Richard Craddock's Career with the East India Company - Man Family

42
However the main purpose that Craddock was at Gombroon for
was to negotiate with the King of Persia on the proportion
of customs duties that the Company was owed. Unfortunately,
like his predecessors, he was stymied at nearly every turn
and after a time he wrote to Sir George Oxenden in
frustration suggesting the use of force to settle the
company’s claims; but Oxenden doubted the expediency of
such a course. It seemed to him improbable that the Persian
King would be brought to reason by a blockade of his ports,
for ‘he hath no shipping’ and the merchants engaged in the
trade to Gombroon were mostly Indian. In the second place,
the Dutch would be likely to step in to the breach and
carry all freight goods, thus rendering the blockade
nugatory. Thirdly, the Mogul Emperor would almost certainly
resent any restriction placed on trade between India and
Persia. Craddock was advised that the Persians would not
be sorry to find an excuse ‘to out you of your royalty of
customs’ and it would be better to suffer patiently the
present grievances. Craddock was also advised to no longer
travel to the Persian capital (Isphahan) in the hope that
the Persians
would notice his
absence and
thereby draw
attention to
their wrongs and
pave the way for
a reconciliation.
Whether or not
this course of
action succeeded
we do not know.
(EFI 61-64, pp.
213-214)
The East India
Company had
always found
Gombroon an unappealing place both because it was hazardous
to the lives of those residing there and its continued lack
of commercial success. In a letter sent by the Company to
Surat dated 10 August 1663, Sir George Oxenden and his
colleagues were given two choices as to what to do with the
factory at Gombroon.
The first was that a few persons should be found who would
be willing to reside there at their own expense in order to