96-564: Robert Orme (25 December 1728 – 13 January 1801) was a British historian of India. Son of a British East India Company physician and surgeon, he entered the service of the Company in Bengal in 1743. He was regarded as an authority on India. He was appointed as a Member of the Council at Fort St. George , Madras , between 1754 and 1758. In that capacity he was instrumental in the sending of
192-407: A few months into his 14-month stay at Cambridge, Parr's father died at the age of 54. Even with financial support from Harrow, money now became a problem, and Parr, unable to continue his studies without going into debt, was forced to leave Cambridge. Because of Cambridge's rules regarding bachelorships in divinity, he could claim one after ten years practising and would not have to be a member of
288-593: A great work of modern Latin. John Johnstone lists approximately 1500 of Parr's correspondents, including two members of the royal family, four archbishops and a vast selection of dukes , marquesses , earls , viscounts , lords , knights , judges and members of parliament . In Parr 1813 he wrote the Latin inscription on King Richard's Well at the presumed site of the Battle of Bosworth , Shenton . There are two memoirs of his life, one by William Field (1828),
384-514: 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 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
480-568: 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
576-719: 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
672-529: 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 a petition to Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean. The aim
768-643: A small fortune. The Grantham , the ship in which he sailed, was captured by the French on 4 January 1759 and taken to Mauritius . Orme ultimately reached Nantes in France in the spring of 1760. In the autumn of 1760 Orme bought a house in Harley Street , London. He was elected fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 8 November 1770, and from about 1769 till his death was salaried historiographer to
864-799: A young Robert Clive as the head of a punitive expedition in 1757 to Calcutta , after the Black Hole incident of 1756. He returned to England in 1760, and was appointed as historiographer to the British East India Company in 1769. Orme wrote A History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan from 1745 (1763–78). He also published Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire,
960-582: 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,
1056-697: 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
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#17327834808411152-601: 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,
1248-682: 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
1344-835: 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 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
1440-741: 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 was dissolved in 1874 under the terms of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act enacted one year earlier, as
1536-712: 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
1632-441: 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
1728-563: The Americas ; and several other sea-farers who had served with Drake and Raleigh. On 22 September, 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
1824-478: The British Nation in Indostan from the year 1745 ; vol. ii. was published in two parts in 1778. Orme was complimented on his work by Sir William Jones . George Bruce Malleson , in his History of the French in India , thought Orme's history generally accurate, though failing to treat the French as principals in the story. Orme told Samuel Parr that in preparing the third volume he completely formed every sentence in his mind before writing it down. A third edition of
1920-717: 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
2016-780: 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 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
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#17327834808412112-540: 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
2208-539: 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
2304-586: The East India Company. In 1792 Orme retired to Great Ealing , Middlesex , where he died on 13 January 1801, in his 73rd year. He was buried on 21 January in the churchyard of St. Mary's, Ealing where there was a memorial tablet. He was an admirer of Samuel Johnson . In 1752 Orme drew up part of A General Idea of the Government and People of Indostan . This was afterwards completed, and posthumously published in Orme's Historical Fragments , edition of 1805. Orme
2400-612: 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 was made captain of the company's Ascension , and general or commander of
2496-609: 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 the Golden Hind he achieved this, and then sailed across
2592-535: 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
2688-858: The King's health improved, and the Regency Bill never passed. The Whigs did grant him a £300 annuity, however, which he needed at times during his retirement. In 1789 he exchanged the benefice in Hatton for Wadenhoe , Northamptonshire , stipulating to be allowed to reside, as assistant curate, in the parsonage of Hatton, where he took a limited number of pupils. Here he spent the rest of his days, enjoying his excellent library, described by Henry George Bohn in Bibliotheca Parriana (1827). His friends Richard Porson and Edmund Henry Barker passed many months in his company. In later years Parr
2784-549: The Morattoes and English Concerns in Indostan from the year 1659 (1782). Born on Christmas Day 1728 at Anjengo , Travancore State , India, he was the second son of Alexander Orme, a physician and surgeon in the service of the East India Company. His mother's maiden name was Hill. He was sent when about two years old to the house of his aunt, Mrs. Robert Adams, in Cavendish Square , London. From about 1734 to 1741 he
2880-488: 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
2976-863: 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
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3072-721: 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 a hero; his circumnavigation raised an enormous amount of money for England's coffers, and investors received
3168-661: The Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Forster, rector of All Saints near Colchester. He was also ordained priest on 15 March 1775 by Bishop Lowth , another supporter of the teaching of English in schools. At the request of his friend Dr Forster, he entered upon the cures of the Hythe and the Trinity Church in Colchester . On 1 August 1778, at a full court of mayoralty, Parr was elected master of the grammar school of Norwich and early in
3264-708: 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 . Samuel Parr Samuel Parr (26 January 1747 – 6 March 1825), was an English schoolmaster , writer, minister and Doctor of Law. He was known in his time for political writing, and (flatteringly) as "the Whig Johnson", though his reputation has lasted less well than Samuel Johnson 's, and
3360-491: 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 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
3456-439: The age of forty-six, made in 1774 by Joseph Nollekens , was bequeathed to the East India Company; an engraving of it forms the frontispiece to Orme's Historical Fragments , ed. 1805. Orme bequeathed to his friend and executor, John Roberts, chairman of the court of directors, all his books, manuscripts, &c., with a request – duly carried out – that he would present them to the East India Company. This collection, which went to
3552-455: The age of four. At Easter 1752 Parr was sent to Harrow School as a free scholar, and when he left in the spring 1761, he began to assist his father in his medical practice. His father tried to direct Samuel towards a medical career. Stubbornly, Parr repeatedly turned down offers to extend his medical knowledge. In early November 1762, Parr's mother died. Less than a year later, his father married again, this time to Margaret Coxe, much to
3648-812: 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,
3744-480: The authority of George III , but, as the King's health worsened, parliament came close (by a matter of weeks) to instating the Prince of Wales as regent. Prinny , as he was known, was a supporter of Charles James Fox , who was in turn a friend of Parr's; it was likely, therefore, that if the prince had come into power as regent, he would have chosen Fox to be the prime minister ; Fox in turn who would have nominated Parr as Bishop of Gloucester. Unfortunately for Parr,
3840-453: 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 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
3936-409: 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
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4032-452: 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
4128-428: 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
4224-522: 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
4320-505: 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
4416-443: 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
4512-400: 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
4608-400: The deliberations of the council respecting the military operations in the Carnatic , 1754–8, and recommended the appointment of Clive to command the expedition against Suráj-ud-Dowlah . Orme was for some years close to Clive, but the friendship was broken off about 1769. From 1757 to 1758 Orme was commissary and accountant-general. At the end of 1758, his health being poor, he left India with
4704-420: The displeasure of his son, who was sixteen at the time. Samuel was eventually allowed to swap medicine for divinity. To this end, Parr entered the University of Cambridge , perhaps as a sizar as his stepmother had suggested or perhaps not. In 1765 he was admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge , where, as he wrote later, his "tutors were eminently able, and to me uniformly kind". On 23 January 1766, only
4800-425: 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)
4896-418: The extensive interests of Harrow. During his time there, however, he successfully introduced various curriculum developments, particularly the teaching of English and its grammar (as opposed to purely Latin), on which topic he published his Introduction to English Grammar , which appeared in 1765. In 1776 he was elected to the post of head master of Colchester Royal Grammar School , and moved his family to
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#17327834808414992-477: The following year moved to the city to start work. Though money remained a concern of Parr's, he did manage to find happiness at Norwich, surrounded, as he was, by a group of committed academics. Shortly afterwards he became curate to the Reverend William Tapps, serving the churches of St. George's Colgate and St Saviour's . Parr, turning his attention to obtaining a doctorate and with one in divinity not forthcoming, swapped his studies to law. The degree of LL.D.
5088-519: 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 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
5184-502: 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
5280-415: The headmaster died in September 1771, Parr immediately applied for the position, but was not selected. Harrow demanded every applicant had a Master of Arts degree; an honorary one was swiftly granted to him from Cambridge, where all of his previous teachers spoke highly of him. He was ordained deacon by Richard Terrick , Bishop of London, on Christmas Eve 1769, and for a short time he served curacies at
5376-444: The historian, and others (cf. Edin. Rev. January 1807, p. 391 seq.). Orme's essays ‘On the Origin of the English Establishment … at Broach and Surat’ and ‘A General Idea of the Government and People of Indostan’ were included in this volume. Orme was married, but this is said to have been unknown even to close friends during his lifetime. The court of directors of the East India Company gave his widow an annuity. A bust of Orme at
5472-448: 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
5568-581: The library of the India Office , consisted of 51 volumes of printed tracts on India and the East India Company; 231 manuscript volumes, compiled by Orme, containing information on Indian affairs; letters relating to the company's affairs; and maps, charts, plans, &c. In the maps accompanying his published works Orme had marked hundreds of places for the first time. A part of Orme's library had been sold by him at Sotheby's about April 1796, when he gave up his house in Harley Street. British East India Company The East India Company ( EIC ) (1600–1874)
5664-408: The nearby parishes of Willesden and Kingsbury . Parr obtained a licence from the bishop, on 14 October 1771, and he opened a school at Stanmore . Perhaps hastened from need of a female superintendent at the school, he married Jane Marsingale the next month. Despite his taking between 20 and 40 pupils from Harrow with him, the school failed after five years, mainly because it could not compete with
5760-402: 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
5856-409: The other, with his works and his letters, by John Johnstone (1828); and Edmund Henry Barker published in 1828–1829 two volumes of Parriana , a confused mass of information on Parr and his friends. An essay on his life, Dr. Samuel Parr: or, Whiggism in its relations to literature , is included in Thomas de Quincey 's works, vol. v., and a little volume of the Aphorisms, Opinions and Reflections of
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#17327834808415952-476: 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
6048-409: 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
6144-445: 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
6240-506: The project. Although their first attempt had not been completely successful, they sought the Queen's unofficial approval to continue. They bought ships for 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 ),
6336-456: 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
6432-602: The reputation which he acquired through the variety of his knowledge and dogmatism of his conversation. The chief of them are his Characters of Charles James Fox (1809) and his edited reprint of Tracts of Warburton and a Warburtonian , which caused controversy; in his critique of Warburton, he focused on the worst written by William Warburton and Richard Hurd , which probably did not deserve to be reprinted, even if they were deliberately being suppressed by their authors. His Latin preface to The Three Treatises of Bellendenus should also not be forgotten, regarded, as it was, as
6528-413: The resemblances were at a superficial level; Parr was no prose stylist, even if he was an influential literary figure. A prolific correspondent, he kept up with many of his pupils, and involved himself widely in intellectual and political life. Parr was born at Harrow on the Hill to Samuel Parr, a surgeon, and his wife Ann. Samuel was a determined and educated man who taught his only son Latin grammar at
6624-407: 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
6720-405: 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
6816-408: 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
6912-567: The terrors of the French Revolution , Parr adhered to Whiggism , and his correspondence included every man of eminence, either literary or political, who adopted the same creed. He was an adamant support of Charles James Fox, and vehemently disliked William Pitt the Younger. In private life, his model was Johnson . He succeeded in copying Johnson's uncouthness and pompous manner, but had neither his humour nor his real authority. He
7008-488: The town during the spring of 1777. He repaired the buildings that had fallen into decay and he took a house near it for the reception of private boarders. In recognition of his achievements there, a school house was named after him in 1908. Though his stay at the school was short – he left after only twelve or fourteen months, having quarrelled with the trustees – he made two friendships he would keep for life: that of Thomas Twining , curate of Fordham , and of
7104-536: 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
7200-432: The university to do so. Needing both funds and intellectual stimulus, he decided to return to Harrow. From February 1767 to the close of 1771 he served under Robert Carey Sumner (by that time a personal friend) as head assistant at Harrow, where he had Richard Brinsley Sheridan among his pupils and enjoyed an income of about £100 p.a., consisting of £50 salary and about the same amount in fees from private pupils. When
7296-540: 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
7392-514: 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 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
7488-575: 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
7584-527: The work appeared in 1780, a fourth in 1790, a fifth in 1799. There were other editions in 1803 and 1861 in London, and Madras. In 1782 Orme published Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, of the Morattoes, and of the English Concerns in Indostan from the year 1659 . This was reprinted in 1805 (London), with a memoir of the author, giving some extracts from his correspondence with William Robertson
7680-565: 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
7776-447: 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, the company was the largest corporation in the world by various measures and had its own armed forces in
7872-549: Was consulted on Indian affairs and gave even more valuable information to Lancaster. In 1599, 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
7968-524: Was duly conferred on him by the University of Cambridge in 1781. Towards the close of 1785, he decided to leave Norwich – principally because his post as headmaster did not pay well but required a great deal of his time. In addition, in 1780, he was presented to the small rectory of Asterby in Lincolnshire , and three years later the vicarage of Hatton near Warwick. The first of these
8064-485: Was educated at Harrow School under Dr James Cox, and was then placed for a year in the office of the accountant-general of the Royal African Company . In 1742 Orme went to Calcutta, where his elder brother William was a Writer in the East India Company. Orme engaged himself in the mercantile house of Jackson & Wedderburn at Calcutta, and made a voyage to Surat . On returning to Calcutta in 1743 he
8160-541: 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
8256-502: Was famous as a writer of epitaphs and wrote inscriptions for the tombs of Burke , Charles Burney , Johnson, Fox and Gibbon . As for Parr's religious views: My principles, I am sure, will never endanger the church [of England] – my studies, I hope, are such as do not disgrace it – and my actions, I can say with confidence, have ever tended to preserve it from open, and what I conceive to be unjust attacks. Parr's writings fill several volumes, but all may be seen as beneath
8352-533: Was given access to the records at the India House, and obtained information from the Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau , whom he visited in 1773 at his country seat in France. In London, Orme formed a library of ancient and modern classics, and arranged his materials – collected since 1742 – for an Indian history. In August 1763 he published the first volume of his major work, A History of the Military Transactions of
8448-1113: 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
8544-436: Was himself appointed a Writer in the East India Company's service. He acquired a reputation for knowledge of Indian customs, and in 1752 was asked to state his opinion on the regulation of the police in Calcutta. In 1753 he visited England, and during his absence in 1754 was appointed by the court of directors a member of the council at Madras. Returning to India, he arrived at Madras on 14 September 1754. He took an active part in
8640-479: Was prone to bad colds and from two he developed erysipelas . The first he eventually recovered from; the second he did not. He bore a long illness with patience and piety, and died at Hatton parsonage on 6 March 1825. His library was auctioned by R. H. Evans in London on 29 May (and two following days) and 31 October (and seven following days); a copy of the sale catalogue for the first part is held at Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.132(8)). Even amid
8736-603: 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
8832-527: 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
8928-549: Was the ship's rutter (mariner's handbook) containing vital information on 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
9024-581: 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 the first English expedition to reach India that way. Having sailed around Cape Comorin to
9120-688: 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
9216-477: Was worth £36 a year; the latter, however, around £100. He duly then resigned the former in favour of his curate at Hatton. These posts gave him both better pay and more free time with which to tutor privately and derive more income from those endeavours. In late 1788, the installation of the Prince of Wales as regent almost saw Parr become the bishop of Gloucester . William Pitt the Younger had been in power on
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