Captain W. Hawkins and Sir Thomas Roe visited India in the time of Jahangir. As regards Hawkins he was an adventurous English Seaman and he arrived in India in 1608 with a letter from James I to the Emperor of India, “The Great Mughal”. There was a lot of opposition but in spite of that he managed to reach Agra to deliver the letter in person. He was well-received by Jahangir and he became his favourite.
Hawkins lived at the Mughal Court for about three years (1608-11) and enjoyed the hospitality of the Emperor. So far as the object of his mission was concerned, he failed to accomplish anything an account of the intrigues of the Portuguese Jesuit Missionaries. Hawkins married an Armenion Christian Lady at the bidding of lahangir.
Hawkins has written a lot about the habits of the Emperor, the court etiquette, the condition of the people and the administrative system of the country. He tells us that Jahangir was a heavy drunkard. There were many feasts at the Royal Court and the most important was that of Nau Roz.
There was also the law of escheat which after the death of a nobleman, all his property was taken over by the king. Hawkins has referred to the causes of the wealth of the Mughal Emperor. Those were the treasure and jewels of the ancestors, property of the nobles which came by way of escheat, money brought into the country by foreign merchants and the possession of land.
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Hawkins tells us that when the king got angry, terrible results followed. He might order a man to be flayed alive, or torn to pieces by elephants or tortured to death in many ways. The king was a mixture of opposites. On one occasion he might order the murder of a person and on another occasion he may forgive generously or intervene to save the life of some innocent person.
Jahangir showed himself to publicly three times a day to hear petitions of the people and give justice to them. Bribery was very common and the local authorities were oppressive. The Provincial Governors could do whatever they pleased and there was no effective check on them.
Sir Thomas Roe was sent by James I in 1615. He was both a scholar and a courtier and was well qualified for the job given to him. He reached Surat in September 1615 and proceeded to Ajmer where Jahangir was. He remained at the court of Jahangir from 1615 to 1618. He succeeded in obtaining a Firman from Jahangir allowing the English to trade at Surat. The Journal of Sir Thomas Roe and the Diary of the Clergyman, Edward Perry, form a very valuable source for the Reign of Jahangir. Sir Thomas Roe got the concession by bribing Asaf Khan.
The Journal of Roe gives a pen-picture of the Royal court and the important personalities of the country. He tells us that the Mughal Court observed a lot of pomp and show. He described the festivities in which the nobles took part. He also refers to the squalor and misery of the peasantry. The public highway were insecure. Local Administration was completely inefficient and corruption prevailed everywhere. Roe was struck by the fact that there were no written laws in Indian and the word of the king was law.
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The control of the Central Government over the provinces was not what it should have been. He also refers to law of escheat by which property of a noble passed to the Emperor after his death. He tells us how the favourites of the king were given promotions whether they deserved it or not. According to Roe, Jahangir had neither pride nor conceit. There were scenes of drunkenness and revelry at night. Roe was a clever diplomat. He possessed plenty of shrewdness and business capacity. Roe tells us that the merchants were harassed at the ports. The Deccan was in a state of ruin. The art of painting was highly advanced.