...eventually reaching Surat on September 5. The…

...eventually reaching Surat on September 5.

The principal port for the Mughals, Surat is at this time situated at the mouth of the river Tapti.

Surat had eclipsed Khambhat as the major port of western India, when Khambhat's harbor began to silt up by the end of fifteenth century.

The Portuguese traveler Duarte Barbosa in 1514 had described Surat as an important seaport, frequented by many ships from Malabar and various parts of the world. (There still today a picturesque fortress on the banks of the river built in 1540.)

A village in the suburbs of Suat is Barbodhan Village, possibly named after the explorer Duarte Barbosa (it derives from "Bab-ul-Aden"—Doorway to Aden, Yemen—where it has strong cultural and trading links).

During the reigns of the Mughal emperors Akbar and Jahangir, Surat has risen to become the chief commercial city of India and an imperial mint has been established here.

As the major port on the west coast of India, Surat also serves as the port for the Hajj to Mecca.

The Portuguese at the end of the sixteenth century had been undisputed masters of the Surat sea trade.

Coincidentally, a squadron of sixteen Portuguese barks sails into Surat on September 13, 1612.

Captain Best decides on September 22  to send an emissary to the Emperor asking for permission to trade and settle a factory at Surat.

If refused he plans 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 canceled if no profitable ventures were concluded within three years.

Captain Best receives word on  September 30 that two of his men, Mr. Canning (the purser) and William Chambers, had been arrested while on shore.

Fearing the worst, Captain Best detains a ship belonging to the Governor of Gujarat and offers to release it in exchange for his men.