Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Mumbai and American Civil War Connection 1860-and 1776 American Independence connection


Premchand Roychand -

Wikipedia
Premchand Roychand - Wikipedia

American Civil War is connected to the growth of Mumbai. Here's how.



Before the 1850s, India used to export cotton to Briton and import textile. However, the the cost of importing textiles ballooned to Rs. 20 millions by 1860. This led Mumbai entrepreneurs to create a cotton mill industry in Mumbai. By 1870, there were 13 cotton mills in Mumbai.

Cotton supplies from the US were interrupted during the American Civil War. Before the Civil War, cotton mills in England used to import only about 20% of their needs for cotton from India. However, with the blockade of the Confederate ports, Indian cotton prices rose. By the time, General Lee's army was defeated (1865), traders in Bombay had earned 70 million Pound Sterling in cotton trade. So much was the haste to make money in cotton that farmers in Gujarat were cutting down grain crop ready to mature to free up land for cotton.

Ambitious projects such as Backbay Reclamation were launched around that time. Dock Yards building also had attracted a lot of money. Premchand Roychand - one of the wealthiest cotton trader made fortune during this time
. He donated money to build Rajabai Tower. He also lost considerable fortune in the reclamation projects.

The cotton bubble deflated as soon as the American Civil War ended. Large number of speculators were bankrupt. However, Bombay had launched itself towards industrial growth. Migration of workers from the rest of Maharashtra to Bombay was on and it was the place where fortunes were to be made. It was only a matter of time. 



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Premchand Roychand

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Premchand Roychand
BornMarch 1832
Surat, Gujarat, India
DiedMarch 1906 (aged 74–75)
OccupationsStockbroker and businessman
Notable workDonor of Rajabai Clock Tower and establishment and founder of Bombay Stock Exchange
MotherRajabai

Premchand Roychand (1832–1906) was an Indian Śvetāmbara Jain businessman known as the "Cotton King" and "Bullion King" from Bombay.[1] He is most well-known for the establishment of Bombay Stock Exchange and for his donation in the construction of the Rajabai Clock Tower.

Life

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Premchand Roychand was born in 1832 i






















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Cuddalore and the American Revolution

The Anglo-French rivalry connected India and US

Latest News

Aneesh Gokhale

Updated : Nov 12, 2017, 07:23 AM IST

Cuddalore and the American Revolution
Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore, allied with the French to settle scores with the East India company

On July the fourth, 1776, a group of people in today’s America signed the Declaration of Independence. The United States celebrates that day as Independence Day, but at the time, it was viewed by England as a revolt against their authority. The East India Company was in no mood to let go of a cash cow with hundreds of acres of land and priceless cotton. But along with the British, another European power was making its presence felt in colonies across the world — the French. And in 1778, they threw their lot in with the Americans. They were also smarting over the loss of Canada to the British — although Voltaire described it as ‘losing a few acres of snow’. So the French opened up battlefronts against the British in the Caribbean Islands (especially Jamaica), in Gibraltar, of the Cape of Good Hope and also in India.

 

The French had been in India for quite some time and, in fact, had fought the British in the previous decade. But this time, they allied with the ruler of Mysore — Hyder Ali. The latter had been smarting over treatment given to him by the British and readily joined the French to settle scores with the East India company. Mysore allied with the French to battle and take several places in south India such as Cuddalore, ostensibly to help America attain independence. We are more familiar with these activities of Hyder Ali as the ‘Second Anglo-Mysore War’. Marquis De Bussy, who had played a central role in south India’s politics in the 1760s, arrived at Cuddalore and took over its command. In the beginning of 1782, Hyder Ali died and Tipu Sultan took his place. The Americans must have had some hint of the Anglo-Mysore Wars for there was an American ship named Hyder Ally plying the waters at the time.

The British were not going to sit idle. There was a lot at stake. Not just the United States, but also their newly formed rich colonies in India. Maj General James Stuart began the British siege of Cuddalore on June 7, 1783. His army consisted of not just East India Company soldiers, but also those from the regular British Army — the 73rd and 78th Highlanders. The British also had help from the German principality of Hanover in this battle — led by Christoph Von Wagenheim. The Germans were majorly involved in other battles related to the American Revolution, too, and were generally referred to as ‘Hessians’. But a curious thing had happened almost six months earlier

From 1778 to 1782, the French and the British had fought more than 40 battles against each other. Even Spain had joined the fray and to make matters more complex, the British had also fought the Dutch in battles related to the American Revolution. The British were finding it difficult to hold on to their American colonies, and so a truce had been signed between England and France in 1782. A ship left for India carrying the good news soon after.

 

Meanwhile, at Cuddalore, a French Admiral named Andre Du Suffren had arrived and he opened a naval front in what was till then a land-based war. He had fought a series of battles against the British Admiral Edward Hughes all over the Indian Ocean and now the British and French faced off against each other off the coast of Tamil Nadu.Major General James Stuart had repeatedly asked for reinforcements but to no avail. He, of course, did not know that a truce had been signed.

Du Suffren’s attacks on Cuddalore meant that the British could not hold on to the siege and Stuart soon retreated to Madras. Admiral Du Suffren was able to land around twenty-five hundred troops, once the British threat had reduced at the naval front, further compounding their problems.

 

But even so, the French and their soldiers drawn from Mysore’s army were not able to fully break the siege. It was hard work for both sides in the sweltering heat and humidity of south eastern India. Many people died of heatstroke, dehydration and dysentery. The naval contingents, as was often the case, were afflicted with scurvy — a disease of the gums. This was over and above the ones lost to the actual warfare.

 

Finally, at the end of June, the ship from England arrived. It had taken seven months to complete its journey — a time in which the Battle of Cuddalore took place and hundreds died. But there was no faster way for news to reach in those days. An unnecessary battle had taken place, and what’s more, the terms of the truce granted Cuddalore back to the British. Pondicherry and Mahe went to the French. And thus ended the last battle linked to the American Revolution — halfway around the globe. A year more of negotiations and a new country was born: the United States.

 

The writer is the author of Brahmaputra — Story of Lachit Barphukan and Sahyadris to Hindukush — Maratha Conquest of Lahore and Attock

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🚢 The Star-Spangled was born... on a Bombay-built ship. On 19th June 1810, the HMS Minden was launched from Mumbai’s historic docks—crafted from Malabar teak by the legendary Wadia shipbuilders. ✨ In 1814, during the War of 1812, American lawyer Francis Scott Key was held aboard this very ship. As bombs lit up the night sky, he wrote the poem that would become America’s national anthem. From Ballard Pier to Baltimore... Mumbai’s shipyards shaped the world in ways we’re only just beginning to remember. ⚓ Want to know more about the Wadias and their legendary shipbuilding? 📍 Join our Fort Heritage Walk — where every corner carries a forgotten global connection. 📩 DM to book #livethecity #amchimumbai #thisyearthatday #tour #heritagewalk #HMSMinden #HiddenMumbai #RaconteurWalks #MumbaiHistory #WalkWithUs #StarSpangledInBombay
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🚢 The Star-Spangled was born... on a Bombay-built ship.
On 19th June 1810, the HMS Minden was launched from Mumbai’s historic docks—crafted from Malabar teak by the legendary Wadia shipbuilders.
✨ In 1814, during the War of 1812, American lawyer Francis Scott Key was held aboard this very ship.
As bombs lit up the night sky, he wrote the poem that would become America’s national anthem.
From Ballard Pier to Baltimore...
Mumbai’s shipyards shaped the world in ways we’re only just beginning to remember.
⚓ Want to know more about the Wadias and their legendary shipbuilding?












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