calcutta as a trading centre a

8/2/2019 Calcutta as a Trading Centre A

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HoIB

Calcutta as a trading centre


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Portuguese in Calcutta

Portuguese were in Calcutta, 1570s They had a big presence in Goa during

the time

Traded in rice, cloth, sugar, pepper Were in and out of favour with the local

nawabs

The Muslim rulers defeated Portuguesechief; Gonzales-Rodrigues remained as

Governor to run a trading post 45 kms

upstream of Kalikata


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The British Charter to trade in

Indies Dec 31, 1600- A group of 8 business men

led by George Earl of Cumberland and

215 nobles given a charter by Queen

Elizabeth to trade in the East

15 years monopoly of trading

British East India Company born

Sir James Lancaster commanded the first

East India Company voyage 1601


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Foothold in India

The British captured control of the Suratport from the Portuguese in the Battle of

Swally, 1612

Surat Factory (=warehouse) established,Surat, 1612

Stiff competition with the Dutch for spice

trade Thomas Roe, ambassador of King James

I

Obtains concessions to trade, from


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Foothold in Bengal

Boughton, surgeon of English ship

Hopewell, offers medical help, and a

grateful Shah Jehan grants request for

trading in Bengal- free of any duties, 1636

Big exports of cloth, indigo, opium,

saltpetre (for gunpowder) from Calcutta to

England and China


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Calcutta

Aurangazeb not in favour of the British

problems for the English begin

Job Charnok, Governor of Bay of Bengal,

1686, is forced to retreat, by the Mughal

forces

Aurangazeb, however, wary of English

might; the English help required for

pilgrims to Mecca

A peace treaty- Charnok settles in

Sutanuti, Govindpur, KaliKata- modern

Kolkata


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European settlements in

Calcutta Dutch settled in Chinsura, 1650s

The French settled in Chandernagore,

1670s

The Danes in Serampore, 1720s

Armenians merchants settled, possibly

1550s, at the invitation of Akbar


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Calcutta - Presidency Town of the East India Company in 1699, Bengal Presidency - 1765 Treaty between the East India Company and the

Mughal Emperor and Nawab of Oudh which placed Bengal, Meghalaya,Bihar and Orissa under the administration of the Company.

In 1831 the North-Western Provinces were created, which weresubsequently included with Oudh in the United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh);

Before the First World War the whole of Northern India was divided into thefour lieutenant-governorships Punjab, United Provinces, Bengal, and Eastern Bengal and Assam,

North-West Frontier Province under a Commissioner. In 1905, Partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon Divide & Rule

Bengal reunited in 1912 Further subdivided into Orissa and Bihar Lost its administrative strength


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The Bengal Presidency

The three settlements come to be known

as Kalikata or Calcutta, 1690

Bengal Presidency, 1700

Council to govern settlements

Fort William and English Factory

Military strength grows Members could trade privately


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Militant Fiscalism With the weakening Mughal Empire, the

British EICo get bolder

After Aurangazeb (1707), the French and

English exert for supremacy

French EI Cos Joseph Francois Dupleix

plays the rulers of Arcot and Hyderabad

against each other, gains the upper hand

in Madras Robert Clive, English East India Co beats

back Dupleix to Pondicherry and controls

Madras Presidency


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The decline of the Mughal

Empire After Aurangazeb, a succession of

nominal sovereigns, sunk in indolence and

debauchery

The Marathas emerge powerful

British EI Co build the Maratha ditch for

protection, 1742

Armed fortification of factories


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In June 1756, Nawab attacked the English

at Kasimbazarand shortly afterwards on

20 June he had taken the fort at Calcutta.

The losses to the East India Company due

to the fall of Calcutta were estimated by

investors at 2,000,000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cossimbazarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cossimbazar


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Black Hole of Calcutta

Nawab of Bengal attacks the British as

they are building fortifications.

Jails 120 Englishmen in a small cell in Fort

William, in oppressive weather, with no air

Next morning, 45 of the prisoners are found

dead, suffocated by the crowding and lack ofair


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The Conquest of Bengal

Robert Clive, English EICo, retaliates,

1757

Defeats the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-

Daula in the Battle of Plassey

EEICo instals Mir Kasim and later Mir

Jafar as titular Nawabs

EEICo dominates Bengal

Clive becomes Governor General of

Bengal, takes charge of land tax

collections for vast areas


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Financial Bleeding of Bengal

The British East India Co. moved from

trade to political power and extortion

The agents were now engaged in

extreme plunder

Huge retribution collected from the

Nawabs

The Council disbanded by the Crown

Warren Hastings first Governor General of

EIC, with Head Quarters in Calcutta


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Corruption

The council members and the writers

begin to trade privately, amassing big

wealth

Clive: the members have grown callous,

rapacious, luxurious beyond conception..


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Corruption

Lord Cornwalis 1793 - Permanent

Settlement introduce concept of

property rights and stimulate a market in

land handed over ownership toZamindars for a fixed land tax

Extortion of the peasantry- high land

taxes, poor price for produce by Indianpeasants, high prices for good sold by the

British


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calcutta as a trading centre a

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