Hawksworth heard the first bell and walked to the stern
windows to monitor the slant of the dying sun and to inhale the fresh evening air. Then he wheeled and examined Karim, the pilot's face shadowed in the half light.
"And who are these officials? This governor and prince?"
Karim smiled and carefully secured the fold of his turban. "The governor administers the port of Surat. He collects trading duties of the Moghul’s court in Agra. Prince Jadar is the son of the Moghul and the military ruler of Gujarat, this province."
"Then who will I meet in Surat?" Hawksworth groped for a pattern. "The governor or the prince?"
Again Karim paused, wondering how much to tell, before continuing evenly, "Neither of these need concern you now. The first official you must satisfy will be the Shahbandar, what the Moghuls call the mutasaddi. The Shahbandar controls the customs house, the portal for all who would enter the Moghul’s domain. His power over the port is absolute."
Hawksworth slapped one of the bronze cannon to punctuate his dismay.
In India also! Good Jesus, every Muslin port in the world must have this same petty official. I've heard that Shahbandar is Persian for "Lord of the Haven," and if that's true the office is named perfectly. Every one I've known has had the right to refuse entry to anyone, at his whim, if bribes are insufficient and no more powerful official intervenes.
"Who does the Shahbandar here answer to? The governor? The prince? The Moghul himself? Or somebody else you haven't told me about yet?" Hawksworth tried to push back his rising anxiety.
"Captain, you have, in your guileless feringhi way, raised a question it is wiser not to pursue. I can only assure you the Shahbandar is a man of importance in Surat, and in India."