The Westward Routes

The westward voyages from India were the most important ones to all European country traders in terms of both volume and value in the early eighteenth century and it was on these routes that French private trade was based. The fundamental link was between Bengal and Surat in Gujarat. ¹ From Chandannagar ships took sugar, iron, raw silk and luxury fabrics; goods from China and south-east Asia were shipped onwards from Bengal, and pepper and cardamoms and sandalwood were bought en route on the Malabar coast. As Février commented in his memorandum on Asian trade, ‘Il n’y a presque point de sortes de marchandises dont on ne puisse trouver le débit à Suratte.’ ² From Surat the ships returned with cotton for the weaving industry of Bengal. Most of the goods carried by Europeans from Bengal to Gujarat were freighted by Armenian and Indian merchants of Murshidabad, Hugli and Surat, which made the route ideal for tyros. As Vincens explained, ‘Les voyages de Bengalle à Suratte sont de très bons voyages quand on peut charger son vaisseau à fret parce qu’il faut un très petit capital suivant la grandeur du vaisseau.’ ³ The French shipowners’ investment went into buying the ship and a small cargo, the rest of the space on board was given over to freight. On the Diligent of 1736/7, for example, the owners’ cargo only 152consisted of a small consignment of iron, more for ballast than for profit. According to Duval de Leyrit in 1754, 100,000 Rs were needed for the purchase of a ship and 30–40,000 Rs for its cargo of iron, lacquer and arrack. ¹ By then, however, the size of their ships had increased from the tiny brigantines in which the French had started their trade and the importance of being well-aimed against pirates was fully understood; twenty years earlier Dupleix’s ships were acquired much more cheaply, even at Surat which was the source of the best ships in India. ² The Aimable, which made the round-India voyage in 1732/33, only cost 17,600 Rs in Calcutta and the Grand Heureux of 650 tonneaux of 1738/39 cost 51,556 Rs at Surat, half the sum deemed necessary by Duval de Leyrit.