The East India Company, 1600–1858: A Short History with Documents

189 Pages·2017·3.25 MB·English

by  Ian Barrow

PASSAGES: KEY MOMENTS IN HISTORY

The East India Company, 1600–1858

A Short History with Documents
PASSAGES: KEY MOMENTS IN HISTORY

The East India Company, 1600–1858

A Short History with Documents

Ian Barrow

Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Indianapolis/Cambridge
Copyright © 2017 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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For further information, please address Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
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Cover design by Rick Todhunter Interior design by Laura Clark Maps by Beehive
Cartography Composition by Aptara, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Barrow, Ian J.,
author.
Title: The East India Company, 1600/1858 : a short history with
documents / Ian Barrow.
Description: Indianapolis : Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., [2017] |
Series: Passages: Key moments in history | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016047052 | ISBN 9781624665967 (pbk.) |
ISBN 9781624665974 (cloth) Subjects: LCSH: East India Company—History. |
East India Company—
History—Sources. | British—India—History—Sources.
Classification: LCC DS465 .B38 2017 | DDC 382.0941/05—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016047052

epub ISBN: 978-1-62466-611-7
TITLE OF RELATED INTEREST AVAILABLE
FROM HACKETT PUBLISHING
R. Po-chia Hsia, Matteo Ricci and the Catholic Mission to China, 1583-
1610: A Short History with Documents.
CONTENTS
The page numbers in curly braces {} correspond to the print edition of this title.

Acknowledgments
Chronology
Glossary
List of Maps
List of Illustrations
Introduction

Chapter One: The Seventeenth Century

Chapter Two: The Eighteenth Century

Chapter Three: The Nineteenth Century

Conclusion

Documents
1. The Company’s Accusations against the Dutch East India Company
(1624)
2. Domestic Opposition to the East India Company (1681)
3. Criticism of a Company Bigwig and His War against the Mughal Empire
(1690)
4. English Opposition to Importing Cotton Textiles (1708)
5. An Early View of Bencoolen, the Company’s Pepper Port (1727)
6. Asserting the Company’s Power over Defeated Enemies (1765)
7. Exposing the Company’s Mismanagement (1772)
8. An Erotic Encounter (1789)
9. The Spectacle of Tipu Sultan’s Death (1799)
10. Arguments for Opening India to Missionaries (1805)
11. An Anti-Missionary Perspective (1808)
12. A British Prisoner of War Returns Home from India (1824)
13. Advice to a Young Company Employee Traveling to India for the First
Time (1827)
14. Missionary Sentiments (1830)
15. A Lady’s Arrival in Calcutta (1820s; 1850)
16. Touring India (1837; 1866)
17. The Beginning of a Disastrous War (1838)
18. First Reactions in Britain to the News of the Rebellion (1857)

Select Bibliography
Index

Titles of Related Interest Available from Hackett Publishing
{VII} ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It has taken more than two years to research and write this book. My greatest debt
goes to my wife, Dana, for her patience as I (endlessly) chatted about the seventeenth
and eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, for her encouragement whenever I ran out
of steam, and, most importantly, for her love. Along the way friends and colleagues
have offered generous support and invaluable advice by reading the manuscript,
discussing the ideas behind the book, or sharing their enthusiasm for the project. A
heartfelt thank you to Andrew Amstutz, Febe Armanios, Michelle Baird, Hayden
Bellenoit, Vivek Bhandari, Dan Brayton, Nat Caldwell, Maggie Clinton, Boğaç
Ergene, Philip Gould, Rebekah Irwin, Maya Joshi, Adam Lougee, Joyce Mao, Sonali
Mishra, Paul Monod, Cynthia Packert, Sumathi Ramaswamy, Mark Rogers,
Awadhendra Sharan, and Kurt Suchomel. While writing the book I had my students
in mind and I often shared drafts with my classes. The suggestions they offered were
invariably thoughtful. Three anonymous reviewers provided detailed and helpful
comments and I thank them for the considerable time they spent reading the
manuscript and drafting their responses. Much of the writing was conducted while I
was on sabbatical and I am grateful to Middlebury College for giving me that time.
The book was first imagined in a conversation with Rick Todhunter on a cold
winter’s afternoon in Vermont. Ever since that serendipitous meeting, he has been an
exemplary editor while his colleague Liz Wilson has expertly shepherded the book
through production.
This book is dedicated to my mother, Yvonne. When I was a little boy she very
often took me to visit castles, country estates, and museums spread across England
and Wales. They were glorious trips, and since then she has never stopped sharing
her delight in seeing and learning about the past. I could not have written this book
without her love, inspiration, and encouragement.
{VIII} CHRONOLOGY
1600 East India Company established
1601 First voyage sails for the Spice Islands
Dutch East India Company (VOC)
established The English
1602
company establishes a factory at
Bantam
1613 Factory established at Surat
Sir Thomas Roe travels to the Mughal
1615–19
court
1623 Amboyna “massacre”
Courteen’s Association granted a charter
1635
by Charles I
1639 Factory established at Madras
1657 Permanent joint stock established
Charles II transfers control over Bombay
1668
to the Company
Bencoolen becomes new center for the
export of pepper (after the Dutch
1685
expel the Company from Bantam
in 1682)
1686–90 Company’s war with the Mughals
1690 Factory established at Calcutta
Establishment of a rival English East
1698
India company
Merger of the two English East India
1709
companies
1746 Madras captured by the French