Trade With The East

Question 1

Who dominated the trade of luxury goods?

Answer 1

Portugal

Question 2

Why did wealthy Elizabethans want luxury goods from India and China?

Answer 2

Silk, cotton, jewels and perfumes were fashionable for furnishing and clothing. Spices such as cinnamon and pepper were used for flavouring and preserving food. Expensive to buy in England but impressed guests at dinner parties. Wanted to show off their wealth.

Question 3

When Spain invaded Portugal in 1580 there was a fear that the spice trade would be disrupted. As a result what did London merchants do?

Answer 3

London merchants formed the Turkey Company in 1581. They were granted a monopoly- the sole right to trade in the Eastern Mediterranean

Question 4

Why did the Turkey Company send Ralph Fitch to Asia?

Answer 4

Ralph Fitch was sent to India, South-East Asia and China to research trade opportunities

Question 5

What did Ralph Fitch carry with him on his journey?

Answer 5

Ralph Fitch carries letters of introduction from the queen to the Mughal and Chinese emperors- the leaders of the greatest civilisations in the world.

Question 6

When did Fitch and four other men set off from Falmouth?

Answer 6

March 1583

Question 7

When they reached Basra in May who stayed behind to trade?

Answer 7

John Eldred stayed behind to trade

Question 8

What happened in Hormuz (a Portuguese trading station)?

Answer 8

The group were arrested as spies and were taken to Goa, a Portuguese colony in India

Question 9

Once they were released in Goa who stayed to join the Jesuit college there?

Answer 9

James Story joined the Jesuit college

Question 10

After Goa where did the three men go next?

Answer 10

The men sailed on to Fatepur Sikri, the Court of the Mughal Emperor at Agra

Question 11

Who stayed in Agra?

Answer 11

William Leedes was so impressed with Agra that he stayed to work there as a jeweller

Question 12

When in Agra, who decided to return to England over land?

Answer 12

John Newbury decided to return to England over land but was not heard of again

Question 13

After Newbury left where did Fitch sail to?

Answer 13

Fitch sailed alone to the Portugese fort of Malacca

Question 14

At Malacca what did Fitch discover?

Answer 14

Fitch was not allowed to continue to the South China Sea, so headed back to England

Question 15

When did Fitch arrive in England?

Answer 15

He returned back in England in April 1591, eight years after he had left

Question 16

What did Fitch write about?

Answer 16

He wrote about the people, customs and goods he had seen

Question 17

How did Fitch’s work attract attention?

Answer 17

Merchants in England were very interested in the trade opportunities he described, and were also worried about losing out to competitors (in particular the Dutch) in exploiting them.

Question 18

What goods did Fitch see were easily available in India?

Answer 18

Gems, cloth, dyes and drugs

Question 19

When was the East India Company established?

Answer 19

In 1600

Question 20

In April 1601, who was given command of the East India company’s first fleet?

Answer 20

John Lancaster was given command of the first fleet

Question 21

What did Lancaster do on his expedition?

Answer 21

He established England’s first trading post in the east, in Java, in 1602

Question 22

What did English ships begin to do?

Answer 22

English ships, like the Dutch and Portuguese, began to bring home spices

Question 23

Why was Lancaster’s voyage of 1601-1603 important?

Answer 23

The voyage was important because John Dee’s dream of a ‘British Empire’ had begun to be realised

Question 24

200 years later what was the significance of the East India Company?

Answer 24

200 years later, the East India company was the biggest trading company in the world.