SirWilliam Hawkins (fl. c. 1600) was a representative of the English East India Company notable for being the commander of Hector,the first company ship to anchor at Surat in India on 24 August 1608.
In October 1581,he was nominated,apparently at the request of his uncle,as lieutenant to Edward Fenton.[citation needed]
In May 1582,Hawkins was then further appointed to command an expedition to the East Indies and China,which sailed from England. However,Hawkins came to bad terms with Fenton and John Hawkins,due to jealousy of the claims which had been put forward on behalf of Hawkins to command the expedition;partly also,it may be,out of the insolent and insubordinate conduct of Hawkins himself. The enmity became intensified due to the official instruction to Fenton not to replace Hawkins. When the little fleet was sailing from Plymouth,Hawkins was still onshore,and Fenton put to sea without him;he was brought out in the Francis,one of the squadron's ships,and put on board his ship,the Leicester. Throughout the voyage,the captain and the lieutenant seem to have quarreled on every occasion until their arrival at the River Thames.[citation needed]
In 1587,Hawkins may probably be identified with the William Hawkyns who,commanded the Advice ship on the coast of Ireland.[citation needed]
In 1588,Hawkins once again commanded a ship named the Griffin in a battle against the Spanish Armada. It has been suggested that the commander of the Griffin was his father,then-mayor of Plymouth;although this was seemingly contradicted by the fact that on 19 July the Griffin was at sea with Sir Francis Drake,and the mayor of Plymouth was onshore collecting reinforcements. Hawkins was,however,not an uncommon Devonshire name,and it is quite possible that the commander of the Advice or Griffin belonged to some other family.[citation needed]
In 1589,by his father's will,Hawkins inherited a contract annuity of £40.[citation needed]
In 1595,his uncle,John Hawkins,also granted Hawkins an inheritance,besides a share of the prospective profits of the last fatal voyage to the West Indies,£10 a year to be paid quarterly,on condition that he does not sell the same annuity nor rent-charge,or any part thereof. He left also legacies of £100 to each of Hawkyns's children,to be payable "to every such child at the time of their marriage,or at the accomplishment of their several ages of eighteen years,which shall first happen." From the wording of this clause,it would seem probable that the children were girls;but we know nothing more of them.[citation needed]
Activities in India
The Mughal Empire during Hawkins's time,showing key cities Agra and Surat
In 1607,on April 1,Hawkins left for India with his wife,David Middleton and William Keeling.[2][3] He was theorized to have taken command of the East India Company's ship Hector on a voyage to Surat with William Keeling,and was charged with the king of England's letters and presents to the princes and governors of Cambay,due to his experience with the region and language expertise.[4] Hawkins Then parked his ship Hector at Surat before he goes to Agra.[5]
In 1608,on August 24,Hawkins arrived at Surat and was approached by Portuguese sailors who told him that all the ports in the region belonged to Philip III of Spain. Thanks to the efforts of the viceroy of Deccan sultanates,Khan-Khana,the ship was authorized to set sail and Hawkins was allowed to proceed to Agra.[6]
In April 1609,after arriving at Surat,[7][8] Hawkins proceeded to Agra and the court of the Mughal to negotiate permission for the English company to construct a factory for the Mughal emperorJahangir,[1] where he remained for nearly 3 years. According to the account given in his Journal,the emperor gained a good impression of Hawkins and assigned him an administrative position with an annual payment estimated at upwards of £3,000,his serious occupation being to combat the intrigues of the Portuguese and to endeavor to obtain formal permission for the establishment of an English factory at Surat.[9] During his time in Agra,Hawkins fought political intrigues in the Mughal court against the Portuguese,[10][11] while also dedicating himself to trying to obtain imperial authorization so that his company would be authorized to establish a factory in Surat to trade with India.[10]
Hawkins proficiency in Turkish language eas a crucial factor to nagigate the Mughal court anf getting close to the emperor himself.[12][13] His favor with the emperor enabled him to overcome any difficulties in the court,and the required license was given;it was the first distinct recognition of English commerce in the East.[10] Jahangir also threatened the Portuguese Jesuits to not try to harm Hawkins,such as poisoning his foods.[9] The emperor even granted authorization for Hawkins but made it a condition that Hawkins marry a local Indian woman. Hawkins consented to the match,conditionally on her not being a Moor,and accordingly he took as his wife the daughter of an Armenian Christian.[10] The one who became Hawkins' wife was Mariam Khan,a daughter of an influential merchant in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar and Jahangir.[citation needed]
Furthermore,Hawkins himself was appointed by the emperor as Mansabdar (military official in the Mughal empire),[14][15] with the command of 400 horses and a rent worth of 30,000 Rupees,while also giving him status as EIC official ambassador in the court.[16] During this time,he also provided records about the details of the administrations of Mansabdar,where during his life,he recorded about 41 names of Mansabdar officers who commanded about 3,000-5,000 Zat or horsemen.[15]
In 1610,Hawkins instructed one of his fellow merchants,William Finch,to travel about 80km southwest from Agra to Bayana,a town well known for its high-quality indigo production. At this time,one of the ships of Mariam-uz-Zamani,who at that time held status as empress dowager of the empire of Mughal,was prepared for a voyage to Mokha. The empress dowager's enterprise was tasked to search for Indigofera,presumably an important part of the royal cargo. But just as the deal was being concluded,William Finch changed the bid higher,which angered Mariam uz Zamani. Hawkins,already in trouble with Jahangir for other reasons,had to suffer consequences.[17][18] It was further thought that Hawkins' political rival in the Mughal court,Abdul Hassan,reported Hawkins' drinking habit to Jahangir,who strongly forbade wine in his court.[19] In the end,Mariam-uz-Zamani pressured her son,emperor Jahangir,to ensure that Hawkins,who at that time was still on good terms with Jahangir,leave India.[citation needed]
Although Hawkins failed to convince Jahangir to oust the Portuguese representatives from the court of Mughals,he managed to secure Jahangir permission to establish factories in Surat and Gujarat. It was said the naval battle's in 1611 between the English and Portuguese that make Jahangir decided to allow Haekins as he impressed with the English navy.[20]
After Indian activities
In 1611,Hawkins left Agra in November,and three months later arrived at Surat,where he found Sir Henry Middleton,with whom he went to the Red Sea,and afterward to Java.[citation needed] In the end of his time in India,Hawkins failed to secure permission from the emperor of Mughal to build an English factory.[19][a]
In 1614,the inheritance for the widow of William Hawkins was bestowed on the ship Thomas. However,there is nothing for any of his daughters from a former marriage.[citation needed]
A year after Hawkins's death,Mariam married Captain Gabriel Towerson and with him returned to India.[23][24] Towerson abandoned her and returned to England in 1619 before resettling in Amboyna. Despite appealing to the EIC for maintenance,she received nothing and on Towerson's death his assets were awarded to his brother.[25]
Appendix
Footnotes
↑The mission to secure emperor's authorization instead accomplished by Captain Middleton in the same year.[21]
↑Muzaffar Alam; Sanjay Subrahmanyam ( (17 February 2011). The Mughal State: 1526-1750 (Oxford in India Readings: Them) (Oxford in India Readings: Themes in Indian History). Oxford University Press. p.305. ISBN978-0-19-565225-3.
Riddick, John F. (2006). The History of British India: A Chronology. India: Faber. ISBN978-0313322808.
Fisher, Michael; Dalrymple, William (2007). Visions of Mughal India: An Anthology of European Travel Writing. United Kingdom: I.B. Tauris. ISBN978-1845113544.
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