Great Trading Cities

The original East India Company Trading factories were often established on local hubs of trade.  These small trading hubs soon became names known to the whole world,  a provenance that these now great cities carry on today.

Singapore

Singapore was founded by The Company man Thomas Raffles in 1819. He persuaded London that it needed a secure base near the Straits of Malacca. Sinhapura, a small island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula was selected. Raffles had the vision of an international free trade emporium at the junction of the Indian Ocean and the China Seas. By 1857 it was estimated that the total trade of Singapore had reached £10 million.  You can stay in the Raffles hotel in Singapore today

Mumbai

In 1661, King Charles II of England, married Princess Catherine de Braganza of Portugal, and as part of the dowry he received “Bombay” which is today known as Mumbai. In 1668 it was leased to The East India Company for £10 per annum. Shortly thereafter The Company moved their main holdings from Surat to Bombay.  The second governor of Bombay, Gerald Aungier, saw the opportunity to develop the islands into a center of commerce.  Aungier offered various incentives to skilled workers and traders to move to the British holding. The opportunities for business attracted many Gujarati communities - the Parsis, the Bohras, Jews and Banias from Surat and Diu.  At around this time the population of Bombay was estimated to have risen from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 in 1675, establishing it as the gateway to India.

Hong Kong

The East India Company made the first successful sea venture to China in 1699, and Hong Kong’s trade with British merchants developed rapidly soon after. The Company was interested in Hong Kong’s safe harbour located on the trade routes of the Far East, thus establishing a trade enterprise between Western businessmen and China.  Chinese commodities, namely porcelains, landscaped-furnishings and tea were popular among the European aristocrats. As trade grew the British Government became concerned to reduce its huge purchases in silver from China and replaced the silver with opium. The trade of opium for Chinese products grew rapidly. The Chinese emperor banned the drug trade in 1799 but to no avail. Smuggling came about as neither foreign traders nor Guangdong merchants were inclined to forgo the profitable business, and this led to the Opium Wars. Throughout the next few years, the British enjoyed a fruition of success from opium. When they lost monopoly of the trade, other foreign traders stepped into the illegal opium business for a share of wealth.