Matthee notes that it remains unclear "how Basra fared under the Iranians" in 1697–1701, as contemporary sources "voice no consensus about the issue".[10] Some eyewitnesses insisted that Basra was well governed by the Iranians and hail both Ali Mardan Khan and Ebrahim Khan as "just rulers who showed concern for the people".[10] According to resident Carmelites (members of a Roman Catholic mendicant order) in Basra the city prospered under the beneficent rule of these two Safavid governors, while according to the Scottish sea captain Alexander Hamilton the Iranians encouraged trade and were kind to foreign merchants, unlike the Turks.[10] However, in 1700 the Dutch East India Company stated that Basra had declined under the Safavids and that trade had diminished.[10]