‘That Happy Island’: The 1683 Bombay Revolt, the East India Company and the formation of the Company-State

This thesis analyses the 1683 Bombay revolt and contextualizes the event itself as well as its impact on the East India Company in Asia. While this event has been noted by some historians, it has nonetheless been dismissed as an oddity in the long history of the East India Company. From the rebellions beginnings in December 1683 until November 1684, the rebels, the Company and the King of England engaged in a lively debate as to the obligations, expectations and extent of Company authority in Asia. By reanalysing the extensive material produced by these parties during the rebellion, this thesis contends that the 1683 Revolt was far from an oddity, but was instead an event that keenly demonstrated the complex set of obstacles the Company encountered in its early attempts to expand its authority in Asian.