The English East India Company and the French (1600 to 1744)
The English East India Company began as a small trading body in 1600 and grew by royal charters, Mughal farmans and a few fortified towns into the ruling power of India.
The English Company: key stages
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1600 (31 December) | Queen Elizabeth I gave a charter to the Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies, a 15-year monopoly. |
| 1608 | Captain William Hawkins arrived at Jahangir's court. He stayed till 1611 but did not win a lasting trade permission. |
| 1611 | First English factory in the south at Masulipatam. |
| 1613 | Surat factory set up with Mughal permission. |
| 1615 to 1619 | Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador of James I, got Jahangir's permission to trade and set up factories. |
| 1639 | Fort St George (Madras) built by Francis Day on land from a local ruler. |
| 1661 | Bombay passed to the English Crown, and in 1668 was leased to the Company. |
| 1690 | Job Charnock founded Calcutta (Sutanuti, Kalikata and Govindpur). Fort William was built there (about 1696 to 1700). |
| 1717 | Farrukhsiyar's farman: duty-free trade in Bengal for a yearly payment of Rs 3,000. It is called the "Magna Carta" of the Company's trade. |
- The Company clashed with Aurangzeb in the Anglo-Mughal War (1686 to 1690) under Sir Josiah Child, lost, and was allowed back only after paying a fine.
- The Company had three Presidencies: Madras, Bombay and Calcutta.
The French
- Compagnie des Indes Orientales was founded in 1664 under Colbert, minister of Louis XIV.
- The first French factory was at Surat (1668), then Masulipatam (1669). Pondicherry was founded in 1674 by Francois Martin. Chandernagore (in Bengal) was set up about 1690 to 1692.
- The French also held Mahe, Yanam and Karaikal.
- The French in India reached their peak under Dupleix (Governor 1742 to 1754) and Dumas (1735 to 1741).
Keep practising
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Prepared for exam revision from standard sources such as NCERT, Bipan Chandra, Spectrum and official records. Historians differ on some dates, figures and interpretations, so check your exam syllabus and a standard textbook. Found a mistake? Tell us.