A.D. 1674 richly laden. A running fight commenced off the coast to the south of Masulipatam, and issued in the sinking of one and the capture of two of the Company's An image should appear at this position in the text.Bird's-eye View of Trincomalee—Churchill's Voyages
vessels. The others, thouii'li not with- out sustaining con- siderable damage, found their way to Madras In the In- dian Archipelago, where the Dutcli superiority wasstill more decided, it was impos.sible for tlie Company tt)
traffic with any advantage, tiiuugh they were now alive to the im})oi-tance of carrying their trade still farther east, and endeavouring to establish that direct intercourse with China from which, in cour.se of time, their chief, if not their only connnercial profits were derived.
Peace with Holland
The danger to which Bombay had been exposed from the Dutch ceased entirely in consequence of a new whirl in European politics, by which, in 1674, peace was concluded, and shortly after happily cemented by the marriage of the Prince of Orange with Mary, daughter of the Duke of York. Another danger, however, immediately succeeded. The Moguls and the Mahrattas were con- stantly at war; and now that the English, by the possession of an island belonging to neither, were gradually beginning to assume the dignity of an independent Indian power, their alliance was naturally courted by both. The true policy of the Company in the meantime was to maintain a perfect neutrality; but the circumstances were such as to make this almost impossible. The Mogul fleet, commanded by the Siddee, sought shelter from a storm in Bombay harbor.
The Mogul fleet in bay harbour
To refuse it was impossible, without provoking the Moguls; to grant it was equally impossible, without giving umbrage to Sevajee. In this dilemma the Bombay government took the only course whiich lay open to them, by allowing the Siddee to remain till the storm blew over, and then requesting him to depart. He refused to obey; and collecting his vessels in the channel which separates the island from the mainland, landed a number of armed men at the villages of Sion and Mazagong, and drove out the inhabitants, apparently with the intention of gaining a permanent footing on the island. This was not to be tolerated; and after desultory hostilities to the disadvantage of the Siddee, he purchased permission to prolong his stay by engaging that no more than 300 of his men, armed only with their swords, should be ashore at one time, and that he would make no attack on the Corlahs—a fertile district of the Concan, stretching of along the eastern shore of Bombay harbour, and beloning to the Mahrattas.
