<P> In 1612, James I instructed Sir Thomas Roe to visit the Mughal Emperor Nur - ud - din Salim Jahangir (r . 1605--1627) to arrange for a commercial treaty that would give the company exclusive rights to reside and establish factories in Surat and other areas . In return, the company offered to provide the Emperor with goods and rarities from the European market . This mission was highly successful, and Jahangir sent a letter to James through Sir Thomas Roe: </P> <P> Upon which assurance of your royal love I have given my general command to all the kingdoms and ports of my dominions to receive all the merchants of the English nation as the subjects of my friend; that in what place soever they choose to live, they may have free liberty without any restraint; and at what port soever they shall arrive, that neither Portugal nor any other shall dare to molest their quiet; and in what city soever they shall have residence, I have commanded all my governors and captains to give them freedom answerable to their own desires; to sell, buy, and to transport into their country at their pleasure . For confirmation of our love and friendship, I desire your Majesty to command your merchants to bring in their ships of all sorts of rarities and rich goods fit for my palace; and that you be pleased to send me your royal letters by every opportunity, that I may rejoice in your health and prosperous affairs; that our friendship may be interchanged and eternal . </P> <P> The company, which benefited from the imperial patronage, soon expanded its commercial trading operations . It eclipsed the Portuguese Estado da Índia, which had established bases in Goa, Chittagong, and Bombay, which Portugal later ceded to England as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II . The East India Company also launched a joint attack with the Dutch United East India Company (VOC) on Portuguese and Spanish ships off the coast of China, which helped secure EIC ports in China . The company established trading posts in Surat (1619), Madras (1639), Bombay (1668), and Calcutta (1690). By 1647, the company had 23 factories, each under the command of a factor or master merchant and governor, and 90 employees in India . The major factories became the walled forts of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St George in Madras, and Bombay Castle . </P> <P> In 1634, the Mughal emperor extended his hospitality to the English traders to the region of Bengal, and in 1717 completely waived customs duties for their trade . The company's mainstay businesses were by then cotton, silk, indigo dye, saltpetre, and tea . The Dutch were aggressive competitors and had meanwhile expanded their monopoly of the spice trade in the Straits of Malacca by ousting the Portuguese in 1640--41 . With reduced Portuguese and Spanish influence in the region, the EIC and VOC entered a period of intense competition, resulting in the Anglo - Dutch Wars of the 17th and 18th centuries . </P>

When did the east india company came to india