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118-461: A department was originally formed under the name "Secret and Political Department" on 23 September 1783, It was created by a resolution of the board of directors of the East India Company ; this decreed the creation of a department which could help “relieve the pressure” on the administration of Warren Hastings in conducting its "secret and political business". From 1784 to 1842, the department

236-401: A bave . Bave diameters for tussah silk can reach 65 μm. See cited reference for cross-sectional SEM photographs. Silk has a smooth, soft texture that is not slippery, unlike many synthetic fibers . Silk is one of the strongest natural fibers, but it loses up to 20% of its strength when wet. It has a good moisture regain of 11%. Its elasticity is moderate to poor: if elongated even

354-599: A group of prominent merchants and explorers met to discuss a potential East Indies venture under a royal charter . Besides Fitch and Lancaster, the group included Stephen Soame , then Lord Mayor of London ; Thomas Smythe , a powerful London politician and administrator who had established the Levant Company ; Richard Hakluyt , writer and proponent of British colonization of the Americas ; and several other sea-farers who had served with Drake and Raleigh. On 22 September,

472-490: A hero; his circumnavigation raised an enormous amount of money for England's coffers, and investors received a return of some 5,000 per cent. Thus started an important element in the eastern design during the late sixteenth century. Soon after the Spanish Armada 's defeat in 1588, the captured Spanish and Portuguese ships and cargoes enabled English voyagers to travel the globe in search of riches. London merchants presented

590-424: A large satin waistcoat with flaps, were got up, of which the silk was perfect, but the lining entirely gone ... from the thread giving way ... No articles of dress of woollen cloth have yet been found.' Silk is a poor conductor of electricity and thus susceptible to static cling . Silk has a high emissivity for infrared light, making it feel cool to the touch. Unwashed silk chiffon may shrink up to 8% due to

708-718: A long history of a formative textile industry in ancient China, this find of silk textiles employing "complicated techniques" of weaving and dyeing provides direct evidence for silks dating before the Mawangdui -discovery and other silks dating to the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). Silk is described in a chapter of the Fan Shengzhi shu from the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD). There is a surviving calendar for silk production in an Eastern Han (25–220 AD) document. The two other known works on silk from

826-440: A number of small firms and cooperatives emerged. Among the most prominent of these was the cooperative utopian Northampton Association for Education and Industry, of which Sojourner Truth was a member. Following the destructive Mill River Flood of 1874 , one manufacturer, William Skinner , relocated his mill from Williamsburg to the then-new city of Holyoke . Over the next 50 years he and his sons would maintain relations between

944-655: A petition to Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean. The aim was to deliver a decisive blow to the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of far-eastern trade. Elizabeth granted her permission and in 1591, James Lancaster in the Bonaventure with two other ships, financed by the Levant Company , sailed from England around the Cape of Good Hope to the Arabian Sea , becoming

1062-557: A private fleet of 200 ships. It specialised in the spice trade and gave its shareholders 40% annual dividend. The British East India Company was fiercely competitive with the Dutch and French throughout the 17th and 18th centuries over spices from the Spice Islands . Some spices, at the time, could only be found on these islands, such as nutmeg and cloves; and they could bring profits as high as 400 per cent from one voyage. The tension

1180-694: A relative of the Grand Mughal , though there is no evidence to suggest that it was his daughter and her retinue. The loot from the Ganj-i-Sawai had a total value between £325,000 and £600,000, including 500,000 gold and silver pieces, and has become known as the richest ship ever taken by pirates. When the news arrived in England it caused an outcry. To appease Aurangzeb, the East India Company promised to pay all financial reparations, while Parliament declared

1298-417: A small amount, it remains stretched. It can be weakened if exposed to too much sunlight. It may also be attacked by insects, especially if left dirty. One example of the durable nature of silk over other fabrics is demonstrated by the recovery in 1840 of silk garments from a wreck of 1782 : 'The most durable article found has been silk; for besides pieces of cloaks and lace, a pair of black satin breeches, and

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1416-416: A white-colored silk thread with no mineral on the surface. The pupae are killed by either dipping them in boiling water before the adult moths emerge or by piercing them with a needle. These factors all contribute to the ability of the whole cocoon to be unravelled as one continuous thread, permitting a much stronger cloth to be woven from the silk. Wild silks also tend to be more difficult to dye than silk from

1534-617: A young Mughal Prince as Emperor with the Company as the de jure protectors of the Empire from their position of direct control in Bengal. This relationship was repeatedly strained as the Company continued its expansion and exploitation, however it lasted in some form until 1858 when the last Mughal Emperor was exiled as the Company was disbanded and its assets were taken over by the British Crown. In 1634,

1652-509: Is composed mostly of beta-sheets , due to a 59-mer amino acid repeat sequence with some variations. The flat surfaces of the fibrils reflect light at many angles, giving silk a natural sheen. The cross-section from other silkworms can vary in shape and diameter: crescent-like for Anaphe and elongated wedge for tussah . Silkworm fibers are naturally extruded from two silkworm glands as a pair of primary filaments (brin), which are stuck together, with sericin proteins that act like glue , to form

1770-537: Is concentrated in the Coimbatore , Erode , Bhagalpuri , Tiruppur , Salem , and Dharmapuri districts. Hyderabad , Andhra Pradesh , and Gobichettipalayam , Tamil Nadu , were the first locations to have automated silk reeling units in India. In the northeastern state of Assam , three different types of indigenous variety of silk are produced, collectively called Assam silk : Muga silk , Eri silk and Pat silk . Muga,

1888-504: Is forbidden. Modern attire has raised a number of issues, including, for instance, the permissibility of wearing silk neckties , which are masculine articles of clothing. In the Odyssey , 19.233, when Odysseus, while pretending to be someone else, is questioned by Penelope about her husband's clothing, he says that he wore a shirt "gleaming like the skin of a dried onion" (varies with translations, literal translation here) which could refer to

2006-584: Is now part of Malaysia , a second generation of silkworm was being imported as early as 1764 for the country's silk textile industry, especially songket . However, since the 1980s, Malaysia is no longer engaged in sericulture but does plant mulberry trees. In Vietnamese legend, silk appeared in the first millennium AD and is still being woven today. The process of silk production is known as sericulture . The entire production process of silk can be divided into several steps which are typically handled by different entities. Extracting raw silk starts by cultivating

2124-527: Is potentially large when compared with other natural fibers. A life-cycle assessment of Indian silk production shows that the production process has a large carbon and water footprint, mainly due to the fact that it is an animal-derived fiber and more inputs such as fertilizer and water are needed per unit of fiber produced. Silk fibers from the Bombyx mori silkworm have a triangular cross section with rounded corners, 5–10  μm wide. The fibroin-heavy chain

2242-415: Is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons . The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity ( sericulture ). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism -like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles , thus producing different colors. Silk

2360-871: Is produced by several insects; but, generally, only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been some research into other types of silk, which differ at the molecular level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis , but some insects, such as webspinners and raspy crickets , produce silk throughout their lives. Silk production also occurs in hymenoptera ( bees , wasps , and ants ), silverfish , caddisflies , mayflies , thrips , leafhoppers , beetles , lacewings , fleas , flies , and midges . Other types of arthropods produce silk, most notably various arachnids , such as spiders . The word silk comes from Old English : sioloc , from Latin : sericum and Ancient Greek : σηρικός , romanized :  sērikós , "silken", ultimately from

2478-415: Is soaked in extremely cold water and bleached before dyeing to remove the natural yellow coloring of Thai silk yarn. To do this, skeins of silk thread are immersed in large tubs of hydrogen peroxide . Once washed and dried, the silk is woven on a traditional hand-operated loom. The Rajshahi Division of northern Bangladesh is the hub of the country's silk industry. There are three types of silk produced in

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2596-584: Is the presence of the silk protein fibroin in soil samples from two tombs at the neolithic site Jiahu in Henan , which date back about 8,500 years. The earliest surviving example of silk fabric dates from about 3630 BC, and was used as the wrapping for the body of a child at a Yangshao culture site in Qingtaicun near Xingyang , Henan. Legend gives credit for developing silk to a Chinese empress, Leizu (Hsi-Ling-Shih, Lei-Tzu). Silks were originally reserved for

2714-474: Is the second largest producer of silk in the world after China. About 97% of the raw mulberry silk comes from six Indian states, namely, Andhra Pradesh , Karnataka , Jammu and Kashmir , Tamil Nadu , Bihar , and West Bengal . North Bangalore, the upcoming site of a $ 20 million "Silk City" Ramanagara and Mysore , contribute to a majority of silk production in Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu , mulberry cultivation

2832-673: The Fancy , reached the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb , where he teamed up with five other pirate captains to make an attack on the Indian fleet returning from the annual pilgrimage to Mecca . The Mughal convoy included the treasure-laden Ganj-i-Sawai , reported to be the greatest in the Mughal fleet and the largest ship operational in the Indian Ocean, and its escort, the Fateh Muhammed . They were spotted passing

2950-757: The Golden Hind he achieved this, and then sailed across the Pacific Ocean in 1579, known then only to the Spanish and Portuguese. Drake eventually sailed into the East Indies and came across the Moluccas , also known as the Spice Islands, and met Sultan Babullah . In exchange for linen, gold, and silver, the English obtained a large haul of exotic spices, including cloves and nutmeg. Drake returned to England in 1580 and became

3068-560: The China , India, and Japan trade routes. In 1596, three more English ships sailed east but all were lost at sea. A year later however saw the arrival of Ralph Fitch , an adventurer merchant who, with his companions, had made a remarkable nine year overland journey to Mesopotamia , the Persian Gulf , the Indian Ocean, India and Southeast Asia. Fitch was consulted on Indian affairs and gave even more valuable information to Lancaster. In 1599,

3186-533: The English Company Trading to the East Indies ) was floated under a state-backed indemnity of £2 million. The powerful stockholders of the old company quickly subscribed a sum of £315,000 in the new concern, and dominated the new body. The two companies wrestled with each other for some time, both in England and in India, for a dominant share of the trade. It quickly became evident that, in practice,

3304-657: The First Opium War in 1839, which involved a succession of British naval attacks along the Chinese coast over the course of several months. As part of the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, the Qing were forced to give British merchants special treatment and the right to sell opium. The Chinese also ceded territory to the British, including the island of Hong Kong . The prosperity that the officers of

3422-616: The Great Palace complex in Constantinople, and the cloth produced was used in imperial robes or in diplomacy, as gifts to foreign dignitaries. The remainder was sold at very high prices. Italy was the most important producer of silk during the Medieval age. The first center to introduce silk production to Italy was the city of Catanzaro during the 11th century in the region of Calabria . The silk of Catanzaro supplied almost all of Europe and

3540-688: The Straits of Malacca by ousting the Portuguese in 1640–1641. With reduced Portuguese and Spanish influence in the region, the EIC and VOC entered a period of intense competition, resulting in the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th and 18th centuries. The British were also interested in trans-Himalayan trade routes, as they would create access to untapped markets for British manufactured goods in Tibet and China. This economic interest

3658-718: The Torah , a scarlet cloth item called in Hebrew "sheni tola'at" שני תולעת – literally "crimson of the worm" – is described as being used in purification ceremonies, such as those following a leprosy outbreak (Leviticus 14), alongside cedar wood and hyssop ( za'atar ). Eminent scholar and leading medieval translator of Jewish sources and books of the Bible into Arabic , Rabbi Saadia Gaon , translates this phrase explicitly as "crimson silk" – חריר קרמז حرير قرمز. In Islamic teachings, Muslim men are forbidden to wear silk. Many religious jurists believe

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3776-595: The Viceroy of India , viz., Governor-General (for the administration of British India ) and Crown Representative (for the supervision of the princely states ). A fresh post of Political Advisor to the Crown Representative was created, with a cabinet rank. The post-holder headed the Political Department. Sir Conrad Corfield was the last person to hold this post before Indian independence. The staff employed by

3894-509: The Yayoi period . The silk industry was dominant from the 1930s to 1950s, but is less common now. Silk from East Asia had declined in importance after silkworms were smuggled from China to the Byzantine Empire. However, in 1845, an epidemic of flacherie among European silkworms devastated the silk industry there. This led to a demand for silk from China and Japan , where as late as

4012-471: The 12th century. Other Italian cities involved in silk production were Genoa , Venice , and Florence . The Piedmont area of Northern Italy became a major silk producing area when water-powered silk throwing machines were developed. The Silk Exchange in Valencia from the 15th century—where previously in 1348 also perxal ( percale ) was traded as some kind of silk—illustrates the power and wealth of one of

4130-441: The 1770s in exchange for goods like porcelain and tea , causing a series of opioid addiction outbreaks across China in 1820. The ruling Qing dynasty outlawed the opium trade in 1796 and 1800, but British merchants continued illegally nonetheless. The Qing took measures to prevent the East India Company from selling opium, and destroyed tens of thousands of chests of opium already in the country. This series of events led to

4248-529: The 17th century. James I attempted to establish silk production in England, purchasing and planting 100,000 mulberry trees, some on land adjacent to Hampton Court Palace , but they were of a species unsuited to the silk worms, and the attempt failed. In 1732 John Guardivaglio set up a silk throwing enterprise at Logwood mill in Stockport ; in 1744, Burton Mill was erected in Macclesfield ; and in 1753 Old Mill

4366-631: The American silk industry and its counterparts in Japan, and expanded their business to the point that by 1911, the Skinner Mill complex contained the largest silk mill under one roof in the world, and the brand Skinner Fabrics had become the largest manufacturer of silk satins internationally. Other efforts later in the 19th century would also bring the new silk industry to Paterson, New Jersey , with several firms hiring European-born textile workers and granting it

4484-687: The British state and the Royal Navy in the form of the West Africa Squadron , which discovered various ships had contained evidence of the illegal trade. In 1613, during the rule of Tokugawa Hidetada of the Tokugawa shogunate , the British ship Clove , under the command of Captain John Saris , was the first English ship to call on Japan. Saris was the chief factor of the EIC's trading post in Java, and with

4602-531: The Chinese monopoly . Nonetheless, sericulture reached Korea with technological aid from China around 200 BC, the ancient Kingdom of Khotan by AD 50, and India by AD 140. In the ancient era, silk from China was the most lucrative and sought-after luxury item traded across the Eurasian continent, and many civilizations, such as the ancient Persians, benefited economically from trade. Archaeological evidence indicates that sericulture has been practiced since

4720-506: The Chinese word "sī" and other Asian sources—compare Mandarin sī "silk", Manchurian sirghe , Mongolian sirkek . The production of silk originated in China in the Neolithic period, although it would eventually reach other places of the world ( Yangshao culture, 4th millennium BC). Silk production remained confined to China until the Silk Road opened at some point during

4838-470: The Dutch. This compelled the company to formally abandon their efforts in the Spice Islands, and turn their attention to Bengal where, by this time, they were making steady, if less exciting, profits. After gaining the indifferent patronage of the Mughal Empire , whose cities were 'the megacities of their time' and whose wealth was unrivaled outside of Asia in the 17th Century, the Company's first century in

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4956-530: The EIC surrendered in 1690, and the company sent envoys to Aurangzeb 's camp to plead for a pardon. The company's envoys had to prostrate themselves before the emperor, pay a large indemnity, and promise better behaviour in the future. The emperor withdrew his troops, and the company subsequently re-established itself in Bombay and set up a new base in Calcutta. The East India Company's archives suggest its involvement in

5074-548: The East Indies . For a period of fifteen years, the charter awarded the company a monopoly on English trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan . Any traders there without a licence from the company were liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo (half of which would go to the Crown and half to the company), as well as imprisonment at the "royal pleasure." The charter named Thomas Smythe as

5192-636: The Han period are lost. The first evidence of the long distance silk trade is the finding of silk in the hair of an Egyptian mummy of the 21st dynasty, c.1070 BC. The silk trade reached as far as the Indian subcontinent , the Middle East , Europe , and North Africa . This trade was so extensive that the major set of trade routes between Europe and Asia came to be known as the Silk Road . The emperors of China strove to keep knowledge of sericulture secret to maintain

5310-678: The IPD, known as the Indian Political Service , were generally referred to as political officers, and were recruited from four areas: All members of the IPS were seconded from their original service and were subject to their original service's pension and retirement rules. The IPS was allowed to recruit two ICS officers every year, which was reduced to one every fifth year. On the Army side, four or five Indian Army officers were recruited on alternate years. When

5428-574: The Indian Ocean. The company achieved a major victory over the Portuguese in the Battle of Swally in 1612, at Suvali in Surat . The company decided to explore the feasibility of a foothold in mainland India, with official sanction from both Britain and the Mughal Empire , and requested that the Crown launch a diplomatic mission. Company ships docked at Surat in Gujarat in 1608. The company's first Indian factory

5546-518: The Indian subcontinent and Hong Kong . At its peak, the company was the largest corporation in the world by various measures and had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three presidency armies , totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British Army at certain times. Originally chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies,"

5664-618: The Japanese silk industry and its position as the lead silk exporter of the world. Today, China exports the largest volume of raw silk in the world. Silk has a long history in India. It is known as Resham in eastern and north India, and Pattu in southern parts of India . Recent archaeological discoveries in Harappa and Chanhu-daro suggest that sericulture , employing wild silk threads from native silkworm species, existed in South Asia during

5782-418: The Middle East by Peter Gaddum . Wild silk taken from the nests of native caterpillars was used by the Aztecs to make containers and as paper. Silkworms were introduced to Oaxaca from Spain in the 1530s and the region profited from silk production until the early 17th century, when the king of Spain banned export to protect Spain's silk industry. Silk production for local consumption has continued until

5900-416: The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan extended his hospitality to the English traders to the richest region of the Mutual Empire Bengal , and in 1717 customs duties were completely waived for the English in Bengal. The company's mainstay businesses were by then cotton, silk, opium, indigo dye , saltpetre , and tea. The Dutch were aggressive competitors and had meanwhile expanded their monopoly of the spice trade in

6018-738: The Mughal-ruled areas was spent cultivating their relationship with the Mughal Dynasty, and conducting peaceful trade at great profit. At first it should be said the EIC was drawn into the Mughal system, acting as a kind of vassal to Mughal authority in present-day Bangladesh: from this position that the EIC would ultimately outplay and outmaneuver everyone else in the region, to eventually use that same system to hold power. What started as trading posts on undesirable land were developed into sprawling factory complexes with hundreds of workers sending exotic goods to England and managing protected points to export English finished goods to local merchants. The Company's initial rise in Bengal and successes generally came at

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6136-402: The Treasury, in return for exclusive privileges for the next three years, after which the situation was to be reviewed. The amalgamated company became the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies . Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber , some forms of which can be woven into textiles . The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and

6254-812: The assistance of William Adams , an English sailor who had arrived in Japan in 1600, he was able to gain permission from the ruler to establish a commercial house in Hirado on the Japanese island of Kyushu : We give free license to the subjects of the King of Great Britaine, Sir Thomas Smythe, Governor and Company of the East Indian Merchants and Adventurers forever safely come into any of our ports of our Empire of Japan with their shippes and merchandise, without any hindrance to them or their goods, and to abide, buy, sell and barter according to their own manner with all nations, to tarry here as long as they think good, and to depart at their pleasure. Unable to obtain Japanese raw silk for export to China, and with their trading area reduced to Hirado and Nagasaki from 1616 onwards,

6372-409: The chaos widened and the stakes were raised. Ultimately, the company won out, generally through as much diplomacy and state-craft(fraud and deception). The gradual rise of the EIC within the Mughal network culminated in the Second Anglo-Maratha War , in which the Company successfully ousted the Empire's official protectors in the Maratha, the Maratha high water point in their rise to power, and installed

6490-452: The coast of China that helped secure EIC ports in China, independently attacking the Portuguese in the Persian Gulf Residencies primarily for political reasons. The company established trading posts in Surat (1619) and Madras (1639). By 1647, the company had 23 factories and settlements in India, and 90 employees. Many of the major factories became some of the most populated and commercially influential cities in Bengal, including

6608-428: The company closed its factory in 1623. The first of the Anglo-Indian wars occurred in 1686 when the company conducted naval operations against Shaista Khan , the governor of Mughal Bengal . This led to the siege of Bombay and the subsequent intervention of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb . Subsequently, the English company was defeated and fined. In September 1695, Captain Henry Every , an English pirate on board

6726-522: The company enjoyed allowed them to return to Britain and establish sprawling estates and businesses, and to obtain political power, such as seats in the House of Commons. Ship captains sold their appointments to successors for up to £500. As recruits aimed to return to Britain wealthy by securing Indian money, their loyalties to their homeland increased. The company developed a lobby in the English parliament. Pressure from ambitious tradesmen and former company associates (pejoratively termed Interlopers by

6844-500: The company rose to account for half of the world's trade during the mid-1700s and early 1800s, particularly in basic commodities including cotton , silk , indigo dye , sugar , salt , spices , saltpetre , tea , and later, opium . The company also initiated the beginnings of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent . The company eventually came to rule large areas of the Indian subcontinent, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. Company-ruled areas in

6962-505: The company's factories in India and imprison their officers, who were almost lynched by a mob of angry Mughals , blaming them for their countryman's depredations, and threatened to put an end to all English trading in India. To appease Emperor Aurangzeb and particularly his Grand Vizier Asad Khan , Parliament exempted Every from all of the Acts of Grace (pardons) and amnesties it would subsequently issue to other pirates. The East India Company started selling opium to Chinese merchants in

7080-443: The company), who wanted to establish private trading firms in India, led to the passing of the deregulating act in 1694. This act allowed any English firm to trade with India, unless specifically prohibited by act of parliament, thereby annulling the charter that had been in force for almost 100 years. When the East India Company Act 1697 ( 9 Will. 3 . c. 44) was passed in 1697, a new "parallel" East India Company (officially titled

7198-400: The continent as they individually contended with others, steadily amassing more land and power in India to themselves. In the 18th Century, the primary source of the Company's profits in Bengal became taxation in conquered and controlled provinces, as the factories became fortresses and administrative hubs for networks of tax collectors that expanded into enormous cities. The Mughal Empire was

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7316-433: The cultivated silkworm. A technique known as demineralizing allows the mineral layer around the cocoon of wild silk moths to be removed, leaving only variability in color as a barrier to creating a commercial silk industry based on wild silks in the parts of the world where wild silk moths thrive, such as in Africa and South America. Silk use in fabric was first developed in ancient China. The earliest evidence for silk

7434-511: The domesticated varieties in colour and texture and are therefore less uniform; second, cocoons gathered in the wild have usually had the pupa emerge from them before being discovered so the silk thread that makes up the cocoon has been torn into shorter lengths; and third, many wild cocoons are covered in a mineral layer that prevents attempts to reel from them long strands of silk. Thus, the only way to obtain silk suitable for spinning into textiles in areas where commercial silks are not cultivated

7552-469: The early center of the silk industry in America, when the Cheney Brothers became the first in the United States to properly raise silkworms on an industrial scale; today the Cheney Brothers Historic District showcases their former mills. With the mulberry tree craze of that decade, other smaller producers began raising silkworms. This economy particularly gained traction in the vicinity of Northampton, Massachusetts and its neighboring Williamsburg , where

7670-411: The emperors of China for their own use and gifts to others, but spread gradually through Chinese culture and trade both geographically and socially, and then to many regions of Asia . Because of its texture and lustre, silk rapidly became a popular luxury fabric in the many areas accessible to Chinese merchants. Silk was in great demand, and became a staple of pre- industrial international trade . Silk

7788-425: The expense of competing European powers through the art of currying favors and well-placed bribes, as the company was matched at every step with French expansion in the region (whose equivalent company carried substantial royal support). See French East India Company . Throughout the entire century the company only resorted to force against the Mughals once, with terrible consequences. The Anglo-Mughal war (1686–1690)

7906-466: The first East India Company voyage in 1601 aboard Red Dragon . The following year, whilst sailing in the Malacca Straits , Lancaster took the rich 1,200 ton Portuguese carrack Sao Thome carrying pepper and spices. The booty enabled the voyagers to set up two " factories " (trading posts) – one at Bantam on Java and another in the Moluccas (Spice Islands) before leaving. On return to England in 1603, they learned of Elizabeth's death, but Lancaster

8024-432: The first English expedition to reach India that way. Having sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula , they preyed on Spanish and Portuguese ships there before returning to England in 1594. The biggest prize that galvanised English trade was the seizure of a large Portuguese carrack , the Madre de Deus , by Walter Raleigh and the Earl of Cumberland at the Battle of Flores on 13 August 1592. When she

8142-470: The first governor of the company, and 24 directors (including James Lancaster) or "committees", who made up a Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to a Court of Proprietors, who appointed them. Ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. By tradition, business was initially transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolph's church in Bishopsgate , before moving to East India House in Leadenhall Street . Sir James Lancaster commanded

8260-444: The golden silk, and Eri are produced by silkworms that are native only to Assam. They have been reared since ancient times similar to other East and South-East Asian countries. Silk is produced year-round in Thailand by two types of silkworms, the cultured Bombycidae and wild Saturniidae. Most production is after the rice harvest in the southern and northeastern parts of the country. Women traditionally weave silk on hand looms and pass

8378-405: The great Mediterranean mercantile cities. Silk was produced in and exported from the province of Granada , Spain, especially the Alpujarras region, until the Moriscos , whose industry it was, were expelled from Granada in 1571. Since the 15th century, silk production in France has been centered around the city of Lyon where many mechanic tools for mass production were first introduced in

8496-553: The group stated their intention "to venture in the pretended voyage to the East Indies (the which it may please the Lord to prosper)" and to themselves invest £30,133 (over £4,000,000 in today's money). Two days later, the "Adventurers" reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project. Although their first attempt had not been completely successful, they sought the Queen's unofficial approval to continue. They bought ships for

8614-627: The imperial patronage, soon expanded its commercial trading operations. It eclipsed the Portuguese Estado da Índia , which had established bases in Goa , Chittagong , and Bombay ; Portugal later ceded Bombay to England as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II . The East India Company also launched a joint attack with the Dutch United East India Company (VOC) on Portuguese and Spanish ships off

8732-545: The largest silk exporter in the world. This increase in exports was mostly due to the economic reforms during the Meiji period and the decline of the Qing dynasty in China, which led to rapid industrialization of Japan whilst the Chinese industries stagnated. During World War II , embargoes against Japan had led to adoption of synthetic materials such as nylon , which led to the decline of

8850-460: The latter part of the 1st millennium BC, though China maintained its virtual monopoly over silk production for another thousand years. Several kinds of wild silk, produced by caterpillars other than the mulberry silkworm, have been known and spun in China , South Asia , and Europe since ancient times. However, the scale of production was always far smaller than for cultivated silks. There are several reasons for this: first, they differ from

8968-401: The latter rank being limited to large states like Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir (typically "salute states"). The large states had full legislative and judicial powers, and the role of residents would tend to be mainly diplomatic. In smaller states, some of the legislative and judicial functions would be carried out under the guidance of the political agents, or directly by them. In addition,

9086-467: The lustrous quality of silk fabric. Aristotle wrote of Coa vestis , a wild silk textile from Kos . Sea silk from certain large sea shells was also valued. The Roman Empire knew of and traded in silk, and Chinese silk was the most highly priced luxury good imported by them. During the reign of emperor Tiberius , sumptuary laws were passed that forbade men from wearing silk garments, but these proved ineffectual. The Historia Augusta mentions that

9204-544: The nickname "Silk City" as another major center of production in the United States. World War II interrupted the silk trade from Asia, and silk prices increased dramatically. U.S. industry began to look for substitutes, which led to the use of synthetics such as nylon . Synthetic silks have also been made from lyocell , a type of cellulose fiber, and are often difficult to distinguish from real silk (see spider silk for more on synthetic silks). In Terengganu , which

9322-422: The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Japanese exports competed directly with Chinese in the international market in such low value-added, labor-intensive products as raw silk. Between 1850 and 1930, raw silk ranked as the leading export for both countries, accounting for 20%–40% of Japan's total exports and 20%–30% of China's. Between the 1890s and the 1930s, Japanese silk exports quadrupled, making Japan

9440-402: The original company faced scarcely any measurable competition. The companies merged in 1708, by a tripartite indenture involving both companies and the state, with the charter and agreement for the new United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies being awarded by Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin . Under this arrangement, the merged company lent a sum of £3,200,000 to

9558-545: The pirates hostis humani generis ("the enemy of humanity"). In mid-1696 the government issued a £500 bounty on Every's head and offered a free pardon to any informer who disclosed his whereabouts. The first worldwide manhunt in recorded history was underway. The plunder of Aurangzeb's treasure ship had serious consequences for the English East India Company. The furious Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ordered Sidi Yaqub and Nawab Daud Khan to attack and close four of

9676-451: The policies of Viceroy in power, who might be interventionist or generous. British East India Company The East India Company ( EIC ) (1600–1874) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region , initially with the East Indies (South Asia and Southeast Asia), and later with East Asia. The company gained control of large parts of

9794-409: The power of the EIC, King Charles II granted the EIC (in a series of five acts around 1670) the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas. In 1689, a Mughal fleet commanded by Sidi Yaqub attacked Bombay. After a year of resistance

9912-494: The pre-1707 Mughal fiefs and holdings, with their capital Delhi routinely under the control of Maratha, Afghan, or usurper generals' armies. The EIC was able to take advantage of this chaos, slowly assuming direct control of the province of Bengal , and fighting numerous wars against the French for control of the east coast. The Company's position in the Mughal court as it fell apart made it possible to sponsor various powerful people on

10030-571: The present day, sometimes spinning wild silk. King James I introduced silk-growing to the British colonies in America around 1619, ostensibly to discourage tobacco planting. The Shakers in Kentucky adopted the practice. The history of industrial silk in the United States is largely tied to several smaller urban centers in the Northeast region. Beginning in the 1830s, Manchester, Connecticut emerged as

10148-578: The process of Indianisation reached the IPS, some were also recruited from the Provincial Civil Services and services connected with the frontier. Employees of the political service were predominantly European, although small numbers of Indians were employed. In 1947 it had a staff of 170 officers, of which 124 were serving. They included 17 Indians, of which 12 were Muslim, four Hindus and one Sikh. The political officers attached to individual states were called Political Agents or Residents ,

10266-514: The rank of Agent to the Governor-General (AGG) was used for officers in charge of collections of states in a region, which were then called Agencies . An Agency might have several Political Agents or assistants attached to it, reporting to the AGG. The powers and duties of the political officers varied widely and were often left to the discretion of the officers themselves. They were also subject to

10384-399: The reasoning behind the prohibition lies in avoiding clothing for men that can be considered feminine or extravagant. There are disputes regarding the amount of silk a fabric can consist of (e.g., whether a small decorative silk piece on a cotton caftan is permissible or not) for it to be lawful for men to wear, but the dominant opinion of most Muslim scholars is that the wearing of silk by men

10502-726: The region gradually expanded after the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and by 1858 most of modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was either ruled by the company or princely states closely tied to it by treaty. Following the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 , the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown assuming direct control of present-day Bangladesh, Pakistan and India in the form of the new British Indian Empire . The company subsequently experienced recurring problems with its finances, despite frequent government intervention. The company

10620-506: The region's battlefields for a thousand years, with cannon so well integrated that the Mughals fought with cannon mounted on elephants; all were no match to line infantry with decent discipline supported with field cannon. Repeatedly, a few thousand company sepoys fought vastly larger Mughal forces numerically and came out victorious. Afghan, Mughal, and Maratha factions started creating their own European-style forces, often with French equipment, as

10738-461: The region: mulberry, endi, and tassar. Bengali silk was a major item of international trade for centuries. It was known as Ganges silk in medieval Europe. Bengal was the leading exporter of silk between the 16th and 19th centuries. The 7th century CE murals of Afrasiyab in Samarkand , Sogdiana , show a Chinese Embassy carrying silk and a string of silkworm cocoons to the local Sogdian ruler. In

10856-455: The richest in the world in 1700, and the East India Company tried to strip it bare for a century thereafter. Dalrymple calls it "the single largest transfer of wealth until the Nazis." What was in the 17th century the production capital of the world for textiles was forced to become a market for British-made textiles. Statues, jewels, and various other valuables were moved from the palaces of Bengal to

10974-745: The silkworms on mulberry leaves. Once the worms start pupating in their cocoons, these are dissolved in boiling water in order for individual long fibres to be extracted and fed into the spinning reel. To produce 1 kg of silk, 104 kg of mulberry leaves must be eaten by 3000 silkworms. It takes about 5000 silkworms to make a pure silk kimono . The major silk producers are China (54%) and India (14%). Other statistics: Production in Int $ 1000 have been calculated based on 1999–2001 international prices Source: Food And Agricultural Organization of United Nations: Economic And Social Department: The Statistical Division The environmental impact of silk production

11092-400: The skill on to their daughters, as weaving is considered to be a sign of maturity and eligibility for marriage. Thai silk textiles often use complicated patterns in various colours and styles. Most regions of Thailand have their own typical silks. A single thread filament is too thin to use on its own so women combine many threads to produce a thicker, usable fiber. They do this by hand-reeling

11210-623: The slave trade began in 1684, when a Captain Robert Knox was ordered to buy and transport 250 slaves from Madagascar to St. Helena . The East India Company began using and transporting slaves in Asia and the Atlantic in the early 1620s, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, or in 1621, according to Richard Allen. Eventually, the company ended the trade in 1834 after numerous legal threats from

11328-408: The straits en route to Surat . The pirates gave chase and caught up with the Fateh Muhammed some days later, and meeting little resistance, took some £40,000 of silver. Every continued in pursuit and managed to overhaul Ganj-i-Sawai , which resisted strongly before eventually striking . Ganj-i-Sawai carried enormous wealth and, according to contemporary East India Company sources, was carrying

11446-561: The third-century emperor Elagabalus was the first Roman to wear garments of pure silk, whereas it had been customary to wear fabrics of silk/cotton or silk/linen blends. Despite the popularity of silk, the secret of silk-making only reached Europe around AD 550, via the Byzantine Empire . Contemporary accounts state that monks working for the emperor Justinian I smuggled silkworm eggs to Constantinople from China inside hollow canes. All top-quality looms and weavers were located inside

11564-435: The threads onto a wooden spindle to produce a uniform strand of raw silk. The process takes around 40 hours to produce a half kilogram of silk. Many local operations use a reeling machine for this task, but some silk threads are still hand-reeled. The difference is that hand-reeled threads produce three grades of silk: two fine grades that are ideal for lightweight fabrics, and a thick grade for heavier material. The silk fabric

11682-700: The time of the Indus Valley civilisation (now in Pakistan and India) dating between 2450 BC and 2000 BC. Shelagh Vainker, a silk expert at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, who sees evidence for silk production in China "significantly earlier" than 2500–2000 BC, suggests, "people of the Indus civilization either harvested silkworm cocoons or traded with people who did, and that they knew a considerable amount about silk." India

11800-526: The townhouses of the English countryside. Bengal in particular suffered the worst of Company tax farming, highlighted by the Great Bengal famine of 1770 . The primary tool of expansion for the company was the Sepoy. The Sepoys were locally raised, mostly Muslim, soldiers with European training and equipment, who changed warfare in present-day South Asia. Mounted forces and their superior mobility had been king on

11918-536: The upper hand by establishing a stronghold in the spice islands (now Indonesia), enforcing a near-monopoly through aggressive policies that eventually drove the EIC to seek trade opportunities in India instead. The English company opened a factory (trading post) in Bantam on Java on its first voyage, and imports of pepper from Java remained an important part of the company's trade for twenty years. English traders frequently fought their Dutch and Portuguese counterparts in

12036-563: The venture and increased their investment to £68,373. They convened again a year later, on 31 December 1600, and this time they succeeded; the Queen responded favourably to a petition by George, Earl of Cumberland and 218 others, including James Lancaster, Sir John Harte , Sir John Spencer (both of whom had been Lord Mayor of London ), the adventurer Edward Michelborne , the nobleman William Cavendish and other aldermen and citizens. She granted her charter to their corporation named Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into

12154-561: The walled forts of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St George in Madras, and Bombay Castle . The first century of the Company, despite its original profits coming primarily from piracy in the Spice Islands between competing European powers and their companies, saw the East India Company change focus after suffering a major setback in 1623 when their factory in Amboyna in the Moluccas was attacked by

12272-500: Was a complete defeat, ending when the EIC effectively swore fealty to the Mughals to get their factories back. The East India Company's fortunes changed for the better in 1707 when Bengal and other regions under Mughal rule fell into anarchy after the death of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb . A series of large-scale rebellions, and the collapse of the Mughal taxation system led to the effective independence of virtually all of

12390-662: Was also used as a surface for writing, especially during the Warring States period (475–221 BCE). The fabric was light, it survived the damp climate of the Yangtze region, absorbed ink well, and provided a white background for the text. In July 2007, archaeologists discovered intricately woven and dyed silk textiles in a tomb in Jiangxi province, dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty roughly 2,500 years ago. Although historians have suspected

12508-411: Was brought in to Dartmouth she was the largest vessel ever seen in England and she carried chests of jewels, pearls, gold, silver coins, ambergris , cloth, tapestries, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, benjamin (a highly aromatic balsamic resin used for perfumes and medicines), red dye, cochineal and ebony. Equally valuable was the ship's rutter (mariner's handbook) containing vital information on

12626-755: Was built in Congleton . These three towns remained the centre of the English silk throwing industry until silk throwing was replaced by silk waste spinning . British enterprise also established silk filature in Cyprus in 1928. In England in the mid-20th century, raw silk was produced at Lullingstone Castle in Kent. Silkworms were raised and reeled under the direction of Zoe Lady Hart Dyke , later moving to Ayot St Lawrence in Hertfordshire in 1956. During World War II , supplies of silk for UK parachute manufacture were secured from

12744-464: Was by tedious and labor-intensive carding . Some natural silk structures have been used without being unwound or spun. Spider webs were used as a wound dressing in ancient Greece and Rome, and as a base for painting from the 16th century. Caterpillar nests were pasted together to make a fabric in the Aztec Empire . Commercial silks originate from reared silkworm pupae, which are bred to produce

12862-728: Was dissolved in 1874 under the terms of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act enacted one year earlier, as the Government of India Act had by then rendered it vestigial, powerless, and obsolete. The official government machinery of the British Empire had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. In 1577, Francis Drake set out on an expedition from England to plunder Spanish settlements in South America in search of gold and silver. Sailing in

12980-461: Was divided into three branches: secret, political and foreign. In 1843, the department was renamed the Foreign Department, and renamed again to Foreign and Political Department in 1914. A post of Political Secretary was created in 1914 as well. A separate Political Department came into being only in 1937, necessitated by the Government of India Act 1935 , which separated the two functions of

13098-532: Was established in 1611 at Masulipatnam on the Andhra Coast of the Bay of Bengal , and its second in 1615 at Surat. The high profits reported by the company after landing in India initially prompted James I to grant subsidiary licences to other trading companies in England. However, in 1609, he renewed the East India Company's charter for an indefinite period, with the proviso that its privileges would be annulled if trade

13216-1113: Was highly successful, and Jahangir sent a letter to James through Sir Thomas Roe: Upon which assurance of your royal love I have given my general command to all the kingdoms and ports of my dominions to receive all the merchants of the English nation as the subjects of my friend; that in what place soever they choose to live, they may have free liberty without any restraint; and at what port soever they shall arrive, that neither Portugal nor any other shall dare to molest their quiet; and in what city soever they shall have residence, I have commanded all my governors and captains to give them freedom answerable to their own desires; to sell, buy, and to transport into their country at their pleasure. For confirmation of our love and friendship, I desire your Majesty to command your merchants to bring in their ships of all sorts of rarities and rich goods fit for my palace; and that you be pleased to send me your royal letters by every opportunity, that I may rejoice in your health and prosperous affairs; that our friendship may be interchanged and eternal. The company, which benefited from

13334-747: Was knighted by the new king, James I , on account of the voyage's success. By this time, the war with Spain had ended but the company had profitably breached the Spanish-Portuguese duopoly; new horizons opened for the English. In March 1604, Sir Henry Middleton commanded the company's second voyage . General William Keeling , a captain during the second voyage, led the third voyage aboard Red Dragon from 1607 to 1610 along with Hector under Captain William Hawkins and Consent under Captain David Middleton . Early in 1608, Alexander Sharpeigh

13452-577: Was made captain of the company's Ascension , and general or commander of the fourth voyage. Thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union (captained by Richard Rowles), sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1608. This expedition was lost. Initially, the company struggled in the spice trade because of competition from the well-established Dutch East India Company . This rivalry led to military skirmishes, with each company establishing fortified trading posts, fleets, and alliances with local rulers. The Dutch, better financed and supported by their government, gained

13570-580: Was showcased by the Anglo-Nepalese war (1814–1816). The Draft History of the Qing records the Chinese Qing dynasty as formally commencing trade with the British in 1698. Within the first two decades of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie , (VOC) was the wealthiest commercial operation in the world with 50,000 employees worldwide and

13688-512: Was so high between the Dutch and the British East Indies Trading Companies that it escalated into at least four Anglo-Dutch wars: 1652–1654, 1665–1667, 1672–1674 and 1780–1784. Competition arose in 1635 when Charles I granted a trading licence to Sir William Courteen , which permitted the rival Courteen association to trade with the east at any location in which the EIC had no presence. In an act aimed at strengthening

13806-609: Was sold in a large market fair in the port of Reggio Calabria , to Spanish, Venetian, Genovese, and Dutch merchants. Catanzaro became the lace capital of the world with a large silkworm breeding facility that produced all the laces and linens used in the Vatican. The city was world-famous for its fine fabrication of silks, velvets, damasks, and brocades. Another notable center was the Italian city-state of Lucca which largely financed itself through silk-production and silk-trading, beginning in

13924-658: Was unprofitable for three consecutive years. In 1615, James I instructed Sir Thomas Roe to visit the Mughal Emperor Nur-ud-din Salim Jahangir (r. 1605–1627) to arrange for a commercial treaty that would give the company exclusive rights to reside and establish factories in Surat and other areas. In return, the company offered to provide the Emperor with goods and rarities from the European market. This mission

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