The EIC's Forgotten Envoy: Sir William Norris and the Court of Aurangzeb

In 1699, the East India Company sent Sir William Norris on a desperate diplomatic mission to the court of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. The stakes could not have been higher: the Company had lost its trading privileges, its factories were under threat, and a rival English interloper had poisoned the well. Norris, a man with no diplomatic experience, was tasked with securing a new imperial farman — a decree that would guarantee the Company's right to trade. What followed was a grueling two-year journey across the Indian Ocean, up the Coromandel Coast, and into the heart of the Mughal Empire. At Aurangzeb's camp in the Deccan, Norris found himself entangled in a web of protocol, bribery, and imperial disdain. He endured debilitating illness, bitter infighting among Company officials, and the emperor's deliberate neglect. Norris finally secured the farman — but at a cost that broke him. This episode explores the drama of pre-imperial Company diplomacy, the fragility of Mughal favor, and the personal price of a single piece of paper that kept the EIC alive. #EastIndiaCompany #MughalEmpire #Aurangzeb #SirWilliamNorris #farman #Surat #Gombroon #BombayMarine #EnglishEastIndiaCompany #Deccan #MughalEmperor #CompanyTrade #17thCentury #ColonialIndia #History #FexingoHistory #TradeHistory #Diplomacy Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo