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2 - ‘Soe Fayre an Opportunitie’

Madras and the Reconstitution of the Company

from Part I - Weakness and Adaptation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2020

David Veevers
Affiliation:
Queen Mary University of London
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Summary

This chapter rethinks the emergence of Madras, which has traditionally been depicted as an imperial acquisition developed as an English colony, apart from its turbulent Asian surroundings. Instead, as Company servants appropriated authority to themselves in the face of the collapsing corporate framework, they utilised their Asian networks, partnerships and patrons to establish a new settlement from which their interests could be protected and facilitated. Relying on Indian and Indo-Portuguese capital, Indian labour and materials, and in complete defiance of Company leadership, servants politically subordinated themselves to the Vijayanagara empire in exchange for a set of rights and privileges that would create the Company’s first substantial centre of power in Asia. In the face of metropolitan opposition, Company servants deepened their dependence on their Indian partners and masters, opening up new channels of credit, capital and demographic expansion. When the sultanate of Golconda annexed the Vijayanagara empire, Company servants learned to navigate the complex and shifting state formation process in southern India, adapting to their changing environment and ingratiating themselves with a new set of sovereign rulers and governing elites from whom they continued to acquire greater privileges to develop Madras into a transcultural commercial hub.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • ‘Soe Fayre an Opportunitie’
  • David Veevers, Queen Mary University of London
  • Book: The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600–1750
  • Online publication: 20 May 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108669344.004
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  • ‘Soe Fayre an Opportunitie’
  • David Veevers, Queen Mary University of London
  • Book: The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600–1750
  • Online publication: 20 May 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108669344.004
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • ‘Soe Fayre an Opportunitie’
  • David Veevers, Queen Mary University of London
  • Book: The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600–1750
  • Online publication: 20 May 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108669344.004
Available formats
×