The Anarchy by William Dalrymple

26 Apr 2020

This post is continuosly updated.

Around 1599

• Important Dates
  • 31 December, 1600: The East India Company gets the royal charter
  • 28 August, 1608: Hector becomes the first EIC vessel to drop anchor in India
  • 1618: The EIC gets permission from Jahangir to build their first factory in Surat
  • Around 1618: Second factory established at Masulipatnam on the east coast - the port of the Mughal’s Deccani rivals. This was for textiles
  • Around 1618: Third factory comes up in Patna trading in Saltpetre - an active ingredient in gun powder.
  • 1634: EIC gets permission to build a fort near Madraspatnam. This becomes the first colonial town in India.
    
    
• Incentives given to the East India Company (EIC):
  • Exemption from all custom duties for their first six voyages
  • A British monopoly for 15 years over ‘trade to the East Indies’, an area that was not clearly defined
  • Semi-sovereign privilages to rule territories and raise armies

  
  In essense, the EIC, a private company, was granted permission to:

  • Claim jurisdiction over all English subjects in Asia
  • Mint money
  • Raise fortifications
  • Make laws
  • Wage war
  • Conduct an independent foreign policy
  • Hold courts
  • Issue punishment
  • Imprison English subjects
  • Plant English settlements.

  
  

• Status of England in early 1600s
  • A relatively impoverished, largely agricultural country.
  • Spain and Portugal were already successful in planting and sustaining viable colonies in different continents. They were, naturally, the economic powerhouses of Europe. The Dutch were growing fast
  • The English were forced to look for new markets and commercial openings. In skills of long-distance trade or planting and sustaining viable colonies, the English were rookies in comparison to their European neighbors.
  • They started off by looting Spanish, Portugese, and Dutch ships laden with rich cargo.

  
  

• Investments, as in 1602 (not in today’s GBP value):
  • The English EIC: GBP 68,373
  • The Dutch EIC: GBP 550,000.

  
  

• India in early 1600s:
  • Population: 150 million (about a fifth of global population). England, at that time, had 5% of India’s population.
  • Was the world’s industrial power house - was producing about a quarter of global manufacturing. England was accounted for a little less than 3%.
  • World’s leader in manufactured textiles
  • Was certainly responsible for a much larger share of world trade than any comparable zone
  • It’s economic power even reached Mexico, whose textile manufacture suffered a crisis of ‘de-industrialization’ due to Indian cloth imports
  • The Moghul emperor in India was the richest monarch in the world. He had an income of around GBP 100 million (> GBP 10 billion today).
  • The Mughal capitals were the megacities of their day. They attracted merchants from all over Asia.
  • Between 1586 and 1605, the Mughals imported 18 metric tons of European silver every year.
  • The Mughals had an army of 4 million men. No European nation could think of a war with the Mughals.
  • Both the Portugese and the English tried to establish a relationship with the Mughal Empereror by giving him expensive gifts. The Portugese were more excitable than the English, and they paid the price for that.
  • The Mughals were curious about the English, but hardly overwhelmed. Infact, they regarded relations with the English as a very low priority.
    

  
  

• Reversal of spice trade
  • By 1630s, EIC was importing GBP 1 million worth of pepper from India, and began exporting it to Italy and the Middle East.
  • This was a landmark development because, for centuries, spice trade was dominated by Middle Eastern middlemen who trebled the price as their commission.

  
  

• The birth of Madras
  • In 1634, the EIC got the permission to build a fort near a fishing village called Madraspatnam.
  • This village was chosen because the concerned EIC official had an affair with a woman who lived close Madraspatnam.

  
  The EIC got the right

  • to build a fort and castle
  • to trade customs free
  • to perpetually enjoy the privilages of mintage

  
  By 1670s, the town Madras had grown to be the first colonial town in India. It was also minting its own gold coins.