Madras to london A Study in International Trade and Economic Development 1639-1808

This ground-breaking book unearths fresh empirical data from the records of the English Company and reconstructs the long distance maritime trade developed from Madras to London for the cheap washable, lightweight cotton cloth in huge quantities. It sheds new light on the historical experience of English commercial expansion and the early modern world system that operated. The author focuses on local economy and distant market networks that functioned within structures and stability. The textile trade enabled to launch the colonial operations and it enabled Britain to channelize its industrial development later. The transformation of Tamil economy into a colonial one-a market for the manufacturers and source for the supply of raw materials to industries in England gradually hit hard the industrial and commercial base of a number of centres in Tamil countryside. The monograph explores how the English settlement of Madras and its territory got incorporated into metropolitan economic circuits.
S. Jeyaseela Stephen is former directeur, Institut pour études Indo-Européennes (2013-2023). He was Professor of Maritime History (2001-2013) at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. He has authored numerous books on the maritime history of early modern India. His books have been translated into Chinese, Danish, German and Tamil. He is the recipient of the Best Book Prize of the Year 1999 from the Government of Tamil Nadu. He received the Thiru Vi. Ka Award of 2023 by the Government of Tamil Nadu.