The affairs of the small but important settlement of Bombay appeared as prosperous as those of Madras. Surat, one of the principal sea-ports and richest towns on the western side of India, had fallen into decay, as the power of the Mogul government declined. This city, independent of its wealth, had great value with the Mahommedans, from being the port at which the pilgrims annually assembled on their way to the sacred tombs of their prophet or of his descendants. The Emperor furnished the vessel which conveyed to Jidda (a port in the Red Sea) those pilgrims who went to Mecca. The convoy of this vessel, as well as the protection of the commerce of Surat, had been for some time intrusted to the chief of Jinjeera, who was styled the Admiral of the Emperor, and had, in virtue of that office, an assignment on the revenues of Surat, amounting to the sum of three lacs of rupees per annum. On the ground of this amount not being regularly paid Seedee Massoud, the ruling chief of Jinjeera, had first seized the castle of Surat, and afterwards greatly encroached upon the other local authorities of that place. He died in 1756; and his son not only retained this usurpation, but demanded one third of the revenues of the city; another third was paid to the Mahrattas, as the price of their abstaining from hostilities, and the remaining third was divided among those officers who governed in the name of the Emperor of Delhi. This division of authority, together with the intrigues and disputes to which it gave rise, was ruinous to the prosperity of the town, and attended with continual alarm and danger to the inhabitants. The English factory, which had been settled at Surat for a century and a half, suffered considerably during this distracted state of affairs, and the Government of Bombay, consequently, listened with approbation to an overture made by the principal officers and merchants of Surat, inviting them to take the castle, to expel the Seedee, and on receiving an assignment of two lacs of rupees, to become the future protectors of the commerce of the port. An expedition was sent, which, after a short opposition from the Seedee, completely succeeded; and the garrison of the castle were compelled to surrender to the English, who acted throughout with the sanction and aid of the officers of the Emperor. An account of the events which had occurred was sent by Mr. Spencer (the chief of Surat) to Delhi; from whence he obtained sunnuds[81], or deeds, appointing the English Company governors of Surat Castle, and admirals of the Emperor's fleet, and granting them an assignment upon the revenues of the city for two lacs of rupees per annum. These events added both to the strength and the fame of the settlement of Bombay, and rendered it better able to cope with its predatory neighbours the Mahrattas. The principal chiefs of that nation, however, were at this period more occupied with the affairs of the northern than of the western parts of India.