See Extracts from IOR;
Letters from Bombay; Further Letters from
Bombay; English Factories, Fawcett; Early Bombay, Foster
History
The
first two voyages of the EIC from England did not go to India but to
the islands of the East Indies, and it was not
until the third expedition that an English ship, commanded by a captain
Hawkins, eventually reached Surat
on 28th August
1608. However, Hawkins was unable to establish a trading post at Surat and, initially, the
English could only base themselves near to Surat at a place named Swalley
Hole. The twelfth voyage sent out by the EIC, commanded by Thomas Best, arrived
at Surat in
1612 and finally succeeded in obtaining the necessary permission to establish a
factory, possibly because the Moghuls were beginning to realise that the
English were seriously capable of challenging Portuguese naval power. In 1635
the Portuguese and the English signed, in Goa,
a treaty that gave the English access to Portuguese trading posts all around
the Arabian Sea, including the posts along the
west coast of India.
One of the islands controlled by the Portuguese was Bombay, south of Surat, and this island was ceded to Charles
II as part of the dowry for his marriage to the Portuguese princess, Catherine
of Braganza in 1661. The Earl of Marlborough was sent to occupy the island with
a Portuguese Viceroy and 400 troops. However, when Marlborough arrived in 1662, the Portuguese
Governor refused to hand over the Island until
he received instructions from Goa. Marlborough was obliged
to unload his soldiers onto a deserted island whilst he himself sailed home. It
was not until 1665 that negotiations between the British force and the
Portuguese led to the British taking possession of Bombay, by when only 97 of the original force
of 400 was left alive. Having obtained possession of the island, King Charles
then rented Bombay
to the East India Company in 1668 for £10 p.a., but the seat of government of
the EIC did not transfer there, from Surat,
until 2nd May 1687
[1]. Up
until that time, the English were obliged to have their bullion coined in the
local mint at Surat
and pay the appropriate charges (see Surat
section).
Coinage
The coinage
of Bombay at
the time of transfer was Portuguese in nature and consisted of silver xerafins, copper pice, and tin bazaruccos,
all of which were manufactured outside of Bombay
itself. Sixteen bazarucco’s went to one pice and 23¼
pice to one xerafin. In the books of the EIC the
accounts continued to be kept in the old Portuguese way in xerafins
(valued in the Company’s books at 20 pence sterling), divided into 3 larins with each larin being
reckoned at 80 reis. Of course, this was the coinage of the island of Bombay
itself. Most trade was carried out with the mainland and the coins in use there
were gold mohurs and silver rupees, although other coins were also in use.
Pridmore (see ref [1])
cites the use of a coin called a Mahmudi (with a
sterling value of about one shilling), apparently issued by the Rajah of Malher in Baglan, a place about
70 miles from Surat [2].
Once the
English had gained control of Bombay
Island, it was not long
before they turned their attention to the matter of the coinage. Henry Gary was
the King’s representative on the island and in 1668 he wrote [3]:
There is a
very greate need for small money heere,
if it agrees with your Lordships good liking that I may have procured a liberty
to make and stampe a sort of copper and tinne money which is very requisite for these parts. They
call it pice whereof 13¾ make a shilling: that of tin are called bazarookoes, whereof 16 goes for one pice. There being much
cozenage used both in the one and the other. I shall therefore humbly recommend
to your Lordship that a certaine quantity of copper
bee sent hither in plates, such as the company use to send to Suratt. I doe assure your
Lordship it will make some additions to His Majesties treasurie
and revenue
However,
Gary’s attempt came to nothing because of the transfer of the island from the
King to the EIC.
Map
of the Indian Mints Producing Coins of the Bombay Presidency
References