Monopoly and Private trade: ’Rival Empires of Trade in the Orient’ Revisited, Chris Nierstrasz University of Warwick

Introduction Rival empires of trade Monopoly and private trade

Rival empires Trade between Europe and Asia: 17 th Century: Spices 18 th Century: Cotton, Tea and Coffee Intra-Asian trade: 17 th Century: VOC’s intra-Asian monopoly 18 th Century: English Country trade

Rival Empires Increase in trade to Europe VOC: 17 th Century: 251 million guilders 18 th Century: 678 million guilders EIC: : 8,4 million pounds : 14 million pounds : 22 million pounds : 79 million pounds

How was trade financed? From Europe: Export of silver Export of goods

How was trade financed? From Europe: Export of silver Export of goods From Asia: Intra-Asian trade Remittance of fortunes Taxation

Table 1 Average annual value of treasure exported by the English and the Dutch east India Companies to Asia, (in million florins rounded off to the nearest thousand; £1=f.12= Rs 8) YearsEnglish East India CompanyDutch East India Company n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a4.243 Source: Om Prakash, ‘Precious-metal flows in India, Early Modern Period’, in: Dennis Flynn, Arturo Giraldez and Richard von Glahn, Global Connections and Monetary History, (Aldershot 2003), 152, table 6.1.

VOC’s intra-Asian trade Table 18 The Financial results of the VOC in Asia, (in guilders, rounded off to the nearest hundred thousand) ExpensesIncome ProfitLoss ,400,00018,300,000900, ,400,00028,400,00012,000, ,000,00037,400,00010,400, ,400,00040,700,0002,300, ,500,00057,900,00016,300, ,900,00047,300,0002,400, ,700,00038,700,0003,000, ,000,00058,700,00010,300, ,800,00044,300,00011,500, ,400,00054,200,0009,200, ,200,00044,900,00013,300, ,900,00054,200,0009,200, ,800,00070,000,00011,000, ,000,00049,200,00017,800, ,000,00049,200,00017,800, ,500,00058,400,00030,100, ,400,00050,000,00050,400,000 Source: Gaastra, Bewind en beleid, (for the period to 1800); De Korte, De jaarlijkse financiële verantwoording, 31, 47 and appendix 10.

VOC Monopoly on intra-Asian trade Expanding trade in 18 th Century: From 1740 allows private trade to boost performance

Bills of Exchange VOC 17 th Century: 30 million guilders 18 th Century:237 million guilders

EIC’s export of silver after 1760

EIC drop in silver export Combination: Colonisation Intra-Asian private trade

Bills of Exchange VOC 17 th Century: 30 million guilders 18 th Century:237 million guilders EIC : 3,3 million pounds : 79 million pounds

The servant’s perspective VOC : Private trade part of remuneration

The servant’s perspective VOC : Private trade part of remuneration Social exclusion model

The servant’s perspective VOC: Private trade part of remuneration Social exclusion model EIC: Colonial control and private trade

Comparison Dutch and English private trade based on same principle up to colonisation of Bengal Dutch private trade continued on the old path, while colonisation allowed English private trade to embark on a new path

Conclusion