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Letters and enclosures, etc, received from Bandar Abbas (Gombroon) : Correspondence; Financial document 1734-1744

Published
Marlborough, Wiltshire : Adam Matthew Digital, 2019.
Physical Description
1 online resource
Additional Creators
Adam Matthew Digital (Firm)
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Summary
Description: IOR/G/29: Factory Records: Persia and the Persian Gulf (1620-1822)39 volumes.In 1614, Richard Steele, an Englishman trading in Persia, travelled to Surat and informed the resident factors of the great opportunities for trade that existed in that country. British woollen textiles could be exchanged for Persian silks; the information was welcome, because at that time the Company had a surplus of woollens in Surat that could not be disposed of in India. In 1616 a ship from Surat was allowed to land at Jask at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Factors proceeded overland to Shiraz and Ispahan, where permission was obtained to trade and where factories were established. In 1623 a further factory was established on the coast at Bandar Abbas, or Gombroon as it was known to English traders. It quickly became the centre for the Company's activities in the region. In 1635, trading began in Turkish Arabia at Basra.Until 1684, all factories in the Gulf were subordinate to Surat. They then officially became subordinate to Bombay, although, as Bombay was less easy to reach than Surat had been, the factories in practice acquired more autonomy. By the 1720 the British had become the dominant trading power in the Gulf. The political position in Persia, however, was unstable and the Company's trade suffered.In 1759 the factory buildings at Gombroon were destroyed by the French and the Company moved its headquarters to Basra, where a factory had been established in 1723. To retain a foothold in Persia a factory was established at Bushire. This replaced Gombroon as the centre of Persian trade, the factors reporting initially to Basra but, from 1778, to Bombay directly.The establishment of the factory at Bushire marked the beginning of the Company's change of function in the Gulf. Trading activities gradually became less important and, with the rise of the French as contenders for power in the Middle East, the Company's interest in the region became a political one. In 1798, the same year in which Napoleon invaded Egypt, a political residency was established at Baghdad under Harford Jones. British officials undertook missions to the shah of Persia in an effort to secure treaties between the two countries against the French. They also sought Persian support against the perceived threat to India from Afghanistan. General Sir John Malcolm and Samuel Manisty were among those who led missions. Treaties were eventually concluded in 1814.This is a truncated version of the full sub-class description for this record. For the full description, please see Margaret Makepeace and Antonia Moon's essay by clicking on the 'More information' link in the Class Description field above.
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Note
IOR/G: East India Company Factory Records (1608-1858). A 'factory' was a trading post where a number of merchants, or factors, resided. When company ships arrived at the factories, ships' merchants were thus enabled to exchange goods for trading immediately instead of having to wait to make deals with local merchants. Factories were run by a chief factor and a council of factors. The 'Factory Records' is an artificially created sub-fonds; the records of individual Company factories consist mainly of consultations (records of administrative decisions and of correspondence), diaries (records of daily activities), letters received, copies of letters sent and collections of papers on particular subjects.
AMDigital Reference: IOR/G/29/16 Part 2.
Original Version
Reproduction of: Letters and enclosures, etc, received from Bandar Abbas (Gombroon) 1734-1744.
Location of Originals
The British Library
Copyright Note
The British Library Board
View MARC record | catkey: 25805340