The First British Settlement in India

In 1608, 8 years after the formation of the British East India Company, the first British ships arrived in the port city of Surat in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The initial reception was somewhat cold and in 1611, the company sought the help of King James I who’d assumed the throne following the death of his predecessor Elizabeth I, and King James would send William Hawkins the commander of the Hector to meet with Jahangir to obtain permission to trade but nothing would pan out.

The East India Company however, having invested a substantial amount in the venture, was not about to give up, and in 1615, King James sent Sir Thomas Roe, an ambassador, to negotiate on behalf of the East India Company. The negotiations met with some measure of success and the company was allowed to set up factories in India, and Surat became the first British settlement in India.

Ironically, the first goods that were transported from the factories in Surat were not spices as many would have expected but rather woven textiles. Surat at the time was known for its silk and cotton industry, and these were the earliest items or commodities that were exported from India to Europe.

The highly skilled Indian weavers produced cloth that not only excelled in quality but was also cloth that was rich and unique in design. Surat is still a prominent textile center and produces in excess of 5 billion rupees worth of clothes each year.

By the time Chhatrapati Shivaji sacked the city of Surat, on the 5th of January 1664, there was a British India Regiment stationed there, and numerous factories had been built, belonging to both the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. Neither British nor Dutch interests were touched during the raid.

The hostilities were part of the ongoing war between the Maratha Empire and the Mughals, the city was then an integral component of the Mughal Empire. The looting that followed Chhatrapati Shivaji’s raid would continue for 6 days during the course of which almost two thirds of the city would be razed to the ground.

Following the successful raid on Surat, the Maratha Empire attempted to procure items and materials from the East India Company, many of these items were to be used in the protracted war with the Mughals but the company would refuse, and that in turn would lead to a standoff between the Maratha Empire and the East India Company.

 

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