UPSC Prelims 2021 Q33: Early English East India Company Factories
In the first quarter of seventeenth century, in which of the following was/were the factory/factories of the English East India Company located?
1. Broach
2. Chicacole
3. Trichinopoly
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- 1 only
- 1 and 2
- 3 only
- 2 and 3
Answer: (a) 1 only
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: correct — Broach (Bharuch) was in Gujarat, on the Narmada near Surat, and was a cotton-textile centre. According to the Bombay Gazetteer's account of Broach, English merchants hired a house there for a factory in 1614. Sir Thomas Roe then got permission from Jahangir in 1616 for an English trading house at Broach. The British Library's records also date the imperial permission to 1616. That places the factory inside the first quarter of the century (1601–1625).
- 2: incorrect — Chicacole (now Srikakulam) is on the north coast of Andhra and was one of the Northern Circars. It enters the Company story in the mid-18th century, not the early 17th. Bussy got Chicacole and the nearby Circars for the French in 1753. Colonel Forde's campaign of 1758–59 passed them to the English, and Clive got an imperial grant of the Northern Circars in 1765. On the Coromandel side, the Company's early-17th-century factory was at Masulipatnam (1611), not Chicacole.
- 3: incorrect — Trichinopoly (Tiruchirappalli) was an inland fort of the Carnatic. It is known for the siege of 1751–52 in the Second Carnatic War, when the English supported Muhammad Ali against the French-backed Chanda Sahib. It was a military and political site of the 1750s, not an English trading factory of 1600–1625. The early English factories were ports or large Mughal market towns.
How to eliminate
This question is mostly about chronology, so placing each town in its century does most of the work. In 1600–1625 the English were a small trading company. They depended on Mughal permission, got through Thomas Roe's embassy (1615–19), and their factories were in Gujarat and the Mughal heartland: Surat, Broach, Ahmedabad and Agra. In the south they had only Masulipatnam. Trichinopoly and Chicacole are names from the Carnatic Wars and the Northern Circars, after 1750. If the town names make you think of Bussy, Clive or the Carnatic Wars, the site belongs to the 18th century. Once Trichinopoly is ruled out, only the options without statement 3 are left. Of those, 'Broach only' is the safer pick, because Broach is near Surat and on the Gujarat textile route that the early English trade relied on. Fact to remember: Broach was an English factory by 1616, and Chicacole and Trichinopoly come in only after 1750.
Know more
Early English factories in India (1600–1640)
A factory was a fortified warehouse and residence where the Company's agents (the 'factors') bought and stored goods for export. In the early 17th century the English got a foothold in two ways. They beat the Portuguese at sea, at Swally in 1612. They also got trading permission from the Mughals through Thomas Roe's embassy to Jahangir (1615–19).
| Region | Factory | Approx. date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra (Coromandel) | Masulipatnam | 1611 | First English settlement on the Bay of Bengal |
| Gujarat | Surat | 1612–13 | Main western base after the Battle of Swally |
| Gujarat | Broach | 1614–16 | House hired in 1614, imperial permission 1616 |
| Mughal interior | Agra, Ahmedabad | c. 1615–19 | Opened under Roe's grants |
| Coromandel | Madras (Fort St George) | 1639–40 | Site granted by a local raja; the Coromandel base shifted here from Masulipatnam |
Why the later names are traps
- Chicacole and the Northern Circars: held by the French under Bussy (1753), taken by the English in 1758–59, and formally granted by Shah Alam to Clive in 1765.
- Trichinopoly and Arcot: places from the Second Carnatic War (1749–54), when the English and French fought over who would be Nawab of the Carnatic.
Quick rule: the early 17th century is about trade under Mughal permission, in Gujarat ports and Mughal towns. The mid-18th century is about war and getting territory in the Carnatic, the Circars and Bengal. When a list of places comes up, sort each one into its century first.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- East India Company: The question asks where this London merchants' company had its trading factories in its first 25 years.
- Thomas Roe: Roe's embassy to Jahangir (1615–19) produced the Mughal grants under which the early English factories in Gujarat and northern India opened.
- Battle of Swally 1612: The 1612 victory off Swally secured the English position at Surat, the base for nearby Gujarat factories.
- Siege of Arcot 1751: Arcot and the related fighting at Trichinopoly belong to the Second Carnatic War, which helps date one of the listed places.