Hooghly River, West Bengal

An exceedingly rare early 18th Century map, commissioned by the Flemish-Austrian Ostend Company, depicting the European Factories along Bengal’s Hooghly River.

This highly attractive and very rare production relates to the Flemish-Austrian foray into India, which could be described as politically shambolic, commercially profitable and very short-lived.

The map depicts the lower course of the Hooghly River, the epicentre of European activity in Bengal, taken from a westward perspective. In the right-center of the map, located just inland of the left bank of the river, is ‘Bankebasar’ (Banquibazar, today the site of Ichapore), the Ostend Company’s commercial base, and nearby “Hitsiapour” (Hydisiapore), home of the “Loge Flamande” (the Flemish habitation). Across the river is “Chandernagar factorie Françoise” (the French base of Chandernagore, today known as Chandannagar), while just above is “Sinsura factorie Holland.” (the Dutch factory of Chinsura). Below Chandernagore is “Danemarnagor Loge Danoise” (Danemarnagore, today Gondalpara), a settlement that was abandoned by the Danes 1714. Further down river is “Coullicatta factorie Anglaise”, referring to Calcutta (established by the English in 1690).

In 1713, the Southern Netherlands, now known as Belgium, became part of the Austrian Habsburg Empire. Seeking to forge a permanent presence in India, in 1722, Emperor Charles IV chartered the Ostend Company.

The man selected to lead the venture was Lieutenant-General Jacques André Cobbé, who while having a fine military resumé, also possessed a volatile temperament. Within months of his arrival in Bengal, in June 1723, at the head of a modest force, Cobbé ‘went rogue’ and attacked Bengali shipping on the Hooghly. In April 1724, he holed himself up in the fort of Danemarnagore, and his rag-tag army weathered a siege by the Nawab’s forces until he was killed by a cannonball.

It was at this juncture that the level-headed Scottish merchant Alexander Hume took over the governorship of the Company. He managed to smooth over relations with the Nawab and built a commercial settlement at Bankibazar and the fortifications at Hydisiapore in short order. The Ostend Company briefly proved to be a spectacular financial success.

Not surprisingly, the other European powers in India saw the Ostend Company as a threat to their own endeavours. In 1731, the British pressured Charles IV into rescinding the Ostend Company’s charter, although it continued to operate unofficially until 1744.