British business networks and colonial economic policy in India, 1830-48

"This paper will explore the role of connected British business interest groups in the shaping of British economic policy in India during one of the most turbulent periods of British colonial history. The period saw revolutions in British commercial and economic policy towards India, and in the organisation of British commerce with the sub-continent. Following a massive commercial crisis in Calcutta between 1830 and 1833, which saw the demise of the British agency houses in that city, the East India Company lost its monopoly of trade to China under the Charter Act of 1833. After this, its position as a centre of political power and influence in London diminished rapidly and considerably. In the wake of these crises, British business groups in London and the provinces vied to shape colonial policy in ways which suited their respective interests, Provincial industrialists prioritised access to India for exports, and London interests sought to maximise profits from their role in the Indian trade, and preserve their position of political influence in face of the deteriorating status of the East India Company (their traditional avenue of political influence) and the rise of provincial interests. This picture is further complicated by the changing relations between commercial interests in Britain and those in India itself, which had been thrown into turmoil by the crisis of 1830-33. The period saw various attempts to refashion the institutional framework for commercial relations between Britain and India, particularly through several abortive attempts to create a London based central bank for India. At the same time, financial reforms in India tried, unsuccessfully, to stabilise the fragile Anglo-Indian commercial economy. The failure of these efforts was dramatically demonstrated by the great financial crisis of 1847/48, which decimated East India commercial firms in India and London, and paved the way for a new order in Anglo-Indian commercial affairs. The paper will explore the role of networks in London. Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and elsewhere in determining the course of these events, and in shaping government policy, from the decision to terminate the East India China monopoly in 1833, through the refusal to countenance the various schemes for a new Indian central bank during the period, to the government’s response to the crash of 1847/8. The shifting pattern of alliances between business interests will be explored, together with new initiatives to reorganise and co-ordinate co-operation between businessmen through new structures and organisations – particularly as in the case of the London East India and China Association. The paper draws extensively on business records in Glasgow, London and Liverpool – particularly the records of the Glasgow East India Association (held in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow). One of the aims of the paper is to throw new light upon the debate about the relative political influence enjoyed by various business groups in Britain, particularly those in London and the industrial provinces. In this respect, the aim is to throw new light on the debate about the power of “gentlemanly capitalism”, the interpretation of British imperialism offered by Cain and Hopkins."