Table of Contents

Preface – ix Acknowledgments – xiii 1. Bombay and its Origins 1713-52 – 1 2. London and India House 1753-65 – 23 3. The Court of Directors 1755-58 – 38 4. Priorities 1757-65 – 51 5. India: Developments and Plans 1757-76 – 72 6. Feuds and Peace Treaties 1757-73 – 87 7. Activities: Public and Private 1757-63 – 109 8. Challenge: Defeat: and Reflection 1757-65 – 130 9. Fresh Start and New Game 1765-76 – 147 10. Great Designs and Personal Struggles 1768-72 – 160 11. Defences Breached 1769-73 – 174 12. Desperation and Defiance 1774-78 – 195 13. Fight for Survival 1774-78 – 205 14. Restoration 1778-82 – 220 15. Transformation 1780-84 – 232 16. Personal Loss and Political Revival 1781-83 – 244 17. Closing of an Era 1782-86 – 255 18. Endings 1784-87 – 266 Abbreviations – 280 Chapter Notes and References – 281 Bibliography – 305 Glossary – 315 Index – 317

Promotional Information

A biography of Laurence Sulivan, this book paints a picture of a supremely influential and colourful business figure as he controlled the most powerful private company of his day - and at the centre of the eighteenth century public-private nexus in business and government.

About the Author

George McGilvary was previously Honorary Post-Doctoral Fellow at Edinburgh University, UK. He specialises in the E. I. Company and the political and commercial activities of the Scottish elite at home, within the India House and abroad. Publications include three academic monographs and numerous published articles and chapters.

Reviews

"I am full of admiration for this pathbreaking book. The research is scrupulous, detailed and rigorous and is the definitive biography of Sulivan, the most important single figure in the East India Company for much of the eighteenth century." Tom Devine, Director of the Arts and Human Research Board for Irish and Scottish Studies "Remarkable... a fascinating book. The rescue of Sulivan's reputation from comparative obscurity is welcome." John Mackenzie, Honorary Research Professor at the Research Institute of Scottish and Irish Studies, University of Aberdeen"