Forging the Raj: The East India Company and Britain’s Asian World, part 1

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• engage with the large secondary literature on the East India Company and the British Empire, and contribute to the debates relating to the historiography of the British Empire
• structure your ideas and research findings into well-ordered essays
• analyse critically a variety of textual, visual and material culture sources

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• locate and use effective textual, visual and material culture sources in the library and on-line
• research historical questions and communicate your findings convincingly and concisely in written reports
• develop your time-management skills

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the wider context of British political, military and commercial activities in the maritime space of the Indian Ocean
• the chronology, personalities and major events in the history of the East India Company, as well as the latest historiographical debates surrounding their interpretation
• key primary sources and literature, drawn from the history of the East India Company, that provide evidence for historians of the British Empire
• key examples from the history of the East India Company which you can use to explore a host of global and transnational phenomena

In 1861, the Illustrated London News called the East India Company ‘the most celebrated commercial association of ancient or modern times’. In this module, you will test that statement by considering the East India Company and the role it played in creating the British Empire in Asia. You will focus on the rise of the Company, from its modest origins as a small Elizabethan trading venture, to a global empire which controlled Britain’s maritime trade with Asia for nearly 250 years. It is a story of wealth, power and the pursuit of fortune. But it is also one of conflict, conquest and piracy on the high seas; policy, politics and intrigue on land. And, by introducing a whole host of coveted commodities to European consumers, the scale and impact of the Company’s activities changed the lives of millions of people around the world.

In the first semester, you will explore the genesis, expansion and consolidation of the Company’s Asian Empire. You will consider the geographical, climatic, social and cultural world of the Indian Ocean in which the London-based East India Company attempted to find a commercial foothold in the seventeenth century. You will examine some of its local and international rivals, and some of the trials and tribulations that beset the Company in its early days. By studying primary sources – such as letters, journals, narrative accounts, drawings and prints – you will explore the maritime, commercial and cultural experiences of the early Company employees travelling to Asia. You will also have an opportunity to consider how trade and empire developed together to make the East India Company one of the cornerstones of Britain’s maritime world.

You will learn about the East India Company through the close study of a range of written primary sources including letters, journals and narrative accounts. You will also have an opportunity to bring detailed analysis of material culture and visual sources to bear on your understanding and interpretation of the history of the East India Company.

Topics to be explored in the first semester may include:

1. Introductions and overview: the company that changed the world?

2. The Indian Ocean World of the East India Company

3. Starting up: the East India Company and its competitors

4. Getting there: the maritime world of the East India Company

5. Asian emporia: the Company’s commercial world

6. Doing business: encounter and diplomacy

7. Displaying its wares: the Company and its commodities

8. From trading company to political power

9. A global company? The Company and the British Empire

10. Company people: Anglo-Indian society in the eighteenth century

Teaching methods include:

• short presentations by students
• group discussions including feedback from the tutor
• detailed reading and analysis of the module texts

Learning activities include:

• preparatory reading, individual research and study prior to each class
• preparing and delivering short presentations relating to specific aspects of the module
• studying textual and visual primary sources
• participation in group and class discussion

In this module learning and teaching activities focus on helping you to explore and investigate the ideas and themes outlined above. Throughout the module you will also engage in directed and self-directed study, for example through pre-seminar reading and through library research. The presentations (by you and your fellow students) and your reading will provide you with a broad overview of the secondary literature, using the bibliography provided at the start of the module. The discussion generated by these presentations will provide you with the opportunity to explore the relevant major historical debates on a weekly basis. In addition, you will study in depth a range of primary written and visual sources, as well as surviving material culture. These sessions will allow you to prepare for the essay and examination exercises. Feedback on your progress and development will be given via seminars and group discussions. Responses from tutor and your fellow students to your presentation will also give you formative feedback.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.