On this day the first British East India Company ship landed in India, in Surat.
The ship was captained by William Hawkyns. He soon left for Mughal emperor Jahangir’s court in Agra, to request a trading licence.
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Eventually, he was granted the licence (farman) to build a factory, but the emperor wanted Hawkyns to remain in India, in his court.
For that purpose, Hawkyns was provided with enough means and was persuaded to take a wife. He married Mariam Khan, an influential merchant’s daughter.
In 1615, Thomas Roe would arrive in India as ambassador of King James I and would obtain from Jahangir a farman to trade and establish factories all across his empire.