itntioii
OIll
Chap. VIII. ] JAFFIER KUAN'S GOVERNxMENT.' 519
with a pretext for numei'ous exactions. He was too clear-sighted not to per- . u itjo ceive how much foreign commerce contributed to the general i)rosperity of the country, and he was therefore disposed to deal liberally with Mogul and Arabian merchants, strictly prohibiting the custom-house officers from demand- ing more than the prescribed duties of 2^ per cent, and the regulated fees. The Europeans, on the contrary, lie regarded with the utmost jealousy, and would fain have expelled them from the country altogethei-. He hated them with all the rancour of Mahometan bigotry; he believed them to be politically dangerous: and he could not understand why the English in ])articular should be exempted from duties which all others were obliged to pay. Under the influence of such feelings, he soon made them aware that the}' muSt either forego this privilege, or compensate for it by presents renewed as often as he chose to intimate that he expected them. The system thus pursued proved so capricious and oppres- i'<^i'"tti sive, that the East India Company resolved to bring their case under the notice I'any to of the emperor, by sending a deputation or embassy to Delhi. The result of this embassy, which took place during the reign of Farok.shir, has been already men- tioned. That monarch — influenced, partly by the magnificence of the presents which the ambassadors brought with them, partly by the grudge which he bore the nabob for having not only treated him superciliously wiien he was nominal Viceroy of Bengal, but also openly set him at defiance when he would have supplanted him in his government ; and, above all, by gratitude to the surgeon of the embassy for effecting a cure on his person after all the native physicians had failed — granted the demands of the Company to their utmost extent. In point of fact, however, their success was only pai-tial. Tiie nabol), without ven- turing to question the authority which conferred the i)rivileges, put his own interpretation upon them, and was thereby able to render some of them inopera- tive. Still a very decided advantage had been gained ; and Pt)rtuguese, Ai'me- nian, Mogul, and Hindoo merchants, fixing their residence in Calcutta, in order to enj(y the protection of the English flag, added rapidly both to its population and its wealth.
During the troubles which preceded and immediately followed the deposition intrigues and death of Farokshir, he quietly looked on, as if he had been an unconcerned Kiian at spectator ; but as soon as Mahomed Shah seemed firmly seated on the throne, he resumed his intercourse with Delhi, and by sending his usual escort of revenue and presents, found no diflieulty in obtaining a confirmation of Ins government. This, however, was now of comparatively little consequence to him personally, as he was far advanced in years. An object nearer his heart was the continuance of the government in his family. He had no son, and wished to give the suc- cession to Serferaz or SuffVaze Khan, his grandson by an only daughter. Her husband, Shujah-u-din Khan, was still alive, and thought himself better entitled to the government than his own son, who indeed had no claim to it except what was derived from the fondness of a (h^tinsf grandfather. Ho therefore intriirued
