The Early Administration of Calcutta by the EIC: 1690-1756: An Institutional Analysis

This dissertation investigates the institutional framework set up in Calcutta by the East India Company in the earliest period of the city’s history, from the establishment of the first English trading post in Calcutta in 1690 to the battle of Plassey in 1756. It does so by analyzing how the pre-existing trading institutions of Mughal India were re-shaped by the arrival and influence of the East India Company. We will see how the interaction of these two different systems led to a delicate institutional balancing act which enabled immense economic and demographic growth in the English settlement, all without the aid of an explicit codification or the right to appeal to a higher legal or political power. The early administrative role of the EIC, which started with its concession by the Mughal of zamindari rights on Calcutta and the neighboring villages of Sutanati and Gobindpur in 1698, will also be examined in its role in shaping such balance. Most of the sources utilized will come from the factory records of Calcutta and form other EIC documents and correspondence, however local sources, such as epigraphic evidence, local literature, and religious texts will also be referenced throughout this dissertation.