Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-k7p5g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-14T11:44:39.361Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - The ambitions of the Austrian Empire with reference to East India during the last quarter of the eighteenth century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2009

Sushil Chaudhury
Affiliation:
University of Calcutta
Michel Morineau
Affiliation:
Université de Paris XII
Get access

Summary

In spite of the abrogation of the Ostend Company, the Southern Netherlands were still very interested in trading with the Far East. In 1723, the Ostend Company was issued a patent for a trade monopoly to Africa and to East and West India, accompanied by the usual royal prerogatives such as tax facilities and sovereign rights in respect of foreign monarchs. The Company prospered and was a big success. Proceeding from the Southern Netherlands it took over the trade factories which were previously established by private outfits at Cabelon near Pondicherry, and it founded a new lodge at Banquibazar in Bengal with four outposts located in the delta of the Ganges. The trade with China proved extremely profitable and became far more important than the trade to Bengal, which was exposed to fierce international competition and to an unstable political and climatic situation characteristic of Bengal. Furthermore, this trade was burdened by the maintenance costs of the imperial factory as well as by the loss of at least three ships. Notwithstanding a less profitable Bengal trade, the Ostend Company was too successful to be tolerated by foreign competitors. Consequently the Ostend Company was doomed to disappear. In 1731, the Company's privilege was permanently withdrawn. The dissolution of the Ostend Company served as a peace-offering during the cold war between Austria and the anti-Habsburg Alliance. The Company was forced to close down; however, the liquidation procedures kepy lingering on, in the hope that the Company could be rescued.

Type
Chapter
Information
Merchants, Companies and Trade
Europe and Asia in the Early Modern Era
, pp. 227 - 240
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×