The East India Company: The World's Most Powerful Corporation (The Story of Indian Business) by Tirthankar Roy
Authors: Tirthankar Roy
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in Bengal in open defiance of the Company’s authority. One Captain Ally travelled between Dhaka and Hooghly in a decorated and well-armed fleet, himself ‘habited in scarlet richly laced’, and developed ‘great friendship’ with Balchandra Das, much to the mortification of the Company.
Matters came to a head in 1682. In that year, the Company sent William Hedges as the governor in Bengal. Hedges’ main commissions were to suppress private trade and to negotiate trade terms with Shaista Khan. The trade licenses that the Company received stated a percentage of customs to be collected on goods in transit both for import and for export. The standard rate was 3½ per cent of the value of the goods. But the European companies never willingly paid customs, nor made any commitments on this account. There were two reasons for the reluctance. First, the taxation rate was subject to uncertainty depending on wars, rebellions, or, simply, opportunism. Second, whereas on an investment of the Company in Bengal amounting to £600,000, the customs would come to £42,000, for ‘halfof which charge’, the instructions from London told Hedges, it should be possible to arrive at a settlement with the king.
In short, the instructions asked the chief to bribe the nobility to keep the private traders out. But bribing was a game that the Company’s rivals were willing to play to the hilt. Shaista Khan, then almost eighty years old and soon to retire from a glorious career, was not only well aware of the dilemma that the Company faced, but also took a mischievous delight in promising the Company concessions while secretly negotiating with its rivals. In the end, from ‘the old doting Nawab’, as Hedges angrily called him, the Company got nothing more than empty promises.
Not surprisingly, Hedges did not last long in his post. Though declared by the directors ‘one of our own’, his ego outstripped his understanding of Bengal politics. The most experienced Company officer in Bengal at the time was Job Charnock (1630–93). Charnock had served the Company in India for thirty years. He started his career in Hajipur and Patna, where he procured saltpetre, needed in England as raw material for gunpowder. In Patna, Charnock married an Indian widow said to have been rescued from burning herself on her husband’s funeral pyre and had three children by her. While in Patna, he began to dress in Indian costumes,a habit that lasted lifelong, and learnt to speak fluent Persian and Hindustani. In 1669, he moved to the Bengal establishment in Hooghly where he was the fifth in the hierarchy of factors. In 1685, he became the second in command in Bengal.
Charnock had independent views and was effectively in charge of the Hooghly establishment by virtue of his personality and experience. He also had close links with the English private merchants of Kasimbazar. Therefore, he did not care for Hedges’s leadership in the ongoing disputes over private trade and the Nawab. The directors dealt with the situation by removing Hedges, but blundered nevertheless. Believing that an agreement with the Mughal emperor held good in Bengal, they refused to negotiate with Shaista Khan, precipitating an open conflict. Although it was the last thing Charnock wanted, an armed conflict was forced on his small and inexperienced army by the belligerence of the London merchants.
In 1686, the Company in London, anticipating an outbreak of war in Bengal, sent a fleet to Hooghly. Additional troops were expected to come from Madras. The few hundred men who did join the Bengal troops were hardly a deterrent to the 40,000-strong Mughal forces. While the fleet was on its way, a series of skirmishes made Charnock worry for the safety of thepeople and the merchandise in Hooghly. He loaded the material and as many people as possible on country boats and sailed down the river. The party reached Sutanuti, where the Mughal forces caught up with them. Mughal heavy artillery, combined
Matters came to a head in 1682. In that year, the Company sent William Hedges as the governor in Bengal. Hedges’ main commissions were to suppress private trade and to negotiate trade terms with Shaista Khan. The trade licenses that the Company received stated a percentage of customs to be collected on goods in transit both for import and for export. The standard rate was 3½ per cent of the value of the goods. But the European companies never willingly paid customs, nor made any commitments on this account. There were two reasons for the reluctance. First, the taxation rate was subject to uncertainty depending on wars, rebellions, or, simply, opportunism. Second, whereas on an investment of the Company in Bengal amounting to £600,000, the customs would come to £42,000, for ‘halfof which charge’, the instructions from London told Hedges, it should be possible to arrive at a settlement with the king.
In short, the instructions asked the chief to bribe the nobility to keep the private traders out. But bribing was a game that the Company’s rivals were willing to play to the hilt. Shaista Khan, then almost eighty years old and soon to retire from a glorious career, was not only well aware of the dilemma that the Company faced, but also took a mischievous delight in promising the Company concessions while secretly negotiating with its rivals. In the end, from ‘the old doting Nawab’, as Hedges angrily called him, the Company got nothing more than empty promises.
Not surprisingly, Hedges did not last long in his post. Though declared by the directors ‘one of our own’, his ego outstripped his understanding of Bengal politics. The most experienced Company officer in Bengal at the time was Job Charnock (1630–93). Charnock had served the Company in India for thirty years. He started his career in Hajipur and Patna, where he procured saltpetre, needed in England as raw material for gunpowder. In Patna, Charnock married an Indian widow said to have been rescued from burning herself on her husband’s funeral pyre and had three children by her. While in Patna, he began to dress in Indian costumes,a habit that lasted lifelong, and learnt to speak fluent Persian and Hindustani. In 1669, he moved to the Bengal establishment in Hooghly where he was the fifth in the hierarchy of factors. In 1685, he became the second in command in Bengal.
Charnock had independent views and was effectively in charge of the Hooghly establishment by virtue of his personality and experience. He also had close links with the English private merchants of Kasimbazar. Therefore, he did not care for Hedges’s leadership in the ongoing disputes over private trade and the Nawab. The directors dealt with the situation by removing Hedges, but blundered nevertheless. Believing that an agreement with the Mughal emperor held good in Bengal, they refused to negotiate with Shaista Khan, precipitating an open conflict. Although it was the last thing Charnock wanted, an armed conflict was forced on his small and inexperienced army by the belligerence of the London merchants.
In 1686, the Company in London, anticipating an outbreak of war in Bengal, sent a fleet to Hooghly. Additional troops were expected to come from Madras. The few hundred men who did join the Bengal troops were hardly a deterrent to the 40,000-strong Mughal forces. While the fleet was on its way, a series of skirmishes made Charnock worry for the safety of thepeople and the merchandise in Hooghly. He loaded the material and as many people as possible on country boats and sailed down the river. The party reached Sutanuti, where the Mughal forces caught up with them. Mughal heavy artillery, combined
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