Monday, August 8, 2011

East India Company-DRUGS AND OPIUM TRADE IN BRITISH CONTROLLED CHINA

Britain has removed photos etc from this blog  to hide their drug traffic from the world



East India Company-DRUGS AND OPIUM TRADE IN BRITISH CONTROLLED CHINA

 2 treaty nanking HONG KONG HISTORY FOR DUMMIES | PART 2

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Colonial India
British Indian Empire
Colonial India
Portuguese India1510–1961
Dutch India1605–1825
Danish India1620–1869
French India1759–1954
British India 1613–1947
East India Company1612–1757
Company rule in India1757–1857
British Raj1858–1947
British rule in Burma1824–1867
Princely states1765–1947
Partition of India

































1947

Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601

Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, a group of London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean. The permission was granted and in 1591 three ships sailed from England around the Cape of Good Hope to the Arabian Sea. One of them, the Edward Bonaventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin and on to the Malay Peninsula and subsequently returned to England in 1594.

on 24 September 1598, another group of merchants, having raised £30,133 in capital, met in London to form a corporation. Although their first attempt was not completely successful, they nonetheless sought the Queen's unofficial approval, purchased ships for their venture, increased their capital to £68,373, and convened again a year later. This time they succeeded, and on 31 December 1600, the Queen granted a Royal Charter to "George, Earl of Cumberland, and 215 Knights, Aldermen, andBurgesses" under the name, Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading with the East Indies.

For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601
Initially, the Company struggled in the spice trade due to the competition from the already well established Dutch East India Company.

epper wharf of the Dutch East India Company, Amsterdam              

The pepper wharf of the Dutch East India Company, Amsterdam


 The Company opened a factory (trading post) in Bantam 

File:Banten-city-Java-1724.jpg
on the first voyage and imports of pepper from Java were an important part of the Company's trade for twenty years. The factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time ships belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat


which was established as a trade transit point in 1608. In the next two years, the Company built its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam

File:Masulipatam mg 8557.jpg


 on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The high profits reported by the Company after landing in India initially prompted King James I

James VI and I
Portrait by Daniel Mytens, 1621

 to grant subsidiary licenses to other trading companies in England. But in 1609 he renewed the charter given to the Company for an indefinite period, including a clause which specified that the charter would cease to be in force if the trade turned unprofitable for three consecutive years.

English grandee of the East India Company riding in an Indian procession, 1825-1830.


Foothold in India

Battle

Coincidentally, on 13 September 1612 a squadron of 16 Portuguese barks sailed into Surat. On 22 September 1612 Captain Best decided to send an emissary to the Emperor asking for permission to trade and settle a factory at Surat. If refused he planned to quit the country. This may have been partly because King James I had extended the Company's charter in 1609 on the basis that it would be cancelled if no profitable ventures were concluded within three years.
On 30 September 1612 Captain Best got news that two of his men, Mr Canning (the purser) and William Chambers were arrested while on shore. Fearing the worst, Captain Best detained a ship belonging to the Governor of Gujarat 

and offered to release it in exchange for his men.
On 10 October Captain Best and his ships sailed to Suvali, a small town about 12 miles North of Surat. This may have been because theGovernor (Sardar Khan?) was battling a Rajput
File:Rajpoots 2.png

 rebellion at a fort situated in the town. Between 17–21 October, amidst negotiations he managed to obtain a treaty with the Governor allowing trading privileges, subject to ratification by the Emperor.
On 27 November, Captain Best was advised by his men on shore that a squadron of four Portuguese ships was sailing up to attack him.
The Portuguese ships (four great galleons and some twenty-six oared barks) arrived on the 28th, and anchored outside the roadstead placing the English vessels between themselves and the town.
A skirmish took place between the two navies on the 29th without much damage to either side.
At daylight on the 30 November, Captain Best in Red Dragon sailed through the four larger Portuguese ships running three of them aground, and was joined by Hosiander on the other side. The Portuguese managed to get the three galleons refloated.
At 9pm that night in an attempt to set the English ships alight, a bark was sent towards them as a fire ship.
Dutch fire ship attack on the English flagship Royal Jamesat the Battle of Solebay (1672). Painting by Willem van de Velde the Younger

 But the English watch was alert, and the bark was sunk by cannon fire with the loss of eight lives.
A standoff remained until the 5 December, when Captain Best sailed for the port of Diu

File:Diu Braun Hogenberg.jpg
DIU
.


Tenth voyage continues

On 6 January 1613, Captain Best received a letter from the Emperor ratifying the treaty, which was presented by the Governor. Captain Best then ordered one of his men, Anthony Starkey, on 16 January to leave for England, via land, carrying letters of their success. Mr Starkey was later poisoned by two Jesuit friars.
Captain Best then co                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ntinued on to Ceylon on 18 January   ds to Sumatra, before returning to England around April 1614 without returning to India.


Impact on Mughals

This event sufficiently impressed the Sardar (Governor) of Gujarat, who reported it to the Emperor. Thereafter the Emperor was more favourable towards the English than the Portuguese. Another factor that may have influenced him was that the Portuguese were very anti-Islam, and often harassed Mecca-bound pilgrim ships along the West coast of India.


Ships involved


English East India Company

(Most references to this battle mention only the first 2 ships. James and Solomon were also part of the eighth voyage)
  • Red Dragon (1595)






























Reddragonship.jpg
The Red Dragon, Captain Lancaster, in the Strait of Malacca, Anno 1602.
Career (England)English Ensign East India Company Ensign
Name:Scourge of Malice (1595–1600)
Red Dragon (1601–unknown)
Owner:Earl of Cumberland (1595–1600)
Operator:East India Company (1601–1619)
Builder:Deptford Dockyard
Launched:1595
  • Hosiander
  • James
  • Solomon


Portugal

4 galleons
26 oared barks



Shaista Khan was the Mughal Viceroyassigned with the overwhelming task of defeating the Maratha rebels.
 In 1689 Mughal fleet commanded by Sidi Yakub took Bombay. After a year of resistance, the English surrendered, and in 1690 the company sent envoys to Aurangzeb's camp to plead for a pardon. The company's envoys had to prostrate themselves before the emperor, pay a large indemnity, and promise better behavior in the future. The emperor withdrew his troops and the company subsequently reestablished itself in Bombay and set up a new base in Calcutta


In 1711, the Company established a trading post in Canton (Guangzhou), China,






















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