairs are now become so intricate and 
 complex'd, cheifly for want of the proper papers and accounts w*'^ Mr. 
 Newlin (who formerly took the management of these affairs upon him) 
 carried to Persia and have not been since returned. So that without 
 being duly authoriz'd by Your Worship, &ca., I do not care to com- 
 promise these matters on my own accord and having by these means 
 not yet been able to adjust the amount of Mr. Strutt's estate, without 
 w*'^ the proper dividents thereof cannot be punctually ascertained or the 
 severall demands regularly complyed w*^ ; neither am I indeed a suffi- 
 cient judge of the lawfulness of those demands or what they may 
 amount to for want of the papers and accounts aforemention'd. There- 
 fore for the more mutual satisfaction of all parties concerned, and that 
 these matters may be accommodated in such a manner that there may 
 not be occasion for any future complaints, I humbly request that Your 
 Worship, &c., will be pleased to take it once more into your considera- 
 tions and at the same time give me leave to offerr to you the following 
 propositions." 
 
 The propositions which Mr. Draper submitted for the con- 
 sideration of the Court were that whatever money he had already 
 recovered on account of Mr. Strutt's estate he may be allowed 
 to deposit in Court, that a balance of Mr. Sutton's estate then 
 remaining in the hands of his trustees may be ordered to be 
 taken, that the Registrar may be appointed to receive whatever 
 money may be thereafter recoverable to either of the estates of 
 Mr. Strutt or Mr. Sutton, and that the Court may be pleased to 
 defer judgment until the arrival of certain information which the 
 petitioner expected from England. Mr. Draper added in con- 
 clusion : 
 
 "That in the meantime I shall endeavour to trace and adjust the 
 several demands of Francis George, Ann Baker, Jeejee Jamsett, Moody, 
 &c., from those books and accounts of Mr. Strutt's which are now in 
 my possession, and if your Worship, «&c., shall be pleased to grant this 
 request, I humbly desire you wiU order the parties to remain satisfied 
 tiU that time." 
 
 Mr. Draper's request was evidently granted, and the first 
 account audited by the Court in the matter was that of 
 Francis George, amounting to 667 rupees and 30 reas. But 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 
 
 485 
 
 the claims on his estate amounted to much more, as we find 
 from the following entry in the proceedings on the next 
 Court-day : 
 
 "The claimers on Francis George appearing, the following claims 
 
 were allowed: 
 
 Mr. Massey ... 
 Mr. Upton 
 Coja Phanoos... 
 Gaspar D'Mell 
 Geegee Nanabhay 
 Wood Head ... 
 Rich^ Morril ... 
 Cutchree Tom 
 Antonio De Abrew 
 Sarg*. Cookson 
 Mr. Bristow ... 
 Cap* Gibson ... 
 
 Moody 
 
 Mrs. Gordin ... 
 Salvador Tusheir 
 
 Rups. < 
 
 !«, reas. 
 
 110 
 
 00 
 
 203 
 
 00 
 
 29 
 
 00 
 
 45 
 
 2 00 
 
 51 
 
 00 
 
 21 
 
 00 
 
 17 
 
 2 00 
 
 20 
 
 2 66 
 
 4 
 
 2 00 
 
 8 
 
 00 
 
 11 
 
 2 00 
 
 471 
 
 1 50 
 
 60 
 
 00 
 
 127 
 
 1 06 
 
 40 
 
 00 
 
 1,219 3 22" 
 
 To the above the following note is appended : 
 
 " Mrs. Gordon, the Moody and Gaspar D'Mell's acct^ being not yet 
 adjusted, order the Register examine into the same and report [on ?] it. 
 And at the same time make a dividend as audited by the Court to the 
 several claimers according to the above list." 
 
 The claims of Ann Baker were next considered, and adjusted 
 as follows : 
 
 " The Court persuant to their resolution of the twenty- second of June, 
 this day take into consideration the case of Ann Baker, natural daughter 
 of and a legatee in the will of Cap* Euclid Baker, formerly gunner of 
 Bombay, de°^, and accordingly having examined an attested copy of the 
 will : It appears that the said Cap* EucHd Baker therein devised to his 
 said daughter the summ of six hundred rupees to be placed at interest for 
 the maintanance of the girl till she became fourteen years of age, as also 
 a house adjoining to the Buzar, sold afterwards by Mr. Stephen Strutt, 
 the only surviving and acting trustee (Cap* Lashland Mackintosh, the 
 other intended by the will, dying before the testator) for which sale 
 amounting to rupees six hundred ninety-nine, one q', Mr Strutt has in 
 
486 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 his books given this reason that the interest arising therefrom would in 
 eight years double the principall ; notwithstanding this, there appearing 
 no credit upon Mr. Strut's books for the interest arising from either of 
 the two summs, and on the other part the said Anna Baker standing 
 charged both in Mr. Strut's books, and in an ace* curr* now delivered 
 into Court by Mr. W™ Henry Draper, Mr. Strut's executor, for her 
 maintinance from the decease of her father to this day, when she is of 
 full age. The Court maturely weighing and computing the amount of 
 the interest on the one part, and the charges of the girl's maintinance on 
 the other, and unanimously agreeing that they very well ballance one 
 another, decree to the said Anna Baker the sum of twelve hundred 
 ninety-nine, one q', rupees, being the principal left her by her father, 
 and the said Anna Baker having petitioned the Court that they would 
 please to take her and her concerns into their protection and care, they 
 accordingly order the Eegister to draw upon Mr. W™ Henry Draper for 
 the afiforesaid summ of twelve hundred ninety-nine, one q"^, rupees, and 
 to give him a final discharge in their name, and under the seal of their 
 Court for the same, being for the use and in trust for the said Anna 
 Baker." 
 
 The Court was, naturally, most careful in accepting the 
 resignation of trustees, and allowed them to renounce their 
 charge only after minutely scrutinising the accounts submitted 
 for their consideration. There is at least one such instance 
 in this record : 
 
 " Major Jonathan Stanton and Mr. Bob* Poole, petitioning the Court 
 for leave to renounce their trust and throw into Court their concern as 
 Trustees in the will of Cap* Peter Passwater, late Gunner of this place, 
 there being a widow and orphans which they humbly beg the Court 
 would take under their care and consideration ; and their acc*^ of their 
 management during their trust being ready, they humbly beg the Court 
 would please to audit and approve the same, and discharge them from 
 any further concern therein. The Court, taking this into consideration, 
 agree, as a Court of Equity, they are obliged to receive widows' and 
 orphans' concerns into their hands, when legaly offered, and order 
 their Register to call for said acc*^ and prepare them for the Court's 
 inspection." 
 
 In this connection it is interesting to observe that when 
 the justices had claims on the estates of deceased persons, 
 they felt no hesitation whatever in putting them forward 
 merely because they formed part of the tribunal which 
 adjudged the legality of their claims. For instance, when the 
 Court assembled on December 7, 1726, presided over by the 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 
 
 487 
 
 Worshipful John Hope, the following claims of the Chief 
 Justice were admitted after due consideration : 
 
 " Mr Hope makeing a demand on the estate of Cap* Peter Passwater, 
 dec^**, for twenty pounds sterling due on bond to Mr. Will'" Dickonson 
 and by him transfer'd to Mr. W°* Kumbald and now left in the hands of 
 Mr. Hope by Cap* Eustace Peacock, attorney to s*^ Kumbald, the Court 
 admitt of the legallity of s^ bond and order the money to be paid to 
 Mr. Hope." 
 
 Or again, when the claims on the estate of one Mathew 
 Brandon were adjudged, the claimants included not only the 
 Chief Justice, but one of the justices, as also the Register of 
 the Court. The matter is stated as follows : 
 
 " The Court next took into consideration the several claims on the 
 estate of Mr. Mathew Brandon, late supercargoe of ship Fame, he dying 
 intestate in his passage from the Maldwies hither, the Secry^ estimate of 
 his estate and the demands thereon being read, the following persons 
 were admitted to be legal claimants, the first four being creditors for 
 money lent at Eespondentia, and the rest on bond and simple con- 
 tract, &c. : 
 
 Bups. qrs. reas, 
 
 Jno Hope Esq' 575 00 
 
 Mr. JnoBraddyll 1,160 00 
 
 Mr. Jn° Robinson 
 
 Cap* Alex' Gibson 
 
 Jn° Hope, Esq' 
 Mr. Daniel Taudin 
 Mr. Arthur Upton 
 Mr. Edw<i CHft 
 Cap* Gibson ... 
 Mr. Jno Lambton 
 
 232 
 
 00 
 
 580 
 
 00 
 
 2,647 
 
 00 
 
 215 
 
 3 75 
 
 406 
 
 2 81 
 
 150 
 
 00 
 
 35 
 
 1 00 
 
 11 
 
 00 
 
 40 
 
 00 
 
 858 
 
 3 56 
 
 3,405 
 
 3 56 
 
 Some debate arising as to whether the whole or only a part 
 of Mr. Brandon's estate should be appropriated in satisfaction 
 of the claims of the Respondentia creditors, the matter was 
 
488 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 adjourned to next Court-day, when the following decision was 
 arrived at : 
 
 "The affair of Mr. Brandon's creditors being again taken into con- 
 sideration, and several queries stated, whether the whole or what part of 
 his estate ought to be appropriated to the relief of his Respondentia 
 creditors, it's agreed the Hon'ble the Presid* and other Merch*^ of the 
 Island be consulted thereon (two of the Justices waveing it as being 
 party s concern'd), confirmable to w*'^ the Reg' is ordered to lay before 
 the Court, the next Court-day, an estimate w*^ the proper dividends of the 
 s* Brandon's estate." 
 
 The meaning of the parenthetical sentence is not quite clear, 
 but probably the Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Braddyll waved 
 their right to sit on the Committee appointed to consider the 
 question, as they were themselves two of the Respondentia 
 creditors. 
 
 We have lingered a good deal over the examination of civil 
 matters referred to in this record, and shall now conclude by 
 noticing an affair which is calculated to provoke a smile. A 
 dispute had arisen between the Rev. Dr. Sawbridge and Captain 
 Elias Bates over the payment of a sum of money which the 
 latter had lent to the reverend gentleman. Dr. Sawbridge 
 pretended he had discharged his debt, and, in proof of his 
 statement, produced a note of release purporting to have been 
 signed by his creditor, but the genuineness of which Captain 
 Bates stoutly denied. We may deprive the reader of a little 
 diversion if we state the case in our own words instead of 
 reproducing it in the quaint language of the record. This 
 matter was first judicially noticed on August 3, 1726, as 
 follows : 
 
 " The Register presents to the Bench a letter from Mr. Sawbridge, 
 dated in TeUicherry May the 2nd, 1726, being an answer to what he, the 
 said Register, wrote him by the order of Court, in the affair between him 
 and Cap* Bates, which is ordered to be entered after this day's pro- 
 ceedings and the consideration thereof referred till Primo Jan^, the time 
 limited for concluding this affair betwixt the said Doct' Sawbridge and 
 Cap* Elia8 Bates." 
 
 As ordered by the Court, Sawbridge' s letter was entered at 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 489 
 
 the end of this day's proceedings. It is written in such a 
 piquant style that we are tempted to reproduce it below : 
 
 •' S^ — It would take up too much to enter upon along recitall of your 
 proceedings concerning the greatest rascall living and myself ; however, 
 pray acquaint Mr. Hope that I have left the originall note with Mr. 
 Adams at Tellecherry in order to be sent up to Bombay by the first safe 
 conveyance, which I don't doubt but he will stay for, should it exceed the 
 limited time before any ships come ; and had you lett me know sooner that 
 the attestations I sent last year from Madrass (which are deem'd by all 
 the Courts in India, yours alone excepted, thoroughly sufficient to con- 
 vince any person living of my innocency) were not of validity enough to 
 over-ballance the oath of so notorious a villain, you should have had the 
 originall by Cap* Small. I am, 
 
 "S' 
 " Yo' Very Humble Servant, 
 
 "Tho^ Sawbridgb. 
 " Tellecherry, May 2nd, 1726. ' 
 
 The letter, it will be observed, was couched in terms which 
 rather belie the writer's profession. We are rather surprised to 
 find a clergyman calling his adversary "the greatest rascall 
 living," at any rate in a letter addressed to the Court of 
 Judicature. The Court, however, found, as we shall presently 
 see, that the reverend gentleman was trying to prove his case by 
 abusing his creditor. The original note or receipt, which Dr. 
 Sawbridge alleged Captain Bates had passed in his favour when 
 he discharged the debt, was very minutely examined by the Court, 
 in order to see if the signature of the creditor on it tallied with 
 his usual signature. The justices converted themselves into 
 handwriting experts for the purpose, and expended much skill 
 in deciphering every letter of that receipt, and particularly of 
 Captain Bates' signature. After mature deliberation, they came 
 to the following conclusion : 
 
 " The Court in general agree there is a great similitude notwith- 
 standing that Bates persists and affirms it not to be his handwriting, 
 and offers to put the whole issue of the affair upon this single article, 
 that if in any papers that he has signed and w*'^ he says in all are alike, 
 there are any such particular dashes w°^ he points out, he will forfeit the 
 whole, w*=^ however, though plausable enough, upon a nice examination 
 there appearing some small difference where he remarks, yet the whole 
 Bench cannot alter their opinion as to the great resemblance between 
 
490 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 his usial signing and this on the note, and that if it be not his writing as 
 he has sworn it is not, it is extreanaly well imitated, but w^^ they do not 
 further regard." 
 
 On hearing this, the reverend gentleman must have exclaimed 
 that Daniel had come to judgment ; for if the Court was satisfied 
 that the note of discharge bore the usual signature of Bates, 
 it must necessarily find that Sawbridge had discharged his 
 debt, and so decide the matter in his favour. But that note 
 formed only one link in the chain of evidence : there were other 
 circumstances in the case which pointed to a difi'erent conclu- 
 sion. The Court recorded its decision as follows : 
 
 " Bates having confidently appealed to the witness Mr. Eich whether 
 he saw him execute any such paper and at the same time affirming he 
 never was paid nor rec*^ any other consideration for the sum lent Doct"^ 
 Sawbridge, and the s^ M''. Sawbridge never yet medled w*^ that point 
 though requested, never pleading he had payed the money, only 
 objecting this receipt in bar without any circumstances but that single 
 one of Cap* Bates being supposed to have mislaid Mr. Sawbridge's note, 
 but no mention made how or when the sum of four hundred eight rupees 
 due to Bates was accounted for, and it appearing by the oath of Cap* 
 Bates, his serv* Suo Ram, a declaration of Cap* Bells and several other 
 circumstances that this money has several times been demanded by 
 Bates or his agents since that note is dated and said to be given, it 
 appears from thence this note has never being (been ?) discharged, and 
 this being the unanimous opinion of the Justices of this Bench, who, 
 as a Court of Equity, think a note, however procured, of no validity 
 where no valuable consideration has been paid or received when the 
 same is before them brought in action, and this case being corroborated 
 with Cap* Bates denying his signing any such receipt upon oath, and the 
 afforesaid reasons needless to be further enumerated. The Court cannot 
 see reason why Cap* Bates should be any longer kept out of his money, 
 and decree it to him accordingly, he giving the proper receipt for the 
 same to this Court." 
 
 The Kev. Dr. Sawbridge must have been completely taken 
 aback by this decision. He could not but have protested 
 against the aspersion cast on the oath of a gentleman and a 
 clergyman, and when Mr. Rich, the witness above referred to, 
 returned from England, he appealed to the Court to examine 
 him in vindication of his own character. Accordingly, 
 Mr. Rich was summoned, and after being duly sworn, the 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 491 
 
 following evidence was recorded in the form of questions and 
 answers : . 
 
 " Q. Is this your hand ? 
 
 " A. It is, to the best of my knowledge. 
 
 " Q. Did you see Cap* Bates sign this note ? 
 
 " A. I did not. 
 
 " Q. Were you present when Cap* Bates signed any other paper ? 
 
 " 4. I did not see him sign any paper, but found him there when I 
 came in. 
 
 " Q. How came you to sign this note not having seen Cap* Bates sign ? 
 
 " A. At Mr. Sawbridge's request, beleiving it to be Cap* Bates' hand, 
 and relying upon the hon' of Mr. Sawbridge as a clergyman and 
 gentleman. 
 
 " Q. Do you know anything of any contracts between the parties 
 litigant or anything further concerning this dispute material to inform 
 the Court? 
 
 "J.. I know nothing further, not being acquainted w*'^ either of the 
 parties affairs and had no further concern w*^ them but witnessing the 
 note in manner afforesaid. 
 
 " It not appearing to the Court from the above that anything material 
 offers whereby the affair is put into a better light, but on the contrary an 
 undoubted clandestine practice, the Court cannot see reason for 
 altering their decree, and thereupon finaly conclude the same by con- 
 firming their former order for payment of the money to. Cap* Bates." 
 
 What the reverend gentleman thought of the justices who 
 found him guilty of "an undoubted clandestine practice," 
 instead of declaring Captain Bates " the greatest rascal 
 living," the Minute Book happily does not record. 
 
 III. Miscellaneous. 
 
 The most interesting item in the last section of this chapter 
 is the following extract from the proceedings of the Court 
 dated July 26, 1727 : 
 
 " There being a general complaint of a great abuse in the prices that 
 Black Taylors charge for their work on this Island, the following regu- 
 lation was this day made in Court (the whole body of taylors being 
 present and agreing thereunto), and established as a standing rule 
 for the future, viz. : 
 
 Bups. qrs. reas. 
 Black Tafety Tannah Stuff or stuff Coat, Wast- 
 
 coat & Breeches 4 00 
 
492 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 
 
 
 Eups. qrs. 
 
 reas. 
 
 Cloth Camblet Padsway & Duroys 
 
 Coat, Wast- 
 
 
 
 
 coat & Breeches 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 00 
 
 Trhn'd with Gold or Silver thread without lace 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 Cloth Camblet Padsway, Coat, 
 
 Wastcoat 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 
 Breeches, trim'd with half lace 
 
 ... 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 Ditto, trim'd with whole lace 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 Wastcoat & Breeches of Silk 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 Gingham Wastcoat and Breeches 
 
 .. 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 00 
 
 White Wastcoat 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 60 
 
 Sowing Silk for a plain Sute 
 
 ,. 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 50 
 
 Buckram Stay tape and canves ... 
 
 .. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 00 
 
 Fine Shirts Plaine Each 
 
 .. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 50 
 
 Ditto Ruffled 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 00 
 
 To work in the house p. month ... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 00" 
 
 It seems ridiculous at the present day that a Court of Judi- 
 cature should have had to regulate the prices which the native 
 tailors were to charge for their work. The duties of officers in 
 every department of Government are nowadays specified with 
 scrupulous care, and any usurpation of them is regarded with 
 great disfavour. In those days, however, on account of the 
 paucity of qualified men, a larger share of administration must 
 have been assigned to the Court, and the judges were some- 
 times called upon to perform duties which seem to us to-day 
 singularly inappropriate and undignified. We do not know 
 what special qualifications Chief Justice Cowan and his col- 
 leagues possessed to regulate the wages of tailors, but consider- 
 ing that the whole body of them agreed to the regulation, the 
 Court must have been in a position to do so to the satisfaction 
 of all the parties concerned. We do not possess enough of 
 antiquarian knowledge to enlighten the reader on the different 
 kinds of cloth mentioned in the above list ; even the omniscient 
 Sir George Birdwood might perhaps find some difficulty in 
 satisfying his curiosity. 
 
 About a month before this regulation was framed, the bakers 
 prayed for the intercession of the Court on their behalf. Owing 
 to deamess of wheat they were unable to make reasonable profits. 
 Thereupon the justices were pleased to pass the following orders : 
 
 " The bakers being called upon to give in a state of their bread, and 
 pleading the high price of wheat being now twenty rupees P. Ca. by 
 which they are great sufferers, the Court takeing this into consideration 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 493 
 
 direct the Clerk of the Market to lower the weight of bread for the 
 present from eight to seven ounces and continue the same till wheat 
 becomes cheaper, and in the meanwhile charge the bakers to make their 
 bread as white and light as the wheat will bear and to observe this 
 better than they have lately done." 
 
 Even in these matters the Court aimed at doing justice 
 between the public, on the one side, and the bakers and the 
 tailors on the other. For, if they found the prices charged by 
 the tailors too high, and deemed it necessary to lower them, 
 they also gave immediate relief to the bakers by reducing the 
 weight of bread to make up for the high price of wheat. What- 
 ever duties the Court was called upon to perform, it never forgot 
 its prime function, that of doing justice to those who sought relief. 
 
 The Court was entrusted with several jurisdictions, including 
 the admiralty, ecclesiastical, and testamentary. It was in its 
 capacity as a Court of testamentary jurisdiction that it granted 
 probate of wills to the executors of deceased persons. The pro- 
 ceedings of each day generally open with an entry such as the 
 following : 
 
 " The last will and testament of Cap* Jonathan Appleyard being pre- 
 sented to this Court by his executor, Michael Mead. Three witnesses, 
 viz., Peter Dent, Ant° Serao,^ and Pedro D'Souza being sworn and 
 answered the usial questions, granted." 
 
 Here is a similar entry dated August 3, 1726 : 
 
 " The last will and testament of Jn° Hancock, late Marine Butcher, 
 was this day presented to the Court when two witnesses, viz., Francis 
 Edwards and Rob* Kempton, being sworn to the validity thereof, 
 granted." 
 
 We shall notice just one more instance in which the Court 
 granted probate of the will of an Armenian. The entry, dated 
 October 26, 1726, runs as follows : 
 
 " The last will and testament of Coja Phanoos, an Arminian Merch*, 
 being presented to the Court by his executor Mr. Heza** King for a 
 probate, when three witnesses, viz*., Sancara Sinay, Deu Data Jossee 
 and Bamon Persee being sworn to the due executing the same, granted." 
 
 The Worshipful John Hope acted as Chief Justice during the 
 latter half of 1726. But early in the next year we find the 
 
494 BOMBAY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Court presided over by another judge, namely, Mr. John 
 Braddyll. A commission was issued by the then Governor of 
 Bombay on February 1, 1727, the terms of which are thus 
 stated in the record : 
 
 " A Commission from the Hon'ble the Presid* and Councill appointing 
 Jn" Braddyll, Esq"^, Chief Justice, Messr« Percivall, Lowther and Bendall, 
 Justices, Antonio Rosario, Jeejee Jamset, Amboidas Tuckidas and 
 Fuckoe Aloidin, Assistants, being read, and Mr. Braddyll duely sworn, 
 he accordingly took his place on the Bench." 
 
 The point of interest in the above extract is not the appoint- 
 ment of the Chief Justice or justices, but that of the "Assist- 
 ants." In one of the early regulations framed by Gerald Aungier 
 for the better administration of justice in the town and island of 
 Bombay, provision was made for the appointment of a certain 
 number of natives to act as " Assistants." These were, in all 
 probability, the "Black Justices" to whom reference has been 
 made in another chapter. For they were all natives, represent- 
 ing the four principal communities in Bombay, Portuguese, 
 Parsi, Hindu, and Mahomedan. Mr. Braddyll seems to have 
 occupied the exalted post of Chief Justice only for a few months, 
 for in the proceedings dated June 14th we find the following entry : 
 
 "The Worsp" Rob* Cowan Esq' this day takeing his place on the 
 Bench as Cheif Justice, his Commission was read and he sworn as 
 usuall." 
 
 Mr. Bendall also vacated his seat as one of the justices on 
 March 1, 1727. For in the proceedings of that day we find 
 this entry: 
 
 " Mr. Ephram Bendall being gone for England on Ship Stcmhope, the 
 Honb^^ the President has bin pleased to appoint Mr. Hezikiah King in 
 his room a Justice of this Court. He being first sworn this day, took 
 his place on the Bench." 
 
 Just one more point of interest and we shall have done with 
 the record. At the end of every month the Register submitted 
 to the Court the account of the receipts and expenditure during 
 the preceding month. The different items of the cash account, 
 on both the credit and the debit sides, as it stood on March 8, 
 1727, are stated as follows : 
 
GLEANINGS FROM AN OLD RECORD 
 
 495 
 
 § 8 jS S 
 
 s 
 
 O 1-1 tH O 
 
 tH 
 
 «0 XO tH »-l 
 
 00 
 
 1 
 
 a : 
 <D : 
 IS : 
 
 S S 8 
 
 P5 
 
 1: 
 
 ie : 
 
 > 
 
 r. 
 
 <D 2 
 
 O ^ 
 
 
 0.2 
 
 >.> 
 
 pq 
 
 fQ 
 
 
 
 Q M 
 
 pq 
 
 
 S 
 
 8 8 S 
 
 
 S 
 
 2 o 
 
 -1 H 
 O O 
 
 ■g o 
 
 O 02 c3 rQ 
 I o8 "73 o n3 
 
 ^ .§ 
 
 c6 . 
 
 02 • 
 
 •a 
 
 EH 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abdulla Baeda, 347-9 
 
 Abul Fazel, 19 
 
 Adams, James, 134, 401, 489 
 
 Adderton, Capt., 152, 194, 253 
 
 Administration of East India Com- 
 pany, see Kaye 
 
 Admiralty Court, 166-8, 172-4 
 
 Admiralty House, The, 12, 72 
 
 Aforamento, the, 371 
 
 Ahmedabad, massacre by the Gover- 
 nor of, 277 
 
 Ain-i-Akhari, 18, 277 
 
 Aislabie, William, 83, 180-1, 225, 
 316, 321 
 
 Akbar, Emperor, 18-20, 69 
 
 Alcaide do Mar, 24 
 
 Alexander, charge against, 287, 441 
 
 Alexander, Padre, 444 
 
 Ally, Hassan, 351 
 
 Ally, Sherif, 478 
 
 d'Almeida, V. R., 23 
 
 Aloidin, Fuckoe, 494 
 
 Amadji, charge against, 478 
 
 Amboyna, massacre of, 55, 274 
 
 Analysis of Constitution of East India 
 Company, see Auber 
 
 Anderson, Ffran., 73 
 
 Anderson, Philip, quoted, 11, 53, 55- 
 6, 60-1, 66-8, 78, 101, 114, 117, 129, 
 161, 167, 171, 185, 189, 191-2, 196, 
 200, 205-9, 212-14, 217, 219-20, 
 223-8, 230-2, 239, 242, 247, 258, 
 290-1, 338, 386 
 Andrewes, Matthew, 75 
 Angediva, 96-7, 381 
 Angria, Kanhoji, 202, 330-6, 341-5, 
 
 352, 356, 462-4 
 Annesley, Samuel, 213-4, 229 
 
 Anstruther, Sir Alexander, 91 
 
 Appeal, Court of, 121, 148, 159 
 
 Appleyard, Capt. Jonathan, 493 
 
 Aptall, George, 361 
 
 Archivo da Rela<?ao de Goa, 30 
 
 Arlington, Lord, 390 
 
 Army retrenchments in 1674, 189-91 ; 
 committee of inquiry, 194; in- 
 creased by Child, 206 
 
 Arrack, taxes on, 421-2 
 
 ArreTidawsnto, the, 370 
 
 Ashruff, 279 
 
 Atcheen, laws of, 271-2 
 
 Atkins, John, 74 
 
 Auber quoted, 45 
 
 Audat, Ramaji, 178 
 
 Aungier, Gerald, 17, 71, 78-9, 85-7, 
 94, 97, 103, 113, 115-45, 146-8, 
 150, 153-9, 163, 177, 179, 183-4, 
 197-9, 206, 210-8, 227, 249, 255, 
 363-9, 377, 386, 390, 395-401, 411, 
 437, 449, 494 
 Aungier 's Convention, proposals of 
 inhabitants of Bombay, 398-400 ; 
 the Convention, 401-11 
 Aurangzeb, 20, 206, 209, 216, 219-21, 
 
 277 
 Aurelius, Ephraim, 358 
 Azavedo, Amaro de, 23 
 d'Azevada, Francis, 466 
 
 Baber, 18 
 
 Baker, Ann, and Capt. Euclid, 
 
 484-6 
 Ball, Mr., 254-5 
 Ballow, 440 
 
 Balshette, charge against, 472-4 
 Bandora, the Padres of, 256-8 
 32 497 
 
498 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Banco, 468-70 
 
 Bantam, factory at, 62 
 
 Baptist, Joan, 459 
 
 Bapujee, Columbia, 349 
 
 Bareito, Deigo, 349 
 
 Bartlett, Mr., 226 
 
 Barton, Henry, 47 
 
 Barton, Mr., 278-9 
 
 Bassein, History of, and Chaul, see de 
 Cunha 
 
 Bassein, Treaty of, 21 ; history of, 24- 
 30 ; ceded to Portugal, 369-70 
 
 Bastok, trial of, 287, 446 
 
 Bates, Capt., 481, 488-501 
 
 Bathurst, Sir Benjamin, 194 
 
 Batuta, Ibn, 277-8 
 
 Baty, Dr. T., 109,343,463 
 
 Baupojee, 347 
 
 Beard, Sergeant, 357 
 
 Begarra, Mahmud, 277 
 
 Bells, Capt., 490 
 
 Bendall, Ephraim, 218, 225,301, 314, 
 320, 324-5, 355, 363, 434-5, 438, 
 460, 494 
 
 Bengal Government Records, 278 
 
 Benson, Chief Justice, 285 
 
 Bentam, Mrs., 253 
 
 Best, Capt., 47, 53, 56, 60 
 
 Bhairamsett, 472 
 
 Bhandaris, the, 421-2 
 
 Bica, 286, 455 
 
 Bickoo, 453-4 
 
 Biggs, Sir John, 174 
 
 Binaya Krishna Deb, 277 
 
 Birdwood, Sir George, quoted, 22, 42, 
 46, 48, 55, 165, 196, 492 
 
 Birdwood and Foster's First Letter 
 Book of the East India Company, 
 42, 46, 48 
 
 "Black Art," the, see Witchcraft 
 
 "Black Justices," 452-3 
 
 Blackman, Capt. Jeremy, 14 
 
 Blake, Herman, 395 
 
 Bocarro, Antonio, 373 
 
 Bogajee, 445-6 
 
 Bogle, Matthew, 327-8 
 
 Bombay, early history of, 17 ; admini- 
 stration of justice,19-20 ; Portuguese 
 sovereignty, 21-36; derivation of 
 name, 22 ; ceded to East India Com- 
 pany, 84 ; condition of in 1661, 93 ; 
 
 Portuguese action, 94 ; Cooke as 
 Governor, 96-104 ; dependencies 
 withheld, 99-102 ; Lucas and Gary, 
 105 ; transfer to East India Com- 
 pany, 106-114; Consultation in 
 January, 1670, 121 ; Aungier's pro- 
 posals, 123 ; intermarriages, 128 ; 
 Aungier's second visit and the Con- 
 vention, 134-7 ; Aungier's Report, 
 142; Consultation of February, 1670, 
 146-7; Charter of 1683, 160-3; Char- 
 ter of 1726,171; Charter of 1686,172; 
 Charter of 1687, 172 ; disorder and 
 treatment of criminals, 177-82 ; 
 state of the Army in 1674, 189-91 ; 
 the Secret Committee, 194-5 ; 
 difficulties of Government, 197-9; 
 the Regency, 205 ; fall in popula- 
 tion and general decadence, 225- 
 33 ; pulpit grievances, 234-41 ; 
 administration of justice prior to 
 Courts, 243-58 ; general survey in 
 1668, 392-3; area at the time of 
 Aungier's Convention, 397; orders 
 regarding building and rice -plant- 
 ing, 426-8 ; survey of 1700-1805, 
 429-31 ; public rounds to keep 
 order, 445 ; manners and customs 
 of seventeenth century, 447 
 
 Bombay Cathedral, building of, 82 ; 
 Aungier's chalice and Mr. Cobbe, 
 .144, 234 ; Rama Kamati at, 
 329 
 
 Bombay Gazetteer, see Campbell 
 
 Bombay Government, Selections from 
 Records of, see Le Messurier 
 
 Bombay Quarterly Review quoted, 
 239, 241, 274, 328, 334, 338-40, 
 344-5, 364, 416, 427-8 
 
 Bombay, Statistical Account of Town 
 and Island of, see Campbell 
 
 Bombay and Western India, see 
 Douglas 
 
 Bonnel, Jeremy, 218, 222 
 
 Boone, Charles, 83, 225, 234, 235, 275, 
 291-315, 331, 338-40, 343-5, 347, 
 353 
 
 Boone, Christopher, 180, 225, 234, 
 235 
 
 Boozby, 473-4 
 
 Borges, Domingo, 467 
 
INDEX 
 
 499 
 
 Botelho, Simao, 28, 142, 369, 371-3 
 BourcMer, George, 187, 196, 214, 
 
 441-2 
 Bourchier, Hon. Richard, 252 
 Brabourne, 223 
 
 Bracelet, Lewis, charge against, 476 
 Braddyll, John, 233-40, 292-3, 295, 
 
 300, 311-13, 316, 322-8, 353, 355, 
 
 363, 434-5, 438, 460, 462, 470, 
 
 488, 494 
 Bradley, Thomas, 361 
 Brandon, Matthew, 487-8 
 Bread, price of, 492-3 
 Briscoe, Chas. Joseph, 328 
 Brown, Walter, 293, 295-6, 317, 331 
 Broxolme, John, 254 
 Bruce's Annals, 37, 40-1, 61, 64, 
 
 160-1, 169, 184-5, 187, 201, 206, 
 
 209, 216, 383, 402 
 Brunts, Samuel, 360-3 
 Buddum, Seid, charge against, 480 
 Budombhut, 445 
 
 Building, orders regarding, 426-8 
 Bully, Augustine, 251-2 
 Burgess, Capt., 246-7 
 Burnet's History of His Own Times, 
 
 210 
 Burniston, John, 180-1 
 Burr quoted, 108 
 Butler, Robert, 270 
 Bygott, Thomas, 254 
 
 CA9ABils, 21-22 
 
 Cailbot, Joan Baptist, charge against, 
 476 
 
 Calcutta Collectorate, mstorical Ac- 
 count of, 284 
 
 Calcutta^ Early History and Growth 
 of, 277, 279, 280 
 
 Gallon, trial of, 438-9 
 
 Campbell, J. M., 428 
 
 Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer Mate- 
 rials, 105, 120, 132, 144, 147-8, 
 153, 157, 163, 165, 177-8, 193, 195, 
 197-8, 331, 333, 335, 337, 351, 
 380, 400, 403, 406, 409, 414, 419, 
 422-3, 425, 428 
 
 Campion, 268-9 
 
 Can, Babou, charge against, 457 
 
 Caranja, 381, 384-5 
 
 Careri, Gemelli, 370 
 
 Carey, Callow, 228 
 
 Carneiro, Domingo, charge against, 
 
 445 
 Garr, Capt., 191 
 Gassisett, 472-3 
 Castro, A. de M. de, 93, 384 
 Castro, Dr. A. O. de, 30 
 Castro, Joao de, 28, 370-1, 373 
 Caun, Wallydand, 476-7 
 Cesar, charge against, 456 
 Chamberlain, J., 155 
 Charles II., letter of, to Viceroy of 
 
 Goa, 100-1 
 Ghattogee, Benantrom, 279 
 Chaul, 24 
 
 Ghawbrook, the, 279, 284-5 
 Child, Sir John, 114, 162, 156-7, 
 
 164-6, 173, 183-199, 202-210, 217, 
 
 223, 225, 254-5, 401 
 Child, Sir Josiah, 156, 157, 169-71, 
 
 174-76, 184-93, 202-6, 210 
 Chiman, 439 
 Chiminy, 459 
 Chitty, Babou, 471 
 Ghowne. Henry, 401 
 Christianity, 36-8, 65-7, 82, 94, 111, 
 
 128, 144 
 Chubdar, Seidally, 480 
 Civil Law administration, 158-60 
 Civil Trials, 461-96 
 Glapham, Mr., 304-5, 317 
 Clarendon, Lord, 92 
 Clark, John, 167-8 
 Clarke, Capt., 250 
 Clarke's Colonial Law, 110 
 Clarke, William, 456 
 Clopton, Benjamin, 74 
 Cobbe, Rev. Dr., 83, 234-41, 301, 314, 
 
 320, 324-6, 435 
 Cocoanut industry, the, 422 
 Golaba, 135, 408-9, 421 
 Coleman, 214 
 CoUison, Sergeant, 339 
 Colt, Stephen, 217-8, 229 
 Golthurst, Christopher, 46-7 
 Gomatee, Ransor, 445 
 Complaint, Bill of, 206 
 Cook, Ensign, 387 
 Cooke, Humphrey, 97-105, 113, 132, 
 
 135, 230, 365-6, 383-6, 388-90, 396, 
 
 407, 429 
 
500 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Cordeux, Wm., 480-1 
 
 Coroner, appointment of, 180 
 
 Corregedores, 26, 31 
 
 Corte do Norte, 24 
 
 D'Costa, Antonia, 317, 338, 36-7 
 
 D'Costa, Diogo, 481-2 
 
 Cotes, 85 
 
 Courtney, James, 233 
 
 Courtney, John, 296, 321, 331 
 
 Cowan, Chief Justice, 474, 492, 494 
 
 Cowasaji, Nasserwanji, 368 
 
 Cowell, Herbert, quoted, 44, 48 
 
 Criminal Trials, 438-61 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 58, 193 
 
 Crook, Japhet, 270-1 
 
 Crose Island, 284 
 
 D'Cruz, Mathias, 470 
 
 Cullian, 73 
 
 Cundry (Kenery), 332, 334, 336 
 
 Cunha, da, 22-4, 25, 29, 95, 99, 104, 
 116, 118, 142, 161, 245, 328, 339, 
 370-2, 378, 387-8, 400, 411, 466 
 
 Custom House, 12 
 
 Dalba, Bhandari, 336, 340, 341, 
 
 345-64 
 Danvers, F. C, quoted, 96 
 Daphne, charge against, 457 
 Dass, Manick, 279 
 Daudji, charge against, 478 
 Davenant, Dr., 169 
 Delhi, 205 
 
 Delivery, articles of, 98-100 
 Dent, Peter, 493 
 Desembargadores, 26, 31, 35 
 Dianut Caun, 217 
 Dias, Domingo, 477-8 
 Dickinson, Capt., 365, 426 
 Dickonson, Capt. Wm., 487 
 Dictionary of National Biography 
 
 quoted, 83-4, 157, 186, 262 
 Diogo, Mestre, 372 
 Directors, Court of, 161-3, 169, 173-4, 
 
 179-80, 190, 203-4, 389, 398, 421 
 Doc d. Dorabji Dadi Santuk v. The 
 
 Bishop of Bombay, 412 
 Dongari, 231 
 Douglas, James, 15 ; description of 
 
 Aungier, 17, 118-9, 137, 145 ; of 
 
 Oxenden, 82-3, 86 ; on the Marriage 
 
 Treaty, 90 ; on Cooke, 103-4, 114, 
 
 . 132 ; Sir John Child, 184-5, 209-10 ; 
 on the pirates, 201 ; Ismail Shaikh, 
 283 ; Rama Kamati, 328 ; judicial 
 torture in England, 338 ; Laurence 
 Parker, 340 ; on the growth of 
 Bombay, 382, 394 ; on Aungier 's 
 Convention, 406-7, 410 
 
 Dow, Capt., 280 
 
 Downton, Capt., 47, 53, 56 
 
 Draper, Wm. Henry, 433, 483-5 
 
 Droldas, 73 
 
 Duff, Grant, quoted, 328 
 
 Dungaree, garrison at, 304 
 
 Durga Kamat, 333, 345 
 
 Dutch torture, 274-5 
 
 East India Company, The, 39-58, 
 65-7, 83-4, 106-7, 176, 198-9, 
 203-5, 210-15, 218-22, 224-5 
 
 East India Company v. Sandys, 176 
 
 East Indies and Persia, see Fryer 
 
 Edgecombe, Capt., 260-1, 263-4 
 
 Edlyne, Mr., 301, 314-15, 320, 324-5 
 
 Edu, 279 
 
 Edwards, Francis, 493 
 
 Edwardes, Mr., 357 
 
 Edwardes, S. M., quoted, 18, 21-2, 36, 
 83, 94, 98, 100, 106, 118, 121, 123, 
 133, 226, 329, 340, 357, 456 
 
 Emphyteusis, 375-7 
 
 English Factories in India, The, see 
 Foster 
 
 English in Western India, The, see 
 Anderson 
 
 Esher, Lord, 262 
 
 Esperanca, charge against, 443 
 
 Evory, Capt., 171, 202 
 
 Facuie Bengaree, 347-8 
 
 Fair Common House, see Mdp a Por 
 
 Fakroo, 458 
 
 Fazendary Lands, 411-12 
 
 Fanjdars, 19, 20 
 
 Feitor, 31, 32,- 34 
 
 Fetwa-i-Alemgiri, 297 
 
 Ffeild, 250 
 
 Ficalho, Count de, 26 
 
 Finch, Lieut., 258 
 
 Fitch, Ealph, 52 
 
 Fletcher, 194 
 
 Flowers, Mr., 359 
 
INDEX 
 
 501 
 
 Foras Lands m Bombay, see Smyth 
 
 Forbes, 88 
 
 Foros, definition of, 385-8 
 
 Forrest's Selections, 68-78, 80, 82, 89, 
 123-31, 139, 141, 143-5, 150, 152, 
 154-56, 167-8, 179-82, 199, 216-8, 
 222-4, 233, 236-7, 240-1, 243, 245- 
 57, 259, 261, 329, 330, 342-3, 374, 
 384-5, 435-6 
 
 Fort St. George, 284 
 
 Fort WiUiam, frauds at, 278 
 
 Foster quoted, 323 
 
 Francis, Kichard, 255 
 
 Frederick, Caesar, 52 
 
 Frost, John, 228 
 
 Fryer, Dr. John, quoted, 38, 61, 68-4, 
 77, 82, 87-8, 90, 96, 100, 116, 117, 
 122, 160, 226, 247, 372, 384, 392, 
 396, 402, 408, 417, 436-7, 447 
 
 Fucker o, 440 
 
 Gama, Vasco de, 21, 36, 39 
 
 Ganba Purvoe, 475 
 
 Garcia, M., 27, 30 
 
 Gary, Capt. Henry, 74-5, 104-6, 113-4, 
 
 153, 155, 282, 378 
 Gayer, Sir John, 177-8, 181, 213-7, 
 
 221, 228, 254, 445 
 Gayer, Lady, 216-7, 228 
 Geographical Society, Proceedings of 
 
 Bombay, 103, 106, 403 
 George, Francis, 484 
 Gladman, 207 
 Gloria, John de, 258 
 D'Gloss, Capt. Louis, 252 
 Goa, 26-30, 53 
 
 Goa, Archivo de Belacao de, 27, 30 
 Godolphin, Earl of, 176-7, 225 
 Gomes, Antonio, 440-1 
 Goodier, John, 71 
 Goodshaw, 225 
 Goodson, Joseph, 72 
 Goodyer, 85 
 Gopal, 450-1 
 GopaU, 458-60 
 
 Gordon, Capt., 305-8, 316, 321 
 Gould, Chas., 245 
 Govardhan, Sandari, 351 
 Govind, charge against, 444 
 Govindji, 337-40, 349 
 Oovernment of India, The, see Ilbert 
 
 Government Becords, 279, 281 
 Grantham, Admiral Sir Thos., 164, 
 
 194-5, 197 
 Gray, Matthewe, 71-2, 122 
 Gray, 253 
 Green, Capt., 202 
 Greenleafe, Edmund, 73 
 Grey, Sir Chas., 166 
 Grotius quoted, 463 
 Gungy, trial of, 287 
 
 Hall, John, 231 
 
 Hallewali, John, 245 
 
 Haly, charge against, 439 
 
 Hamilton, Capt. Alexander, 20, 38, 
 60, 83-4 ; on Aungier, 116, 157 ; on 
 Vaux, 169-71 ; Sir John Child, 
 184-8, 206-7 ; interlopers, 203 ; 
 Capt. Pean, 208; Sir John Gayer, 
 213-4; Sir N. Waite, 215; Chas. 
 Boone, 234 ; Mahommedan justice, 
 243 ; Sir John Weyburn, 252 ; laws 
 of Atcheen, 271 ; punishments of 
 Siam, 272 ; punishments of Mala- 
 bar, 273; Pegu, 273; Fort St. 
 George, 284 ; at Parker's trial, 310 ; 
 country of the Zamorin, 433 ; 
 early administration, 436-7, 446 
 
 Hancock, John, 493 
 
 Haimier, Lieut. James, 178-9 
 
 Hajisa Towns, laws of the, 263-4 
 
 Harris, Bartholomew, 206, 207, 
 212-13 
 
 Hart, John, 360-3 
 
 Harte, 268 
 
 Hartley, Ralph, 248 
 
 Hastings, Warren, 173 
 
 Hatch, Robert, 73 
 
 Hawkins, Capt., 53 
 
 Hayes, Mr., 253 
 
 Hedley, DanieU, 356-7 
 
 Henriques, Denis, 455 
 
 Henshaw, Robert, 328 
 
 Heptanasia, 17 
 
 Heme, Joseph, 194 
 
 Herojee, charge against, 450-1 
 
 High Court Beports quoted, 136-7, 
 160, 166, 169, 176-7, 376-7, 379, 
 410, 465 
 
 Hill, John, 418-9 
 
 Hindus, criminal laws of, 266-7 
 
502 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Hiree, charge against, 442 
 Historical Account of Bombay, An, 
 
 117, 140, 373 
 History and Constitution of the Courts 
 
 of Legislative Authorities in India, 
 
 see Cowell 
 History of India, see Mill 
 Hohson-Johsan quoted, 872 
 Hodges, Thomas, 447 
 Holland, Epiphanius, 218 
 Hope, John, 233, 313, 320, 327, 355 
 
 362-3, 434, 438, 446, 460, 470, 474 
 
 483, 487-9, 493-4 
 Horingold, 247-8 
 
 Home, John, 295, 299-301, 321, 331 
 Hosson, Ammadan, 217-8 
 Hosson, Mahomed, 462-3 
 Hough V. Leckie and others, 392 
 Howard, Edward, 159 
 Howson, Wm., 229 
 Humayaun, 18 
 Hume quoted, 274 
 Hunter, Andrew, 256 
 Hunter, Capt. John, 354-63 
 Hunter, Sir William, 37 
 
 Ibn Batuta, 277 
 
 Ibrem, charge against, 448 
 
 Ilbert, Sir Courtenay, 42, 46, 52, 107, 
 
 173-5, 204 
 Ilha de Boa-Vida, 21, 22, 225 
 Impey, Sir Elijah, 453 
 Indenture, Quinquepartite, the, 176 
 Infanta Catherine, 58, 83 
 " Inofre Coque," 98, 113 
 Institute Vasco da Gama, 24 
 Interlopers, attempt to eradicate the, 
 
 198-9, 200, 203 
 Irving, Washington, quoted, 203 
 Ismale, Shaik, trial of, 438-9 
 Ismaljee, see Bica 
 
 Jacojee, Gondojee, 457 
 Jamsett, Jeejee, 484, 494 
 Jansanay, 178 
 
 Jany and Jivan, trial of, 438 
 Jebb V. Lefevre, 166 
 Jeffreys, Judge, 269 
 Jehangir, 19-20 
 Jemposiex, Emperor, 73 
 Jenkins, Sir Leoline, 107, 167 
 
 Jenkinson, robbing of Mr., 287, 441 
 
 Jesson, Wm., 73 
 
 Jessopp, 259 
 
 Jesuits, the, 36-7, 104, 255-6, 393-5 
 
 Joana, 286, 436, 440 
 
 Johnson, 250 
 
 Johnson, Robert, 179 
 
 Johnson, Dr. S., quoted, 269 
 
 Jones, Commodore, 202 
 
 Jones, John, 72 
 
 Jossee, Dew Duta, 493 
 
 Judges, appointment of, 147-51, 154- 
 
 5,174 
 Judicature, Courts of, established, 
 
 120-2, 126, 143, 146-9, 158, 161, 
 
 233, 245, 395, 434-94 
 Juiz Ordinario, 31-4 
 Justice, early administration of, 243- 
 
 64 ; Court of, 282 
 
 Kaji, Ibrahim, 177 
 
 Kamati, Rama, 258, 275, 289, 296-9, 
 
 302-3, 306, 309-21, 326-34, 337-52 
 Karga, Raji, 178 
 Kaye quoted, 47-8, 53, 55-6, 57, 62, 
 
 77, 204, 276, 278, 281-2, 327, 437 
 Kazi, 19, 20 
 Keigwin, Capt. Richard, 153, 162, 
 
 164-5, 186-97, 246, 253, 354 
 " Keigwin's Revolt," 188-95 
 KeUet, 357 
 
 Kempton, Robert, 493 
 Kenery, see Cundry 
 Kensu Bhandari, 347 
 Kerridge, Thos., 48, 62, 66, 78 
 Kidd, Captain, 202 
 Kidow, charge against, 451 
 King, 462 
 
 King, Hezikiah, 462, 493-4 
 Kotwal, 19, 20 
 
 Lacma, 286, 440 
 
 Lacmy, charge against, 453-4 
 
 Lakmidas, 495 
 
 Lambton, John, 75, 77-8 
 
 Lambton, Lady, 78 
 
 Landed Tenures in Bombay, Report 
 
 on, see Warden 
 Landed tenures, brief history of, 408- 
 
 12; 222-8 
 Language difficulty, 479 
 
INDEX 
 
 503 
 
 Law's Lumber-Room, see Watt 
 
 Leckie, John, 260-4, 276 
 
 Leedes, 52 
 
 Leeds, Duke of, 211 
 
 Lellington, Gregory, 47-8 
 
 Lemos, M., charge against, 467 
 
 Le Messurier, see Messurier 
 
 d'Levera, see Liviera 
 
 Limas, Antonio de, 379 
 
 Limbery, 250 
 
 Limjee, Bonna, 444 
 
 Liviera, Ignatio de, 285, 436, 458, 
 
 460-1 
 Lloyd, Solomon, 214 
 Lockra, Luckshee, 445 
 Long, Eev. Mr,, 278 
 Lopes V. Lopes, 380-1 
 Lopes, Francisco, 495 
 Loucandee, Allee Naiq, 334 
 Lowther, Henry, 355-6, 363, 434-5, 
 
 438, 443, 460, 462, 470, 481, 494 
 Lucas, Sir Gervase, 103-5, 390 
 Luckman, 450-1 
 
 Macaulay quoted, 16 
 Macedo, AntoniQ de, 29 
 Mackbull, charge against, 444 
 Mackintosh, Sir James, 12, 18, 283, 
 
 328, 368-9, 431 
 Mackintosh, Capt. Lashland, 485 
 Macleod, Norman, 422 
 Madouset, charge against, 468 
 Madras, charter granted to, 172-5 
 Mahadeo, Balwant, 352 
 Mahim, 93, 99, 102, 304 
 Mahrattas, trouble with the, 190, 193 
 Mahmud Beggara, 60, 277, 282 
 Mahommedan justice, 243-4, 276 
 Maine quoted, 376-7 
 Mainwaring, Ensign, 327 
 Malabar Hill, 93, 369, 421 
 Malabar, punishments of, 273 
 Malacca, 92 
 Malik, 20 
 
 Malynes quoted, 462- 
 Man, John, 453 
 Mangjee, 449 
 Manikbhut, Makusett, charge against, 
 
 445 
 Mansfield referred to, 161 
 Manuy Laws of, 267-8 
 
 Mdpla For, 12, 123 
 Marathas, the, 426 
 Maritime International Law quoted, 
 
 263 
 Maritime Captures quoted, 464 
 Marlborough, Earl of, 93, 95-6-9, 119 
 Marriage Treaty, the, 23, 90-4, 98-9, 
 
 107, 110, 134-5, 381-3 
 Marriage Laws, 128, 213, 254 
 Mascarenhas, Dom Francisco, 27 
 Master quoted, 76, 85, 214 
 Masters, Capt. Thos., 361 
 May, 249 
 Mayor's Court, the, 13, 20, 141, 171, 
 
 173-4, 234, 432-3, 472 
 Mazagaon, Manor of, 21, 93, 366, 373- 
 
 80 
 Mazagaon, evacuation of, 208 
 Mead, Michael, 493 
 Meer Mahal, 19 
 " Meerenho," 24 
 D'MeU, Caibon, 443 
 D'Mell, Matheas, 466 
 D'Mello, Kitono, 443 
 D'MeUow, Antonio, 333 
 E'MeUo, Joseph A. D'F. D'M., 444-6 
 Menezes, Martinho de Silviera, 379-80 
 Merchant Adventurers, meeting of, 
 
 40 
 ** Mesas," 25 
 Messurier, Le, 368, 428 
 Mewse, Mr., 188, 228 
 Michelbourne, Sir Edward, 41 
 Middleton, Henry, 46 
 Middleton, Roger, 73 
 Midford, Blackett, 295, 321 
 Mildenhall, 53 
 Mildmay, Wm., 222, 225 
 Military service, rendering of, 411-13, 
 
 419-20, 466 
 MiUer, Lieut., 440-1 
 Mill's History of India, 41, 79, 201, 
 
 211-12, 267, 275, 451 
 Minchin, Capt., 247-8 
 Mint, the, 449 
 Miranda, Ignez de, 100, 384 
 Mittre, Radachurn, 280-1 
 Mogul, officers under the, 62 ; charges 
 
 against them, 68 ; trouble with the, 
 
 205-7, 216 
 Monoka Persee, Muckadam, 73 
 
504 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Moneses, A. T. De, 471 
 
 Montague, Capt., 327 
 
 Monteiro, P. , 495 
 
 Monthly Miscellany quoted, 143 
 
 Moody, 484 
 
 Moore, Thos., 228 
 
 Moorman, Abdulla, 444 
 
 " Mor AlQada," 25 
 
 Morley's Digest, 91 
 
 Morley, James, 283 
 
 Mufti or Mir Abdul, 19 
 
 Mumbai, 22 
 
 Mumbadevi, Goddess, 22 
 
 Murzello, Simon, 474-5 
 
 Mustapha Ckaun, 68 
 
 Nagjek, Maejee, 480 
 
 Naique, Essa, 421, 454 
 
 Namajee, 458 
 
 Nanahy, 473 
 
 Naoroji Byramji v. Bogers, 23, 50-2, 
 
 101, 107, 117, 159, 380, 465 
 Narran, 442 
 Narsojee Purvoe, 347 
 Naunboy, 73 
 
 Needham, Eustace, 228-9 
 Neema Parreck, 138-9, 143 
 New Account of the East Indies, see 
 
 Hamilton 
 Newberry, John, 52 
 Newlin, Mr., 301, 318-19, 321, 324-6, 
 
 484 
 Newport, Capt., 49 
 Newton, Robert, 233 
 Niccolls, Mrs., 254 
 Nicholson, Capt. John, 172 
 NicoUs, Judge, 142, 151-4, 168, 264, 
 
 283, 470 
 Nimbajee, 467 
 Norris, Sir Wm., 218-20, 223 
 
 Oakley, 225 
 
 Gates, Titus, reference to, 270 
 
 O'Chronista de Tisovary, 93 
 
 Oleron, Laws of, 260-4 
 
 Oliver, Capt. Richard, 467 
 
 Omer, 305, 317 
 
 Oriente Conquistado, 27 
 
 Origin of Bombay, see de Cunha 
 
 Orme quoted, 140 
 
 Orta, Garcia de, 25-6, 372, 884 
 
 Ottar, trial of, 438 
 
 Ouvidor Geral, 26 
 
 Ouvidores, the, 26, 301-5 
 
 Ovington quoted, 61-3, 65-7, 84-6, 
 
 122, 183, 226 
 Oxenden, Sir George, 23, 76-87, 95, 
 
 96, 104-5, 113-4, 119, 120, 139, 206, 
 
 218, 242, 392-3 
 Oxenden, Henry, 156, 412 
 Oxenden, Sir James, 80 
 
 Panchayet System, the, 116, 124-5, 
 
 177 
 Pandoo, charge against, 450 
 Parbhu clerks, employment of, 435 
 Parker, Lawrence, 233-6, 240, 275, 
 
 291-327, 336, 340 
 Parlada, charge against, 445 
 Parakh, Bhimji, 76 
 Parakh, CuUean, 76 
 Parrack, Neema, 138-9, 143 
 Parrat, Ensign, 456 
 Passwater, Capt. Pater, 486-7 
 Patau, Bodji, 178 
 Patel, Jeronimo Soldanio, 467 
 Patel, Nagoo, 439, 450 
 Peachey, Chas., 229-30 
 Peacock, Capt. Eustace, 487 
 Pean, Capt., 208 
 Peck, Francis, 245 
 Pedro, Padre, 481-3 
 Pegu, punishments in, 273 
 D'Penha, Joan, 470 
 D'Penha, Paula, 477-8 
 Penniss, James, 283 
 Pepwell, Capt. H., 47-8 
 Pepys quoted, 18, 95, 99 
 Percivall, George, 355, 363, 434-6, 
 
 438, 457, 462, 470, 494 
 Pereir, 285, 436, 440 
 Pereir, Lewis,"456-7 
 Pereira, Antonio, 459 
 Pereira, Prancisca, 443 
 P&rozhai v. Ardesher Cursetji, 14, 107 
 Perry, Sir Erskine, 14-15, 22, 107, 
 
 112, 244, 331, 387, 402, 411 
 Perry's Oriental Cases, 22, 112, 244, 
 
 331, 387, 392, 411-12 
 Persee, Bamon, 493 
 Persia, factory at, 249-50 
 Pessoa, Anna, 374, 377 
 Pessoa, Antonio, 374 
 
INDEX 
 
 505 
 
 Petit, Mr., 143, 187, 196 
 
 Phanoos, Coja, 493 
 
 PhiUipps, Owen, 293, 295, 301, 305-7, 
 
 310, 322, 331, 346 
 Phipps, Wm., 330, 352, 354, 458, 462 
 Pillai, robbery of, 444 
 Pillmatra, charge against, 450 
 Pilset, Madow, 286, 444 
 Piracy, 201-2, 214, 462-4 
 Piskell, 459-60 
 Pitt, 214 
 
 Poole, Robert, 486 
 Popham, Mr., 261 
 Portuguese sovereignty,21-36; justice, 
 
 256-7 ; Cooke's treaty with, 384 
 Portugtiese in Indian see Danvers 
 Presly, Ensign, 304 
 Proby, Wm., 218, 225, 228 
 Procedure Code, 149 
 Providar da Defunctos, 25, 26, 31 
 Provost Marshal, appointment of, 
 
 181-2 
 Ptolemy, 17 
 
 QUINQUEPAETITB INDENTURE, the, 176 
 
 Raqouset, 442, 450-2, 467-8 
 
 Ram, Chandoo, 445 
 
 Ram, Kenso, 468-70 
 
 Ram, Suo, 490 
 
 Ram, Vissa, 450 
 
 Rama Kamati, see Kamati 
 
 Ramchandra Shenvi, 85 
 
 Rao, Fakir, 287, 441 
 
 Raposa, Antonio de Costa, 23 
 
 Rasor, Michael, 444, 480 
 
 Recorder's Court, 12 
 
 Recorder's Court and Land Question, 
 
 368 
 Reddie quoted, 263 
 Rela<?ao, the, at Bassein, 24-5, 29, 245 
 Religious toleration, 138-9, 143 
 D'Remade, Joseph, 457 
 D'Remedios, Manoel, 477 
 Respondentia case, the, 487 
 Bex V. Cowle, 108 
 Rice affair, the, 296, 301-2, 305, 
 
 321-2, 326 
 Rich, Mr., 490-1 
 Richardson, Robert, 354-5, 357, 362, 
 
 363, 458 
 
 Rise of Bombay, see Edwardes 
 Robinson, Mr., 229, 357 
 Robson, Christopher, 245 
 Roderigues, Domingo, 444, 446 
 Roderigues, Isabella, 470 
 Rodrigues, Hieronymo, 28 
 D'Romad, Jacinth, 459 
 Roe, Sir Thomas, 54, 56, 64 
 Rolt, Mr., 157 
 
 Roman Catholics, see Christianity 
 D'Rosario, Antonio, 466, 494 
 Rumbold, Wm., 487 
 Rustam, 221 
 
 Sa, Antonio de, 24 
 
 Sacry, case of the, 462-4 
 
 St. John, Dr. John, 158-69, 173, 187, 
 
 195, 200, 254 
 Sainthill, Robert, 73 
 Salbank, Joseph, 66 
 Salisbury, Mr., 301, 315, 317-8 
 Salsette, 99, 101, 373, 381-2, 384-5 
 Salvajee, 445-6 
 Sambhaji, 193 
 Sambrook, Sir Jeremy, 194 
 Sanay, Viltojee, 475 
 Sancra Sinay, 347-8 
 Santa, Rama, 474 
 Santonaique, 462 
 Sarson, Mr., 301, 319, 321, 324-5 
 Saunderson, Capt. Wm., 422 
 Savant, Changajee Naique, 458-9 
 Sawbridge, Rev. Dr., 488-91 
 Sedula, Saiyid, 219 
 Senequier, Monsieur, 472-4 
 Sepahs-alars, 19 
 Serao, Antonio, 493 
 Serrang, Goverons, 455 
 Seva Gi, Raja, see Sivaji 
 «« Sevagy," 70, 80-1, 122, 140 
 Sevant, Rama, 450-1 
 Shaikh, Ismail, 283 
 " Shaik-ul-Sadar," 19 
 Shaw, Lieut. Wm., 250 
 Shaxton, Mrs., 143, 150 
 Shaxton, Capt. John, 190, 246-7, 
 
 406 
 Sherif, Abramji, 478-9 
 Sherif, Amadji, 478-9 
 Shersha, 18 
 
506 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Shipman, Sir Abraham, 93, 95-6, 99, 
 104, 381, 383-4, 389 
 
 Shroff, Babou, 445 
 
 Siamese punishments, 272 
 
 Sibbald, James, 480 
 
 Siddee, invasion by the, 415 
 
 Siddy, 141 
 
 Silva, Antonio de, 379, 474 
 
 Silva, Manoel de, 23 
 
 D' Silva, Pasqual, 448 
 
 Silveira, Diogo de, 29 
 
 Silveira v. Texeiria, 91 
 
 Simao Serrao, 23, 85, 121 
 
 Simond, Edward, 181-2, 231 
 
 Sinai, Bica, 445, 479 
 
 Sinay, Sancara, 493, 495 
 
 Sivaji, 70, 80-1, 140, 157 
 
 Skinner, Dr., 225-6 
 
 Slave trade, 456 
 
 Smeaton, Chas., 78 
 
 Smith, Capt. Wm., 304-6, 308-9, 316 
 
 Smith, Mr., 449 
 
 Smyth, Mr., 368-9 
 
 Soddington, Major Cornelius, 234, 
 
 304-5, 316 
 Somaster, 216 
 Sommo, 448 
 
 Somno, charge against, 445 
 Sourza, C. de, 256 
 Southerland, Sergeant, 257 
 D'Souza, Andrew, 441-2 
 D'Souza, Anna, 448 
 D'Souza, A. X., 26, 30 
 D'Souza, Pedro, 493 
 Souza, Christovas de, 380 
 Souza, Lionel de, 374, 377-8, 380 
 Souza, Buy de, 378 
 Spankie, Sergeant, 45 
 Stacey, Benj., 180-1 
 Stanhope, 295, 312, 325 
 Stanley, Richard, 259 
 Stanmore, John, 286, 354-5, 363, 458 
 Stanton, Corporal, 251 
 Stanton, Major Jonathan, 305-6, 309, 
 
 316, 322, 336-7, 458-9, 486 
 State Trials, 202 
 Stavorinus, Admiral, 274 
 Stephens, Thomas, 52 
 Sterndale quoted, 284 
 Story's Constitution of the U. S., 110 
 " Strapado," 38 
 
 Streynsham, 85 
 
 Strutt, Stephen, 293, 295-6, 302, 
 
 304-5, 311-13, 317, 483-6 
 Styles, John, 301-2, 310-12 
 Subhedars, order to the, 178-9 
 Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat, 21-3 
 Sunderds Vistumdas, 472-4 
 Supreme Court of Calcutta, 173 
 Surat, 53, 66-89, 137, 143-4, 198, 205, 
 
 208, 216-8, 227-8 
 Surput, Hurjeevan, 342 
 Surrender, Treaty of, 102-3, 384-90 
 Sutton, 483-4 
 Swally, battle at, 53, 60 
 SwaUy Marine, 248, 250 
 D'Sylva, Henrique, 452 
 
 Tacur, Caron, 455 
 
 Taglak, Mahommed, 278 
 
 Tailors, prices charged by, 491-2 
 
 Takidas, Ambaidas, 351 
 
 Tangier, 91 
 
 Tatia, charge against, 449 
 
 Tavora, A. P. de, 256 
 
 Tavora, B. de, 274, 379 
 
 Taxation, land, 412-14; in lieu of 
 military service, 420 ; of arrack and 
 cocoanuts, 421-2 ; landed tenures, 
 422-6 
 
 Tellung, Wissia Senoy, 379 
 
 Terrors of the Law, see Watt 
 
 Thorburn, Capt., 186-7, 194 
 
 Thormburne, 259 
 Thorpe, Nathaneal, 258-9 
 Thriepland, Mr., 368, 385 
 Tindal, Antonio Governe, 467 
 Tindal, Joseph, 467 
 Tockersee, 76 
 
 Tombo do Estado de India, see Bo- 
 
 telho 
 Torture in trials, 339-40 
 Towerson, Capt., 55 
 Tree-planting, orders regarding, 426-8 
 Trials, 438-91 
 Trimbuckjee, 468-70 
 " Trunk," the, 339, 351, 356 
 Tuckar, Caron, 443-4 
 Tuckidas, Ambidas, 445, 494 
 Tulsidas, 77 
 
 Twiss, Sir Travers, quoted, 262 
 Tyrrel, Capt., 188 
 
INDEX 
 
 507 
 
 Upton, Aethur, 495 
 Ustiok, Stephen, 401 
 
 Vacanavish, 62 
 
 Valin quoted, 465 
 
 Vane, Capt., 305, 313, 316, 339, 342 
 
 Vanmalidas, 221 
 
 Varthema, L. di, 277 
 
 Vasco da Gama, 21, 36, 39 
 
 Vatick, Stephen, 249 
 
 Vaulk, Judge, 259 
 
 Vaux, John, 167, 169-71, 187-8, 233, 
 
 258, 283, 470 
 Vedor da Pezenda, 31, 32, 34 
 Veriadores, the, 309, 317, 416, 419, 
 
 465-78, 482-3 
 Vetcher, Suntockee, 76 
 Vissw, Bhandari, 347, 360 
 Vithul, 442 
 Voyage to Suratt, see Ovington 
 
 Waite, Sir Nicholas, 214-24, 228 
 353-4 
 
 Walker, Lieut., 309 
 
 Walker, Samuel, 401 
 
 Walkeshwar, Temple of, 329 
 
 Walsh, Enoch, 248 
 
 Ward, 156, 157, 191-2, 213, 257 
 
 Ward, Miss (Lady Gayer), 213-4 
 
 Warden, Francis, 134, 342, 364-6, 
 374, 377, 379, 386, 390, 395-^, 400, 
 401, 402, 406-7, 415-19, 423-6, 428 
 
 Warren Hastings, 173, 275 
 
 Waters, Thomas, 305, 317 
 
 Watson, Mr., 197-8 
 
 Watt, Francis, quoted, 268-9, 270-2 
 
 Weaver, Pella, 445 
 
 Webb V. Giddy, 376 
 
 Wellington on Bombay, 18 
 
 Westropp, Sir Michael, 23, 44, 50, 
 91-2, 100-1, 107, 110-12, 136, 158- 
 60, 166, 169, 172, 373-7, 379, 380, 
 385-8, 391, 400, 402, 405-7, 412, 
 465-6 
 
 Weyburn, Sir John, 252, 259, 418-19 
 
 Widdrington, John, 74-5 
 
 Wilcox, George, 149-50, 401 
 
 Wilcox, Mrs., 143, 150 
 
 Wilson, Ebenezer, 360-3 
 
 Wilson, Professor, quoted, 466 
 
 Winter, Sir Edward, 194 
 
 Witchcraft, 287, 446-7 
 
 Woodford, Thomas, 229 
 
 Woyna, Butt Braminee, 348 
 
 Wright, John, 227 
 
 Wrightington, 249 
 
 Wyat, Sir John, 178 
 
 Wyatt, Capt. John, 231-2 
 
 Wyborne, John, 259 
 
 Wyche, Bernard, 218, 225,236, 31&-17, 
 321 
 
 Yacoob, Sidi, 208 
 Yale, Mr., 284 
 
 Young, Capt. Henry, 113-14, 12Q-1 
 290-1 
 
 Zemindars, the, 279-80 
 Zamorin, country of the, 433 
 Zinzan, Dr., 165, 195 
 
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