than when ruled by kings (as sometimes they were with a rod of iron)
supported these pageants, whom they governed as they thought fit, and
thereby virtually changed the constitution into an aristocracy or
oligarchy. The business of the state was managed by twelve orang-kayas,
four of whom were superior to the rest, and among these the maharaja, or
governor of the kingdom, was considered as the chief. It does not appear,
nor is it probable, that the queen had the power of appointing or
removing any of these great officers. No applications were made to the
throne but in their presence, nor any public resolution taken but as they
determined in council. The great object of their political jealousy seems
to have been the pretensions of the king of Johor to the crown, in virtue
of repeated intermarriages between the royal families of the two
countries, and it may be presumed that the alarms excited from that
quarter materially contributed to reconcile them to the female
domination. They are accordingly said to have formed an engagement
amongst themselves never to pay obedience to a foreign prince, nor to
allow their royal mistress to contract any marriage that might eventually
lead to such a consequence.* At the same time, by a new treaty with
Johor, its king was indirectly excused from the homage to the crown of
Achin which had been insisted upon by her predecessors and was the
occasion of frequent wars.

(*Footnote. However fanciful it may be thought, I cannot doubt that the
example of our Queen Elizabeth, whose character and government were
highly popular with the Achinese on account of her triumphant contest
with the united powers of Spain and Portugal, had a strong influence in
the establishment of this new species of monarchy, and that the example
of her sister's marriage with Philip may have contributed to the
resolution taken by the nobles. The actions of our illustrious queen were
a common topic of conversation between the old tyrant and Sir James
Lancaster.)

In proportion as the political consequence of the kingdom declined, its
history, as noticed by foreigners, becomes obscure. Little is recorded of
the transactions of her reign, and it is likely that Achin took no active
part in the concerns of neighbouring powers, but suffered the Hollanders,
who maintained in general a friendly intercourse with her, to remain in
quiet possession of Malacca.

1643.

In 1643 they sent an ambassador to compliment her upon h