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Consider the following statements about the European travelers to India : 1. Sir Thomas Roe, the representative of the East India Company, was granted the permission by Jahangir to open a factory at Surat. 2. Captain Hawkins was driven out from Agra by the Mughals at the instigation of the Portuguese. 3. Father Monserrate traveled with Akbar on his journey to Kashmir. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Explanation
Statement 1 is incorrect: Sir Thomas Roe arrived at Jahangir's court in 1615 as an accredited ambassador of King James I, not merely as a representative of the East India Company. Furthermore, the initial permission to open a factory at Surat was granted earlier in 1613 following Captain Thomas Best's naval victory over the Portuguese. Roe later secured a broader farman for trading across the empire.
Statement 2 is correct: Captain William Hawkins arrived at the court in 1608. Although initially welcomed and given the title "English Khan," intense Portuguese intrigues and their influence over Mughal officials thwarted his efforts. Standard historical texts (such as NCERT) explicitly document that he was "driven out" of Agra in 1611 due to this Portuguese opposition.
Statement 3 is incorrect: Father Antonio Monserrate accompanied Emperor Akbar on his military expedition to Kabul in 1581, not Kashmir. Akbar did not travel to Kashmir until 1589, years after Monserrate had already left the Mughal court in 1582.
Therefore, only statement 2 is correct.