Lot 15
INDIA EAST INDIA COMPANY AND AURANGZEBNDIA Document headed "The Manner of His Excellency Sir William Norris... Publicque Entry at His Audience of the great Mogull at His Court before Panulla in the East Indies on the 28th day of Aprill 1701", 1701
11 March 2020, 13:00 GMT
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INDIA - EAST INDIA COMPANY AND AURANGZEB
Document headed "The Manner of His Excellency Sir William Norris... Publicque Entry at His Audience of the great Mogull at His Court before Panulla in the East Indies on the 28th day of Aprill 1701", written in ink on Indian speckled paper, listing the order of the procession at the ambassador's audience with the great Mughal Aurangzeb, at the head of which procession rode "Mr Henry Crisloe Commander of His Excellenceys Artillery on horseback", followed by "Twelve carts whereon were carried twelve brass cannon for presents... glassware and looking glasses for presents... two very fine Arabian horses Richly Capparrizoned... Four English Soldiers on horseback guarding the presents... The union flag... the red white and blew flags... English furniture... The musick in Rich Liveryes on Horseback... The Kings and my Lords Armes... Twelve Troopers every way armed and accoutred after the English manner... Mr Josiah Hale Master of the Horse Richly dress carrying a Sword of State pointed up... Edward Norris Esq in a Rich pallenkeen carrying His Majesties letter to the Emperour on each side Mr Wingate and Mr Shuttleworth in Rich laced coates on Horseback...", 1 page, address panel on reverse ("To my very loveing Friend Mr Daniell Turner"), dust staining to address panel, a few small holes at folds, folio (477 x 224mm.), Panulla, 28 April 1701; with accompanying autograph letter from Josiah Hale, Norris's interpreter and master of the horse, signed ("Jos. Hale"), to Daniell Turner ("Dear Sir"), enclosing this account of "the Manner of His Excellencys Publique Entry at his Audience of the Mogull", 1 page, on Indian speckled paper, address panel on reverse ("To my very loveing Friend Mr Daniell Turner"), dust-staining and some separation and small holes at folds, folio (483 x 225mm.), "Camp at the Court of the great Mogul... in the East Indies", 10 September 1701 (2)
Footnotes
'WILLIAM NORRIS ESQ IN A RICH PALLENKEEN CARRYING HIS MAJESTIES LETTER TO THE EMPEROUR'
In 1699, the newly-ennobled Sir William Norris, the King's commissioner, undertook a mission to obtain a trade deal with the mighty Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, hoping to win the protection and privileges of the Mughal authorities in favour of the new General Society or 'English' Company, in opposition to the old or 'London' East India Company. After a long and expensive preamble chasing the Emperor's Court with a huge entourage through the Indian countryside, Norris was finally granted an audience in Panalla on 28 April 1701. As our document attests, King William's letter was presented in an elaborate and opulent ceremony with gifts of cannon, glassware and English furniture to the sound of trumpets, drums and bagpipes. The Emperor accorded Sir William the rare privilege of riding into his private apartment but kept the company waiting and, when Norris left without permission, forced him to pay a fine. Indeed, it was another seven months before they were dismissed from the camp. Despite all this (at the cost it is said of some £80,000) the hoped-for deal failed to materialise. This failure has been blamed on the rivalry between officials of the two companies, the failure to guarantee protection from piracy demanded by Aurangzeb and, indeed, according the Annals of the East India Company, Norris's own inexperience in diplomacy and insistence on these European ceremonials 'in a court in which they were not understood' (John Bruce, Annals of the East India Company, Vol. III, 1810, p.473).
The interpreter's lack of Persian may also have hampered Norris' efforts. Josiah Hale's predecessor was a Mr Thorowgood who 'as Norris remarked, "with too close application to the Persian language has disordered his brains so far that he has made himself incapable of business, and unfit for conversation...". He attempted to commit suicide by leaping into a tank, and was ultimately sent home in the De Grave, his place being taken by [the author of our letter] Mr Josiah Hale' (Harihar Das, The Norris Embassy to Aurangzib (1699-1702), 1959, p.172). As well as taking on the role of interpreter, Hale had a significant role in the procession "richly dressed carrying a sword of state pointed upwards" and accompanied Norris with a small retinue of officials into the Hall of Private Audience. Typical of many young men seeking a fortune and career in India at this time, he finds the conditions far from ideal, writing in the covering letter to his friend "I return for our Factory... it is a very unhealthy place for nearly two thirds of us are dead that came over first but I am now obliged once more to try my fortune there if it please God to spare my life..." and complains that he has had only one letter since arriving in India due to the ship Degrave being, in February, "all lost together with all the private letters, soe that wee are all in the darke as to newes frome England".
Hale writes on a distinctive Indian speckled paper. An account of an official staying at the English Factory at Surat in 1689 describes 'long scrolls of paper ten feet in length and a foot wide that 'by its slickness and smoothness appears shining' for common use' (Sita Ramaseshan, The History of Paper in India up to 1948, 1987, p.112), which would account for the uneven edges of our documents where cut from a larger piece. Hale's list would appear to be a version of a list held in the Factory Records of the East India Company (Misc., Vol 20, India Office).