Battle
Coincidentally, on 13 September 1612 a squadron of 16 Portuguese barks sailed into Surat. On 22 September 1612 Captain Best decided to send an emissary to the Emperor asking for permission to trade and settle a factory at Surat. If refused he planned to quit the country. This may have been partly because King James I had extended the Company's charter in 1609 on the basis that it would be cancelled if no profitable ventures were concluded within three years.
On 30 September 1612 Captain Best got news that two of his men, Mr Canning (the purser) and William Chambers were arrested while on shore. Fearing the worst, Captain Best detained a ship belonging to the Governor of Gujarat and offered to release it in exchange for his men.
On 10 October Captain Best and his ships sailed to Suvali, a small town about 12 miles (19 km) North of Surat. This may have been because the Governor (Sardar Khan?) was battling a Rajput rebellion at a fort situated in the town. Between 17–21 October, amidst negotiations he managed to obtain a treaty with the Governor allowing trading privileges, subject to ratification by the Emperor.
On 27 November, Captain Best was advised by his men on shore that a squadron of four Portuguese ships was sailing up to attack him.
The Portuguese ships (four great galleons and some twenty-six oared barks) arrived on the 28th, and anchored outside the roadstead placing the English vessels between themselves and the town.
A skirmish took place between the two navies on the 29th without much damage to either side.
At daylight on the 30 November, Captain Best in Red Dragon sailed through the four larger Portuguese ships running three of them aground, and was joined by Hosiander on the other side. The Portuguese managed to get the three galleons refloated.
At 9pm that night in an attempt to set the English ships alight, a bark was sent towards them as a fire ship. But the English watch was alert, and the bark was sunk by cannon fire with the loss of eight lives.
A standoff remained until the 5 December, when Captain Best sailed for the port of Diu.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Swally
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