No More Learning

Early in 1690 a
parliamentary committee recommended that the trade should be
granted to a new joint-stock body, to be established by act; and two
years later the House of Commons, after the failure of a bill intended
to widen the existing Company by increasing its capital to £1,500,000,
presented an address to King William, praying him to withdraw the
current charter and grant a fresh one on such terms a she might see
fit. This could not be done without three years' notice; but while
discussion was proceeding, the Company itself, by omitting to pay
punctually a tax recently imposed, forfeited its charter. A new grant
was made in October, 1693, which practically carried out the wishes
of parliament by doubling the capital, restricting the amount of stock
that could be held by any one member, and providing that any mer-
chant might join on payment of £5. This arrangement, however,
though it considerably increased the number of shareholders, did not
pacify the Company's opponents. Attempts were still made to dis-
regard the charter by sending out private ships; and, upon the Com-
pany endeavouring to stop one of these (nominally bound for a
Spanish port), the matter was carried to the House of Commons. A
committee was appointed which reported that the detention was
illegal, and in January, 1694, the House passed a resolution “that all
the subjects of England have equal right to trade to the East Indies.
unless prohibited by Act of Parliament”. This naturally caused much
exultation among the Company's enemies, who were now able to
allege parliamentary authority for trading in the forbidden area.
In 1695 competition was threatened from an unexpected quarter.
Seventy-eight years earlier James I had granted a patent for a Scottish
East India Company, but had soon cancelled it under pressure from
his English subjects. Now the project was revived, and the Scottish
Parliament passed an act incorporating a company for the purpose
of trading to Africa and the East and West Indies. By the terms of
1 Sir William Hunter has suggested (History of British India, II, 310) thi't
this was done of set purpose, Child being convinced that his lavish bribery au
court would enable him to secure a fresh charter on favourable terms. It seems.
however, unlikely that the Company would in this way put itself at the mercy
of the government, and the actual outcome was that it had to concede many
of the demands it had so long resisted.


## p. 98 (#126) #############################################

98
>
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1600-1740
the act half the capital might be held outside Scotland; and when it
was found that £300,000 had been secretly subscribed in London, the
English Company in alarm brought the matter before both Houses
of Parliament. National jealousy came at once into play, with the
result that the Commons resolved to take drastic action against the
subscribers and to impeach the promoters of the scheme. This deter-
red the English members from paying up their subscriptions, and so
the financial position of the new venture was seriously weakened.
The dreaded competition in the East Indies never eventuated, for the
new Company's energies were exhausted in a disastrous attempt to
found a settlement at Darien, in Central America; yet the opposition
of England rankled long in Scottish breasts, despite the fact that one
of the articles for the union of the two kingdoms provided for the
repayment to the shareholders of their capital with interest.
In England the uncertainty prevailing as to the validity of the
East India Company's privileges led that body to apply in 1696 for
parliamentary sanction to its trade; but this proved unsuccessful.
However, two years later the financial needs of King William's gov-
ernment brought the matter to an issue. The monopoly was virtually
put up to auction between the contending bodies. The existing Com-
pany, which, owing to great losses during the war with France, was
not in a position to make a high bid, offered to increase its capital to
£1,500,000, and out of this to make a loan to the government of
£700,000 at 4 per cent. interest; while its competitors undertook to
form a new company which would lend £2,000,000 at 8 per cent.
The latter terms, despite the higher rate of interest, proved the more
attractive, and a bill providing for a loan on these conditions was
introduced. Thereupon the East India Company offered to find the
£2,000,000 required, since its privileges could not be saved on any
other terms; but the proposal came too late, and the bill received the
royal assent in July, 1698. It provided for a subscription of £2,000,000
sterling as a loan to the state, which in return would grant to a
"General Society”, made up of the subscribers, the exclusive right
of trading to the East Indies, with a saving clause allowing the
existing Company to continue its operations until the expiry of the
three years' notice required by its charter, i. e. until September, 1701.
The concession made to the new body was to last until the government
repaid the loan, and this was not to be done until after 1711. The
members of the “General Society” might either trade separately, to
the value each year of the amounts they had severally subscribed, or
they might unite in a fresh joint-stock company to which His Majesty
was empowered to grant a suitable charter. The great bulk of the
subscribers chose the latter alternative, and on 5 September, 1693,
they were accordingly incorporated by royal charter under the style
of "The English Company Trading to the East Indies". The manage
ment was entrusted to twenty-four directors, who were to appoint
from among themselves a chairman and deputy-chairman: and we


## p. 99 (#127) #############################################

THE UNITED COMPANY
99
may note in passing that the shareholders were not required, as in
the earlier Company, to pay a separate sum for admission to the
freedom
The new body set to work with energy. Ships and factors were
dispatched to the East; while a special ambassador, Sir William Norris,
was sent to obtain from the Moghul emperor the grant of all necessary
privileges. However, it soon became apparent that to oust the older
Company from its well-established position was a task beyond the
strength of the new corporation. Its original capital having been lent
to the government and the interest. received thereon being insufficient
to maintain the trade, fresh money had to be raised from the members,
and this proved difficult of accomplishment. Moreover, the "Old
Company" (as it was now termed) had taken the precaution to sub.
scribe, in the name of its treasurer, £315,000 to the loan, thereb:
obtaining the right to trade in his name each year to that amount,
even after the expiration of its privileges; while the difficulty that
the Company would cease to be a corporate body when its notice
expired was surmounted in April, 1700, by obtaining an act permitting
its continuance under its own name until the repayment of the
£2,000,000 loan. This astute move decided the issue. The "New
Company" had already made tentative proposals for an amalgama-
tion, and as time went on this was seen on both sides to be the only
possible solution. Under pressure from the government, an agreement
was reached early in 1702. The actual direction of the trade during
the process of amalgamation was entrusted to a body of “Managers”,
half to be appointed by each Company, the annual exports being
provided in equal proportions by the two bodies. This arrangement
was to last for seven years, during which the servants of both Com-
panies in the East were to clear all debts and wind up the separate
stocks sent out before the union. At the end of the time the Old
Company was to surrender its charter and make over the islands of
Bombay and St Helena to the New Company, the charter of which
was to be henceforth the basis of "The United Company of Merchants
of England Trading to the East Indies". Further, the Old Company
was to purchase from the New sufficient stock to equalise their
respective shares; while the latter was to pay to the former half the
difference between the values of the respective "dead stocks" (i. e.
buildings, etc. ) in the East.
This agreement still left room for disputes, to settle which an act
was passed in March, 1708, under which the Earl of Godolphin was
appointed arbitrator; the term of the Company's privileges was
extended by another fifteen years; and it was given the right of buying
out those members of the "General Society" who had elected to trade
on their own account. In return for these concessions the United
Company was required to lend the exchequer a further sum of
£1,200,000 without interest-thus reducing the rate of interest on
the whole debt to 5 per cent. Godolphins award was issued in


## p. 100 (#128) ############################################

100
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1600-1740
September, 1708, and the union was consummated in the following
March. The struggle was now at an end; and it is interesting to note
that its result was to confirm the monopoly of the trade to a chartered
joint-stock company, though on an improved basis. The right of
parliament to control the conditions of this concession had, however,
been established; also the principle of requiring in return some
assistance towards the national finances.
Having thus reviewed the course of events at home, we must now
follow the development of English trade in India during the same
fifty years, a period which synchronised roughly with the long reign
of the Emperor Aurangzib. Soon after the Restoration the Company
withdrew from the port-to-port trade; and as the factories in Upper
India (Agra, Lucknow, etc. ) had been abandoned, the English settle.
ments were now in groups centring at Surat, Madras, and Hugli
respectively. It will therefore be convenient to deal with them more
or less as separate entities.
In Western India the outstanding feature of the period is the
gradual rise of Bombay, which had been ceded by the Portuguese to
King Charles II in 1661, taken possession of on his behalf in 1665, and
made over by him to the East India Company three years later. That
its development was slow is no matter for surprise. The island was
far from healthy; the neighbouring mainland produced little of com-
mercial value, and the barrier of the Western Ghats—to say nothing
of the insecurity resulting from the constant warfare between the
Moghuls and the Marathas--precluded any regular communication
in that direction with Indian trade centres; while the depredations
of the bold pirates of the Malabar Coast were a perpetual menace
to shipping. For nearly twenty years, therefore, Surat retained its
position as the headquarters of English commerce and the seat of
the presidency. Bombay, however, could afford to bide its time. It
possessed a magnificent harbour; its security, thanks to its position
and its fortifications, afforded a striking contrast to the experience of
Surat, which was sacked by the Maratha chief, Sivaji, in 1664 and
again in 1670; while the mild and impartial rule of the English proved
an attraction to traders who had suffered from the tyranny of the
officials on the mainland. Its potentialities did not escape the keen
eye of Gerald Aungier, who in 1669 succeeded Sir George Oxenden
as president at Surat and governor of Bombay; and he made it the
main task of his administration to put the new settlement on a satis-
factory basis. Courts of judicature were established; the local revenue
was settled on equitable. terms; a suitable currency was introduced;
and inducements were held out to merchants and craftsmen to settle
on the island. As the result of all this, by the time of Aungier's death
.
1 The first suggestion for this was made in 1668 (English Factories, 1668-9,
p. 52). See also Foster; “The first English coinage at Bombay,” in the Numis-
matic Chronicle, 4th series, vol. VI.


## p. 101 (#129) ############################################

BOMBAY, 1665-1700
101
(June, 1677) Bombay was on the high road to prosperity, and its
population (according to the estimate of Dr. John Fryer) had risen
to 60,000, three times the number of its inhabitants under Portuguese
rule.
The one desire of the English merchants was to be left to pursue
their calling in peace; but this was impossible in the conditions of the
time. The perennial warfare between the imperial forces and the
Marathas was quickened in 1681 by the arrival in the Deccan of
Aurangzib himself, who thus entered upon the long campaign which
was to engross his attention until his death. Unhappily for Bombay,
the war was not confined to the land but was carried on at sea as
well, the Sidi of Janjira (about 45 miles south of Bombay) acting on
behalf of the emperor against his inveterate foes the Marathas. The
Sidi claimed the right to make Bombay harbour a place of refuge for
his fleets, and this could hardly be gainsaid without offending
Aurangzib; but the effect of the concession was to make the neigh-
bouring waters a scene of continual warfare. In 1679 Sivaji seized the
island of Khaneri at the mouth of the harbour; whereupon the Sidi
fortified its neighbour, Underi, with the result that all vessels entering
the bay were liable to attack from one or the other. With the Marathas
themselves the relations of the English were on an uncertain footing;
while further south the Malabar pirates were a constant source of
trouble. Even at Surat, which was distant from the scene of action,
the strain imposed upon the Moghul finances was felt in the increased
exactions of the local officials and their arbitrary disregard of the
protests of the Company's factors.
In these conditions of turmoil it became more and more evident
that only by being strong themselves could the English secure the
continuance of their commerce; and a few months before his death
Aungier, himself no lover of war, wrote to his employers that the
trade could only be carried on sword in hand. In earlier times the
home authorities had always turned a deaf ear to counsels of vigorous
action, and any outlay on fortifications had been looked upon with
the greatest repugnance. Now, however, came a change, mainly under
the influence of Sir Josia Child, who, after seven years' service in the
directorate, became governor in 1681, and continued to be the domi.
nant force in the Company until his death (1699). He held firmly
the view that the true line of action was to follow the example of the
Dutch, by building up a power on the Indian coast-line which should
be sufficiently strong to repel all attacks and to enforce respect from
its neighbours, even the Moghul emperor himself. In this scheme
Bombay was to be the counterpart of the Dutch settlement at Batavia.
It was to be strongly, fortified and provided with sufficient military
and naval strength to protect English trade; while the cost of all this
was to be met from increased rents, customs dues, and municipal
taxation. Similar measures were to be taken at Madras; and it was
in a letter to that place (December, 1687) that the aims of the


## p. 102 (#130) ############################################

102
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1600-1740
Company were defined, in an oft-quoted passage, as being "to esta-
blish such a politie of civil and military power, and create and secure
such a large revenue to maintaine both . . . as may bee the foundation
of a large, well-grounded, sure English dominion in India for all time
to come”.
In the promotion of these designs Sir Josia found a willing agent
in his namesake, John Child, who in 1682 became president of Surat
and governor of Bombay. The first fruits of the new policy were,
however, disconcerting. The endeavour to raise the revenue and cut
down the expenditure at Bombay caused a revolt of the garrison in
1683 under its commandant, Richard Keigwin, who until November
in the following year governed the settlement in the name of King
Charles, submitting only on the appearance of a naval force with a
royal mandate for the surrender of the place. The rebellion having
been quelled, the Company proceeded to develop its schemes. Already
President Child had been appointed captain-general of the Company's
sea and land forces on that coast; and in October, 1686, when the
Company, goaded by the injuries received in Bengal . (as described
later), had resolved to make a firm stand against the exactions of the
Moghul officials, whatever the consequences might be, a further step
was taken. Child (who had been created a baronet in the preceding
year) was given the imposing title of Captain-General, Admiral, and
Commander-in-Chief of the Company's forces throughcut its posses-
sions, as well as Director-General of all mercantile affairs; and he was
authorised to procoed to Madras and Bengal to regulate matters in
those parts, should he see fit. Ordinarily he was to reside at Bombay,
which in consequence (May, 1687) superseded Surat as the head-
quarters of the western presidency. To complete the organisation
of the English possessions (and especially to check the interlopers
who were making such inroads upon the Company's trade) a court of
1 It has been generally stated that the two Childs were brothers; but Mr.
Oliver Strachey has shown that this was not the case (Keigwin's Rebellion,
pp. 20, 162).
2 This designation--usually shortened to "General"--was explained in a
letter of August, 1687, as being intended to give to its holder “the same pre-
heminence and authority which the Dutch confer upon their Generali at
Batavia”. Its subsequent history is worth noting. After the death of Sir John
Child, Sir John Goldsborough was sent out (1691) as commissary and super-
visor; and two years later he was made captain-general and commander-in-
chief, with Madras as his headquarters, while Sir John Gayer was to act as his
lieutenant-general and guvernor of Bombay. On the death of Goldsborough,
Gayer succeeded to the post of “General” (1694), remaining at _Bombay; while
Higginson, the Madras president, became lieutenant-general. Ten years later
(Gayer being kept in prison at Surat by the Moghul authorities) Sir Nicholas
Waite, the new governor of Bombay, assumed the title of "General”; and upon
his dismissal in 1708 his successor, Aislabie, laid claim to the same designation.
The title was abolished in 1715, when the new post of president and governor
of Bombay was created, with Boone as its first occupant. The title of lieutenant-
general had lapsed in 1698, when Thomas Pitt was appointed governor of
Madras.


## p. 103 (#131) ############################################

THE COROMANDEL FACTORIES
103
admiralty was erected at Bombay in 1684, and another at Madras two
years later, both under letters-patent obtained from the king in 1683.
Further, in 1688 a municipality was established at Madras, with a
mayor and twelve aldermen, including several Portuguese and Indians
-a concession intended to reconcile the inhabitants to a system of
local taxation.
Into the war with the Moghuls which resulted from the troubles
in Bengal the English on the western coast entered only after a long
hesitancy and in a feeble manner. The seizure of some Moghul vessels
brought about a rupture towards the end of 1688, with the conse-
quence that the factors at Surat were imprisoned. Child in retaliation
captured a number of richly freighted ships. Thereupon ensued a
siege of Bombay by the Moghul forces, until in 1690 the English put
an end to the war by a humiliating submission, involving the
payment of a considerable sum. Child, whose dismissal was one of
the conditions of peace, died just as the negotiations were reaching a
conclusion.
The remainder of the period was filled with trouble, owing largely
to the depredations of the English pirates who were swarming in the
Indian Ocean and capturing Indian vessels. For these their peaceful
compatriots were held responsible, with the result that for some time
all the factors at Surat and Broach were kept in prison by the Moghul
authorities. On top of all this came the bitter rivalry between the
servants of the Old and New Companies, elsewhere alluded to. Before
leaving the subject mention should be made of the settlements estab-
lished during the half-century on the Malabar Coast, mainly in order
to obtain a supply of pepper. The chief of these were at Rajapur,
which factory was plundered by Sivaji in 1661, subsequently re-
established, but abandoned in 1679; at Tellicherri, where the English
settled in 1683; at Anjengo, first established about 1694; and at
Karwar, where a factory was maintained (with some intermissions)
from 1660 until the middle of the eighteenth century and was then
withdrawn, leaving Tellicherri and Anjengo to supply the needs of
the pepper traffic.
On the eastern side of India the new start, made upon the grant
of Cromwell's charter, separated the Coast factories (Fort St George,
Masulipatam, etc. ) from those in Bengal and Bihar (centring at
Hugli), each of these two groups forming an agency, under the presi-
dency of Surat; but this arrangement lasted only till 1661, when
Madras became once more the seat of government for all the factories
on that. side of India. The domestic history of the agency for the
next quarter of a century was on the whole one of peaceful progress.
The capture of the Portuguese settlement at St Thomé by the forces
>
1 In 1693-4 the Company paid into the royal exchequer £16,638 as the king's
tenth share of the value of prizes taken during the war (W. R. Scott's Joint
Stock Companies, na, 537).


## p. 104 (#132) ############################################

104
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1600-1740
of the king of Golconda in 1662 drove a considerable number of its
inhabitants to the shelter of Fort St George; and about 1670 the
population of Madras was estimated roughly at 40,000. The Second
Dutch War (1665-7) produced much disturbance of trade, especially
as it synchronised with internal trouble. Sir Edward Winter, who
had been superseded in 1665 by a new agent from home (George
Foxcroft), in the same year seized and imprisoned his successor,
charging him with treason, and reassumed the government in the
name of King Charles. For nearly three years Madras remained
under his control; then (August, 1668) the arrival of a fleet with a
royal mandate induced him to yield his place to Foxcroft, on an
assurance that the persons and property of himself and his adherents
should be respected. The war of 1672-4 between Holland on the one
hand and England and France on the other brought fresh cause of
alarm. In 1673 the Company's fleet was defeated and dispersed by a
Dutch squadron off Petapoli; while on land there was much fighting
round St Thomé, which had been occupied by the French in 1672 but
recaptured by the Golconda forces, assisted by the Dutch, in the
following year. The incursions of the Marathas into Southern India
gave an excuse for strengthening the fortifications of Madras under
Sir William Langhorn (agent, 1672-8) and his successor, Sir Streyn-
sham Master (1678-81); while the administration of the latter is also
memorable for the reorganisation of the judicial system and the
erection of St Mary's church in the fort—the first Anglican church
built in India. In 1631 permission was obtained from the Maratha
ruler at Jinji for English settlements at Porto Novo, Cuddalore, and
Konimedu; while in the following year a factory was established at
Vizagapatam. A few years later the kingdom of Golconda was finally
subjugated by the Moghul forces, and Aurangzib became the nominal
overlord of the English factories on the Coromandel Coast. Negotia-
tions ensued with his general, Zulfikar Khan, who in 1690 confirmed
the existing grants for Madras, Masulipatam, and other stations;
while in the same year a fort at Devenampatnam (close to Cuddalore)
was purchased and made into a new stronghold named Fort St
David. In 1693 the boundaries of Madras were enlarged by the grant
of three adjoining villages; and during the administration of Thomas
Pitt (1698-1709) five more were added, though these were resumed
by the Moghul officials in 1711 and were not recovered until six
years later, under the grant obtained by Surman from the emperor
Farrukhsiyar.
As in the case of the western presidency, Madras suffered much
from the rivalry caused by the establishment of the New East India
Company; and this is perhaps the most convenient place to narrate
briefly the struggle between the two bodies, so far as it affected the
settlements in India. The mission of Sir William Norris, to which
allusion has already been made, proved a fiasco, and the hopes built
thereon by the directors of the New Company were entirely dis-


## p. 105 (#133) ############################################

RIVALRY IN INDIA
105
appointed. After much trouble and delay he reached the camp of
Aurangzib in April, 1701, and was graciously received; but the
emperor was irritated by the depredations committed by European
pirates upon Indian vessels carrying pilgrims to the Red Sea ports,
and the wazir, whom Norris had unwisely offended, threw all sorts
of obstacles in his way. The ambassador found that he could only
obtain the farmans he desired by undertaking to make compensation
for all Indian ships taken by the pirates; and thereupon he quitted
the court abruptly and returned to Surat. He died on the homeward
voyage in 1702.
Meanwhile the presidents appointed by the New Company had
added to the difficulties of their position by quarrelling violently with
the representatives of the older body. All three of these new presi-
dents were discharged servants of the Old Company, and this fact
added acrimony to the disputes, which were further embittered by
the fact that the newcomers had been given the rank of "King's
consul”, and were not slow to claim jurisdiction over all Englishmen
resident in India. This pretension was indignantly repudiated by the
servants of the Old Company, who maintained that the privileges of
the latter remained intact until 1701 at least. Indian authorities,
while taking little interest in the controversy, were naturally inclined
to support the representatives of the older body; and when at Surat
the New Company's president, Sir Nicholas Waite, tore down the
flag that floated over the rival factory, it was at once replaced under
a military guard sent by the Moghul governor. It is true that Waite's
charges against the Old Company, of complicity in the piracies from
which the Indian traders were suffering, bore fruit in the seizure, by
the emperor's order, of Sir John Gayer and other servants of th:
older body; but the blow recoiled on the New Company, whose
factors in Bengal were also arrested under the same instructions.
Most of the Old Company's servants in that province secured them-
selves in the recently erected Fort William at Calcutta; while Madras
successfully resisted the troops sent to occupy it. In the latter presi-
dency John Pitt, the New Company's representative, had established
his headquarters at Masulipatam, whence he carried on a violent
controversy with his relative Thomas Pitt, the governor of Madras,
much to his own discomfiture. The distractions caused by these
disputes, and Norris's failure to obtain authority for new settlements,
formed powerful arguments for an amalgamation of the two com-
panies; and when once this was effected, the first task of the court of
managers was to heal the dissensions in India. Accordingly the grant
of consular powers was rescinded; at Madras Governor Pitt was
confirmed in his post; in Bengal a curious experiment was tried for
a time of a council of four members who were to presiede in turn;
while on the western side Gayer was to be governor of Bombay anil
Waite president at Surat. A proviso that, in the event of Gayer's
continued imprisonment, Waite was to act for him enabled the latter


## p. 106 (#134) ############################################

106
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1600-1740
to take possession of the post, which he continued to hold until his
dismissal in 1708.
It now remains to trace the progress of the English in Bengal,
Bihar, and Orissa. Under the arrangements made upon Cromwell's
grant of a charter, an agent was appointed, with Hugli as his head-
quarters, having under his control the factories of Patna, Kasimbazar,
and Balasore, the last named being the port at which all cargoes were
received or shipped. This arrangement was, however, short-lived,
"
,
for in 1661 the agency was abolished and the factors were replaced
under the agent at Madras. The importance of Dacca, both as the
seat of government and as a centre for the purchase of fine cotton
goods, led the Company in 1668 to sanction the formation of a factory
in that city; while a few years later others were opened at Rajmahal
and at Malda. The trade of the English in these parts grew steadily
both in volume and in value. The Company looked to Bengal for its
regular supply of saltpetre, for which there was an ever-increasing
demand in Europe; while great quantities of silk and silk goods were
also purchased, artisans being brought from England to improve the
methods of manufacture. Sugar and cotton yarn were further articles
of export, and by 1680 the annual investment in Bengal had risen to
£150,000. In hopes of further development, the Company in 1681
determined to make the settlements there independent of Madras;
and accordingly in the following year William Hedges, one of the
"committees”, was sent out as "Agent and Governor of all affairs
and factories in the Bay of Bengal". The experiment did not prove a
success. În 1684 Hedges was dismissed and the Bengal factories were
once again placed under Fort St George, the agent at which was given
the new title of President and Governor for the Coast and Bay.
Now came a time of serious trouble. For many years there had
been friction with the local officials over the question of way-dues
and customs. From the beginning the English had aimed at securing
complete exemption from such imposts, in consideration of an annual
present of 3000 rupees; and in 1656 they had obtained from Shah
Shuja, who was then governing the province, a grant freeing them
from all demands on this score. Such an arrangement was much to
the benefit of the factors themselves, since their private trade passed
free as well as the Company's, while the necessary presents went
down to the account of the latter; and accordingly they made strenu-
ous efforts to secure its continuance. On the other hand the Moghul
officials saw no reason why the fast-increasing commerce of the
1 The establishment at Hariharpur (in Orissa), the earliest English settle-
ment in those parts, had been withdrawn in 1642.
2 Bruce's Annals, II, 451.
3 For grants relating to Bengal, 1633-60, see the appendix to English Fac-
tories, 1655-60.


## p. 107 (#135) ############################################

THE WAR IN BENGAL
107
English should escape the tolls levied upon other merchants, nor did
they recognise that the nishan of Shah Shuja was binding upon his
successors. The factors made several attempts to settle the matter by
obtaining an imperial farman in their favour, but without success;
and although Shaista Khan, then governor, gave them in 1678 a
fresh nishan, with the approval of the emperor, freeing them from
dues, these were soon again demanded. Two years later a farman was
at last obtained from Aurangzib, which seemed to settle the dispute
in favour of the English; but the wording was ambiguous, and the
Indian officials declared that it really authorised them to demand
the same dues as were paid by the English at Surat. The factors were
powerless to resist any exactions the authorities chose to make, since
it was easy to enforce the demand by stopping the saltpetre boats on
their way down the Ganges or by preventing the native merchants
from dealing with the English; and full advantage was taken of both
methods to extort money from the factors. Gradually the latter came
to the conclusion that force was the only remedy and that it was
essential for their security to establish, at or near the mouth of the
Ganges, a fortified settlement similar to those at Madras and Bombay.
This they might make the centre of their trade, and thither they
might withdraw when threatened; while from such a base they could
at any time exert pressure upon the viceroy by stopping the sea-
borne trade of the province. The home authorities, who (as we have
seen) were already persuaded of the necessity of adopting a bold
policy, readily fell in with this view, and in 1686 they sent out orders
that the Bengal factories should be withdrawn and an attempt made
to seize Chittagong, for which purpose they dispatched several ships
and a small force of soldiers. At the same time on the western side
of India the Moghul coast was to be blockaded and the local shipping
seized; while the Coast settlements were to assist with the full
strength of their resources. The enterprise was a rash one, though
all might have been well if the Company had left the control of
affairs entirely in the hands of Job Charnock, its experienced agent
in Bengal; not that fighting would have been entirely avoided, but an
accommodation would have been reached more speedily and nothing
would have been done as regards the absurd plan of attacking so
distant a port as Chittagong. In point of fact a rupture was forced
by the Moghul governor of Hugli, who in October, 1686, made an
attack upon the factory there. The assault was repelled, but Char-
nock deemed it wise to abandon the place and drop down the river
to Sutanati (on the site of the modern Calcutta), from whence he
carried on some negotiations with the viceroy. These . failing, the
English withdrew further down the Hugli river and fixed their head-
quarters on the island of Hijili, at its mouth; while, in reprisal for
1 For a detailed account of the operations see the introduction to C. R.
Wilson's Early Annals of the English in Bengal, vol. I.


## p. 108 (#136) ############################################

108
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1600-1740
the injuries sustained, their ships sacked and burnt the town of
Balasore.
In their new station they were blockaded by the Moghul
forces, while fever made great havoc among the small garrison; but
timely reinforcements enabled Charnock to effect an agreement under
which, in the autumn of 1687, the English returned to Sutanati, where
they remained for a year unmolested. The home authorities, how-
ever, were obstinately bent upon the plan of a fortified settlement
in Bengal; with the result that in September, 1688, a fresh naval
force arrived under Captain William Heath, who had plenary powers
to carry out the projected attack upon Chittagong. Despite the
opposition of Charnock the new settlement was abandoned, and in
January the fleet arrived at Chittagong, only to find it much too
strong to be assailed with any chance of success; whereupon Heatii
decided to retreat to Madras. However, the conclusion of peace in
the early part of 1690, on the initiative of the Bombay authorities,
paved the way for the return of the English to Bengal; and the new
viceroy, uneasy at the loss of trade resulting from the disturbances,
wrote to Charnock at Fort St George, inviting him back. To these
overtures the agent would not listen until a specific promise was
added that the grievance over customs should be redressed-a pro-
mise that was redeemed in February, 1691, by an imperial grant of
freedom from all dues, on condition of the payment, as before, of
3000 rupees per annum in lieu thereof. It was in August, 1690, that
the English once more settled at Sutanati and erected a few huts
that were destined to grow into the capital of their Indian empire.
The site had disadvantages, for. it was girdled on the land side by
swamps which rendered it unhealthy; but its position on the eastern
bank of the river gave it security, while it was accessible from the sea
and had good anchorage close inshore. In 1696 a local rebelliɔn
provided an excuse for fortifying the factory; and two years later
permission was obtained to rent the three villages of Sutanati,
Calcutta, and Govindpur for 1200 rupees a year. The fortified factory,
which was named Fort William in honour of King William III, was
made in 1700 the seat of a presidency, Sir Charles Eyre becoming
the first president and governor of Fort William in Bengal.
The domestic history of the East India Company from the time of
the union in 1709 to the middle of the century was one of quiet
prosperity. The value of its imports rose from nearly £500,000 in
1708 to about £1,100,000 in 1748; while its exports increased from
£ 576,000 (of which £375,000 was in bullion) in 1710 to £1,121,000
(including £816,000 in bullion) forty years later. An act of parlia-
ment obtained in 1711 extended the period of exclusive trade until
1733. As the latter date approached, a body of merchants made a fresh
attempt to oust the Company from the trade by offering to find the
necessary money to enable the government to pay off the existing
debt, the new loan to bear only 2 per cent. interest; it was proposed
then to organise a new company on a "regulated” basis, open to all
>


## p. 109 (#137) ############################################

THE COMPANY'S TRADE, 1700-1750
109
merchants but subject to the payment of a percentage on imports. "
The proposal found many supporters, and the East India Company
in alarm offered to pay £200,000' to the treasury and to reduce its
rate of interest on the government debt to 4 per cent. These terms
were accepted, with the result that in 1730 an act was passed pro-
longing the Company's privileges to 1769. A further extension until
1783 was granted in 1744, at the cost of the loan of a further sum of
one million to the government at 3 per cent. An act of 1750 reduced
the interest on the earlier loan of £3,200,000 to 312 per cent. up to
Christmas, 1757, and 3 per cent. thereafter. Thus the interest paid
by the government on its total indebtedness to the Company was
placed on a general level of 3 per cent. The £1,000,000 lent in 1744
was not added to the Company's capital, which remained at
£3,200,000 down to 1786, when another £800,000 was raised at a
considerable premium. The capital was further increased in 1789
and 1793 by two sums of £1,000,000 each, likewise raised at a high
premium; thus making a total of £6,000,000, a figure that was not
varied down to 1858.
During the period under consideration the dividend paid by the
Company rose rapidly from 5 per cent. in 1708-9 to 10 per cent. in
1711-12. After continuing at that rate till . 1722, it dropped to 8 per
cent. , and in 1732 to 7 per cent. In 1743 it rose again to 8 per cent. ,
and remained at that figure till 1755.
The parliamentary sanction under which the Company's mono-
poly was exercised effectually debarred other British subjects from
any open competition; but there were not wanting enterprising spirits
who sought to make profit by taking service with its foreign rivals,
particularly the Ostend East India Company. To check this practice
the English Company in 1718 obtained an act authorising the seizure
of any British subject found trading under such auspices; and further
enactments for the same purpose were passed in 1721 and 1723.
Owing, however, to the pressure brought to bear by the several
governments concerned, this danger was soon after removed (as
related elsewhere). by the suspension of the charter of the Ostend
Company.
The steady development of the East India Company's trade is
shown by the fact that, whereas for the five years 1708-9 to 1712-13
on an average eleven ships were dispatched annually to the East, for
the similar period between 1743-4 and 1747-8 the number was twenty
per annum, of much larger tonnage. It may be mentioned that at
this time, whatever the size of the vessel, the tonnage chartered by
the Company was never more than 499 tons. The reason is a curious
one. By a clause in the 1698 charter the Company was bound to
provide a chaplain for every ship of 500 tons or over; and it would
seem that, rather than incur this expense, the directors chose to
.
1 Historical MSS. Commission's Reports : Diary of Lord Percival, p. 65.


## p. 110 (#138) ############################################

1:10
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1600-1740
engage a larger number of vessels, though in effect the cost must have
been greater. The obnoxious clause was not repeated in the act of
1773; whereupon the Company began to charter ships at their fuli
measurements, and later on considerably increased its requirements
in regard to the size of vessels.
One feature of importance in the Company's history during the
closing years of the seventeenth and the first quarter of the eighteenth
century was the agitation excited amongst English manufacturers
by the competition of the cotton and silk fabrics imported from
India. During the early years of the trade the piece-goods brought
into the country competed, as we have seen, mostly with linens from
the continent, and the greater cheapness of the former ensured them
a general welcome, whether they were plain or printed. About 1676,
however, calico-printing works were started near London, and the
industry quickly became one of importance, with the result that soon
protests began to be heard against the importation by the Company
of printed Indian calicoes which undersold those produced in England
itself. Similar objections were raised by the silk weavers against
India-wrought silks, as being detrimental to another rising industry;
while behind both parties stood the woollen manufacturers, who
alleged that the growing use of these foreign silks and cottons was
ruining the staple manufacture of the country. In the spring of 1696
a bill was introduced to restrain the wearing of Indian silks, printed
calicces, etc. ; but the opposition of the East India Company resulted
in such vital amendments that the bill was allowed to drop. A fresh
measure was then brought in, only to be abandoned owing to a
disagreement between the two Houses; and as a consequence serious
riots on the part of the artisans affected occurred in November 1696,
and the following spring. The agitation was continued until an act
was passed (1700) forbidding the use of Asiatic silks and printed
and dyed calicoes, though these goods might still be brought in for
re-exportation. This legislation has been represented as a wrong done
to India; but it must be remembered that the latter was then in no
closer relation to England than any other country, while the encour-
agement of home industries was looked upon as a primary duty.
Moreover, the effect upon the trade of the two countries was not so
detrimental as had been feared, for the demand for raw silk, plain
calicoes, and cotton yarn was considerably increased. In 1720 came
a fresh turn; violent protests from the woollen and silk manufacturers
induced Parliament to forbid the use (with certain exceptions) of
calicoes dyed or printed in England. This prohibition, though modi-
fied in 1736 by permission to print on cotton stuffs having a linen
warp, was maintained until 1774, when the British calico printers
were once more allowed to dye and print stuffs wholly made of
cotton, provided these were manufactured in Great Britain. The rapid
rise of the English cotton industry, based upon Arkwright's inver
tions soon removed all fear of Indian competition though as a matter
>


## p. 111 (#139) ############################################

SURMAN'S EMBASSY
111
of fact the prohibitory enactments lingered on the statute book until
the nineteenth century.
One special feature of the Company's operations during the
period under survey was the development of the trade in tea from
China and coffee from the Red Sea ports. Both articles came into
use in England about the middle of the seventeenth century, and by
1686 the consumption of tea had increased to such an extent that the
Company decided to remove it from the list of articles open to private
trade and to reserve the commerce to itself. Supplies were at first
procured from Bantam; and after the withdrawal of the Englisn
factors from that port in 1682, Surat and Madras became the inter-
mediaries. From the beginning of the eighteenth century attempts
were made to establish a regular trade with China to meet the
increasing demand for tea, and by 1715 these efforts had proved suc-
cessful. Some idea of the growth of the trade, and of the gradual
reduction in the price of the commodity, is afforded by the fact that
whereas in 1706 the sales amounted to 54,600 lb. , fetching £ 45,000,
the amount sold in 1750 was 2,325,000 lb. , which realised about
£544,000. Coffee made its first appearance in the Company's sale
lists at the beginning of 1660. This commodity was easily procurable
at Surat, whence there was a constant trade with the Red Sea ports;
but later it was found worth while to reopen for the purpose the
factory originally started at Mokha early in the seventeenth century.
In 1752, however, this arrangement was abandoned and the trade
was left to be managed by the supercargoes of the ships employed in
the traffic.
As in the preceding section, the history of the period 1700-50 may
best be treated by examining in succession the records of the groups
forming the respective presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay.
Each of these had its peculiar difficulties, but surmounted them with
more or less success; and each went on its way without heeding
overmuch what was happening elsewhere. The one exception occurred
early in the century, when all three presidencies were concerned
in an embassy sent to Delhi to obtain a comprehensive grant from
the Moghul emperor. The idea originated with Governor Pitt oi
Madras in 1708, when the emperor Shah Alam I was in Southern
India; but before the matter could be put in train the court had
returned to Delhi. Further delay was caused by the death of that
monarch and the subsequent contest for the crown. When, however,
the struggle ended in the accession of Farrukhsiyar, who had shown
himself well disposed towards the English, it was resolved to go
forward with the project; and the mission, which was under the
charge of John Surman, reached Delhi in the summer of 1714. The
negotiations were so protracted that it was the middle of July, 1717,
before Surman was able to quit the capital, carrying with him the
farmans he had obtained. His efforts had been largely aided by the
services rendered by William Hamilton, the doctor attached to the


## p. 112 (#140) ############################################

112
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1600-1740
.
mission, in curing the emperor of a painful disease; but the story that
the concessions were granted as a reward for Hamilton's assistance
is one that will not stand examination. The three farmans brought
back by Surman were addressed to the officials of the three provinces
--Hyderabad, Gujarat, and Bengal (including Bihar and Orissa)-in
which the English were settled. The right of the latter to trade in
Bengal free of all dues, subject to the cutsomary payment of 3000
rupees per annum, was confirmed : they were to be allowed to rent
additional territory round Calcutta and to settle. where else they
might choose : their long-standing privilege of freedom from dues
throughout the province of Hyderabad was continued, the only pay-
ment required being the existing rent paid for Madras : certain
neighbouring villages, which had long been in dispute, were added
to that city : a rearrangement of the Company's land round Vizaga-
patam was sanctioned : a yearly sum of 10,000 rupees was accepted in
satisfaction of all customs and dues at Surat : and the rupees coined
by the Company at Bombay were allowed to pass current throughout
the imperial dominions. Though Surman had not obtained all for
which he had asked, he had secured a great deal, and his embassy
stands out as a landmark in the history of the Company's settlements.
The Bengal factors soon discovered that it was easier to obtain an
imperial farman than to induce the local officials to obey it, in the
disorganised state of the kingdom. Ja'far Khan, the governor of
Bengal, openly declared that 'the English should never enjoy the
additional villages round Calcutta specified in the grant; and although
possession was obtained of some of them in an indirect manner, it
was not until Clive's treaty with Siraj-ud-daula in 1757 that the
territory was entirely brought under British control. Nevertheless
Calcutta continued to grow in importance and wealth, and by the
middle of the century its population was estimated at over 100,000 as
compared with the 15,000 of 1704. This, it is true, was partly owing
to a great influx about 1742, caused by the invasion of the province
by the Marathas. The approach of these raiders created great con-
sternation, for Fort William (finished in 1716) was of little real
strength, and moreover its defensive capabilities had just been seri-
ously reduced by the erection of warehouses against its southern face.
However, the inhabitants dug a broad ditch round a great part of the
town, while batteries placed at various points assisted to secure it
from sudden attack. Fortunately these defences were not tested, for
the Nawab 'Ali Wardi Khan managed, with the aid of a rival body of
Marathas, to clear his province of the invaders; and although the
latter returned in 1744, they were then defeated and driven back to
their own territories. The general insecurity led to the consideration
of many plans for the improvement of Fort William, but the expense,
and the natural unwillingness of the owners to consent to the clearing
.
1 The full story will be found in C. R. Wilson's Early Annals, vol. I, pt 11.


## p. 113 (#141) ############################################

PROGRESS IN INDIA, 1700-1740
113
away of the houses that crowded around it, prevented action being
taken until it was too late. Had greater prevision been exercised,
the story of the Black Hole might never have been written.
The domestic history of Calcutta for this period includes also the
erection of a church (St Anne's, consecrated in 1709): the building
of a fine house for the governor in the fort : and the organisation of
a judicial system under a charter granted by George I in September,
1726, which also provided for the appointment of a mayor, sheriff,
and aldermen. The courts thus established were similar to those
erected at Madras under the same charter, as described later, but
they did not come into full operation.
Concerning the subordinate settlements in Bengal there is little
to record, save constant quarrels with the local functionaries, who;
being now practically uncontrolled from Delhi, made the most of
their opportunities to extort money. The trade of the English was
very prosperous, alike as regards the regular operations of the Com-
pany and the private trade of its servants (which was sheltered under
its privileges); and naturally the officials did their best to take toll
of it for their own advantage. It was equally to be expected that
such exactions should be resisted as far as possible; and hence a
lengthy story of disputes and reconciliations.
During this half-century the English settlement at Madras like-
wise grew and prospered, though its history affords few events that
call for notice in the present rapid şurvey. The absorption in 1717 of
five additional villages (originally granted in 1708) has been men-
tioned already. Twenty-five years later a grant was obtained of
Vepery and four other hamlets. The territory occupied by the British
was still, however, quite small, comprising a space of about five miles
by three; while their only other footholds on the Coromandel Coast
were Fort St. David at Cuddalore and factories at Vizagapatam and
Masulipatam. In 1727 a new charter (this time from the crown, not
from the Company) remodelled the Madras corporation, reducing the
number of aldermen and appointing a sheriff, to be chosen annually
by the governor and council. The mayor and aldermen were autho-
rised to try all civil cases with an appeal to the governor and council,
whose decision was to be final up to 1000 pagodas; when that amount
was exceeded, an appeal mignt be made to the King in Council. The
governor and the five senior members of his council were to be
justices of the peace for the town and were to hold quarter sessions
for the trial of criminal cases.
On the western side of India the commerce of Bombay steadily
increased, in spite of the disturbances caused by disputes with the
Portuguese and the Marathas, and hostilities with the Malabar
pirates, notably the Angrias, who dominated the coast-line between
Bombay and Goa and attacked all vessels that offered a reasonable
chance of capture. Boone, who was president and governor from


## p. 114 (#142) ############################################

114
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1600-1740
1715 to 1722, not only built a wall round Bombay, to guard against
sudden raids, but also constructed a number of fighting ships for the
protection of commerce. During the next forty years several expedi-
tions were fitted out against the pirates; but it was not until the
capture of Suvarndrug in 1755 by Commodore James and the destruc-
tion of Gheria 1 in the following year by Clive and Admiral Watson
that the power of the Angrias was broken. In these operations the
.
English were much aided by the cordial relations that had been
established with the Peshwa, whose troops co-operated on both
occasions. A much less welcome outcome of Maratha prowess was
their capture of Bassein from the Portuguese in 1739, which brought
them unpleasantly near to Bombay itself.
Of the internal organisation of that town the most noteworthy
developments were the establishment of a bank in 1720 ; the erection
of a mayor's court (similar to that at Madras, and created under the
same charter) in 1728: and the formation of a large dockyard a few
years later, under a Parsi shipbuilder from Surat. By 1744 the popu-
lation had risen to 70,000, while the revenues amounted to about
sixteen lakhs of rupees. Grose, who arrived on the island in 1750,
records that the draining of the marshes had materially improved the
healthiness of Bombay, while "the mildness of the government and
the toleration of all religions” had drawn thither large numbers of
artificers and merchants from Surat and other places on the mainland.
Concurrently with the growth and consolidation of the English
settlements came increased competition from other European powers.
Of the rivalry of the French, Dutch, and Portuguese nothing need
here be said, as the subject is dealt with elsewhere in the volume; but
some account must be given of the efforts made by other nations of
the West to establish themselves in India and secure a share of the
profitable trade resulting. The Danish East India Company was
established in 1616, and four years later a settlement was made at
Tranquebar, on the south-eastern coast. From thence commerce was
soon extended to Masulipatam, and later to Bengal; but adequate
support from home was wanting, and for a long time the exiguous
trade of the Danes consisted chiefly in carrying goods from India to
Macassar and other parts of the Malayan Archipelago. In fact more
than once they were on the point of yielding Tranquebar to either
the English or the Dutch and relinquishing the trade. A fresh com-
pany, however, was started in 1670, and to this body a new charter
was granted about thirty years later; but its operations met with so
little success that in 1714 the factories in Bengal were withdrawn.
On the suspension of the Ostend Company (mentioned later), an
endeavour was made to attract its shareholders into the Danish body,
1 Better known as Vijayadrug. Upon its capture it was handed over to the
Marathas in exchange for Bankot (renamed Fort Victoria), which thus became
the earliest possession on the mainland of Western India.


## p. 115 (#143) ############################################

EUROPEAN RIVALS
116
though without success, owing to representations made by the English,
Dutch, and French governments. A new company was started in
1729, which in 1732 obtained a charter confirming its privileges for
forty years a term afterwards extended to 1792. In 1755 a fresh
settlement was made in Bengal, this time at Serampur (on the Huglii,
besides others in the Nicobar Islands and on the Malabar Coast. The
principal trade of the Danes was, however, with China for tea, which
was largely smuggled from Denmark into Great Britain, until a
reduction in the duty on that commodity made this illicit commerce
unprofitable. On the outbreak of hostilities between the two countries
in 1801 Serampur and Tranquebar were captured by the English,
but they were immediately restored under the treaty of Amiens. Six
years later, on the renewal of the war, both places were again taken
possession of, and they were retained until the general peace restored
them to their former owners. Finally, in 1845, all the territory in
India belonging to the Danes, viz. Tranquebar, Serampur, and a piece
of ground at Balasore, was sold to the English East India Company
for twelve and a half lakhs of rupees.
The treaty of Utrecht (1713), which transferred the Spanish
Netherlands to the House of Austria, was indirectly the means of
adding another competitor for the trade between Europe and Asia.
The merchants of Flanders were not slow to seize the opportunity
thus presented, and after several private ventures the emperor, in
spite of remonstrances from England and Holland, granted (1723).
a charter to an association generally known as the Ostend Company.
This quickly established a prosperous commerce with Bengal and
China, its success being largely due to the extensive smuggling into
England that ensued from the proximity of Ostend to our south-
eastern ports. The London Company was much exercised at this
illicit competition; while the other European nations concerned in
the Eastern trade also felt themselves aggrieved. As a result the
matter was pushed to the forefront of politics, and when in 1727 a
treaty was negotiated for securing to Maria Theresa the inheritance
of her father's dominions, the emperor was obliged to agree to suspend
for seven years the privileges of the Ostend Company; while the
treaty of 1731, by which Great Britain guaranteed the succession of
Maria Theresa, contained a clause which stipulated for the definite
suppression of that body. Its chief settlement in India, Bankibazar
(on the Hugli, three miles north of Barrackpore), hoisted the flag of
the Austrian emperor, and trade was continued under its protection;
but in 1744 the place was besieged by the faujdar of Hugli (at the
instigation, it was alleged, of the Dutch and the English), and the
garrison, finding the position hopeless, embarked in their trading
ships and departed. Many of them were killed in Pegu, whither the
chief, Schonamille, led them; the remainder took to piracy until they
fell in with an English man-of-war, when they preferred joining that
ship to standing their trial as pirates.


## p. 116 (#144) ############################################

116
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1600-1740
The gap caused by the disappearance of the Ostend association
was filled to some extent by a Swedish East India Company,, chart-
ered in 1731 and trading also exclusively with China. Its privileges
were renewed from time to time, but it slowly perished when the
reduction of the English duties on tea extinguished the profits made
by smuggling that commodity into Great Britain. The project of an
Austrian East India Company was revived in 1775, when, at the
instigation of William Bolts, a discharged servant of the English
Company, a charter was granted by the empress Maria Theresa to
"The Imperial Company of Trieste". However, after experiencing
many vicissitudes during the ensuing ten years, this association be-
came bankrupt. With the mention of two Prussian ventures—the
China Company, founded in 1750, and the Bengal Company, started
three years later--neither of which proved a success, we may bring
to a conclusion the story of the attempts made by the mid-European
powers to share in the trade with the East.
1


## p. 117 (#145) ############################################

CHAPTER V
THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION
THE War of the Austrian Succession, though in appearance it
achieved nothing and left the political boundaries of India unaltered,
yet marks an epoch in Indian history. It demonstrated the over-
whelming influence of sea-power when intelligently directed; it
displayed the superiority of European methods of war over those
followed by Indian armies; it revealed the political decay that had
eaten into the heart of the Indian state system; and its conclusion
illustrated the resultant tendency of European treaties to intrude into
a world that had previously altogether ignored them. In short, it set
the stage for the experiments of Dupleix and the accomplishments of
Clive.
The only part of India affected by the war was the Carnatic. On
the coast lay three important European cities--Negapatam under the
Dutch; Pondichery under the French; and Madras under the English.
Each was a place of large trade; each was inhabited by some 20,000
or 30,000 Indians who had gathered themselves round the small
group of Europeans, 400 or 500 in number, who formed the dominant
element; each was a place of reputed strength. They had sprung into
existence for purposes of trade; and had attracted their Indian popu-
lation, in part by the opportunities of wealth, in part by the certainty
of protection offered by their walls and ships: Behind them the
country was divided out between Hindu and Muslim. At Arcot,
dependent on the subahdar of the Deccan, was the nawab of the
Carnatic. He was busy trying to convert what had in origin been a
mere official appointment into an hereditary rule, for his superior,
Nizam-ul-mulk, was old, and constantly occupied with his aggressive
Maratha neighbours or with the troubled affairs of Northern India.
The nawab's territories formed a narrow strip along the coast stretch-
ing from Ongole on the north to Jinji on the south, and bounded
westwards by the hills that buttress the Deccan. Up these he never
attempted to spread his dominions; but southward lay a number of
small, feeble states that invited his attack. The first of these was
Trichinopoly, which, in 1736, was ruled by a Hindu princess, widow
of the last nayak, whose family had established itself there on the
break-up of the Vijayanagar Empire at the end of the sixteenth
century. This had been conquered by Nawab Dost 'Ali's son, Safdar
'Ali, and his son-in-law, Chanda Sahib, in 1736 or 1737, and this
success was followed by the occupation of Madura by Chanda Sahib's
brother. Tanjore, however, which had been established as a result
1 Cf. Orme MSS, Various, xv, 10-15.


## p. 118 (#146) ############################################

118
THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION
2
of the Maratha invasion of the Carnatic in the previous century, did
not fall so readily. It was small, but it was rich and fertile; and
although on several occasions Chanda Sahib and his brother-in-law,
Safdar 'Ali, besieged the capital and plundered the country round,
they never succeeded in mastering it. Their attempts led to the
"
expulsion of their own family from Arcot.
Although the Maratha armies had not set foot in the Carnatic for
over a generation, the Peshwa had a standing pretext for intervention
whenever it suited Maratha policy. This was the claim to a quarter
of the revenues known as chauth. In 1740 Fateh Singh and Raghuji
Bhonsle, two of the principal Maratha generals, were sent with a large
army of horse to levy the largest contribution that circumstances
would permit. Their expedition was probably suggested by the com-
plaints of their fellow-Maratha, the raja of Tanjore; but the common
rumour was that they had been invited by Safdar 'Ali in jealousy of
Chanda Sahib's designs, or that they had been abetted by Nasir
Jang, son of Nizam-ul-mulk, in order to get them out of his father's
territories. In any case their sudden movement southwards from the
neighbourhood of Cuddapah took Dost 'Ali by surprise. He marched
with what troops he had at hand to meet them at the Damalcheri
Pass, a valley about 800 yards wide, defended by a wall running
across it. But the Marathas did not attempt to storm this obstacle.
Guided by a local Hindu chief, Chikka Rayalu, they moved by another
route eastwards of the nawab's position, and then fell upon him from
the rear.
His army was destroyed, and he himself with his chief
people killed. Moving at once upon Arcot, where was Safdar 'Ali,
the Marathas obliged him to come to terms. He is said to have agreed
to pay a crore of rupees, and to restore to the Hindus their old pos-
sessions. After this the Marathas moved westward towards Banga-
lore as if to return to Poona, where Balaji Rao was finding obstacles
in securing the succession to his father Baji Rao. But early in the
next year, 1741, they reappeared and attacked Chanda Sahib in
Trichinopoly. After a short siege the place capitulated, and Chanda
Sahib, being unable or unwilling to pay the ransom that was demanded
of him, was carried off prisoner to Satara.
These events shook the rule of Dost 'Ali's family at Arcot to its
foundations. Maratha plunder hindered the collection of the revenue
and thus prevented Safdar 'Ali from replenishing his treasury. More.
over, he did not receive the formal investiture from his superior
Nizam-ul-mulk, so that the bazars were full of rumours of his
impending removal. In the autumn of 1742 he was at Vellore,
3
1 Orme MSS, Various, xv, 89-90.
2 Madras Country Correspondence, 1740, p. 12.
3 Lettres édifiantes et curieuses (ed. Martin), , 701.
4 Madras to the Company [ ], February, 1742; Pondichery to the French
Company; 1 October, 1741.


## p. 119 (#147) ############################################

CONFUSION IN THE CARNATIC
119
demanding a contribution from his cousin Murtaza 'Ali, who was
the commandant of the place. Murtaza 'Ali thought the time ripe
for the transfer of power into his own more crafty hands.