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EARLY ENGLISH
ADVENTURERS
IN THE EAST
By
ARNOLD WRIGHT
SECOND EDITION
T
HIS work covers the period which intervened between Drake's circumnavigation of the world at the
close of the sixteenth century and the founding of Calcutta at the end of the seventeenth century. Those
were the years in which the initial efforts were made by the English to establish themselves in the East
as traders. It was, as far as this part of the world concerned, preeminently the age of the adventurer—the
merchant adventurer, if you will, but still of the true adventurer who seeks fortune by his daring enterprise
and his mother wit. For varied interest and picturesqueness, there is no more fascinating period than this in
the whole of the Empire's past. Tragedy and comedy mingled their elements in what was in essence one of
the most romantic dramas of the world's history. Men started out to build up a commercial connexion, and
they ended in laying the foundations of a dominion over alien peoples more wonderful than that of Rome in
her palmiest days. How this was accomplished is told in the accompanying pages, but the author's aim has
been not so much to write an exhaustive history as to bring into prominence the personalities of those who
were engaged in this great work—to show what manner of men they were, how they struggled and fought
and how in many cases they died for their country in furtherance of aims which on their full fruition in
subsequent years were to lead to the dominance of the British race in India. Their splendid part in the
building of the Empire has been obscured by the more dazzling achievements of the men of a later
generation who on an ampler stage and with more impressive accessories carried forward the story of British
ascendency from crisis to crisis to its magnificent dénouement in the unchallenged supremacy of Britain
under the æegis of the Crown. Few of those who read this work, however, will be prepared to deny that
many of these humble adventurers of the seventeenth century are fully worthy of a place in the illustrious
roll of men who made the Empire.
It should be stated that the work is mainly based on the splendid series of records preserved at the India
Office, which supply a full history of the early life of the English in the East. In the prosecution of his
researches the author received the most complete facilities from the courteous officials at the India Office
Library, and he desires to avail himself of this opportunity of making due acknowledgment of their kindness.
As far as the earliest years of the period dealt with are concerned he has to express his indebtedness to the
useful series of transcripts edited by Mr. Wm. Foster under the authority of the Indian Government. These
volumes, reproducing as they do in faithful detail the text of the older documents, many of which are
illegible to any but an expert archivist, are of immense value to the writer who is dealing with any special
phase of British Indian history. The hope may be permitted that the series will be continued until all the rich
store of historical fact and incident is made readily accessible to the literary student.
A. W.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before
January 1, 1925.
The author died in 1941, so this work is also in the public domain in countries and areas
where the copyright term is the author's life plus 75 years or less. This work may also be in
the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the
rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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