by John Keay
Sambhaji Angrey, 265
Samuel, Thomas, 67
San Thomé, 68-9, 141, 213, 222, 288, 291, 342
Sana’a, 81, 83-4
Sandys, Thomas, 174-5
Saris, John, 53-60, 88-9, 197, 348, 353
Satravati Shahu, 255
Saunders, Thomas, 289-90, 293, 334-6
Scot, David, 432, 434, 435, 438
Scot Edmund, 29-33, 35, 36
Scot, John, 419
Scot, Tate & Adamson Co., 431, 432
Scott, Colonel Caroline, 298, 299
Sea Otter, 433, 434
Seth family, bankers, 316, 320
Seven Years War, 286, 294, 311, 324, 332, 338-47
Seychelle Islands, 80
Shah Abbas of Persia, 102-4, 116, 124-5, 127
Shah Alam I, Moghul Emperor, 216, 222, 224
Shah Alam II (Shahzada), Moghul Emperor, 322, 369, 370, 374, 377, 400
Shah Jehan, Moghul Emperor, 101, 115, 121
Shaista Khan, Nawab of Bengal, 150, 151, 153-62
Shaxton, Captain, 137
Shelburne, Earl of, 379
Sherley, Sir Robert, 103
Shilling, Andrew, 93, 104
Shipman, Sir Abraham, 132
Shiraz, 104
Shivers, Captain Dirk, 188
Shizuoka, 57
Shuja-ud-Daula, Nawab of Oudh, 374, 377
Siam, 13, 59, 61-4, 195-204, 444-5
Sidis, The, 144-5, 146, 255, 258, 263
Sierra Leone, 74
Sikkim, 424
Silk trade, 52, 61, 102-3, 104, 127, 149, 151, 197, 212
Sind, 101, 103, 108
Singapore, 211, 333, 355, 361, 448-9, 453-4
Singhora, 199, 203
Siraj-ud-Daula, Nawab of Bengal, 300-19, 322, 395
Sivaji, 142, 257
Skottowe, Captain, 352
Smith, Adam, 451
Smith, Bombardier, 277, 279
Smith, George, 420
Smythe, Alderman Sir Thomas, 26, 27-8, 60, 90, 111, 114
Snook, Lieutenant, 442
Socotra, 75, 82, 88
Southby, Captain, 337, 338
Spain, 6-8, 13, 344-7, 435
Spanish Armada, 11, 96
Spanish Succession, War of, 274
Speedwell, 211
Spencer, John, 372-3
Spice Islands, 13, 33-4, 50, 53, 354, 357;
see also Moluccas, Bandas etc.
Spice trade, 5-8, 10, 13, 47, 49-50, 53, 74, 84
Sri Lanka, 13, 276
Srirangam, 290, 292
Srirangapatnam, 412, 414
Stackhouse, John, 236-7
Strahan, Seaman, 307-8
Strange, James, 432-3, 434
Stuart, General James, 417-18, 420
Success, 259, 351, 353
Suffren, Admiral de, 414, 416
Sulawesi (Celebes), 36
Sulivan, Lawrence, 345, 366-9, 371-3, 379-81, 387-8, 390, 396, 399
Sulu Sea, 354-6, 444
Sumatra, 13, 16, 20, 173, 211, 246-51; 447;
see also Aceh, Benkulen etc.
Sumbawa, 354
Sun, 123
Sunda Straits, 20, 447
Supreme Court of Justice, Calcutta, 385-6, 388
Surat, 73-80, 85-7, 94, 97-8, 100, 111, 115-18, 126, 132, 134, 138, 141-4, 176, 184, 186-8, 189-92, 212, 228, 402
Surat, 211
Surat, Treaty of, 403, 405
Surman, John, 225-9, 231, 312
Susan, 15, 18, 20, 29, 32
Sutanati, 156, 158, 160, 165;
see also Calcutta
Sutherland, Dame Lucy, 368, 381, 385, 389
Suvarnadrug, 264, 265-7
Swalley Hole, 86-7, 94, 96, 116, 117, 184, 188
Swan, 43-4
Syriam, 333, 334, 335, 338
Ta’iz, 83
Tanjore (Thanjavur), 287-8, 340, 409-10
Tapti River, 76, 77, 86, 95, 117
Tartar, 357
Tashilunpo, 423, 424
Tatta, 108
Tanfiqui, 117-18
Taylor, John, 107
Tea trade, 348-50, 358, 380, 384, 386, 391, 430, 451-2, 454-6
Tecu, 46
Tellicherry, 251, 253, 254, 284, 344
Ternate, 10, 33-4, 36, 47, 443
Terrible Bomb, 260
Thailand, see Siam
Thana Fort, 403
Thomas, 64
Throgmorton, Kellum, 45
Tibet, 423-5
Tidore, 33-4, 36
Tientsin (Tianjin) River, 351
Tiger, 313-14
Timor, 357, 441, 443
Tipu Sultan of Mysore, 411, 412, 416-17
Tokyo, see Yedo
Tongking, 197, 425, 427-8
Tourane (Da Nang), 354, 425-6, 429, 430, 439
Towerson, Gabriel, 30-2, 36, 41, 48-50, 53, 89, 90, 126
Trades Increase, 41-2, 55, 81-9
Tranquebar, 276
Trichy, 289-90, 339, 340
Trinconomalee, 266, 343, 414, 442
Trivandrum, 251
Trivitore (Tiruvottiyur), 241-3, 290
Trully, Robert, 96
Tucker, Thomas, 79
Tulaji, Angrey, 265-9
Turner, Captain Samuel, 424
Ulubari, 158
Union, 211
Union, Instrument of, 212, 213
United East India Company, see Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie Utrecht, Treaty of, 237-8
Vancouver Island, 432, 433-4
Vansittart, Henry, 369-72, 381-2
Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, 31-2, 37-8, 40-1, 42-51, 60, 62-4, 94, 131, 141, 187, 195, 197-8, 440-4, 448-9
Victoria, 337
Vietnam, see Cochin China, Annam, Tongking
Voyages: Lancaster’s 1st, 11-12
Company’s 1st, 14-23, 24, 28
Company’s 2nd, 28-34
Company’s 3rd, 36-7, 39, 73-7
Company’s 5th, 37-9
Company’s 6th, 41, 81-9
Company’s 7th, 61-4
Company’s 8th, 54-60, 88-9
Company’s 10th, 91
Company’s 12th, 94-8
Wadia Lowji, 266
Waite, Sir Nicholas, 183-4, 188-92, 196, 212-13
Walsh, John, 375
Wandiwash, Battle of, 343
Ward, Ned, 219
Wargaum (Wadgaon) Convention, 406, 407, 413
Watson, Admiral Charles, 266-70, 293-5, 297, 305-17, 319-20
Watts, William, 299, 300, 306, 312, 315, 320
Weddell, John, 104-7, 121-4, 205, 251
Welden, Richard, 50
Wellesley, Arthur, Duke of Wellington, 400, 414, 445, 447
Wellesley, Richard, Lord Mornington, 444, 445
Weltden, Captain Anthony, 202-4, 223, 334
Westminster, Peace of, 126
Whampoa, 208, 348, 455
White, George, 200, 201, 202, 203
White, Samuel, 200-3, 223, 334
Whitehall, Treaty of, 131
Wilkins, Charles, 422
William III, King, 178, 181, 190
Wilson, C. R., 220
Wilson, Captain William, 353
Winter, Sir Edward, 196
Witherington, Captain, 301, 302
Woodruff, Philip, 397-8
Woollen trade, (broadcloth, tweed etc.) 52, 53, 58-9, 74, 81, 98, 358-9, 423, 438
Yale, Elihu, 164, 165, 199-200, 202, 203, 205, 208
Yale, Thomas, 199-200, 205-7
Yedo, 57-8, 64
Yemen, 81-5, 88-9
Yule, Sir Henry, 161
Zanzibar, 12, 75, 443
Ziau-ud-Din, 222-3, 226-7, 244
Zwaarte Leeuw, 45, 64
Acknowledgement and Author’s Note
It would take more than one lifetime to compile a history of the East India Company from its voluminous records. I have referred to them only occasionally. Books like this necessarily depend on other books. But wherever possible I have based the narrative on reprints, selections, extra
cts and calendars of the original records. Happily the Company has been well served in this respect. My main debt is therefore to those scholars and archivists, mostly long deceased, who laboured to elucidate different aspects of the Company’s history by reproducing, abbreviating, or summarizing original materials. Their names will be found amongst the authors listed in the bibliography. I should, however, like to single out the works of Sir William Foster, Sir George Forrest, Sir Henry Yule, Sir William Hunter, Dr J. Long, Dr C. R. Wilson, Professor H. H. Dodwell, Colonel H. D. Love, and Dr S. C. Hill.
It is customary to offer some explanation for adopting a particular system of rendering foreign words into English. Since no system informs my choice of spellings I must pass on this. Familiarity and common usage have prevailed over consistency. The same goes for proper names. In the case of place names I have tried to use those designations or spellings in use now, giving the contemporary version in brackets. But this does not always work. Sometimes the current names seem less appropriate than those of 200 years ago. Thus I have stuck with Gombroon rather than have to choose between Bandar Abbas and Bandar Khomeini; with Macassar, which looks like making a comeback, rather than Ujung Pandang; and with Trichy and Tanjore because their currency seems to have survived the polysyllabic reformation of south Indian names. There are many other such inconsistencies for which I accept full responsibility.
The five years spent on this book have been a gross indulgence. I thank Carol O’Brien at HarperCollins for raising no objection to its being twice the proposed length and taking twice the allotted time. Being so long busy about the Company could also have placed a strain on personal relationships. Yet Julia has never baulked at having a hardback rodent for a husband and has in fact encouraged his ferreting with insight, good cheer, and love. My debt to her defies acknowledgement.
About the Author
JOHN KEAY was educated at Ampleforth College, York and Magdalen College, Oxford. As an author and broadcaster specialising in Asian history and current affairs, he has been treading the trail of the East India Company since the 1960s. His other books include Into India, When Men and Mountains Meet, Eccentric Travellers, Explorers Extraordinary, India Discovered, India: A History and The Great Arc.
Married with four children, he lives in the Scottish Highlands with his wife Julia. They are the joint editors of the Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Praise
From the reviews of The Honourable Company:
‘What a marvellous story is that of the East India Company!…And John Keay tells it well, humanely and spicily, as well as all we need about organisation, background, etc…Mr Keay gives us the spectrum, the trade with China and Japan, the Arabian Gulf, the East Indies, India, the lot.’
A. L. ROWSE, Contemporary Review
‘Splendid, tumultuous narrative history…The sotry is so colourful, at least in its early stages, that it can be read as a bumper book of Indian adventure.’
ANTHONY QUINTON, The Times
‘A tale worth retelling in detail, when it is done with as much as flair and imagination as this.’
GEOFFREY MOORHOUSE, Guardian
‘A gem of a book on a vast and complex adventure of British trading, maritime and colonial history…highly recommended not only for scholars but to all those interested in an important segment of British and human history.’
Catholic Herald
‘Full of delicious anecdotes…fascinating reading.’
WILLIAM DALRYMPLE, The Spectator
By the same author
INTO INDIA
WHEN MEN AND MOUNTAINS MEET
THE GILGIT GAME
ECCENTRIC TRAVELLERS
EXPLORERS EXTRAORDINARY
HIGHLAND DROVE
THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY’S
HISTORY OF WORLD EXPLORATION
INDIA DISCOVERED
THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF SCOTLAND
(WITH JULIA KEAY)
INDONESIA: FROM SABANG TO MERAUKE
LAST POST: EMPIRE’S END
INDIA: A HISTORY
THE GREAT ARC
Copyright
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This paperback edition 1993
FIRST EDITION
First published in Great Britain by
HarperCollinsPublishers 1991
Copyright © John Keay 1991
John Keay asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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EPub Edition © JUNE 2010 ISBN: 978-0-007-39554-5
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Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Preface
PART ONE A QUIET TRADE 1600-1640
CHAPTER ONE Islands of Spicerie
CHAPTER TWO This Frothy Nation
CHAPTER THREE Pleasant and Fruitfull Lands
CHAPTER FOUR Jarres and Brabbles
CHAPTER FIVE The Keye of All India
PART TWO FLUCTUATING FORTUNES 1640-1710
CHAPTER SIX These Frowning Times
CHAPTER SEVEN A Seat of Power and Trade
CHAPTER EIGHT Fierce Engageings
CHAPTER NINE Renegades and Rivals
CHAPTER TEN Eastern Approaches
PART THREE A TERRITORIAL POWER 1710-1760
CHAPTER ELEVEN The Dark Age
CHAPTER TWELVE Outposts of Effrontery
CHAPTER THIRTEEN One Man’s Pirate
CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Germ of an Army
CHAPTER FIFTEEN The Famous Two Hundred Days
PART FOUR A PARTING OF THE WAYS 1760-1820
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Looking Eastward to the Sea
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN The Transfer of Power
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Too Loyal, Too Faithful
CHAPTER NINETEEN Tea Trade Versus Free Trade
CHAPTER TWENTY Epilogue
&nbs
p; Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgement and Author’s Note
About the Author
Praise
By the same author
Copyright
About the Publisher
