Bantam Presidency

Presidency of Company rule in India

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1617–1688

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History

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Established

1617

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Disestablished

1688

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Bantam Presidency was a presidency established by the British East India Company and based at the Company factory at Bantam in Java. Founded in 1617, the Presidency exercised its authority over all the Company factories in India, including the agencies of Madras, Masulipatnam and Surat. The factors at Bantam were instrumental in founding the colony of Madraspatnam in 1639 with the Fort St. George, which later grew into the modern city of Madras. The Presidency of Bantam was twice downgraded, first in 1630 before being restored in 1634 and for the second time in 1653, when owing to the hostility of Dutch traders, the Presidency was shifted to Madras. Bantam remained an agency under the suzerainty of Madras and then Surat till the 1680s, when trade was moved to Bencoolen in Sumatra. The factory at Bantam survived until the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 when all the British colonies in the East Indies were handed over to the Dutch in return for recognition of British primacy over the Malay Peninsula.

In December 1602, a fleet of East India Company ships commanded by James Lancaster reached Bantam and negotiated with the Sultan of Bantam over pepper trade and the opening of a settlement. A factory was eventually opened with eight factors headed by William Starkey as Governor and Thomas Morgan as his deputy. Bantam was one of the oldest possessions of the East India Company and older than all Indian colonies. But seven of the eight factors perished with Morgan in April 1603 and Starkey, himself, in June 1603. Starkey was succeeded as Governor by Edmund Scott. When a second voyage commanded by Sir Henry Middleton reached Bantam, Scott had succeeded as Governor being the only member of the original expedition who was still alive. The early days of the colony were marred by death due to disease and Dutch hostilities. Scott was succeeded by John Saris who became the second Englishman after William Adams to set foot on Japan.

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