A History of the British Army, Vol. 2: First Part—to the Close of the Seven Years' WarFortescue, J. W. (John William), Sir
History
A History of the British Army, Vol. 2: First Part—to the Close of the Seven Years' War
Fortescue, J. W. (John William), Sir
Great Britain -- History, Military; Great Britain. Army -- History
The two first voyages of the new Company followed the track of
the Dutch to Sumatra and Java, but in the third the ships were
driven by stormy weather into Sierra Leone, whence one of them
under Captain Hawkins sailed direct to Surat, and found there good
promise of opening trade. In 1609 Hawkins visited Agra in person
and obtained privileges from the reigning Mogul, eldest son of the
great Akbar; but his influence was soon undermined by Portuguese
Jesuits, and he was fain to return with little profit. Two years
later, however, an English vessel touched at Point de Galle, sailed
up the Coromandel, or eastern, coast of India as far as Masulipatam
and founded the nucleus of a factory at Petapolee, the germ from
which was to spring the trade of England in the Bay of Bengal. The
jealousy of Dutch and Portuguese had by this time risen so high
that the Company was obliged to employ force against them. In
1612 Captain Best boldly attacked a superior Portuguese fleet in
the Bay of Surat, and defeated it so thoroughly that the reigning
Mogul disallowed the Portuguese claim to a monopoly of the trade,
agreed to a treaty granting important privileges to the English,
and consented to receive an ambassador from them at his Court.
One formidable rival was thus crippled, but the Dutch were not
so easily to be dealt with, more particularly since the troubles
which followed on the accession of Charles the First in England
left them little to fear from an armed force. The affairs of the
Company began to languish, but fresh outlets for trade were none
the less sought for. One factory was definitely established at
Masulipatam, a second on the coast further northward, and finally,
in 1640, a third was settled at Madras under the name of Fort St.
George. This was the one gleam of sunshine at that period amid all
the troubles of England at home and abroad. Then at last the cloud
of the Civil War passed away; the power of England began to revive,
and the Company addressed a petition to Parliament for redress of
injuries received from the Dutch. Thereupon followed the Dutch war
and the seven furious actions of Blake and Monk, which dealt Dutch
maritime ascendency a blow from which it never recovered. A piece
of unexpected good fortune, namely the recovery of Shah Jehan's
daughter from dangerous sickness under the care of an English
surgeon at Surat, procured for the Company free trade with Bengal.
At the close of the Protectorate the Company had organised its
markets into three divisions. A supreme presidency was established
at Surat with special charge of the Persian trade, a subordinate
presidency at Madras with control of the factories on the eastern
coast and in Bengal, and a third presidency at Bantam for direction
of the traffic with the Eastern Islands.
[Sidenote: 1660.]
[Sidenote: 1661.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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