Notes on commercial and cultural relations between India and the Bay Of Bengal Littoral, 1400-1700

Abstract

In the mid 1630s, an exquisitely rude exchange of diplomatic correspondence in the Persian tongue, naturally - took place between the then Mughal governor of Bengal Mir `Abd us-Salam Mashhadi, titled Islam Khan, and the ruler of Arakan, Thirithudhamma (r. 1622-1638). The troubles between the two adjoining areas dated back at least to the reign of Jahangir, when the Mughals had begun a determined but somewhat unsuccessful push into the southern and eastern fringes of Bengal, as we learn from the Baharistan-i Ghaibi of Mirza Nathan. One of the major motives that lay behind such a move was a commercial one, namely the desire on the part of the mughals to control the two major ports of Bengal, Hughli to the west (which was dominated by Portuguese traders), and Chittagong to the east, which was held by the Magh rulers of Arakan but where a community of resident Portuguese had considerable influence.