Paramjit Kaur, Dr Munmun Mondal , Dr Amita Gupta, 2024
From the mid-seventeenth century onwards, Kasimbazar emerged as the English East India Company's ... more From the mid-seventeenth century onwards, Kasimbazar emerged as the English East India Company's (EIC) primary market for silk and its textiles. The region surrounding Kasimbazar was prolific in producing silk goods destined for export. Attracted by Bengal silk's substantial profitability, EIC's directors in London envisaged an expansion to regions with existing infrastructure capable of delivering high-quality raw silk and textiles. Subsequently, Mr. Streynsham Master was dispatched to Bengal as a special envoy to strategize this expansion. The establishment of the EIC's sixth factory at Malda directly resulted from this mission. However, the nascent years of the Malda settlement were fraught with challenges, leading company officials to perceive Malda as a subordinate to Hooghly and Kasimbazar with uncertain business potential. But, within two decades, consistent profits began to reshape this perception. Up until the key shifts in 1898 and 1899-EIC acquiring zamindary rights in Calcutta, establishing Fort William as the English headquarters, and the subsequent relocation of the subah capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad in 1706-interactions with local provincial rulers were mired in extortion and bribery. Nonetheless, the handsome profit margins painted a promising outlook for the EIC's future in the region. This paper delves into the initial 25 years after the Malda factory's inception. It evaluates the hurdles faced; the resolutions reached-whether through diplomacy or through petitions to distant Dhaka-the appointment of dadani merchants, the inclusion of pykers, and most notably, the trajectory of business growth and profits during this period.
From the mid-seventeenth century onwards, Kasimbazar emerged as the English East India Company's ... more From the mid-seventeenth century onwards, Kasimbazar emerged as the English East India Company's (EIC) primary market for silk and its textiles. The region surrounding Kasimbazar was prolific in producing silk goods destined for export. Attracted by Bengal silk's substantial profitability, EIC's directors in London envisaged an expansion to regions with existing infrastructure capable of delivering high-quality raw silk and textiles. Subsequently, Mr. Streynsham Master was dispatched to Bengal as a special envoy to strategize this expansion. The establishment of the EIC's sixth factory at Malda directly resulted from this mission. However, the nascent years of the Malda settlement were fraught with challenges, leading company officials to perceive Malda as a subordinate to Hooghly and Kasimbazar with uncertain business potential. But, within two decades, consistent profits began to reshape this perception. Up until the key shifts in 1898 and 1899-EIC acquiring zamindary rights in Calcutta, establishing Fort William as the English headquarters, and the subsequent relocation of the subah capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad in 1706-interactions with local provincial rulers were mired in extortion and bribery. Nonetheless, the handsome profit margins painted a promising outlook for the EIC's future in the region. This paper delves into the initial 25 years after the Malda factory's inception. It evaluates the hurdles faced; the resolutions reached-whether through diplomacy or through petitions to distant Dhaka-the appointment of dadani merchants, the inclusion of pykers, and most notably, the trajectory of business growth and profits during this period.
The history of European trade in Asia pre-date the discovery of the Cape route by the Portuguese,... more The history of European trade in Asia pre-date the discovery of the Cape route by the Portuguese, but undoubtedly this new route gave the thrust in extensive and bulk trading, especially when two north Atlantic powers joined the Portuguese, namely the Dutch and English East India companies. On the other hand, Bengal as a Mughal' subah' already had a rich and prosperous mercantile culture where Bengali traders were engaged with Sumatra, Malay, Java, Arab, Persia and China. Bengal also had a rich geographical and environmental advantage in the form of numerous navigable water channels and conducive weather for agriculture, which made agricultural produce surplus and other job options possible, thus creating a large body of artisans, weavers, bankers, merchants etc. With the Portuguese involved in the trade of the Bay of Bengal, its products reached Europe and over the years, there was a market-ready in Europe for certain kinds of products from Bengal, namely textiles and silk. This vast European market with meagre supply made Dutch and English enthused to enter the Asian market, and their vigorous and disciplined way of functions, very different from Portuguese unruly, powerdriven and disruptive nature, made them successful in small time. Slowly, the composition of goods exported from Bengal changed based on the heightened demand of Europe. With an already established local banking and financial system, this gave Bengal its most prosperous two hundred years, when European import reached its peak in return for bullion and gold. This is a collection of review papers based on secondary sources where we inquire into the world of economy, trade, communication, and industrialization-European as well as indigenous, the interconnection and interdependence between different political and economic forces in Bengal in the period under review.
Uploads
Papers by PARAMJIT KAUR