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Anglo-French Rivalry in Southeast Asia 1763–93: Some Repercussions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2011

B. E. Kennedy
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Extract

The growth of British interest and activity in areas east of the Bay of Bengal during the latter half of the eighteenth century has often been explained as a response o t the problems posed by the expanding China trade. The drain of specie from Europe and India to Canton, so the argument goes, rendered necessary the establishment of a commercial emporium to the east of India which would attract Chinese products, notably tea, in exchange for Indian textiles, saltpetre, opium and cotton, and spices from the Malay archipelago.1 Such an entrepot would also free the trade from the vexatious customs and restrictions which applied increasingly at Canton after 1757. Yet it is the central argument of this article that the rival interests and behaviour of other Europeans in areas beyond India provided a significant inducement for intervention.

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Articles
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , September 1973 , pp. 199 - 215
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1973

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References

1 See, forexample, Tregonning, K. G., The British in Malaya: The First Forty Years, 1786-1826 (Tucson, 1965)Google Scholar, who argues on p. 5: The trade in tea, then, was the basic impulse that led to the expansion of British power in the Far East, and as a corollary, in Southeast Asia as well’. See also Bassett, D.K., ‘British Commercial and Strategic Interest in the Malay Peninsula during the late Eighteenth Century’’, in Malayan andIndonesian Studies, eds. Bastin, J. S. and Roolvink, R. (Oxford, 1964), pp. 122–40Google Scholar; and Harlow, V.T., The Founding of the Second British Empire, 1763-1793, Vol. 2 (London, 1964), pp. 329–65Google Scholar.

2 For a detailed discussion of these disputes see Kennedy, B. E., Anglo-French Rivalry in India and the Eastern Seas 1763-1793 (Ph. D. thesis; Australian National University, 1969), chaps. 3, 4, 5Google Scholar.

3 Launay, A., Histoire de la Mission de Cochin Chine 1658-1823 (3 vols., Paris, 1923)Google Scholar; Taboulet, G., La Geste Francaise en Indochine: Histoire par les textes de la France en Indochine des origines a 1914 (2 vols., Paris, 1955), Vol. IGoogle Scholar.

4 Poivre's own account of his travels has been edited and published by Cordier, Henri under the title ‘Voyages de Pierre Poivre, 1748-1757’, in Revue de I'Histoire des Colonies Francoises, VI (1918), pp. 5–88Google Scholar. See also 'Malleret, L. (ed.), Un Manuscript inedit de Pierre Poivre: Les Memoires dun Voyageur (Paris, 1968)Google Scholar. This is publication LXV of E.F.E.O. Also see Ly-Tio-Fane, Madeleine, Mauritius and the Spice Trade: the Odyssey of Pierre Poivre (Mauritius, 1958)Google Scholar.

5 Dupleix's dealings with Cochin China are discussed in Taboulet, La Geste Francaise, Vol. I, pp. 118-23; 134-38. On Dupleix as a country trader, see Martineau, A., Dupleix et llnde Francaise 1722-41 (Vol. I, Paris, 1920), pp. 298–301Google Scholar.

6 Although Cochin China and Tonkin were linked in nominal allegiance to the Le dynasty, effective power was exercised by the Trinh family in the north and the Nguyen in the south of Vietnam. In fact the Nguyen took the title of vuong or ‘prince’ during the early 18th century. Almost certainly, therefore, Poivre negotiated with the officials of Vo-Vuong, who ruled in the south from 1738-65. Khoi, Le Thanh, Le Viet-Nam: Histoire et Civilisation (Paris, 1955), pp. 242–73Google Scholar.

7 Fry, Howard T., Alexander Dalrymple (1737-1808) and the Expansion of British Trade (London, 1970)Google Scholar.

8 Harlow, Vol. I, pp. 70-75; Fry, Dalrymple, pp. 16-35.

9 Dalrymple, A., Plan for Extending the Commerce of this Kingdom and of the East India Company by an Establishment at Balambangan (London, 1769)Google Scholar. This pamphlet was printed privately in 1769 and published in 1771.

10 Court of Directors to Viscount Weymouth, 28 October 1768, China and Japan Factory Records, Vol. 19, India Office Library, London. The letter authorising the Balambangan enterprise was dated 11 November 1768 and a copy was also sent to Madras. Home Miscellaneous Series, Vol. 101, p. 95, I.O.L.

11 The Britannic arrived at Balambangan towards the end of 1773, but the settlement was abandoned fourteen months later - after an attack by the Saluans in February 1775. Harlow, Vol. I, pp. 90-97; , Fry, Dalrymple, pp. 85–93Google Scholar.

12 Extract of Bombay General Consultations, 26 December 1772, Home Miscellaneous Series, Vol. 108, p. 137, I.O.L. The King's letter, requesting facilities for trade from the Sultan of Sulu, is dated 14 Dec. 1770 and is located in Home Miscellaneous Series, Vol. 107, p. 29, 1.O.L.

13 Harlow, Vol. 2, pp. 334-39; , Bassett, ‘British Commercial and Strategic Interest’, pp. 124–30Google Scholar. The reports of these missions are to be found in the Sumatra Factory Records, Vol. 15, o I.O.L., and also in Fort St. George Public Department Sundry Books, Vol. 21, Madras Record Office, Madras.

14 Law de Lauriston was Governor of Pondicherry from 1765 to 1777. Jean-Baptiste Chevalier was Governor of Chandernagore from 1767 to 1778.

15 ‘Maniere de commercer des Compagnies Europeeiies aux Indes’, 1768, Francoises Nou-velles Acquisitions, Vol. 9365 p. 139, B.NGoogle Scholar.

16 See Cheong, W. E., ‘Canton and Manila in the Eighteenth Century’, in Ch'en, J. & Tarling, N. (eds.), Studies in the Social History of China and South-East Asia (Cambridge, 1970), pp. 237–46Google Scholar.

17 During the last half of the eighteenth century British exports to the East trebled in value and imports from Asia enjoyed a five-fold increase. Deane, P. and Cole, W. A., British Economic Growth 1688-1959 (Cambridge, 1962), p. 87Google Scholar; Schumpeter, E. B., English Overseas Trade Statistics 1697-1808 (Oxford, 1960), pp. 15–18Google Scholar.

18 Lauriston, De to , Choiseul, 10 02 1769, Francaises Nouvelles Acquisitions, Vol. 9365 pp. 184–5, B.NGoogle Scholar.

19 Taboulet, Vol. I, pp. 151-4.

20 ‘Reflexions Politiques et Secrettes sur les Royaumes de Cochin Chine et de Camboge’, September 1775, Colonies 3, p. 141, Archives Nationales, Paris.

21 Taboulet, Vol. I, p. 155; Maybon, Charles B., Histoire Moderne du Pays d Annam (1592-1820) (Paris, 1919), pp. 171–73Google Scholar.

22 Khoi, Le Thanh, Le Viet-Nam, pp. 296–9Google Scholar; Hall, D.G.E., A History of South-East Asia (Third ed., New York, 1968), pp. 415–26Google Scholar.

23 Extract of Bengal General Consultations, 12 February 1778, Home Miscellaneous Series, Vol. 219, p. 719, I.O.LGoogle Scholar.

24 Chevalier to Bellecombe, 12 February 1778, Colonies 3, p. 168, A. N.

25 Chevalier to Bellecombe, 30 April 1778, Colonies' 3, pp. 161-7, A.N. (The ship which bore this letter to Pondicherry also carried Father Loureiro.) The appendix to Chapman's Report, found in the China and Japan Factory Records, Vol. 18, I.O.L., contains further details of Chevalier's plans to organise a French expedition.

26 See Lamb, Alastair, Britain and Chinese Central Asia: The Road to Lhasa 1767 to 1905 (London, 1960), pp. 1–19Google Scholar.

27 Extract of Bengal General Consultations, 30 March 1778, Home Miscellaneous Series, Vol. 219, p. 725, I.O.L.

28 Chapman's narrative of his visit and his report to Council are printed in Lamb, A., The Mandarin Road to Old Hue: Narratives of Anglo-Vietnamese Diplomacy from the 17th Century to the Eve of the French Conquest (London, 1970), pp. 82–137Google Scholar. Also see Lamb, A., ‘British Missions to Cochin China: 1778-1822’, JIMBRAS, XXXIV, Parts 3 & 4, Nos 195 & 196 (1961)Google Scholar.

29 Kennedy, Anglo-French Rivalry in India, chap. 5; Sen, S. P., The French in India 1763-1816 (Calcutta, 1958), chaps. VIII-XIVGoogle Scholar.

30 Harlow, Vol. I, chaps IV and VII.

31 From ‘A Memoir on Prince of Wales Island considered Politically and Commercially’, Straits Settlements Records, Vol. I, I.O.L.

32 Mahan, Alfred Thayer, The Influence of Sea Power upon History 1660-1783 (London, 1965), p. 28Google Scholar. The study was first published in 1890.

33 Letters and Advices from the Governor General and Bengal Council, 7 March 1782, Home Miscellaneous Series, Vol. 169, p. 130, I.O.L. For details about Forrest's embassy·, see Harlow, Vol. I, pp. 141 - 3; and Bassett, D. K., ‘Thomas Forrest, An Eighteenth Century Mariner’, JMBRAS, XXXIV, Part 2 (1961), pp. 113–15Google Scholar.

34 Botham's embassy, apart from genera l considerations of trade, was conditioned by the need to establish a base in Sumatra that would be less exposed to attack from Batavia than Bencoolen (Fort Marlborough). Home Miscellaneous Series, Vol. 219, pp. 577-612, I.O.L. Harlow, Vol. 2, pp. 340-2; Bassett, D.K., ‘British Trade and Policy in Indonesia, 1760-1772’, in British Trade and Policy in Indonesia and Malaysia in the late Eighteenth Century (Hull, 1971), pp. 1–29Google Scholar.

35 Bengal General Consultations, 31 May 1784, Straits Settlements Records, Vol. I, I.O.L. Harlow, Vol. 2, pp. 343-5.

36 See ‘Memoire pour procurer des boix de mature de construction et autres pour les vais-seaux du Roi dans l'lnde’, 1782, Colonies' 21 p. 74, A.N. Th e orders an d instructions give n to Geslin by Suffren on 9 September 1783 are located in Colonies' 21, pp. 79-84, A.N.

37 ‘Memorandum relative to the views of the French in cultivating an intercourse with Pegu and forming an establishment at the Islands on the Coast of Tannassary’, addressed to Andrew Ross, Fort St. George Council, 18 March 1784, Straits Settlements Records, Vol. I, pp. 55-7, I.O.L.

38 A full account of the French and British moves at Diego Garcia is found in F.O. 148/6, Public Record Office, London.

39 For Rosily Mesros' instructions see Francoises Nouvelles Acquisitions, Vol. 9434, pp. 111-12, B.N.; and for de Richery's instructions see Francoises Nouvelles Acquisitions, Vol. 9343, pp. 112-14, B.N. The instructions he received in India are in Colonies' 4, pp. 10-13, A.N.

40 Cossigny to the Minister of Marine, 19 July 1787, Francoises Nouvelles Acquisitions, Vol. 9373, p. 104, B.N. Cossigny also mentioned fascinating rumours of a British settlement at New Holland and advocated the despatch there of a French expedition under de Richery. Whatever the opinion of later historians of Australia, the French certainly believed that this settlement was part of a global scheme to protect and foster British trade and influence eastwards.

41 For Kergariou-Loemaria's instructions, 15 August 1786, see Francoises Nouvelles Acquisitions, Vol. 9434, pp. 115-19, B.N.

42 D'Entreacasteaux to the Minister of Marine, May 1787, Francoises Nouvelles Acquisitions, Vol. 9373, p. 87, B.N. D'Entrecasteaux's visit to Canton was intended to ameliorate the condi tions of French trade, and although it was in this respect a failure, it influenced the British Government's decision to send an embassy to China in 1787.

43 See generally Tarling, N., Anglo-Dutch Rivalry in the Malay World 1780-1824 (Brisbane, 1962), chap. I; and Harlow, Vol. 2, pp. 368-74Google Scholar.

44 Khoi, Le Thanh, Le Viet-Nam, pp. 300–2Google Scholar; Maybon, pp. 198-312. See also , Launay, Histoire de la Mission de Cochin Chine, Vols. 2-3Google Scholar.

45 ‘Deliberation du Conseil Royal de la Cochin chine’, 18 August 1782, Memoires et Documents, Asie, Vol. 19, p. 102, Archive du Ministere des Affairs Etrangeres, Paris. (Hereafter abbreviated A.A.E.)

46 , Launay, Histoire, Vol. 3, p. 155Google Scholar.

47 On 20 June 1786 Cossigny at Pondicherry and d'Entrecasteaux at last responded to the Bishop's entreaties by sending de Richery, who had previously visited, Cochin China in 1785, to Siam and Cochin China with instructions to locate Nguyen Ann. The voyage was intended as a reconnaissance to investigate the resources, trade and harbours of Cochin China and de Richery took with him a Father Paul Nghi and some Cochin Chinese pilots and sailors who had arrived in the preceding year with the Bishop. Should Nguyen Ann's position prove hopeless, de Richery was ordered to escort him back to Pondicherry. ‘Instructions pour M. de Richery, Enseigne de Vau., Commandant la flutte du Roy, le Marquis de Castries’, 20 June 1786, Colonies' 4, pp. 10-13, A.N.

48 Bonney, R., Kedah 1771-1821: The Searchfor Security and Independence (London, 1971), pp. 56–61Google Scholar.

49 Light to Macpherson, 23 January 1786, Straits Settlements Records, Vol. I, I.O.L.

50 Light to Macpherson, 23 January 1786, Straits Settlements Records Vol. I, I.O.L.

51 Light's relationship with Kedah's rulers and his role in the negotiations between Sultan Abdullah and Fort William Council are complex and controversial matters. For a recent critical account stressing the importance of the Sultan's initiatives in this process see Bonney, R., ‘Francis Light and Penang’, JMBRAS, XXXVIII, Part I (1965), pp. 135–54Google Scholar, and more generally, Kedah 1771-1821. A somewhat different view is expressed in Bassett, D. K., ‘Anglo-Malay Relations 1786-1795’, JMBRAS, XXXVIII, Part 2 (1965), pp. 183–212Google Scholar.

52 Clodd, H.P., Malaya's First British Pioneer: The Life of Francis Light (London, 1948), pp. 7–30Google Scholar.

53 Note, for instance, Light's statement: ‘I look upon a part of this Island to be my property, it was granted (me) by their own free will, the ground cleared at my own expense, and tho’ unjustly drove off I think myself at liberty to resume it whenever I have power'. , Clodd, Francis Light, p. 31Google Scholar.

54 , Clodd, Francis Light, pp. 33–4Google Scholar; Memoirs of William Hickey (10th. ed. London, 1948), Vol. 3, p. 50Google Scholar.

55 Light to Governor General and Council, 15 February 1786, Straits Settlements Records, Vol. 2, pp. 44-5, I.O.L.

56 Postscript to the Governor General's Letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors, 26 January 1786, Straits Settlements Records, Vol. 2, p. 6, I.O.L..

57 Enclosure in Scott's letter of 28 October 1785, Bengal Council Proceedings, 2 March 1786, Straits Settlements Records, Vol. 2, p. 6, I.O.L.

58 , Bonney, ‘Francis Light and Penang’, pp. 144–48Google Scholar.

59 Bonney, Kedah, chaps. 3 & 4.

60 Light to Fort William Council, 12 September 1786, Straits Settlements Records, Vol. I, I.O.L. During 1786 and 1787 the Bengal Council continued to receive reports from Canton and Penang of French activity in Cochin China and the Malayan peninsula. See French in India, Vol. XIII, I.O.L., and Straits Settlements Records, Vol. 2, p. 497, I.O.L.

61 Board of Control to Secret Committee, 28 July 1787, Boards Drafts of Secret Letters to India (31 May 1781-8 November 1795), I.O.L.

62 ‘A Memoir on Prince of Wales Island considered Politicall y and Commercially’, Straits Settlements Records, Vol. I., I.O.L.

63 Trapaud, E., A Short Account of Prince of Wales's Island or Pub Peenang in the East Indies, 1788, first pub. London, 1788 (Singapore, 1962, Introd. by J. Bastin), p. 21Google Scholar.

64 Dorset to Carmarthen, 22 Marc h 1787, F.O. 27/21, P.R.O.

65 Carmarthen to Dorset, 6 April 1787, F.O. 27/21, P.R.O. On 20 December 1787 Dorset told the Foreign Secretary that two frigates wer e ready t o leave l'Orient, ‘and it is supposed that the young King of Cochin-chin e will return home in one of them. These ship s it cannot be doubted will convey all sorts of useful stores to the Possessions of His Most Christian Majesty in that Par t of the World’. French in India, Vol. XIII, I.O.L.

66 See Harlow, Vol. 2, pp. 368-418; Tarling, Anglo-Dutch Rivalry, chaps. 1-2; Cobban, A., Ambassadors and Secret Agents: The Diplomacy of the First Earl of Malmesbury at the Hague (London, 1954)Google Scholar.

67 ‘Avantages d'un Etablissement a la Cochinchine’, September 1787, Memoires et Documents, Asie, Vol. 19, pp. 103-4, A. A. E.

68 ‘Already the English have formed one (establishment) at pinam, in the Malacca Straits (and) their example appears to warn us of the need to put ourselves into a more advantageous position, since fortunate circumstances facilitate success’. ‘Memoire pour le Roi. Expedition en Cochinchine’, 25 November 1787, Colonies'4, p. 71, A.N.

69 The treaty is located in Conway's letter to Montmorin, 18 June 1788, Colonies' 4, pp. 166-73, A.N. It is published in Taboulet, Vol. I, pp. 186-88; and Maybon, pp. 409-11.

70 ‘Copie de la lettre ecrite a M. de Cte. de Conway’, 2 December 1787, Colonies' 4, p. 84, A.N.

71 Conway to Montmorin, 18 June 1788, Colonies' 4, pp. 166-73, A. N.

72 Macartney was authorised by Dundas to visit Cochin China on his famous embassy to China in 1793. See , Lamb, The Mandarin Road, pp. 157–73Google Scholar.

73 Parkinson, C. Northcote, War in the Eastern Seas, 1793-1815 (London, 1954), p. 101Google Scholar.

74 See Lamb, Mandarin Road, Parts IV and V for the two missions by Roberts in 1803-4 and the Crawfurd mission of 1822.