Into the Eighteenth CenturyAn Increasingly Militaristic EIC

1660 Restoration of Charles II

• 1662 Marries Catherine of Breganza, Portugal

• Dowry

– Bombay

– Tangier

• Tea

A Bulk Import−Saltpeter

Tea

• 1657 Introduced at Thomas Garraway’s coffee house

• Used as medicinal

• 1669 British East India company receives its first order: two canisters of tea weighing 143 lbs 8 oz from Bantam (Banten, Java)

Tea as a Court Drink

• 1662 Catherine of Braganza brings a preference to England

• Use no longer medicinal

• Popular with literary figures

• Popular with women

• Where does tea come from?

Beginning of Textile Imports

• Initially little interest and minor imports

• Becomes significant in 1660s

Indian Textile Technology

• Use of alkaline mordant to create bright colorfast chintz

• Dyes

– Madder (red)

– Indigo (blue)

Chintz bed cover, 1625-1685

Floral chintz fragmentmid 17th C.

English Calico 1690 India Chintz 1720

Asian Trade

Protest

Pamphlet War

Calico Acts

1701

• Ban “all calicos painted, dyed, printed or stained”

• Import undyed cloth to be dyed in England

Calico Acts

1721

• Banned not only the importation, but also the use and sale of most cotton items

Popular enforcement

• Dorothy Orwell

• Women wearing calicoes had acid thrown at their clothing

Interlopers

• East India Company officials suspect for their support of the Stuarts

• Others try to break into the trade with Asia

Issues

• Stability of market

• Prerogatives of king and Parliament to regulate trade

Competition

1689 Case limited ability of EIC to enforce its monopoly by seizing competing ships

EIC to maintain monopoly by gifts

1694 Act deregulates trade (vote, 91-90)

1698 Create English Company Trading to the East Indies with government backing

– EIC stockholders invest £315,000

– William given £200,000 to offset customs

– Old Company given 3 years to dissolve

EIC Lives On

• 1702 Given right to incorporate

• 1708 Companies merge as United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies

Private Trade

• EIC personnel partner in country trade

• EIC personnel invest in precious stones for the European market

• Diamonds – A look at two diamond traders

Diamond Mining AreasCoromandel Coast, Golconda, Carnatic

Thomas “Diamond” Pitt (1653-1726)

2nd son of rector

1674 Interloper in India

1683 Arrested and later fined

1694 Taken on by EICPresident of Madras

1709 Removed from office

Grandfather of William Pitt

Pitt/Regent Diamond

• Rumored to have been stolen from a slave by an English sea captain and sold to an Indian merchant

• 1701 Bought by Thomas Pitt, Governor of Madras, for £20,400

• 410 carat rough cut in London to create a 141 stone for ~£5,000

• Pitt estate £300,000 ($49,000,000 $2017)

Alexander Pope vesion

Asleep and naked as an INDIAN lay

An honest factor stole a gem away;

He pledged it to the Knight, the Knight had wit,

So kept the diamond, and the rogue was bit.

Regent Diamond

1717 sold to Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. Regent for Louis XV for £135,000

1722 Set in crown of Louis XV

1775 Set in crown of Louis XVI; reused in a hat of Marie Antoinette

1791 Appraised at £480,000; security for the Directoire

1801 Redeemed by Napoleon

Regent Diamond

• Restored to monarchy

• Used in crowns of Louis XVIII, Charles X and Napoleon III.

• Mounted in a Greek diadem designed for Empress Eugenie

• 1887 In Louvre

Napoleon in Coronation Robes, Francois Gerard

Charles X, François Gérard.

Napoleon III receiving the Siamese embassy at the palace of Fontainebleau in 1864. Jean-Léon Gérôme

Regent Diamond, Louvre

A Well Known Governor

• Started with the EIC at Madras ~1671

• Governor 1684-5; 1687-92

• Directors often engaged in diamond trading on behalf of London merchants, particularly Jewish merchants who were barred from Madras

Fired for Illegal Profiteering

• Married in Madras but childless

• Trading scrutinized; dismissed

• Returned to London and went into diamond business

• Supporter of Anglican Church

Philanthropist

• Had enlarged hospital in Madras

• 1713 Gave 32 books to the Collegiate School at Saybrook

• 1718 Asked to make a substantial gift

• Gave more books, a portrait of George I and Indian textiles worth £800

New building and naming rights

Greatest extent of Mughal Empire

Hyderabad governor breaks with Mughals

Maratha Confederacy (Empire)

• Grandson of rebel Shivaji, revives Maratha push for independence

• Power granted to hereditary family of chief ministers who become the real leaders after 1749

Marathas in 1750

A Weak Mughal Empire

• 1735 Marathas control Malwa and Gujirat

• 1737 Marathas defeat Mughal army at Battle of Delhi

– Sack Delhi

1739 Persian invasion

• Nader Shah defeats larger Mughal armies in battles at Khyber Pass and Karnal

• Mughal emperor, Muhammad Shah is captured

• His troops plunder and sack Delhi

Sack of Delhi

• Muhammad Shah sues for peace

– Territory is returned

– Peacock throne, symbol of empire, is taken

Replacement for Peacock Throne ~1850

War of the Austrian Succession

1740 Begun in Europe and involved multiple powers

1742 Britain joins, largely in defense of Hanover

English and French East India Companies discuss non-agression

First Carnatic War

• François Dupleix French governor-general at Pondicherry, attempts to expand influence by exploiting succession conflicts in neighboring Indian states

• 1745 Royal Navy squadron captured some French merchant ships; fight inconclusive battle with French EIC fleet

Carnatic Wars

• Indian conflict between Arcot and Hyderabad (Nizam)

• British forts at Madras and Cuddalore

First Carnatic War: 1745 French capture Madras

Madras

• Dupleix wants to turn Madras over to Nawabof Carnatic while his naval commander wants to give it to EIC for ransom

• Nawab attacks and is defeated by the French

Battle of Cuddalore

1746 Force under Nawab of Carnatic repuls French attack on Fort St. David, Madras

1748 French attack Cuddalore is defeated by Major Stringer Lawrence

1748 Royal Navy fleet carrying army troops fails in siege of Pondicherry

Stringer Lawrence, Gainsborough

Stringer Lawrence

Becomes first commander of combined army of East India Company

“Father of the Indian Army”

East India Company Employees

1676 Masulipatnam

– 18 employees.

– one returned to England after being dismissed

– 32 English free merchants

– 14 died in India,

– 16 unknown fate

– 2 returned to England

Madras Employees

1677

• 29 persons

• 18 died in India,

• 9 returned to England (including three former governors, one was dismissed and one went mad)