Bengali merchants and American traders: The unlikely allies of the 18th Century

When another US vessel, Chesapeake, arrived in Calcutta in autumn of 1787, Captain John O’Donnel was concerned about the East India Company’s reception, especially since the new governor-general, Lord Cornwallis, had been defeated by French and American forces at Yorktown six years earlier. Nonetheless, the British were relatively receptive to American traders, who created new markets for Indian goods and traded in silver, a commodity the East India Company urgently needed.

American ships transported lumber, naval supplies, New England ice, manufactured goods, and European wines, returning with Indian cotton, silk textiles, sugar, jute, and hides. Most purchases by America were intended for re-export, primarily to Africa and European colonies in the Caribbean and South America. While white cotton textiles were the most common items, printed and dyed cotton, silk goods (especially handkerchiefs), and woollen shawls were also significant. From 1790 onward, American trade with British India expanded rapidly, with Bengal as the primary trade hub and Madras as a secondary source. Boston, Salem, Philadelphia, Marblehead, and New York regularly dispatched ships to acquire Bengal goods.

Despite this growth, the relationship between American and British merchants in India remained largely competitive. The East India Company favoured its traders, and private British merchants resented American access to exclusive markets. In 1794, Benjamin Joy reported to his business partners in Bombay that Americans faced significant suspicion in Bengal and needed either a strong reputation or a guarantor to secure shipments. This tension contributed to Joy’s resignation in the winter of 1796.

With no official presence, American merchants seized the chance to build relationships with the local merchant community. Professor Emeritus Dane Morrison of Early American History at Salem State University, in an email interview with indianexpress.com, says, “Those who arrived in an Indian port for the first time, as in China, Sumatra, or anywhere in the East, experienced a dose of culture shock and sensory overload. A transient supercargo who sojourned in an Indian port stayed only long enough to barter cargoes, rarely travelled into the interior, and seldom made deep, abiding friendships. However, over time, the number of resident traders who remained in India for years at a time did, indeed, cultivate bonds that transcend culture.”

Many rented houses in Calcutta hired local servants, leased warehouses, and spent their days in the bazaars examining prices and goods. The cotton market in Calcutta was particularly challenging due to the availability of a wide variety of fabrics, and traders had to assess the quality of goods like sugar and understand proper storage methods.

Michael Verney, Professor of Early North American and United States History at Drury University, Missouri, in an interview with indianexpress.com, highlights that “American merchants in Calcutta endeavoured to overcome prejudices and establish relationships with the Indian upper class. Driven by financial motives, they were prepared to set aside cultural, religious, and racial differences. Despite initial suspicions, forging personal connections with local Bengali baniyas (merchants) was vital to their success.”

Their confidence was so strong that, for the first time in Indian commerce history, American merchants bypassed European agents entirely. Historian Susan S Bean, in her 1987 work Calcutta Banians for the American Trade explains, “The baniya was essential: he spoke English; he knew the market; he knew where to procure commodities and sell imports; and sometimes he supplied capital as well. Such dependency nurtured trust when transactions were successful and suspicion when they failed. The successes often led to relationships that transcended pure commerce.”

To these Bengali merchants, Americans resembled the British in appearance and language but differed in business practices. Unlike the British, who traded through large firms like the East India Company, Americans operated as individuals or family enterprises. They preferred working with trusted Indian brokers, sharing profits to facilitate local transactions and build connections.

The merchants of Bengal

Historians, including Kenneth W Porter, characterise baniyas as members of a Hindu caste skilled in banking and brokerage. Their education, linguistic abilities, penmanship, and precision made them well-suited to meet the needs of Western merchants. Moreover, they possessed substantial wealth, and some even maintained apartments furnished in the European style. According to Verney, “This social status and background of Bengali baniyas helped Boston and Salem sea officers overcome their prejudice and develop strong commercial relationships with their foreign counterparts.”

This baniya community of Calcutta was led by Babu Ramdulal Dey, who had extensive connections with American maritime trading houses. His mansion, Ramdulal Niwas — commonly known as Chatu Babu Latu Babu Rajbari — was constructed in 1784 and is one of the oldest residences in Calcutta. Dey’s reputation and extensive network led 30 Americans to present him with a life-sized portrait of George Washington in 1801. The portrait symbolised a cultural exchange aimed at strengthening trading relationships between Americans and Indians.

Ramdulal Niwas — commonly known as Chatu Babu Latu Babu Rajbari — was constructed in 1784 and is one of the oldest residences in Calcutta. (Immersive Trails)

Baniyas were also known to commission self-portraits as gifts for their American counterparts. “These gift exchanges are perhaps the most compelling aspect of this story. It is remarkable because, amidst narratives of oppression, violence, colonialism, and empire, this tale highlights intercultural alliance and exchange,” says Verney. Today, the Peabody–Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, houses numerous portraits of Indian merchants.

Rajinder Dutt, a prominent merchant and physician celebrated in Calcutta for his contributions to homoeopathy, presented his portrait — now held at the Peabody Museum — to William Story Bullard of Boston in the 1850s. Bullard’s letters to Charles Eliot Norton, who resided at Dutt’s house in Calcutta and whose correspondence is housed at Harvard’s Houghton Library, reveal their discussions on religion, medicine, and women’s rights under British rule.

Through these portraits — set against the backdrop of the bustling port of Calcutta — merchants presented themselves to Americans as distinctly Indian businessmen, dressed in turbans and shawls. According to Bean, these portraits also spurred a societal transformation in the nineteenth-century Calcutta. Artists migrated from declining provincial regions to the thriving city to cater to the rising demand from a new clientele — the Bengali banians.

However, beyond their trading activities, few Americans showed interest in native life. Their social interactions were generally limited to visiting and dining with other merchants in port.
Skin colour may have influenced the behaviour of American merchant-mariners, creating differences and suspicion within partnerships. However, as Verney notes, race seemed to be a minor issue when American ship officers interacted with wealthy business associates: “Profits were simply too crucial to let pigmentation hinder business,” he says.

Morrison comments, “Historians seem to agree that scientific racism, with its interest in cataloguing differences, arose in the 1840s, a bit after first contacts between Americans and India.”
Ultimately, success relied on both parties cultivating mutual trust and recognising their interdependence. Baniyas sought to enhance American trading opportunities while being aware that Americans depended on their assistance in the Calcutta markets, making it an equitable relationship.

The decline of commerce

The Indo-American trade faced challenges in the early 19th century due to diplomatic tensions and domestic changes. In 1811, Great Britain declared most Indo-American commercial traffic illegal. The War of 1812, fought by the United States against the United Kingdom in North America, further disrupted American commerce with India.

However, the decline in Indian trade was not solely due to wars or treaties. It also resulted from the rise of the domestic textile industry in America, supported by the US Congress. Merchants from New England in the US shifted their investments to this burgeoning sector, and the Tariff Act passed in June 1816 aimed to protect domestic industries by raising duties on foreign cloth, a key component of Indo-US trade. Henry Lee, a Boston-India trader, noted in 1817 the decreasing benefits of trading with Calcutta due to increased tariffs on piece goods.

Additionally, Morrison, in his book Eastward of Good Hope: Early America in a Dangerous World (2021), highlights that in the early nineteenth century, widespread climate-related diseases such as cholera severely disrupted business operations in India.

Reflecting on historiography, Susan S Bean, an Associate at the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, says “The American-China trade is more emphasised because it outpaced and lasted longer than the India trade. Also, the China trade brought luxury goods for upper and middle-class Americans, chiefly porcelain crockery, tea, and silk for garments. By contrast the India trade had a good 20 years of bringing cotton (and some silk) textiles to the US, most of which was for ordinary clothing and household uses… In 1816 when the American industrial revolution was underway, mainly producing cloth from cotton grown in the southern states, the textile industrialists lobbied for an import tax to keep Bengal and other Indian cottons from being competitive.”

The rise of missionaries

The period also saw missionaries replace merchants as the predominant American travellers to the region. Adoniram Judson and Samuel Newell arrived in Calcutta in 1812 but were expelled by the British East India Company on suspicion of espionage. However, the British Charter Act of 1813 allowed missionaries unrestricted travel throughout the subcontinent.

They interacted with diverse religious groups, including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists. Unlike merchants, missionaries immersed themselves in native cultures, mastering languages and translating religious texts. However, this movement fundamentally reshaped American views of India from a wealthy and exotic land to one perceived as steeped in superstition, requiring Western religious salvation. Verney emphasises the overlooked role of missionaries, stating, “While American commercial and evangelical writings about native India were shaped by occupational pressures, both provide valuable insights from distinct professional perspectives.”

Morrison, in his cited work, argues that whereas merchants focused on counting bales of cotton and piculs of spices, missionaries counted souls saved and lost. Like merchants and other travellers, missionaries sought ways to bring order to the world. Thus, the American Indian mission had a dual purpose: to civilise and Christianize.

“What is particularly noteworthy about the Calcutta-US connection,” remarks Michael Verney, “is the presence of culturally cosmopolitan figures who exhibited openness and acceptance, or at least refrained from judgement. Although their actions were not entirely altruistic and were driven by trade motives, their openness stands out in an era increasingly marked by prejudice, ethnic nationalism, and religious divisions. It is indeed a heartening story to tell in our current global context.”

As contemporary global dynamics continue to grapple with issues of cultural identity, diversity, and inclusion, the legacy of these early American interactions in Calcutta serves as a compelling reminder of the potential for constructive intercultural dialogue.

Further reading:
Yankee India:American Commercial and Cultural Encounters with India in the Age of Sail, 1784-1860 by Susan S. Bean
Americans in India: 1784–1860 by G. Bhagat
An Eye for Prices, an Eye for Souls: Americans in the Indian Subcontinent, 1784–1838 by Michael A. Verney
Eastward of Good Hope: Early America in a Dangerous World by Dane A. Morrison
India In The American Imaginary, 1780s-1880s edited by Anupama Arora and Rajender Kaur
Fierce Enigmas: A History of the United States in South Asia by Sreenath Raghavan

(Nikita Mohta is an intern with Indianexpress.com)