THE RISE AND FALL OF THE MUGHAL EMPIREto an ever-increasing extent. If these merchants did not have ships of their
own they were glad to entrust their goods to Europeans whose ships were
armed and could thus defend themselves against ubiquitous piracy.
Actually, European piracy also increased in the Indian Ocean as
individual ‘entrepreneurs’ were quick to learn their nautical and
commercial lessons. Not all of the European interlopers were pirates—
some of them simply earned a living in the ‘country trade’, as the intra-
Asian trade was called. The British private traders were very active in this
field, and though the East India Company officially decried the activities of
these ‘interlopers’—who crossed the Asian seas without any respect for
monopoly rights granted by royal charter—there emerged a kind of
symbiosis between them and the company. The East India Company
concentrated on the intercontinental trade, and the ‘country traders’ made
their deals with the servants of the company and made use of the
infrastructure and the protective network provided by the company
without contributing to its maintenance. This gave them a comparative
advantage in the intra-Asian trade and the company did well in specialising
in the intercontinental connection and leaving the ‘country trade’ to others.
This specialisation was fostered by a characteristic feature of the British
East India Company. Unlike the Dutch company which owned a huge fleet
of ships, the British company had given up the policy of building and owning
its own ships after a period of initial experimentation; instead, it had
adopted the method of leasing ships from private shipowners. Fluctuations
in the volume of trade could thus be easily met by hiring fewer ships and the
risk of maintaining the vessels had to be borne by the private shipowners.
These people tried their best to stay in business by offering the company
better and faster ships, for which they could charge high freight rates. These
specialised and expensive ships were perfectly suited for the intercontinental
run, but their employment in the ‘country trade’ would have been a waste of
money as their freight rates were too high and their speed not much use for
the trade between Asian ports. Only if such a ship had missed the monsoon
and was forced to stay in Asian waters would an owner try to reduce his
losses by arranging for an intra-Asian voyage. In general, however, the
company insisted on a strict observance of the timetable which was fixed for
the intercontinental traffic.
The captains of these expensive and well-equipped intercontinental ships
were about the best-paid employees of their day. They also enjoyed the
privilege of taking on board some precious goods on their own account,
which gave them a handsome profit in addition to their salary. Many
captains also held a share in the ship they commanded. This was,
therefore, a very attractive career for intelligent and enterprising people.
The British nautical elite was made up of such men, an elite which greatly
contributed to British seapower. The specialisation and division of labour
which characterised the British system made it much more flexible and