The East India Company: The World's Most Powerful Corporation (The Story of Indian Business) by Tirthankar Roy Page A
Authors: Tirthankar Roy
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with the effects of disease and starvation, reduced numbers and morale on the English side. When all seemed lost, a Rajput noble Puran Mal (Baramal or Boremal in the sources) intervened to save the Company. The Mughal commander, moreover, was misinformed of the strength of the enemy forces and quickly accepted an offer of a truce. Charnock, in the negotiations that followed, made only one demand—the permission to build a fort in Bengal.
His dream came true three years later. These three years were turbulent for the Company’s Bengal enterprise. A dispute over pirate attack upon pilgrim ships off the coast of Surat drew a severe reprisal from Aurangzeb, almost ending English presence in India in 1689–90. As peace was declared after an abject apology from the English, Aurangzeb sent a letter to the viceroy of Bengal, Ibrahim Khan, that the English, ‘not being in their former greatness’, may be pardoned and allowed to carry on in their small way in Bengal. Charnock’s moment had finally arrived. In 1690, he returned to Sutanuti from exile in Madras to start the process of azamindari sale. At the end of the negotiations, the Company became the zamindar of three villages, Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Dihi-Kalkutta, which right they purchased from the zamindars of the area, the Mazumdars, for Rs 1300.
Throughout this conflict, London wanted Bengal to be subordinated to the safer station at Madras. Charnock did not think that Madras could be relied on for armed relief to Bengal, nor considered Madras as a partner, for the two settlements, after all, competed for the same trade. Like Francis Day, he decided to go alone and build a fort with his own resources. Soon after Calcutta started, London, as usual, endorsed the decision and declared Charnock the governor of Bengal. Charnock enjoyed this dubious glory for three more years before he died. But years of stress had already taken a toll on his mind. He turned moody and disagreeable, withdrew from public affairs, let the management of the town go to seed, and lived in fear of being chased by Madras lawyers. He beat his servants and took great pleasure in encouraging intrigues and quarrels amongst his European staff. In this disorderly state of mind, one point of constancy was the memory of his dead Indian wife. He never failed to perform rituals, Indian style, on her grave on her death anniversary.
Historical evidence is unclear on the point of whatexisted on the spot where Calcutta came up. Old Bengali accounts suggest that in the seventeenth century, the two banks of the river (Betor and Sutanuti) had textile markets that operated in certain seasons of the year. These fairgrounds were part sponsored by the Portuguese traders and may have grown as merchant settlements after the decline of Saptagram, the principal port of medieval Bengal. But it is very unlikely that these markets had a commercial future before the Company came in. No matter the prehistory, Calcutta quickly became a popular destination for Bengali merchants, and especially the textile merchants whom the Company and English private traders regularly dealt with. Many of them settled down in the new establishment or near it. The river had more water here than at Hooghly, even though it was also more treacherous in this spot. And Calcutta was easier for movement of troops from the sea if necessary.
With hindsight, it would be easy to credit Charnock with prescience unusual among Company officials in this time. Charnock was no visionary, however. He was only a merchant caught up in a complicated political scenario without enough military power, strategic resources, or the blessings of his superiors necessary to deal with the situation. He was one of many agents who had to fend for themselves. His decisions were taken onthe spur of the moment and turned out to be right only after luck intervened in his favour. He was, however, special in one respect. In a world where working lives were quite short and most
His dream came true three years later. These three years were turbulent for the Company’s Bengal enterprise. A dispute over pirate attack upon pilgrim ships off the coast of Surat drew a severe reprisal from Aurangzeb, almost ending English presence in India in 1689–90. As peace was declared after an abject apology from the English, Aurangzeb sent a letter to the viceroy of Bengal, Ibrahim Khan, that the English, ‘not being in their former greatness’, may be pardoned and allowed to carry on in their small way in Bengal. Charnock’s moment had finally arrived. In 1690, he returned to Sutanuti from exile in Madras to start the process of azamindari sale. At the end of the negotiations, the Company became the zamindar of three villages, Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Dihi-Kalkutta, which right they purchased from the zamindars of the area, the Mazumdars, for Rs 1300.
Throughout this conflict, London wanted Bengal to be subordinated to the safer station at Madras. Charnock did not think that Madras could be relied on for armed relief to Bengal, nor considered Madras as a partner, for the two settlements, after all, competed for the same trade. Like Francis Day, he decided to go alone and build a fort with his own resources. Soon after Calcutta started, London, as usual, endorsed the decision and declared Charnock the governor of Bengal. Charnock enjoyed this dubious glory for three more years before he died. But years of stress had already taken a toll on his mind. He turned moody and disagreeable, withdrew from public affairs, let the management of the town go to seed, and lived in fear of being chased by Madras lawyers. He beat his servants and took great pleasure in encouraging intrigues and quarrels amongst his European staff. In this disorderly state of mind, one point of constancy was the memory of his dead Indian wife. He never failed to perform rituals, Indian style, on her grave on her death anniversary.
Historical evidence is unclear on the point of whatexisted on the spot where Calcutta came up. Old Bengali accounts suggest that in the seventeenth century, the two banks of the river (Betor and Sutanuti) had textile markets that operated in certain seasons of the year. These fairgrounds were part sponsored by the Portuguese traders and may have grown as merchant settlements after the decline of Saptagram, the principal port of medieval Bengal. But it is very unlikely that these markets had a commercial future before the Company came in. No matter the prehistory, Calcutta quickly became a popular destination for Bengali merchants, and especially the textile merchants whom the Company and English private traders regularly dealt with. Many of them settled down in the new establishment or near it. The river had more water here than at Hooghly, even though it was also more treacherous in this spot. And Calcutta was easier for movement of troops from the sea if necessary.
With hindsight, it would be easy to credit Charnock with prescience unusual among Company officials in this time. Charnock was no visionary, however. He was only a merchant caught up in a complicated political scenario without enough military power, strategic resources, or the blessings of his superiors necessary to deal with the situation. He was one of many agents who had to fend for themselves. His decisions were taken onthe spur of the moment and turned out to be right only after luck intervened in his favour. He was, however, special in one respect. In a world where working lives were quite short and most
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