The naval Battle of Swally, also known as Battle of Suvali, took place on 29–30 November 1612 off the coast of Suvali (anglicised to Swally) a village near the Surat city (now in Gujarat, India) and was a victory for four English East India Company galleons over four Portuguese galleons and 26 barks (rowing vessels with no armament).

This battle also convinced the English East India Company to establish a small navy to safeguard their commercial interests from other European powers and also from pirates.

During July 1583, an English merchant, Ralph Fitch, was arrested for spying at Ormus (near the modern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas).

Jan Huyghens van Linschoten (1563–1611) was a Dutch Protestant traveller and historian who also served as the Portuguese Viceroy's secretary in Goa between 1583 and 1588.

During his stay in Goa, abusing the trust put in him by the Viceroy, Jan Huyghens meticulously copied the top-secret charts page-by-page.

Even more crucially, Jan Huyghens provided nautical data like currents, deeps, islands and sandbanks, which was absolutely vital for safe navigation, along with coastal depictions to guide the way.

He had with him 25,000 pieces of gold and a personal letter to the Mughal Emperor Jehangir (sometimes also rendered as Cehangir or Ichan Guire) from King James I seeking trade concessions.

[1] This may have been partly because King James I had extended the company's charter in 1609 on the basis that it would be cancelled if no profitable ventures were concluded within three years.

Fearing the worst, Captain Best detained a ship belonging to the Governor of Gujarat and offered to release it in exchange for his men.

Between 17 and 21 October, amidst negotiations he managed to obtain a treaty with the Governor allowing trading privileges, subject to ratification by the Emperor.

At daylight on 30 October, Captain Best in Red Dragon sailed through the four Portuguese galleons during which three of them ran aground, and was joined by Hosiander on the other side.

[3] R. Sengupta, the Chief Project Co-ordinator (coastal and marine ecology) of GES advised that, "The port was also better than those located in the mouth of river Tapti.