Almost every European in the East, be he ensign or ambassador, prelate or president, engaged in some branch of trade on his own account, writes John Keay in ‘The Honourable Company: A history of the English East India Company’ (www.harpercollins.co.in). The salaries paid by the Company were ‘miserly’ – 200 pounds per annum for a president, 5 pounds per annum for a writer – one learns. Even with generous allowances for subsistence and servants it was impossible to live in comfort, let alone make a fortune, without speculating in trade, reasons Keay.
Many hues
There was also the ‘private trade,’ by those who were not in the employ of any company, the author informs. He explains that the phrase ‘private trade’ could fuzzily denote anything from the modest cargo space allowed by the Company to its factors and ships’ captains on voyages to and from Europe to the entire evil-smelling contents of a Hughli barge that would never leave the river, or a part share in a many-decked Surat galleon sailing for the Red Sea.
An examination of the shipping records for Madras suggests that the number of Company ships calling there was greatly exceeded by the number of ships that did not belong to the Company, notes Keay. “Of the latter some are described as Indian, Armenian or Burmese but this did not preclude their officers being European or their cargoes being all or partly the ventures of European syndicates…”
Absorbing narrative.
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