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Trade and Political Dominion in South India, 1750–1790: Changing British—Indian Relationships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

S. Arasaratnam
S. Arasaratnam
Affiliation:
University of New England
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Extract

The English East India Company's Coromandel trade provided a spectacle of steady, if unspectacular, growth from its first inauguration early in the seventeenth century. It was not subject to the violent ups and downs, or the extremes of great success and utter failure that characterized the Company's trade in some other regions of India and Southeast Asia. An expanding trade on this coast was matched by an expanding presence. By the end of the century it was well-founded in two substantial Forts (St George and St David) and a number of residencies in important ports of outlet from Vizagapatnam in the north to Cuddalore in the south. By investment and enterprise, by diplomacy and force, English interests and influence on the coast grew and their settlements became nodal points of Indo-British exchange and interaction. The timely demonstration of controlled power, both when faced with threats from the ‘country’ powers of the hinterland and from European rivals on the seafront, helped in the growth of these settlements beyond mere centres of trade. Providing, as they did, not merely trade and investment, but also security of person and property, they were naturally an attraction to many groups in Indian society in the hinterland.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , February 1979 , pp. 19 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

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References

Most of the research for this paper was undertaken when I was Smuts Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge. I am grateful to the University and to the Managers of the Smuts Memorial Fund for the facilities afforded to me during that period.

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