1613: Dutch in E. Indies, Caribbean. Romanovs, Ottomans, French, English…

Yesterday, 1612, I quoted English historian William Wilson Hunter as pinpointing the firman that Mughal Emperor Jahangir gave to English sea-captain Thomas Best in January 1613– after Best’s naval victory over a much larger Portuguese at Surat– as being England’s first “legal settlement on the Indian continent.” That sounds as good a starting point as … Continue reading 1613: Dutch in E. Indies, Caribbean. Romanovs, Ottomans, French, English…