Early English Intercourse with Burma 1587-1743 and the Tragedy of Negrais

Abstract

This book looks at the earliest English contact with Burma; the episode of Thomas Samuel; the foundation of the Syriam factory and its early prosperity and its eventual failure. Further, it examines the conditions of trade experienced by English merchants in Burma in the 17th century; negotiations with Burma, 1680-86 and the Negrais episode, 1686-87. Finally, it covers private trade and the affair of Bartholomew Rodrigues; the mission of Edward Fleetwood and James Lesly to Ava, 1695-96; the period of intermittent relations, 1697-1723; and shipbuilding and the last years of the Syriam factory