Forbes, James, 1749-1819, James Forbes letter, Bombay, 1770 December 5, copied between 1794 and 1800
- Call Number:
- Folio A 2023 69
- Creator:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819
- Title(s):
- James Forbes letter, Bombay, 1770 December 5
- Date:
- copied between 1794 and 1800
- Classification:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Series:
- Series I: A voyage from England to Bombay with descriptions in Asia, Africa, and South America
- Part of Collection:
- volume 3, page 227-230
- Provenance:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Conditions Governing Access:
- The materials are open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use:
- The collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
- Scope and Content:
- In his thirteenth letter, Forbes briefly introduces the various settlements controlled or established by the British East India Company. He begins furthest from India, in the Persian Gulf at Bussora (now Basra, Iraq), where the company trades in textiles and wool, and to which private Bombay merchants send their wares. Forbes then describes the factory at Bushire (now Bushehr, Iran), the only remaining company station in the territory of the Persian government, following increased restrictions under the rule of Nadir Shah (1736-1747). In South Asia, Forbes mentions factories at Tattah, the Capital of Scindy (now the province of Sindh, Pakistan); Cambay (Khambat, in present-day Gujarat, India), and Surat (in present-day Gujarat, India). Of these, Surat is by far the most important, with a considerable volume of trade and a sizable military force. Tattah is very remote, according to Forbes, though it attracts private merchants and British trade. The remaining stations include Fort Victoria—the factory closest to Bombay, which hosts a small military force and “is of no further use than to supply Bombay with cattle and fire-wood”—and Onore, under the control of Hyder Ali Khan, ruler of Mysore. Tellicherry (now Thalassery) is a small town where the company gets pepper, sandalwood, and cardamom, in small quantities. Calicut, though once “famed for its extensive commerce” is now only a small economic presence, for pepper and timber. Anjengo is the most southern possession of the company, under the rule of the king of Travencore. The letter closes with a quotation from Alexander Pope (1688-1744), beginning, “For thee the balm shall bleed, and amber flow, The coral redden and the ruby glow.” This does not appear in <title>Oriental Memoirs</title>.
- Physical Description:
- 4 pages
- Genre:
- Correspondence , Botanical illustrations, Ornithological illustrations, Travel sketches, Maps, Watercolors (paintings), Drawings (visual works), Engravings (prints), and Portraits
- Subject Terms:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819. Descriptive letters and drawingsForbes, James, 1749-1819. Oriental memoirs
- Associated Places:
- EnglandItalyScotlandWales
- Associated People/Groups:
- East India CompanyForbes, James, 1749-1819
- Finding Aid Title:
- James Forbes archive
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199487
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199487?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1