John Mildenhall (–1614) or John Midnall was an English explorer and adventurer and one of the first to make an overland journey to India. He was the self-styled ambassador of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. His is the first recorded burial of an Englishman in India.

Personal life

Little is known of John Mildenhall's early life. The date and location of his birth are unknown. In a letter written on 12 February 1599 he describes himself as ''John Mildenhall of London, Merchant''. In the same letter, he likens the abundance of fish found at Lake Van (Turkey) to ''..our herring time at Yermouth'' (Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England), which he then describes. In letters written by a contemporary merchant, John Sanderson, Mildenhall (more commonly called Midnall) is often referred to as a ''cuckold'', inferring that he was a married man. Whether there was any issue from this marriage is not known; but Mildenhall did have two illegitimate children, in Persia, with an Indian woman. These two children (a boy and a girl) were left in the care of a Frenchman, named Augustin (the executor of Mildenhall's will), and Mildenhall bequeathed them his effects. The majority of Mildenhall's estate was eventually recovered by the East India Company, and the fate of the two children is unclear.

Travels to India

Mildenhall was one of the first British travellers to journey overland to India. His name first appears in the Court Records of the British East India Company concerning a letter sent by him "to his master Rich Stapers, declaring what privileges he had obtained in the Indies and offering them, and his services to the Company for 1,500 pounds in hand". On 21June 1608 the Court decided to consider his demand, and in October nominated Mildenhall as factor along with Lawrence Femell and Edward Abbott. However, Mildenhall demanded even more and as a consequence, negotiations came to an end. Entrusted with the sale of the Company goods in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

, Mildenhall, travelled through Eastern Europe, passed through Scio and

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

, and reached

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

on 29October 1599. After a six-month stay in Constantinople, he continued his journey and arrived at Aleppo on 24May 1600 where he stayed for forty-two days. On 7June 1600 Mildenhall left Aleppo with an entourage of six hundred people and, after travelling through Bir,

Urfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic period, Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain abo ...

, Diarbekir,

Bitlis Bitlis ( or ; ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. It is the seat of Bitlis District and Bitlis Province.Van, Nakhichevan, Julfa, Sultanieh, Kazvin, Kum,

Kashan Kashan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kashan County), Central District of Kashan County, in the northern part of Isfahan province, Isfahan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. History Earlies ...

Kerman Kerman (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kerman County), Central District of Kerman County, Kerman province, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. History Kerman was founded as a def ...

Sistan Sistān (), also known as Sakastān (, , current name: Zabol) and Sijistan (), is a historical region in south-eastern Iran and extending across the borders of present-day south-western Afghanistan, and south-western Pakistan. Mostly correspond ...

and

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

, he reached

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in 1603. Mildenhall was entrusted with the sale of the company's goods in the

but he deceived the British East India Company by escaping to

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

instead. A letter from

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

dated 20September 1614 informs the British East India Company that an Englishman named Richard Steele had arrived at

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

along with another Englishman, Richard Newman, in pursuit of one John Midnall who had tried to flee with the company's provisions to

but was overtaken and captured at Tombaz and taken back to

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

. Mildenhall was released soon afterwards but his goods were confiscated. However, he received compensation of 9,000 dollars in return. Soon after his release, Mildenhall travelled to India and reached Lahore in the company of Newman who had had an altercation with Steele and had chosen to follow Mildenhall. They parted at Lahore but reunited at

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

. In 1603, John Mildenhall reached the court of the

Mughal Emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

and held discussions with him. However, he was regarded as an outlaw by the British East India Company whose exports to the Levant he had diverted to India. Moreover, his journey was not sponsored by the company. Hence, the British East India Company sent

Sir William Hawkins Sir William Hawkins (fl. c. 1600) was a representative of the English East India Company notable for being the commander of ''Hector'', the first company ship to anchor at Surat in India on 24 August 1608. Hawkins travelled to Agra and met t ...

to India in pursuit of Mildenhall and to declare all his dealings null and void.

Burial

John Mildenhall is interred at the Roman Catholic cemetery in Agra. Originally his grave had a Portuguese inscription which read "Joa de Mendenal, Ingles, moreo aos nintelligible textJunho 1614" (literally: Englishman, dead in June 1614). In the 20th century an English inscription was added, probably by the colonial English government: :Here lies John Mildenhall, Englishman, who left London in 1599 and traveling to India through Persian, reached Agra in 1603 and spoke with the Emperor Akbar. On a second visit in 1614 he fell ill at Lahore, died at Ajmer, and was buried here through the good offices of Thomas Kerridge merchant.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mildenhall, John Explorers of Asia 1560s births Year of birth uncertain 1614 deaths Expatriates in the Ottoman Empire Expatriates in the Mughal Empire Expatriates from the Kingdom of England 16th-century English explorers 17th-century English explorers