Although there were great similarities, there were great differences as well among the commanders of the five European East India Companies which dominated shipping to Asia for long stretches during the eighteenth century. This comparison concentrates on these five, leaving out a few of the more ephemeral Companies. Whether employed by the English, French, Danish, Swedish or Dutch Company, and whether called commander, captain, capitaine, kaptajn, or capitaine, all of these men formed an elite group in the world of shipping. Sailing to Asia was always imbued with a special atmosphere, compounded of long voyages, priceless cargoes and high earnings. In all five businesses, the majority of the ships’ commanders were recruited from within their own circles. Men worked their way up through the ranks to achieve the highest position, but their social origins and the framework in which they reached the top could be very different in the five Companies.

It goes without saying that earning money was an essential facet of working as a commander and of course all the Companies paid their commanders a monthly stipend. In the English East India Company (EIC) the monthly stipend was £10 or f. 120, and this sum was supplemented by various bonuses and the income to be made from transporting passengers. However, in all the Companies the main part of a commander’s income was derived from their own trade in commodities. The large sums which a commander had to pay out to obtain his command had to be earned back many times over. The regulations governing such activities were very similar but, whereas the VOC allotted a number of chests, the EIC allocated certain proportions of the ship’s tonnage.

All commanders were issued with rutters and sailing instructions by their superiors. The principal destinations in Asia ranged from offices or factories scattered along the Indian coast, to Canton and Batavia. For the most part, the routes on the voyages out and back home did mirror each other, but there were some differences. It was only in the second half of the eighteenth century that ships other than those of the Dutch Company called in at Table Bay.