British Factory at Surat (1612)

Timeline

1. 1611–1612Port of Surat · GujaratAfter preliminary contacts made by voyages such as Captain Middleton's, East India Company agents petitioned Mughal local authorities and the court for permission to establish a permanent station at Surat, free from Portuguese armed interference, creating the conditions for a fixed factory.
2. 1612Surat · GujaratIn 1612 English merchants established a factory at Surat, including warehouses, an accounting office, and agents' quarters, handling imports and exports of cotton cloth, indigo, pepper, and other goods. This was the East India Company's first long-term trading post on the Indian subcontinent.
3. 1612–1620Gujarat coast · GujaratAfter the factory's establishment, British, Dutch, and Portuguese merchants competed fiercely at Surat and nearby ports. After 1615, Sir Thomas Roe's embassy further consolidated relations with the Mughal court, making the Surat factory the hub of British trade in India in the early 17th century.