135-555: Robert Moresby (15 June 1794 – 15 June 1854) was a captain of the East India Company 's Bombay Marine/Indian Navy who distinguished himself as a hydrographer , maritime surveyor and draughtsman . As a Lieutenant under Commander Thomas Elwon, Moresby was part of a two-ship exercise engaged (from 1829 to 1832) in charting the dangerous waters of the Red Sea . Later, he also charted some coralline archipelagoes of
270-572: A collier loaded with Welsh coal (sent via the Cape) went ahead, convoyed by a sailing brig, HCS Thetis . Captained by a real steam enthusiast, James Wilson, Hugh Lindsay made it to Suez in thirty-four days but the collier was later wrecked on a reef, a fate which narrowly missed befalling the Thetis , on a reef subsequently named after her, just south of Yanbu on the north Arabian coast. Drastic measures were clearly needed to prevent these disasters and
405-683: A Japanese aircraft during the Burma Campaign on 6 April 1942. HMIS Jumna was ordered in 1939, and built by William Denny and Brothers . She was commissioned in 1941, and with World War II underway, was immediately deployed as a convoy escort. Jumna served as an anti-aircraft escort during the Java Sea campaign in early 1942, and was involved in intensive anti-aircraft action against attacking Japanese twin-engined level bombers and dive bombers, claiming five aircraft downed from 24 to 28 February 1942. In June 1942, HMIS Bombay
540-786: A Western Division at Bombay. As the HMIM wasn't covered by Naval Discipline Act 1866 ( 29 & 30 Vict. c. 109) or the Merchant Shipping Act 1854 ( 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104), the Governor General in Council was empowered to by the Indian Marine Service Act 1884 ( 47 & 48 Vict. c. 3) to help formulate maritime and naval laws. These laws were first formulated and codified in the "Indian Marine Act, 1887 " and followed by an amendment act to
675-513: A bag of dollars. Heading out of the Gulf and down the Egyptian coast a particular danger spot was Zabargad Island (also known as St John's or Emerald Island because of ancient peridot mines); Palinurus was caught in a fearsome gale and only avoided being driven on to the rocks by hooking a kedge anchor on to a hole in the reef. "An uncomfortable night was spent by all." Moresby always records
810-692: A full survey of the Red Sea in Benares and Palinurus . Moresby began his survey in the north, first along the Arabian coast around Jiddah , then across on the African coast north and south of Qusayr. However, in the Sailing Directions for the Red Sea compiled from the journals of Commander Elwon and his own, published in 1841 as part of Horsburgh's India Directory, 5th edition, the direction of
945-611: A group of prominent merchants and explorers met to discuss a potential East Indies venture under a royal charter . Besides Fitch and Lancaster, the group included Stephen Soame , then Lord Mayor of London ; Thomas Smythe , a powerful London politician and administrator who had established the Levant Company ; Richard Hakluyt , writer and proponent of British colonization of the Americas ; and several other sea-farers who had served with Drake and Raleigh. On 22 September,
1080-497: A hero; his circumnavigation raised an enormous amount of money for England's coffers, and investors received a return of some 5,000 per cent. Thus started an important element in the eastern design during the late sixteenth century. Soon after the Spanish Armada 's defeat in 1588, the captured Spanish and Portuguese ships and cargoes enabled English voyagers to travel the globe in search of riches. London merchants presented
1215-495: A mystery hidden within the dangers that environed them. The beautiful maps of the Red Sea, drafted by the late Commodore Carless, then a lieutenant, will ever remain permanent monuments of Indian Naval Science, and the daring of its officers and men. Those of the Maldive and Chagos groups, executed by Commander then Acting Lieutenant Felix Jones, were, we hear, of such a high order, that they were deemed worthy of special inspection by
1350-682: A petition to Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean. The aim was to deliver a decisive blow to the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of far-eastern trade. Elizabeth granted her permission and in 1591, James Lancaster in the Bonaventure with two other ships, financed by the Levant Company , sailed from England around the Cape of Good Hope to the Arabian Sea , becoming
1485-568: A private fleet of 200 ships. It specialised in the spice trade and gave its shareholders 40% annual dividend. The British East India Company was fiercely competitive with the Dutch and French throughout the 17th and 18th centuries over spices from the Spice Islands . Some spices, at the time, could only be found on these islands, such as nutmeg and cloves; and they could bring profits as high as 400 per cent from one voyage. The tension
SECTION 10
#17327811599331620-579: A rather old ship and a brig were made ready for surveying work despite the reluctance of the East India Company in London to provide finance. The brig was HCS Palinurus , the same vessel that had transported the Elphinstone party to Qusayr in 1827. She was captained by Robert Moresby, who had already gained experience from having surveyed the Laccadive Islands . The ship HCS Benares
1755-719: A relative of the Grand Mughal , though there is no evidence to suggest that it was his daughter and her retinue. The loot from the Ganj-i-Sawai had a total value between £325,000 and £600,000, including 500,000 gold and silver pieces, and has become known as the richest ship ever taken by pirates. When the news arrived in England it caused an outcry. To appease Aurangzeb, the East India Company promised to pay all financial reparations, while Parliament declared
1890-404: A shattered state, the leaky tub caught forty-two times on coral reefs). "This heated funnel of reef-bound sea", as Moresby referred to it, took its toll on the surveyors; "great dangers and privations were inseparable from such a service", Moresby noted. The summer months were particularly punishing when temperatures reached the high 40°s and the Benares seems to have been especially vulnerable. It
2025-466: A toll on his health. Thus Robert Moresby had to interrupt the task and the Northern Bank of Saya da Malha could not be satisfactorily surveyed. He sailed then back to India, for a much-needed time of rest for him and his crew. Even after the necessary period of relaxation, Moresby did not fully recover. Finally his precarious condition obliged him to give up surveying. In 1842 he was employed by
2160-637: A young Mughal Prince as Emperor with the Company as the de jure protectors of the Empire from their position of direct control in Bengal. This relationship was repeatedly strained as the Company continued its expansion and exploitation, however it lasted in some form until 1858 when the last Mughal Emperor was exiled as the Company was disbanded and its assets were taken over by the British Crown. In 1634,
2295-697: The Fancy , reached the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb , where he teamed up with five other pirate captains to make an attack on the Indian fleet returning from the annual pilgrimage to Mecca . The Mughal convoy included the treasure-laden Ganj-i-Sawai , reported to be the greatest in the Mughal fleet and the largest ship operational in the Indian Ocean, and its escort, the Fateh Muhammed . They were spotted passing
2430-793: The Golden Hind he achieved this, and then sailed across the Pacific Ocean in 1579, known then only to the Spanish and Portuguese. Drake eventually sailed into the East Indies and came across the Moluccas , also known as the Spice Islands, and met Sultan Babullah . In exchange for linen, gold, and silver, the English obtained a large haul of exotic spices, including cloves and nutmeg. Drake returned to England in 1580 and became
2565-649: The Anglo-Burmese Wars . While it recruited Indian sailors extensively, it had no Indian commissioned officers. Commodore William James was appointed to command the Marine in 1751. On 2 April 1755, commanding the Bombay Marine's ship Protector , he attacked the Maratha fortress of Tulaji Angre at Severndroog between Bombay and Goa . James had instructions only to blockade the stronghold, but he
2700-598: The Army and the Air Force . A total of seventy-eight ships, twenty shore establishments and 20,000 sailors were involved in this mutiny. On 1 March 1947, the designation of "Flag Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Navy" was replaced with that of "Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy." On 21 July 1947, H.M.S. Choudhry and Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman, both of whom later commanded the Pakistani and Indian Navies, respectively, became
2835-573: The Cape route to India . In that year a 479-ton wooden paddle steamer , HEICS Enterprise , steamed (mostly sailed in fact) from London to Calcutta . Its progress was particularly noted by two individuals: a river pilot named Thomas Waghorn who was impressed by the steamer's steady progress against the wind up the Hooghly river to Calcutta, and indirectly by the Governor of Bombay, Mountstuart Elphinstone . A year later Elphinstone, together with
SECTION 20
#17327811599332970-640: The Chagos Archipelago , has been named after this skilled British cartographer as well. However, Robert Moresby should not be confused with Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby , of the Royal Navy or Fairfax Moresby's son, Rear-Admiral John Moresby, after whom Port Moresby , the capital of Papua New Guinea, was named. Fairfax Moresby was related to Robert Moresby by the same father, but he is not mentioned by John Moresby as an uncle in that officer's biography of himself and his father, Two Admirals, Admiral of
3105-570: The China , India, and Japan trade routes. In 1596, three more English ships sailed east but all were lost at sea. A year later however saw the arrival of Ralph Fitch , an adventurer merchant who, with his companions, had made a remarkable nine year overland journey to Mesopotamia , the Persian Gulf , the Indian Ocean, India and Southeast Asia. Fitch was consulted on Indian affairs and gave even more valuable information to Lancaster. In 1599,
3240-601: The English Company Trading to the East Indies ) was floated under a state-backed indemnity of £2 million. The powerful stockholders of the old company quickly subscribed a sum of £315,000 in the new concern, and dominated the new body. The two companies wrestled with each other for some time, both in England and in India, for a dominant share of the trade. It quickly became evident that, in practice,
3375-682: The First Opium War in 1839, which involved a succession of British naval attacks along the Chinese coast over the course of several months. As part of the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, the Qing were forced to give British merchants special treatment and the right to sell opium. The Chinese also ceded territory to the British, including the island of Hong Kong . The prosperity that the officers of
3510-501: The Gulf of Cambay and the rivers Tapti and Narmada . The ships also helped map the coastlines of India, Persia and Arabia. During the 17th century, the small naval fleet consisted of a few English warships and a large number of locally built gunboats of two types, ghurabs and gallivats , crewed by local fishermen. The larger ghurabs were heavy, shallow-draft gunboats of 300 tons ( bm ) each, and carried six 9 to 12-pounder guns;
3645-917: The Indian Army , and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force , it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. From its origins in 1612 as the East India Company's Marine , the Navy underwent various changes, including changes to its name. Over time it was named the Bombay Marine (1686), the Bombay Marine Corps (1829), the Indian Navy (1830), Her Majesty's Indian Navy (1858), the Bombay and Bengal Marine (1863),
3780-674: The Indian Defence Force (1871), Her Majesty's Indian Marine (1877) and the Royal Indian Marine (1892). It was finally named the Royal Indian Navy in 1934. However, it remained a relatively small force until the Second World War , when it was greatly expanded. After the partition of India into two independent states in 1947, the Navy was split between India and Pakistan. One-third of
3915-531: The Indian Ocean , such as the Maldives , Laccadives and Chagos in the 1820s and '30s. This work ensured that the route from Europe to the East Indies became viable for the new steam vessels. Robert Moresby was a son of Mr Fairfax Moresby of Lichfield, Staffs, late of India, where Fairfax Moresby had practised as a lawyer. Fairfax Moresby and his wife Mary Rotten had 6 boys and 3 girls, the eldest of whom
4050-576: The Japanese submarine Ro-110 was depth charged and sunk east-south-east off Visakhapatnam, India by the Indian sloop HMIS Jumna and the Australian corvettes HMAS Launceston and HMAS Ipswich . Ro-110 had attacked convoy JC-36 (Colombo-Calcutta) and torpedoed and damaged the British merchant Asphalion (6,274 GRT). On 12 August 1944, the German submarine U-198
4185-542: The Palinurus in 1830. The reefs were mostly surveyed from local boats with local pilots, the names of the thirteen pilots embarked in the Benares from time to time appearing in Commander Elwon's journal. This survey was an arduous task and the ships suffered. Palinurus had been forced to return to Bombay in 1830 for refitting after surveying the Gulf of Suez , while Benares had to be sent back in 1831 in
Robert Moresby - Misplaced Pages Continue
4320-608: The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), to command their brand new and most luxurious steamer, Hindostan , on her maiden voyage from Southampton to Calcutta . Subsequently, the Hindostan was employed on the Calcutta-Suez run, the Red Sea now made safe by the immaculate surveys led by Elwon and Moresby. Moresby's charts were so good that they were favoured by Maldivian pilots navigating through
4455-482: The Queen . East India Company The East India Company ( EIC ) (1600–1874) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region , initially with the East Indies (South Asia and Southeast Asia), and later with East Asia. The company gained control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent and Hong Kong . At its peak,
4590-712: The Straits of Malacca by ousting the Portuguese in 1640–1641. With reduced Portuguese and Spanish influence in the region, the EIC and VOC entered a period of intense competition, resulting in the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th and 18th centuries. The British were also interested in trans-Himalayan trade routes, as they would create access to untapped markets for British manufactured goods in Tibet and China. This economic interest
4725-450: The Straits of Tiran , was bad enough—wrecks are strewn over the rocks there even today. In the Gulf itself on one occasion the Palinurus was blown off her anchorage three times, once despite having fifty fathoms (90 m) of chain down on each of two anchors. Wellsted describes Moresby on one occasion springing up the rigging to spot reefs which everyone had declared were just wash from clashing tides; they lowered anchors to three fathoms but
4860-400: The bedu were not to be trusted. They were feared throughout the sea for ferocity and treachery," writes Moresby, "so that it is dangerous to land on that stretch of shore." During the survey of the Red Sea Robert Moresby was smitten by intermittent fevers. Finally Moresby returned to Bombay in 1833, exhausted by four years of surveying. Meanwhile, the valiant Palinurus sailed on to survey
4995-441: The 1770s in exchange for goods like porcelain and tea , causing a series of opioid addiction outbreaks across China in 1820. The ruling Qing dynasty outlawed the opium trade in 1796 and 1800, but British merchants continued illegally nonetheless. The Qing took measures to prevent the East India Company from selling opium, and destroyed tens of thousands of chests of opium already in the country. This series of events led to
5130-551: The British Hydrographic Office Archive suggests quite a different order, with both ships setting out from the middle and Moresby and the Palinurus going first to Jiddah, the confusion perhaps arises from the fact that the journal, comprising the two parts completed respectively by Moresby and Elwon, though signed and submitted to Sir Charles Malcolm by Elwon, was bound in the incorrect sequence. At Suez itself Moresby noted, "provisions are plentiful and good—oranges, pears, apples, plums in season. And there were plenty of fine cabbages!" In
5265-424: The British state and the Royal Navy in the form of the West Africa Squadron , which discovered various ships had contained evidence of the illegal trade. In 1613, during the rule of Tokugawa Hidetada of the Tokugawa shogunate , the British ship Clove , under the command of Captain John Saris , was the first English ship to call on Japan. Saris was the chief factor of the EIC's trading post in Java, and with
5400-424: The Chagos, Robert Moresby went on to survey the Saya de Malha bank. This is a vast submerged reef south-east of the Seychelles and since there is no island above the surface, the men were forced to spend many days at sea often under difficult weather conditions. Moresby could complete only part of this survey, namely the Southern Bank, for this arduous task and the accumulated fatigue from his previous surveys, took
5535-415: The Dutch. This compelled the company to formally abandon their efforts in the Spice Islands, and turn their attention to Bengal where, by this time, they were making steady, if less exciting, profits. After gaining the indifferent patronage of the Mughal Empire , whose cities were 'the megacities of their time' and whose wealth was unrivaled outside of Asia in the 17th Century, the Company's first century in
Robert Moresby - Misplaced Pages Continue
5670-430: The EIC surrendered in 1690, and the company sent envoys to Aurangzeb 's camp to plead for a pardon. The company's envoys had to prostrate themselves before the emperor, pay a large indemnity, and promise better behaviour in the future. The emperor withdrew his troops, and the company subsequently re-established itself in Bombay and set up a new base in Calcutta. The East India Company's archives suggest its involvement in
5805-453: The East Indies . For a period of fifteen years, the charter awarded the company a monopoly on English trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan . Any traders there without a licence from the company were liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo (half of which would go to the Crown and half to the company), as well as imprisonment at the "royal pleasure." The charter named Thomas Smythe as
5940-402: The East Indies". When mines were detected off the coasts of Bombay and Aden, during the First World War , the Royal Indian Marine went into action with a fleet of minesweepers , patrol vessels and troop carriers. Besides patrolling, the Marine ferried troops and carried war stores from India to Mesopotamia (now Iraq ), Egypt and East Africa . The first Indian to be granted a commission
6075-466: The Fleet, Sir Fairfax Moresby (1786-1877), and His Son, John Moresby . Robert Moresby, the genius of the Red Sea, conducted also the survey of the Maldive Islands and groups known as the Chagos Archipelago. He narrowly escaped being a victim to the deleterious climate of his station, and only left it when no longer capable of working. A host of young and ardent officers, Christopher, Young, Powell, Campbell, Jones, Barker, and others, ably seconded him: death
6210-407: The Gulf there were some nasty spots whose names indicate the hazards— Moresby Shoal for instance, and Felix Jones Patches . Another danger spot was the Daedalus Shoal at the entrance to the Gulf of Suez , which has a light on it to this day. The most curious failing of Moresby's survey was his failure accurately to chart the position of El Akhawein, or The Brothers, an isolate reef in the middle of
6345-476: The Hydrographic Service of the Royal Navy. Moresby's survey of the Atolls of the Maldives was followed by the Chagos Archipelago . where he conducted "a thorough scientific survey". He planted 30 breadfruit trees in Diego Garcia Island, the largest of the group. Moresby reported that "there were cats and chickens on the island". Some of his observations were used by Darwin in his 1842 book The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs . In 1838, after leaving
6480-448: The Indian Navy had completed the conversion from sail to steam. In 1848, an Indian Navy contingent of 100 ratings and seven officers took part in the Siege of Multan during the Anglo-Sikh War . In 1852, at the outset of the Second Anglo-Burmese War , ships of Her Majesty's Indian Navy joined a Royal Navy force under the command of Admiral Charles Austen to assist General Godwin in the capture of Martaban and Rangoon . After
6615-435: The Indian Navy was responsible for maintaining mail service on the Bombay and Suez leg of the "overland route" (England–Alexandria, Alexandria–Suez overland, and Suez–Bombay). In 1830, the Bombay Marine was renamed the "Indian Navy". The British capture of Aden in the Aden Expedition increased its commitments, leading to the creation of the "Indus Flotilla". The Navy then took part in the First Opium War of 1840. By 1845,
6750-414: The Indian Ocean and Mediterranean and was heavily involved in combat operations as part of the Burma Campaign , carrying out raids, shore bombardment, naval invasion support and other activities. The sloop HMIS Pathan was sunk in June 1940 by the Italian Navy Submarine Galvani during the East African Campaign In the days immediately following the Attack on Pearl Harbor , HMS Glasgow
6885-430: The Indian Ocean. The company achieved a major victory over the Portuguese in the Battle of Swally in 1612, at Suvali in Surat . The company decided to explore the feasibility of a foothold in mainland India, with official sanction from both Britain and the Mughal Empire , and requested that the Crown launch a diplomatic mission. Company ships docked at Surat in Gujarat in 1608. The company's first Indian factory
SECTION 50
#17327811599337020-416: The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan extended his hospitality to the English traders to the richest region of the Mutual Empire Bengal , and in 1717 customs duties were completely waived for the English in Bengal. The company's mainstay businesses were by then cotton, silk, opium, indigo dye , saltpetre , and tea. The Dutch were aggressive competitors and had meanwhile expanded their monopoly of the spice trade in
7155-738: The Mughal-ruled areas was spent cultivating their relationship with the Mughal Dynasty, and conducting peaceful trade at great profit. At first it should be said the EIC was drawn into the Mughal system, acting as a kind of vassal to Mughal authority in present-day Bangladesh: from this position that the EIC would ultimately outplay and outmaneuver everyone else in the region, to eventually use that same system to hold power. What started as trading posts on undesirable land were developed into sprawling factory complexes with hundreds of workers sending exotic goods to England and managing protected points to export English finished goods to local merchants. The Company's initial rise in Bengal and successes generally came at
7290-460: The RIN from 1943 onwards. These included HMIS Bengal , which was a part of the Eastern Fleet during World War II, and escorted numerous convoys between 1942 and 1945. The sloops HMIS Sutlej and HMIS Jumna played a role in Operation Husky , the Allied invasion of Sicily by providing air defence and anti-submarine screening to the invasion fleet. Furthermore, the Royal Indian Navy participated in convoy escort duties in
7425-473: The RPN. India retained the remainder of the RIN's assets and personnel, and many British officers opted to continue serving in the RIN. As only nine of the Navy's 620 Indian commissioned officers in 1947 had more than 10 years' service, with the majority of them only having served from five to eight years, British officers seconded from the Royal Navy continued to hold senior RIN shore appointments after Independence, though all naval vessels had Indian commanders by
7560-434: The Red Sea, where he died in 1835 aged 41. Robert Moresby took over what was left of the work in the southern Red Sea. It is claimed that from 1829 to 1833 Moresby never left the Red Sea, however the survey data indicate that each summer there was a cessation of activity from June to November, when it is probable the ships returned to India for rest and refit. Between 1829 and 1833 the Bombay Marine's survey parties completed
7695-477: The Red Sea, which would enable boats to navigate up the Gulf of Suez against those tiresome northerlies. Waghorn and other entrepreneurs in Britain and Egypt were meanwhile working at linking Mediterranean steam crossings (already overcoming its infuriating calms) with the Red Sea via an "overland route" through Egypt. An experimental vessel, HCS Hugh Lindsay , was built in Bombay Dockyard , powered by engines sent from England, and launched for Suez in 1829;
7830-411: The Royal Indian Navy was small, with only eight warships. The onset of the war led to an expansion in vessels and personnel described by one writer as "phenomenal". By 1943 the strength of the RIN had reached twenty thousand. During the war, the Women's Royal Indian Naval Service was established, for the first time giving women a role in the navy, although they did not serve on board its ships. During
7965-399: The Treasury, in return for exclusive privileges for the next three years, after which the situation was to be reviewed. The amalgamated company became the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies . Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy ( RIN ) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India . Along with the Presidency armies , later
8100-406: The assets and personnel were assigned to the Royal Pakistan Navy . Approximately two thirds of the fleet remained with the Union of India, as did all land assets within its territory. This force, still under the name of "Royal Indian Navy", became the navy of the Dominion of India until the country became a republic on 26 January 1950. It was then renamed the Indian Navy . The East India Company
8235-812: The assistance of William Adams , an English sailor who had arrived in Japan in 1600, he was able to gain permission from the ruler to establish a commercial house in Hirado on the Japanese island of Kyushu : We give free license to the subjects of the King of Great Britaine, Sir Thomas Smythe, Governor and Company of the East Indian Merchants and Adventurers forever safely come into any of our ports of our Empire of Japan with their shippes and merchandise, without any hindrance to them or their goods, and to abide, buy, sell and barter according to their own manner with all nations, to tarry here as long as they think good, and to depart at their pleasure. Unable to obtain Japanese raw silk for export to China, and with their trading area reduced to Hirado and Nagasaki from 1616 onwards,
SECTION 60
#17327811599338370-479: The availability or otherwise of fuel, provisions, water, attitude of locals: availability of water was sometimes dependent on their being able to roll the ship's casks to and from the source. Onshore reception was variable owing to the long tradition of piracy in the northern end of the Red Sea. Moresby warned that "should a ship touch at any part of the Red Sea not frequented by Europeans (for water, etc.), great caution ought to be adopted, to guard against treachery from
8505-409: The chaos widened and the stakes were raised. Ultimately, the company won out, generally through as much diplomacy and state-craft(fraud and deception). The gradual rise of the EIC within the Mughal network culminated in the Second Anglo-Maratha War , in which the Company successfully ousted the Empire's official protectors in the Maratha, the Maratha high water point in their rise to power, and installed
8640-426: The city for four days, after which the tribal chieftain surrendered. In 1829, the "Bombay Marine" received the additional name of "Corps", and also received its first steam-powered vessel, HCS Hugh Lindsay . Steaming from Bombay on 20 March 1830, Hugh Lindsay reached Suez after 21 days under steam (plus coaling stops at Aden , Mocha , and Jeddah ), at an average speed of six knots. Between 1830 and 1854
8775-452: The coast of China that helped secure EIC ports in China, independently attacking the Portuguese in the Persian Gulf Residencies primarily for political reasons. The company established trading posts in Surat (1619) and Madras (1639). By 1647, the company had 23 factories and settlements in India, and 90 employees. Many of the major factories became some of the most populated and commercially influential cities in Bengal, including
8910-428: The company closed its factory in 1623. The first of the Anglo-Indian wars occurred in 1686 when the company conducted naval operations against Shaista Khan , the governor of Mughal Bengal . This led to the siege of Bombay and the subsequent intervention of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb . Subsequently, the English company was defeated and fined. In September 1695, Captain Henry Every , an English pirate on board
9045-522: The company enjoyed allowed them to return to Britain and establish sprawling estates and businesses, and to obtain political power, such as seats in the House of Commons. Ship captains sold their appointments to successors for up to £500. As recruits aimed to return to Britain wealthy by securing Indian money, their loyalties to their homeland increased. The company developed a lobby in the English parliament. Pressure from ambitious tradesmen and former company associates (pejoratively termed Interlopers by
9180-422: The company was the largest corporation in the world by various measures and had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three presidency armies , totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British Army at certain times. Originally chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies," the company rose to account for half of the world's trade during
9315-505: The company's factories in India and imprison their officers, who were almost lynched by a mob of angry Mughals , blaming them for their countryman's depredations, and threatened to put an end to all English trading in India. To appease Emperor Aurangzeb and particularly his Grand Vizier Asad Khan , Parliament exempted Every from all of the Acts of Grace (pardons) and amnesties it would subsequently issue to other pirates. The East India Company started selling opium to Chinese merchants in
9450-443: The company), who wanted to establish private trading firms in India, led to the passing of the deregulating act in 1694. This act allowed any English firm to trade with India, unless specifically prohibited by act of parliament, thereby annulling the charter that had been in force for almost 100 years. When the East India Company Act 1697 ( 9 Will. 3 . c. 44) was passed in 1697, a new "parallel" East India Company (officially titled
9585-450: The completion of the Red Sea Survey, Robert Moresby was sent to chart various coral island groups lying across the track of India -to- Cape trade. In 1834–1836 Moresby, assisted by Lieutenants Christopher and Young, undertook the difficult cartography of the Maldive Islands , drawing the first accurate maritime charts of this complicated Indian Ocean atoll group (Admiralty Charts). These charts were printed as three separate large maps by
9720-400: The continent as they individually contended with others, steadily amassing more land and power in India to themselves. In the 18th Century, the primary source of the Company's profits in Bengal became taxation in conquered and controlled provinces, as the factories became fortresses and administrative hubs for networks of tax collectors that expanded into enormous cities. The Mughal Empire was
9855-632: The course of the war, six anti-aircraft sloops and several fleet minesweepers were built in the United Kingdom for the RIN. After commissioning, many of these ships joined various escort groups operating in the northern approaches to the British Isles. HMIS Sutlej and HMIS Jumna , each armed with six high-angle 4-inch guns, were present during the Clyde "Blitz" of 1941 and assisted
9990-636: The defence of this area by providing anti-aircraft cover. For the next six months these two ships joined the Clyde Escort Force, operating in the Atlantic and later the Irish Sea Escort Force where they acted as the senior ships of the groups. While engaged on these duties, numerous attacks against U-boats were carried out and attacks by hostile aircraft repelled. At the time of action in which the German battleship Bismarck
10125-461: The end of Company rule in India following the Indian rebellion of 1857 , the force came under the command of the British government of India and was formally named "Her Majesty's Indian Navy". Her Majesty's Indian Navy resumed the name "Bombay Marine" from 1863 to 1877, when it was renamed "Her Majesty's Indian Marine" (HMIM). The Marine then had two divisions; an Eastern Division at Calcutta and
10260-562: The entries follows the south to north itinerary common since da Castro's day. Every detail is noted, not only reefs, harbours and anchorages but also provisions, the essential water (often awful) and fuel supplies. A fuller and more graphic narrative of the upper half of the survey is contained in Lieutenant James Raymond Wellsted 's account, in the second volume of his Travels in Arabia (1838). Wellsted had joined
10395-480: The expense of competing European powers through the art of currying favors and well-placed bribes, as the company was matched at every step with French expansion in the region (whose equivalent company carried substantial royal support). See French East India Company . Throughout the entire century the company only resorted to force against the Mughals once, with terrible consequences. The Anglo-Mughal war (1686–1690)
10530-530: The first East India Company voyage in 1601 aboard Red Dragon . The following year, whilst sailing in the Malacca Straits , Lancaster took the rich 1,200 ton Portuguese carrack Sao Thome carrying pepper and spices. The booty enabled the voyagers to set up two " factories " (trading posts) – one at Bantam on Java and another in the Moluccas (Spice Islands) before leaving. On return to England in 1603, they learned of Elizabeth's death, but Lancaster
10665-648: The first English expedition to reach India that way. Having sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula , they preyed on Spanish and Portuguese ships there before returning to England in 1594. The biggest prize that galvanised English trade was the seizure of a large Portuguese carrack , the Madre de Deus , by Walter Raleigh and the Earl of Cumberland at the Battle of Flores on 13 August 1592. When she
10800-619: The first Indian RIN officers to attain the acting rank of captain. Following India's independence in 1947 and the ensuing partition, the Royal Indian Navy was divided between the newly independent Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan , and the Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee divided the ships and men of the Royal Indian Navy between India and Pakistan. The division of the ships
10935-711: The first governor of the company, and 24 directors (including James Lancaster) or "committees", who made up a Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to a Court of Proprietors, who appointed them. Ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. By tradition, business was initially transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolph's church in Bishopsgate , before moving to East India House in Leadenhall Street . Sir James Lancaster commanded
11070-561: The group stated their intention "to venture in the pretended voyage to the East Indies (the which it may please the Lord to prosper)" and to themselves invest £30,133 (over £4,000,000 in today's money). Two days later, the "Adventurers" reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project. Although their first attempt had not been completely successful, they sought the Queen's unofficial approval to continue. They bought ships for
11205-507: The harnessing of steam power, most notably in the form of the marine steam engine . A further vital factor in this revolution in trade and transport was the charting of the hazardous waterway commissioned by the British East India Company and carried out by Commander Thomas Elwon of the Bombay Marine in the ship Benares , supported by his second-in-command, Lt Robert Moresby in the Bombay Marine's brig Palinurus . This
11340-651: The imperial patronage, soon expanded its commercial trading operations. It eclipsed the Portuguese Estado da Índia , which had established bases in Goa , Chittagong , and Bombay ; Portugal later ceded Bombay to England as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II . The East India Company also launched a joint attack with the Dutch United East India Company (VOC) on Portuguese and Spanish ships off
11475-494: The mid-1700s and early 1800s, particularly in basic commodities including cotton , silk , indigo dye , sugar , salt , spices , saltpetre , tea , and later, opium . The company also initiated the beginnings of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent . The company eventually came to rule large areas of the Indian subcontinent, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. Company-ruled areas in
11610-511: The minesweepers all eventually proceeded to India carrying out various duties in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Cape stations en route. The fleet minesweepers were HMIS Kathiawar , HMIS Kumaon , HMIS Baluchistan , HMIS Carnatic , HMIS Khyber , HMIS Konkan , HMIS Orissa , HMIS Rajputana , HMIS Rohilkhand . Four Australian-built Bathurst-class sloops served with
11745-447: The northern half of the Red Sea, which he had not seen at all during his first investigations in 1831–32. Its position was not correctly established until the 1870s. Moresby also surveyed the Gulf of Aqaba , a narrow deep waterway between high mountains that funnels high northerly winds. It was such winds, so frequently mentioned in the Sailing Directions, which the steam engine was supposed to overcome. The six-kilometre-wide entrance, at
11880-402: The original company faced scarcely any measurable competition. The companies merged in 1708, by a tripartite indenture involving both companies and the state, with the charter and agreement for the new United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies being awarded by Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin . Under this arrangement, the merged company lent a sum of £3,200,000 to
12015-556: The pirates hostis humani generis ("the enemy of humanity"). In mid-1696 the government issued a £500 bounty on Every's head and offered a free pardon to any informer who disclosed his whereabouts. The first worldwide manhunt in recorded history was underway. The plunder of Aurangzeb's treasure ship had serious consequences for the English East India Company. The furious Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ordered Sidi Yaqub and Nawab Daud Khan to attack and close four of
12150-409: The power of the EIC, King Charles II granted the EIC (in a series of five acts around 1670) the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas. In 1689, a Mughal fleet commanded by Sidi Yaqub attacked Bombay. After a year of resistance
12285-498: The pre-1707 Mughal fiefs and holdings, with their capital Delhi routinely under the control of Maratha, Afghan, or usurper generals' armies. The EIC was able to take advantage of this chaos, slowly assuming direct control of the province of Bengal , and fighting numerous wars against the French for control of the east coast. The Company's position in the Mughal court as it fell apart made it possible to sponsor various powerful people on
12420-534: The process which would lead to the formation of the Indian Naval Air Arm . On 26 January 1950, when India adopted its current constitution and became a republic , the Royal Indian Navy became the Indian Navy . Its vessels were redesignated as "Indian Naval Ships", and the "HMIS" ship prefix for existing vessels was changed to 'INS'. At 9:00 that morning, the White Ensign of the Royal Navy
12555-746: The region gradually expanded after the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and by 1858 most of modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was either ruled by the company or princely states closely tied to it by treaty. Following the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 , the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown assuming direct control of present-day Bangladesh, Pakistan and India in the form of the new British Indian Empire . The company subsequently experienced recurring problems with its finances, despite frequent government intervention. The company
12690-456: The region's battlefields for a thousand years, with cannon so well integrated that the Mughals fought with cannon mounted on elephants; all were no match to line infantry with decent discipline supported with field cannon. Repeatedly, a few thousand company sepoys fought vastly larger Mughal forces numerically and came out victorious. Afghan, Mughal, and Maratha factions started creating their own European-style forces, often with French equipment, as
12825-459: The richest in the world in 1700, and the East India Company tried to strip it bare for a century thereafter. Dalrymple calls it "the single largest transfer of wealth until the Nazis." What was in the 17th century the production capital of the world for textiles was forced to become a market for British-made textiles. Statues, jewels, and various other valuables were moved from the palaces of Bengal to
12960-556: The same in the next year. The former adopted the general lines of the Naval Discipline and Indian Navy Acts as far as possible, whilst the latter merely supplied deficiencies in regard to grading and rating. In recognition of its fighting services, HMIM was given the title of "Royal Indian Marine" in 1892. By this time it consisted of over fifty vessels. In 1905, the service was described as having "Government vessels engaged in troop-ship, surveying, police or revenue duties in
13095-526: The sea route between the Mediterranean Sea and India would come to play a key role in a new era of communication. Already before the opening of the Suez Canal , industrial Britain had a rapidly expanding economy and needed improved communication with British India, with its raw materials and imperial requirements. Crucial in the development of the Red Sea route between the two countries was
13230-650: The secretary of the Calcutta government and his wife, Mr and Mrs Lushington, chose to return to England via the Red Sea, sailing on a cramped little brig , Palinurus . This involved disembarking at Qusayr and crossing the desert to the Nile in the customary four days. Back in Britain Elphinstone joined the campaign, promoted by the visionary new commander of the Bombay Marine (renamed the Indian Navy on 1 May 1830), Sir Charles Malcolm , to introduce steam to
13365-592: The slave trade began in 1684, when a Captain Robert Knox was ordered to buy and transport 250 slaves from Madagascar to St. Helena . The East India Company began using and transporting slaves in Asia and the Atlantic in the early 1620s, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, or in 1621, according to Richard Allen. Eventually, the company ended the trade in 1834 after numerous legal threats from
13500-525: The smaller gallivats were about 70 tons (bm) each and carried six 2 to 4-pounder guns. In 1635, the East India Company established a shipyard at Surat , where they built four pinnaces and a few larger vessels to supplement their fleet. In 1686, with most of the English commerce moving to Bombay , the force was renamed the "Bombay Marine". This force fought the Marathas and the Sidis and took part in
13635-590: The southern coast of Arabia under Captain Stafford B. Haines , who would later become the first British official in charge of the Protectorate of Aden . The Red Sea charts of Moresby and Elwon were drafted by chief draughtsman Felix Jones to a scale of one inch to the mile (in the trickier parts, ten inches to the mile), and published in 1834. They included two main sheets covering the whole sea, with two further sheets with detailed plans of anchorages. After
13770-542: The southern part of this area between Jiddah, Hurghada and Qusayr and up the Gulf of Suez during 1830 and 1831. In 1832 the Palinurus worked in the Gulf of Aqaba. Elwon in the Benares similarly criss-crossed the much more hazard-filled waters of the southern Arabian, Sudanese and Eritrean coasts. In 1832 Elwon was promoted Captain and rewarded with the dubious privilege of being appointed the Indian Navy's Commodore in
13905-408: The straits en route to Surat . The pirates gave chase and caught up with the Fateh Muhammed some days later, and meeting little resistance, took some £40,000 of silver. Every continued in pursuit and managed to overhaul Ganj-i-Sawai , which resisted strongly before eventually striking . Ganj-i-Sawai carried enormous wealth and, according to contemporary East India Company sources, was carrying
14040-536: The townhouses of the English countryside. Bengal in particular suffered the worst of Company tax farming, highlighted by the Great Bengal famine of 1770 . The primary tool of expansion for the company was the Sepoy. The Sepoys were locally raised, mostly Muslim, soldiers with European training and equipment, who changed warfare in present-day South Asia. Mounted forces and their superior mobility had been king on
14175-620: The treacherous waters of their atolls until the 1990s, when satellite images appeared. In the Maldives a channel locally also known as Hanikandu , between Northern Maalhosmadulhu Atoll and "Fasdhūtere" Atoll, is still known as ' Moresby Channel ' in the honor of this forgotten captain and draughtsman, who with much patience and hard work charted all the Atolls of the Maldives . Moresby Island , an island in Peros Banhos Atoll in
14310-540: The upper hand by establishing a stronghold in the spice islands (now Indonesia), enforcing a near-monopoly through aggressive policies that eventually drove the EIC to seek trade opportunities in India instead. The English company opened a factory (trading post) in Bantam on Java on its first voyage, and imports of pepper from Java remained an important part of the company's trade for twenty years. English traders frequently fought their Dutch and Portuguese counterparts in
14445-454: The various predatory tribes inhabiting the borders of the sea." The coastal plain had been devastated earlier in the century by Wahhabi puritan Muslims from Central Arabia followed by an Egyptian invasion—none of this good news for non-Muslims. At Sharm Ghabur ('sharm' meaning a channel through the reefs in the local Arabic), where Muslim pilgrims traditionally donned their pilgrim's garb, "water and wood were cheap, and dates excellent, but
14580-563: The venture and increased their investment to £68,373. They convened again a year later, on 31 December 1600, and this time they succeeded; the Queen responded favourably to a petition by George, Earl of Cumberland and 218 others, including James Lancaster, Sir John Harte , Sir John Spencer (both of whom had been Lord Mayor of London ), the adventurer Edward Michelborne , the nobleman William Cavendish and other aldermen and citizens. She granted her charter to their corporation named Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into
14715-413: The vessel swung round and suddenly there was no bottom under the stem at eighty fathoms. In Wellsted's opinion four years in the Red Sea was nothing like as bad as 150 kilometres in the Gulf of Aqaba. On shore the crew helped locals repair their boats and Moresby going for a walk along the beach was accosted by fishermen whose boat had been thus mended, who insisted on his accepting a present of two sheep and
14850-575: The walled forts of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St George in Madras, and Bombay Castle . The first century of the Company, despite its original profits coming primarily from piracy in the Spice Islands between competing European powers and their companies, saw the East India Company change focus after suffering a major setback in 1623 when their factory in Amboyna in the Moluccas was attacked by
14985-462: The year's end. In May 1948, Ajitendu Chakraverti became the first Indian commodore in the post-independence RIN, in the appointment of Chief of Staff Naval HQ. On 21 June 1948, the additional designation of "Chief of the Naval Staff" was added before that of "Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy." In January 1949, the first batch of 13 Indian officers began their flight training, initiating
15120-468: The years since, much of it being cross-correlated by the East India Company 's first hydrographer, Alexander Dalrymple , and subsequently by his successor, James Horsburgh . By the time of the Elwon/Moresby survey, the marine steam engine appeared to be racing to the rescue of British communications with India; the engine, first tested on Scottish lochs and American rivers, was by 1826 attempting
15255-485: Was Engineer Sub-Lieutenant D.N. Mukherji, who joined the Royal Indian Marine as an officer on 6 January 1923. In 1934, the Royal Indian Marine changed its name, with the enactment of the Indian Navy (Discipline) Act 1934. The Royal Indian Navy was formally inaugurated on 2 October 1934, at Bombay. Its ships carried the prefix HMIS , for His Majesty's Indian Ship. At the start of the Second World War ,
15390-531: Was Sir Fairfax Moresby , Admiral of the British Fleet, and Commander in Chief, Channel Squadron and Pacific Station. Robert Moresby's relation to the family is uncertain and it is possible he was the son of another liaison of his father, which might explain his employment in the Bombay Marine, which suffered greatly from being at the bottom of the East India Company's pecking order. In the nineteenth century,
15525-510: Was a complete defeat, ending when the EIC effectively swore fealty to the Mughals to get their factories back. The East India Company's fortunes changed for the better in 1707 when Bengal and other regions under Mughal rule fell into anarchy after the death of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb . A series of large-scale rebellions, and the collapse of the Mughal taxation system led to the effective independence of virtually all of
15660-511: Was able to get close enough to bombard and destroy it. In February 1756, the Marine supported the capture of Gheriah ( Vijaydurg Fort ) by Robert Clive and Admiral Watson, and was active in skirmishes against the French, helping to consolidate the British position in India. In 1809, a fleet of 12 ships of the Marine bombarded the city of Ras al-Khaimah , a pirate stronghold, in an unsuccessful attempt to quell Arab piracy. A subsequent mission in 1819 with 11 vessels proved successful in blockading
15795-411: Was brought in to Dartmouth she was the largest vessel ever seen in England and she carried chests of jewels, pearls, gold, silver coins, ambergris , cloth, tapestries, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, benjamin (a highly aromatic balsamic resin used for perfumes and medicines), red dye, cochineal and ebony. Equally valuable was the ship's rutter (mariner's handbook) containing vital information on
15930-464: Was busy amongst them for months and so paralyzed by disease were the living, that the anchors could scarcely be raised for a retreat to the coast of India. Renovated by a three-months' stay, occasionally in port, where they were strengthened by additional numbers, the undaunted remnants from time to time returned to their task; and in 1837, gave to the world a knowledge of those singular groups which heretofore "though within 150 miles of our coasts" had been
16065-764: Was dissolved in 1874 under the terms of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act enacted one year earlier, as the Government of India Act had by then rendered it vestigial, powerless, and obsolete. The official government machinery of the British Empire had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. In 1577, Francis Drake set out on an expedition from England to plunder Spanish settlements in South America in search of gold and silver. Sailing in
16200-654: Was established in 1599, and it began to create a fleet of fighting ships in 1612, soon after Captain Thomas Best defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of Swally . This led the company to build a port and to establish a small navy based at Suvali , in Surat , Gujarat , to protect its trade routes. The Company named the force the 'Honourable East India Company's Marine', and the first fighting ships arrived on 5 September 1612. This force protected merchant shipping off
16335-541: Was established in 1611 at Masulipatnam on the Andhra Coast of the Bay of Bengal , and its second in 1615 at Surat. The high profits reported by the company after landing in India initially prompted James I to grant subsidiary licences to other trading companies in England. However, in 1609, he renewed the East India Company's charter for an indefinite period, with the proviso that its privileges would be annulled if trade
16470-1113: Was highly successful, and Jahangir sent a letter to James through Sir Thomas Roe: Upon which assurance of your royal love I have given my general command to all the kingdoms and ports of my dominions to receive all the merchants of the English nation as the subjects of my friend; that in what place soever they choose to live, they may have free liberty without any restraint; and at what port soever they shall arrive, that neither Portugal nor any other shall dare to molest their quiet; and in what city soever they shall have residence, I have commanded all my governors and captains to give them freedom answerable to their own desires; to sell, buy, and to transport into their country at their pleasure. For confirmation of our love and friendship, I desire your Majesty to command your merchants to bring in their ships of all sorts of rarities and rich goods fit for my palace; and that you be pleased to send me your royal letters by every opportunity, that I may rejoice in your health and prosperous affairs; that our friendship may be interchanged and eternal. The company, which benefited from
16605-465: Was involved in the defence of Sydney Harbour during the attack on Sydney Harbour . On 11 November 1942, Bengal was escorting the Dutch tanker Ondina to the southwest of Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. Two Japanese commerce raiders armed with six-inch guns attacked Ondina . Bengal fired her single four-inch gun and Ondina fired her 102 mm and both scored hits on Hōkoku Maru , which shortly blew up and sank. On 12 February 1944,
16740-605: Was involved, the Sutlej left Scapa Flow, with all despatch as the senior member of a group, to take over a convoy from the destroyers which were finally engaged in the sinking of the Bismarck . Later HMIS Cauvery , HMIS Kistna , HMIS Narbada , HMIS Godavari , also anti-aircraft sloops, completed similar periods in the U.K. waters escorting convoys in the Atlantic and dealing with attacks from hostile U-boats, aircraft and glider bombs. These six ships and
16875-769: Was knighted by the new king, James I , on account of the voyage's success. By this time, the war with Spain had ended but the company had profitably breached the Spanish-Portuguese duopoly; new horizons opened for the English. In March 1604, Sir Henry Middleton commanded the company's second voyage . General William Keeling , a captain during the second voyage, led the third voyage aboard Red Dragon from 1607 to 1610 along with Hector under Captain William Hawkins and Consent under Captain David Middleton . Early in 1608, Alexander Sharpeigh
17010-577: Was made captain of the company's Ascension , and general or commander of the fourth voyage. Thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union (captained by Richard Rowles), sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1608. This expedition was lost. Initially, the company struggled in the spice trade because of competition from the well-established Dutch East India Company . This rivalry led to military skirmishes, with each company establishing fortified trading posts, fleets, and alliances with local rulers. The Dutch, better financed and supported by their government, gained
17145-571: Was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan. The committee allocated to the Royal Pakistan Navy (RPN) three of the seven active sloops, HMIS Godavari , HMIS Hindustan and HMIS Narbada , four of the ten serviceable minesweepers , two frigates , two naval trawlers , four harbour launches and a number of Harbour Defence Motor Launches . 358 personnel, and 180 officers, most of whom were Muslims or Europeans, volunteered to transfer to
17280-407: Was patrolling the Laccadive Islands in search of Japanese ships and submarines. At midnight on 9 December 1941, HMS Glasgow sank the RIN patrol vessel HMIS Prabhavati with two lighters in tow en route to Karachi, with 6-inch shells at 6,000 yards (5,500 m). Prabhavati was alongside the lighters and was mistaken for a surfaced Japanese submarine. HMIS Indus was sunk by
17415-470: Was rare for the full complement of officers to be functioning and Elwon himself was frequently ill. In 1833 the assistant surveyor, Lieutenant Pinching, died of smallpox off Aden Settlement where he was buried. Moresby's narrative suggested that the triangulation started from Suez , as the nearest point to Cairo for those crossing Egypt by the Overland Route. However, the detailed journal in
17550-603: Was showcased by the Anglo-Nepalese war (1814–1816). The Draft History of the Qing records the Chinese Qing dynasty as formally commencing trade with the British in 1698. Within the first two decades of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie , (VOC) was the wealthiest commercial operation in the world with 50,000 employees worldwide and
17685-527: Was so high between the Dutch and the British East Indies Trading Companies that it escalated into at least four Anglo-Dutch wars: 1652–1654, 1665–1667, 1672–1674 and 1780–1784. Competition arose in 1635 when Charles I granted a trading licence to Sir William Courteen , which permitted the rival Courteen association to trade with the east at any location in which the EIC had no presence. In an act aimed at strengthening
17820-603: Was sunk near the Seychelles , in position 03º35'S, 52º49'E, by depth charges from HMIS Godavari and the British frigate HMS Findhorn . In February 1946, Indian sailors launched the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny on board more than fifty ships and in shore establishments, protesting about issues such as the slow rate of demobilization and discrimination in the Navy. The mutiny found widespread support and spread all over India, including elements in
17955-617: Was the culmination of a series of efforts to get such a survey under way that the Marine had begun with the work of Lieutenant White of the Marine in the HEICS Panther in 1795. The Red Sea is full of navigational hazards, but at that time, reliable charts were not available. Surveys of the Red Sea, other than the intimate knowledge of the waters had by Arab pilots, had begun with the Portuguese João de Castro in 1540, with his Roteiro da Mar Roxa . Knowledge had accumulated in
18090-416: Was the senior vessel in charge of the survey under the captaincy of Thomas Elwon. Each vessel had a complement of about ten officers. The two ships began the survey at Khor Shinab on the north Sudan coast, with Moresby and the Palinurus surveying the less known northern half of the Red Sea and Elwon in the less handy Benares dealing with the southern half. Moresby's data reveal the Palinurus criss-crossing
18225-688: Was unprofitable for three consecutive years. In 1615, James I instructed Sir Thomas Roe to visit the Mughal Emperor Nur-ud-din Salim Jahangir (r. 1605–1627) to arrange for a commercial treaty that would give the company exclusive rights to reside and establish factories in Surat and other areas. In return, the company offered to provide the Emperor with goods and rarities from the European market. This mission
#932067