ourse
made them sensible of their mutual folly. They agreed to throw aside
their arms and the crown remained in possession of the newly elected
queen. It was said to have been esteemed essential that she should be a
maiden, advanced in years, and connected by blood with the ancient royal
line. In this reign an English factory, which had been long discontinued,
was reestablished at Achin, but in the interval some private traders of
this nation had always resided on the spot. These usually endeavoured to
persuade the state that they represented the India Company, and sometimes
acquired great influence, which they are accused of having employed in a
manner not only detrimental to that body but to the interests of the
merchants of India in general by monopolizing the trade of the port,
throwing impediments in the way of all shipping not consigned to their
management, and embezzling the cargoes of such as were. An asylum was
also afforded, beyond the reach of law, for all persons whose crimes or
debts induced them to fly from the several European settlements. These
considerations chiefly made the Company resolve to reclaim their ancient
privileges in that kingdom, and a deputation was sent from the presidency
of Madras in the year 1695 for that purpose, with letters addressed to
her illustrious majesty the queen of Achin, desiring permission to settle
on the terms her predecessors had granted to them; which was readily
complied with, and a factory, but on a very limited scale, was
established accordingly, but soon declined and disappeared. In 1704, when
Charles Lockyer (whose account of his voyage, containing a particular
description of this place, was published in 1711) visited Achin, one of
these independent factors, named Francis Delton, carried on a flourishing
trade. In 1695 the Achinese were alarmed by the arrival of six sail of
Dutch ships of force, with a number of troops on board, in their road,
not having been visited by any of that nation for fifteen years, but they
departed without offering any molestation.

1699.

This queen was deposed by her subjects (whose grounds of complaint are
not stated) about the latter part of the year 1699, after reigning also
eleven years; and with her terminated the female dynasty, which, during
its continuance of about fifty-nine years, had attracted much notice in
Europe.

Her successor was named Beder al-alum sherif Hasham, the nature of whose
pretensions to the crown does not