Lesson 3/35 min
The English
In 1600 the ‘British East India Company’ was founded on a fifteen-year charter from Queen Elizabeth of England. The Company reached India in 1608 and gained a foothold in Bengal around 1633.
The Company's start in India
- Company formed in 1600; Zubair gives 218 shareholders
- Arrived in India in 1608
- 1612: first factory at Surat, near Mumbai, in Emperor Jahangir's reign
- 1615: the English envoy Sir Thomas Roe won trading privileges at Jahangir's court; second factory at Masulipatnam
- The fort built on the Coromandel coast later grew into the city of Madras
English factories in Bengal
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1633 | Banglapedia: first factory on the Mahanadi delta next to Orissa (Hariharpur/Pipli region) |
| 1651 | Factory at Hooghly, with subahdar Shah Shuja's permission |
| 1658 | Another factory at Kasimbazar; slowly Dhaka and Malda too |
Watch out: Zubair's book gives 1608 for the English coming to Bengal and another book 1658. 1608 is their arrival in India; 1658 is the Kasimbazar factory. Banglapedia says they first set foot in the Bengal region in 1633.
Watch out: Zubair's correction box: many market books say the English set up their first Bengal factory at Surat. That is wrong; Surat is in Gujarat, not Bengal. Zubair names Pipli as the first factory in Bengal.
Growing power
- Bombay: King Charles II of England married the Portuguese king's sister and got Bombay as dowry; in 1668 he leased it to the Company for ten pounds a year
- Calcutta: Job Charnock settled at Sutanuti in 1690 and is known as the founder of Calcutta
- The zamindari rights of the three villages Calcutta, Sutanuti and Govindpur were bought for 1,200 taka
- Fort William at Calcutta later became the centre that decided the subcontinent's fate
- In 1717 Emperor Farrukhsiyar's farman allowed duty-free trade; it is known as the ‘Maha-farman’
- The English got permission to buy villages around Calcutta (Zubair: 48 villages, from Farrukhsiyar)
Watch out: One book puts the 1,200-taka purchase in 1690; according to Banglapedia Charnock settled at Sutanuti in 1690 and the zamindari of the three villages was bought in 1698. Fort William is 1706 in one book and 1700 in the other; Banglapedia has both 1698 and 1700, so the year is left out. Banglapedia dates Farrukhsiyar's farman to 1717 and says 38 villages.
Conflict and decline
- Alivardi Khan kept the Company in check with conditions
- When Siraj-ud-Daula came to power after him the Company ignored the earlier agreement, kept trading and joined plots with the nawab's enemies
- Winning Plassey in 1757 with Mir Jafar's help and Buxar in 1764, the Company gained undisputed dominance over Bengal, Awadh and Delhi
- Through the Regulating Act of 1773 the British government gained the power to interfere in the Company's affairs
- The East India Company was declared closed in 1874 (according to the book)
Check yourself
How did Bombay come into English hands?
At a glance
- 1
English East India Company 1600 (Queen Elizabeth); it reached India in 1608.
- 2
First factory in India at Surat (1612, Jahangir); Sir Thomas Roe at Jahangir's court in 1615.
- 3
First foothold in Bengal 1633; Hooghly factory 1651 (Shah Shuja); Kasimbazar 1658.
- 4
Bombay came to Charles II as dowry; he leased it to the Company in 1668 for ten pounds a year.
- 5
Job Charnock is the founder of Calcutta (1690); Farrukhsiyar's Maha-farman of 1717.
- 6
After Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1764) the Company had undisputed dominance.