No More Learning

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


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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.


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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.


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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. He first
attempted to poison his cousin; that failing, he put him to death by
violence, and attempted to seize the government of Arcot. But he
lacked the nerve to carry through what he had begun. Alarmed by
the attitude of the people and troops, he suddenly abandoned the
capital and disguised as a woman made his way hurriedly back to
Vellore with its crocodile-defended moat. For the moment Safdar's
young son, who had been left for safety's sake by his father at Madras
with the English, was recognised as nawab, and the administration
was carried on by his father's ministers. But these disorders had
attracted the attention of Nizam-ul-mulk. He appointed a nawab, and
early in 1743 entered the Carnatic in person to restore order. He
expelled the garrison which the Marathas had left in Trichinopoly;
and finally, his first nominee having died, he appointed an old servant
of his, Anwar-ud-din Khan, to the government of Arcot. But the task
of restoring order was beyond any but the most vigorous. Relatives
of the old family still held most of the chief fortresses and enjoyed
large jagirs; and although Safdar 'Ali's son was opportunely murdered
at Arcot, Anwar-ud-din's position seemed hardly more secure than
Safdar 'Ali's had been. The whole country was in a state of uncer-
tainty, expecting some great event, though none knew what.
Following on these ominous events came the news of the decla-
ration of war between France and England. Four years earlier it
would have opened very much to the advantage of the French in the
eastern seas. At that time, when war seemed close at hand, La
Bourdonnais, the governor of Mauritius, had been sent out with a
squadron intended to operate against the English trade; but when
the crisis passed, the squadron was recalled; and so it happened that,
when war really broke out, the French had no ships of force in Indian
waters, and the small squadron equipped by the English immediately
after the declaration of war? found nothing on its arrival at the close
of the year capable of resisting it. Dupleix, who had become governor
of Pondichery in 1742, had hoped to be able to arrange one of those
irregular understandings such as had been reached between Madras
and Pondichery in the previous war, for a neutrality in India. He
addressed the three English presidencies in this sense before any news
of the English squadron had been received. In this he was following
the policy of his masters, the French directors, who had announced
their willingness to enter into an understanding with the English
Company. But a proposal so calculated to favour the interests of the
weaker naval power had been rejected; and the English in India,
while willing enough to disclaim hostile designs, which indeed they
1 Madras Consultations, 26 June, 1744. Cf. Orme MSS, Various, xv, 74.
2 Minute of 22 March, 1743/4 (Brit. Mus. Add. MSS, 33004, f. 78).


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120
THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION
1
had not the power to execute, warned Dupleix that they would have
no control over any king's ships that might arrive. His sanguine mind
interpreted this answer as an acceptance of his proposals; and when
the news came that English ships under Barnett had not only captured
the Company's China fleet but also some richly laden country vessels
in which he was largely interested, he felt very unreasonably that he
had been tricked by the English.
But if the French had thus lost the first hand in the game, they
still had something in reserve. It might be impossible to fit and equip
ships on the harbourless coast of Coromandel; but at Mauritius they
had an excellent harbour, and governor of genius. Dupleix had at
first desired a policy of neutrality because it was well adapted to the
interests of himself and of his settlement. But since neutrality could
not be had, the next best thing was to call on La Bourdonnais to come
to the rescue. There were a number of French Company's ships at
Port Louis; and these, though not swift sailers, were stout vessels
quite capable of taking their place in a line of battle. The deficiency
of men was made good by sending a number of coffrees from Mada.
gascar on board; and with one or two country ships to act as frigates,
La Bourdonnais, after some delay and one or two mishaps, succeeded
in reaching the coast with his improvised squadron. He found the
English ships weakened by their long absence from the dockyard,
with their crews depleted by the climate, and above all with their
original leader dead and succeeded by his senior captain, Peyton, the
most unenterprising of seamen. Moreover, one of his four ships of
the line, the Medway, which had been leaky even before she left
England, had to keep her pumps perpetually going. Against them
La Bourdonnais could place eight ships in the line. But the odds
were not nearly so heavy as that. The English ships were the better
sailers and more heavily armed. The French thus might have been
out-sailed and out-ranged. But Peyton failed to use his advantages.
After an indecisive action on 25 June, 1746, he made off for Ceylon,
partly in the hopes of refitting, partly in the hopes of meeting with
reinforcements and perhaps a senior captain to take the responsibility.
In August he returned to the coast, and again sighted La Bourdon-
nais's squadron. The latter had taken advantage of the interval to
increase his armament from the stores of Pondichery; and this so
alarmed the English commodore that after a hasty visit to Pulicat,
which he made in error for Madras, he left the coast and sailed for
safety to the Hugli, where he lay until the arrival of reinforcements
took the command out of his hands.
His departure delivered Madras into the hands of the French.
A besieging force could only be collected by taking a large number
of men out of the ships; so that had Peyton even resolved to remain
1 Dodwell, Dupleix and Clive, pp. 5 sqq.
2 Orders to Sir Charles Hardy, 19 March, 1743/4 (P. R. O. Adm. 2-61, f. 103).


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CAPTURE OF MADRAS
12)
upon the coast
without coming to action, his presence would have
prevented the French from making any considerable attempt. But
his absence freed them from all apprehensions. La Bourdonnais
appeared with his ships and a part of the Pondichery garrison before
Madras on 4/15 September; it surrendered to him, after two English-
men and four others had been killed by the fire of the besiegers, on
the 10/21. Thus the military conduct of the English on this occasion
was about on a level with their conduct at sea. But it should be
added that the defences of Madras were built rather to protect the
place from incursions of horse than to resist a siege in form; and the
garrison was weak, untrained, and commanded by officers who did
not know their business. 2
This resounding success led immediately to disputes between the
two French governors, Dupleix and La Bourdonnais, about the dis-
posal of the place. It had surrendered under an informal promise of
ransom; and in the discussions about the sum that should be paid,
mention had certainly been made of a present to La Bourdonnais;
but if that scheme were carried out, Dupleix and his friends at Pon-
dichery would reap no advantages from the assistance they had
given to the expedition. They therefore put forward a proposal that
the place should be kept. Although the matter has often been argued
as though national interests had been at stake, the question was really,
Who was to make money out of Madras? 3 La Bourdonnais insisted
on carrying out his original plan, and concluded a ransom treaty with
the Madras council. Dupleix, after trying to seize the captured city
by force, appeared to give way. But their discussions had prolonged
the stay of the French vessels at Madras. On 2/13 October, a hurri-
cane broke on the coast; crippling La Bourdonnais's squadron, and
obliging him to leave behind him a considerable number of men
who thus passed under the command of Dupleix. On his departure
Dupleix denounced the treaty which had been made; and the garrison
and company's servants of Pondichery secured the opportunity for
which they had hoped of plundering Madras from top to bottom. *
Meanwhile, on his arrival in France, La Bourdonnais was imprisoned
on the charges which Dupleix had sent home against him; and seems
at last to have secured his release by the influence of the Pompadour. "
The nawab Anwar-ud-din had not regarded these events with
unconcern. Indeed, his interference had been asked by each of the
two nations in turn. At first it was Dupleix who wanted him to
prevent the English from seizing French ships at sea; and in order if
possible to scare their men-of-war into inaction, he procured permis-
sion for a country ship in which he was interested to sail under the
1 Love, Vestiges of Old Madras, II, 425.
2 Barnett to Anson, 16 September, 1745 (Brit. Mus. Add. MSS, 15955, f. 113).
8 Dodwell, op. cit. pp. 15 sqq.
4 Idem, pp. 18-19.
B Correspondance de Mme de Pompadour, p. 5.


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122
THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION
nawab's flag. Barnett, of course, treated such devices as they deserved.
The nawab addressed letters of complaint to the Madras council, who
explained that they had no power to control the conduct of the com-
mander of the king's ships. After a while the matter was dropped;
and as Dupleix had no more ships to send to sea, it could not recur.
Then, when the French had secured control of the sea, and were
preparing to attack Madras, it was the turn of the English to invoke
the help of Arcot. It has been said that their application failed, be-
cause they neglected to send a proportionable present with their
request; but I have elsewhere shown that that account is not war-
ranted by the facts. The nawab sent a warning to Dupleix which he
ignored. When La Bourdonnais was still before Madras, the nawab
demanded that the French troops should be recalled; and Dupleix
coolly replied that he was only conquering the place in order to put
it into the nawab's hands. When La Bourdonnais had just entered
Fort St George, the nawab again demanded his withdrawal, and
finally sent troops to compel obedience to his commands. It was as
vigorous and prompt action as could have been expected by the most
sanguine; and had Madras made a good defence, the French would
still have been lying before the walls when the nawab's troops arrived.
As it was they found the French flag flying, and all they could do was
to attempt to starve the French into evacuation. But as soon as the
latter found themselves inconvenienced by the blockade, a sally was
made under La Tour, who scattered his assailants and made them
retire to St Thomé. Similar success was obtained by Paradis, who was
marching up with reinforcements. The nawab's troops, still in St
Thomé, tried to bar his way on the little Adyar river; but were hustled
out of the way as unceremoniously by Paradis as they had been by La
Tour. By this time musketry and field artillery had developed so far
that cavalry could make no impression on troops that kept their ranks
and reserved their fire. The terror of Asiatic armies had disappeared.
The capture of Madras marked the limit of French achievements
in the course of this war. For eighteen months after the fall of Madras
Dupleix tried in vain to capture Fort St David, only a few miles south
of Pondichery, and certainly no more capable of defence than Madras
had been. But he tried in vain. On one occasion even the French
troops broke and fled on the apprehension that the nawab's horse,
sent to assist the English, were moving to threaten their retreat.
Dupleix came to terms with the nawab; he gave him considerable
presents, and even agreed to allow the nawab's flag to fly for a week
over Madras in token of his submission. But even then when the
nawab's sons had retired from the neighbourhood of Fort St David,
Dupleix still could not take the place. The fact was, that with the
departure of La Bourdonnais the command of the sea had returned
.
1 Dodwell, ap. cit. p. 13.
2 Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai, m, 394.


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SIEGE OF PONDICHERY
123
to the English; a new commander, Griffin, had arrived; and as soon
as Dupleix approached the English settlement, his topmasts were sure
to appear above the horizon, and the French would hurriedly retreat
lest he should make an attempt on Pondichery in their absence.
But for such fruitless episodes the year 1747, and the first half of
1748, passed away without incident. In June, however, affairs began
to move. First there appeared a French squadron, under Bouvet,
which lured Griffin from before. Fort St David, where he was lying,
only to disappear altogether from the coast after landing treasure for
the French at Madras, while the English ships lay before Pondichery
to prevent the enemy from landing there. Then early in August came
in gradually the large expedition which had been fitted out in England
in order to avenge the capture of Madras. It was commanded by
Rear-admiral Boscawen, and consisted of not only six ships of the
line and as many smaller vessels, but also of land forces some 1000
strong. Together with the vessels already in the East Indies this was
ample on the naval side; but the land forces were of inferior metal.
They had been hastily got together for the occasion; the companies
into which they were divided had been raised in part by drafts from
regiments in Ireland, in part by officers specially commissioned on
condition of raising a certain number of men in Scotland. These had
found it very difficult to comply with their promises; and in the long-
run their companies had to be completed by deserters, criminals, or
rebels pardoned on condition of enlistment, so that, although by
landing his marines and parties of his sailors, Boscawen could assem-
ble a large force of men, they were not trained military material. ”
It was decided to begin operations by besieging Pondichery; and
had the siege been skilfully conducted, it should have succeeded. But
it was managed with a singular want of skill. Unluckily the only
officers of experience were disabled or taken prisoner before the siege
itself was formed; and the survey made by the engineers was con-
ducted from so safe a distance that th . y could not judge the strength
of the works or the nature of the ground. So it came to pass that the
besiegers formed their camp on ground westward of the city, whither
all the stores had to be carried with great labour, instead of beginning
their approaches on the shore where they would have been covered
by the guns of their own squadron. Then also they began their
trenches at so great a distance from the town that they were unable
to batter the walls, and on ground separated from it by a swamp, so
that their works could not be advanced near enough to begin to batter
in breach. The attack on Pondichery was scarcely managed with
more skill than the defence of Madras. The French on the other
hand defended themselves with vigour. Their sorties harassed the
besiegers. Their fire remained stronger everywhere than that brought
1 Fox to Pitt, 6 June, 1747 (P. R. O. , W. O. 4-43); same to Capt. Forbes, 7
July, 1747 (idem); same to Calcraft, 21 September, 1747 (idem).


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124
THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION
to bear on them. Finding the land siege progress so slowly, Boscawen
resolved to try the effect of bombarding the place with his squadron
But his fire was ineffective; the weather was evidently breaking up
for the monsoon; many of his men were in hospital; and at last, at the
beginning of October, he decided to raise the siege and return to Fort
St David, where his men could be placed under cover. It was a con-
spicuous success for Dupleix, and a conspicuous failure for the English.
While Boscawen was lying at Fort St David waiting for the
weather to allow his recommencing operations, news arrived that the
preliminaries of peace had been signed in Europe. This naturally
brought all operations to an end; all prisoners were released on their
parole; and when at last copies of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
arrived with the necessary papers and instructions, Madras was
solemnly handed back to the English, and Boscawen sailed back to
Europe. But in spite of this trivial ending affairs were in a very
different state from that in which they had been at the beginning of
the war. The English, for instance, held Madras under the terms of
a treaty, and never again paid for it the stipulated quit-rent of 1200
pagodas a year, of which they speedily procured a discharge from the
claimant to the Carnatic whose cause they espoused. The French
had secured a high and deserved reputation for their military con-
duct. They had defied Anwar-ud-din, and he had been unable to
coerce them into doing as he demanded. So that while the events
which had just preceded the war showed how uncertain and unsettled
the Indian government of South India had become, the events of the
war itself showed that the Europeans were quite equal to taking a
decisive part in Indian affairs, and that they had little to fear from
any armies that Indian princes were likely at that time to bring
against them. The power which was preponderant at sea might thus
become preponderant on land. And the fertile and ingenious mind of
Dupleix had for the first time been set to the serious consideration of
the Indian political problem. Moreover, the storm which had obliged
La Bourdonnais to leave behind him a considerable body of his men
had in that manner augmented the forces at the disposal of Dupleix.
So that the war did indeed set the stage for the great projects which
he began to develop in the very year in which he gave back Madras
to the English.


## p. 125 (#153) ############################################

CHAPTER VI
DUPLEIX AND BUSSY
AL
LTHOUGH by the terms of the peace Madras had been handed
back to the English, it did not become once more the seat of their
government until 6/17 April, 1752. Till then their affairs continued
to be directed from Fort St David, close to Pondichery. One would
have thought that so exhausting a war would have imposed on both
the neighbours an equal need of living well together; the necessity of
reviving trade must have been felt as much by the English governor
Floyer as by the French governor Dupleix, and Floyer was not the
man to seek quarrels for their own sake. But good will is not always
enough to avoid or prevent conflict. Blind forces, which we sometimes
call chance and sometimes destiny, may suddenly produce new causes
of rivalry that seem innocent until the future has proved their venom.