the Dalaverse

*gets out her history of the British Empire book*

I'll let ya know any ideas I come up with ;-) - provided I don't get too caught up with the book y'know...

Okies, in relation with what Mel just said... yep, I'd agree about the whole protecting merchant shipping stuff...

Some extracts from me book...

"The economics of this early import trade [from India] were relatively simple... paid for their purchases in cash, using bullion earned from trade elsewhere rather than exchanging English goods for Indian. ... Getting the bullion out to India and the goods home again, even the transmission of orders to buy and sell, meant round trips of some twelve thousand miles, every mile made hazardous bu the chance of storms, shipwrecks and pirates.

The biggest threat of all, however, came not from ships flying the Jolly Roger. It came from other Euorpeans who were trying to do exactly the same thing. Asia was about to become the scene of a ruthless battle for market share.

This was to be globalisation with gunboats."

Now, the thing I've picked up on regarding the date you've got is that the nemy is not the Dutch. Yes, for most of the 17th century England was at war with Holland - however, this ceased in 1688 when we got rid of James II and asked William of Orange (generally known as the reign of William & Mary) to kindly take over. At this point an agreement was reached regarding trade with the Indies - the Dutch kept the spice trade, the English took over the textile trade.

Ok, so I'm being specific about it being the English East India Company here, when England & Scotland were united quite a while before... According to my book, in 1695 there was the founding of the "Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies" - a possibility there?

Anyhow, on to places... I'll just quote from the book 'coz I'm too lazy to re-phrase :-p

"The shift from spices to cloth also implied a relocation of the East India Company's Asian base. Surat was now gradually wound down. In its stead, three new 'factories' (as they were sometimes known) were established - fortified trading posts which today are among Asia's most populous cities. The first of these was on the south-east coast of India, the fabled shore of Coromandel. There, on a shore site acquired in 1630, the company built a fort which, as if to advertise its Englishness, was christened Fort St George. Around it would spring up the city of Madras. Just over thirty years later, in 1661, England acquired Bombay from Portugal as part of Charles II's dowry when he married Catherine of Braganza. Finally, in 1690, the company establisheda fort at Sutanuti on the east bank of the River Hugli. This was then amalgamated with two other villages to form a larger town renamed Calcutta."

Was it Bombay you were thinking of, Mel?

Anyhow, hope that helps a bit hun...