Question

Sir Thomas Roe visited the court of ________ for getting permission to trade in Surat.
(A) Akbar
(B) Shah Jahan
(C) Jahangir
(D) Aurangzeb

Answer 1

Hint: Sir Thomas Roe, was an English Diplomat, who has represented England in the Mughal Empire in India. On 18th September 1615, he arrived at the Surat port in India as the ambassador of the English King,

Complete answer:
The East India Company received the royal charter for doing trade with India from the British monarch Elizabeth in the year 1600. In this regard, their envoy William Hawkins had visited Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1608. But, his visit was not fruitful as he could not secure a permit to establish a factory at Surat. On the other hand, the Portuguese were having successful trade relations with India at that time. Obviously, they had influenced the Mughal court against the British.
Therefore, the English decided to send Sir Thomas Roe to Jahangir’s court to achieve their goal. In the beginning, East India Company ships were reached at the Surat ports. Sir Thomas Roe visited the court of the Jahangir in 1615, who was the Mughal Emperor at that time. He obtained permission to trade in Surat easily. He stayed in the court of Jahangir for three years till 1618.
Although the trade centres were established at Agra, Ahmedabad and also at Broch. Further, they established trade centres at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay like big cities. Later on, they made Calcutta as their first capital.

Thus, the correct option is C.

Note: Thomas Roe’s and his contribution to the establishment of the British can never be underestimated. Although, he obtained only trading rights for the British. Still, that was the first step at the beginning of the British control of the Indian subcontinent.