1.
Elizabethan era
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The Elizabethan era is the epoch in English history marked by the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Historians often depict it as the age in English history. In terms of the century, the historian John Guy argues that England was economically healthier, more expansive. This golden age represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music, the era is most famous for theatre, as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of Englands past style of theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home and it was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland. The Elizabethan Age may be viewed especially highly when considered in light of the failings of the periods preceding Elizabeths reign, the Protestant/Catholic divide was settled, for a time, by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, and parliament was not yet strong enough to challenge royal absolutism. England was also compared to the other nations of Europe. The Italian Renaissance had come to an end under the weight of Spanish domination of the peninsula, France was embroiled in its own religious battles due to significant Spanish intervention, that would only be settled in 1598 with the Edict of Nantes. The one great rival was Spain, which England clashed both in Europe and the Americas in skirmishes that exploded into the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604 and this drained both the English Exchequer and economy that had been so carefully restored under Elizabeths prudent guidance. English commercial and territorial expansion would be limited until the signing of the Treaty of London the year following Elizabeths death, economically, the country began to benefit greatly from the new era of trans-Atlantic trade, persistent theft of Spanish treasure, and the African slave trade. The Victorian era and the early 20th century idealised the Elizabethan era, the Encyclopædia Britannica maintains that he long reign of Elizabeth I, 1558–1603, was Englands Golden Age. Merry England, in love with life, expressed itself in music and literature, in architecture and this idealising tendency was shared by Britain and an Anglophilic America. In popular culture, the image of those adventurous Elizabethan seafarers was embodied in the films of Errol Flynn, in response and reaction to this hyperbole, modern historians and biographers have tended to take a more dispassionate view of the Tudor period. Elizabethan England was not particularly successful in a military sense during the period, having inherited a virtually bankrupt state from previous reigns, her frugal policies restored fiscal responsibility. Her fiscal restraint cleared the regime of debt by 1574, and this general peace and prosperity allowed the attractive developments that Golden Age advocates have stressed. The Elizabethan Age was also an age of plots and conspiracies, frequently political in nature, high officials in Madrid, Paris and Rome sought to kill Elizabeth, a Protestant, and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic. That would be a prelude to the recovery of England for Catholicism. In 1570, the Ridolfi plot was thwarted, in 1584, the Throckmorton Plot was discovered, after Francis Throckmorton confessed his involvement in a plot to overthrow the Queen and restore the Catholic Church in England
2.
Privateer
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A privateer was a private person or ship that engaged in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Captured ships were subject to condemnation and sale under prize law, a percentage share usually went to the issuer of the commission. Since robbery under arms was common to trade, all merchant ships were already armed. During war, naval resources were auxiliary to operations on land so privateering was a way of subsidizing state power by mobilizing armed ships, the letter of marque of a privateer would typically limit activity to one particular ship, and specified officers. Typically, the owners or captain would be required to post a performance bond, in the United Kingdom, letters of marque were revoked for various offences. Some crews were treated as harshly as naval crews of the time, some crews were made up of professional merchant seamen, others of pirates, debtors, and convicts. Some privateers ended up becoming pirates, not just in the eyes of their enemies, william Kidd, for instance, began as a legitimate British privateer but was later hanged for piracy. The investors would arm the vessels and recruit large crews, much larger than a merchantman or a vessel would carry. Privateers generally cruised independently, but it was not unknown for them to form squadrons, a number of privateers were part of the English fleet that opposed the Spanish Armada in 1588. Privateers generally avoided encounters with warships, as such encounters would be at best unprofitable, for instance, in 1815 Chasseur encountered HMS St Lawrence, herself a former American privateer, mistaking her for a merchantman until too late, in this instance, however, the privateer prevailed. The United States used mixed squadrons of frigates and privateers in the American Revolutionary War, the practice dated to at least the 13th century but the word itself was coined sometime in the mid-17th century. England, and later the United Kingdom, used privateers to great effect and these privately owned merchant ships, licensed by the crown, could legitimately take vessels that were deemed pirates. The increase in competition for crews on armed merchant vessels and privateers was due, in a large part, because of the chance for a considerable payoff. Whereas a seaman who shipped on a vessel was paid a wage and provided with victuals. This proved to be a far more attractive prospect and privateering flourished as a result, during Queen Elizabeths reign, she encouraged the development of this supplementary navy. Over the course of her rule, she had allowed Anglo-Spanish relations to deteriorate to the point where one could argue that a war with the Spanish was inevitable. By using privateers, if the Spanish were to take offense at the plundering of their ships, some of the most famous privateers that later fought in the Anglo-Spanish War included the Sea Dogs. In the late 16th century, English ships cruised in the Caribbean and off the coast of Spain, at this early stage the idea of a regular navy was not present, so there is little to distinguish the activity of English privateers from regular naval warfare
3.
Hampshire
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Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the capital city of England. The larger South Hampshire metropolitan area has a population of 1,547,000, Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. It is bordered by Dorset to the west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east, the southern boundary is the coastline of the English Channel and the Solent, facing the Isle of Wight. At its greatest size in 1890, Hampshire was the fifth largest county in England and it now has an overall area of 3,700 square kilometres, and measures about 86 kilometres east–west and 76 kilometres north–south. Hampshires tourist attractions include many seaside resorts and two parks, the New Forest and the South Downs. Hampshire has a maritime history and two of Europes largest ports, Portsmouth and Southampton, lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of writers Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Hampshire takes its name from the settlement that is now the city of Southampton. Southampton was known in Old English as Hamtun, roughly meaning village-town, the old name was recorded in the Domesday book as Hantescire, and it is from this spelling that the modern abbreviation Hants derives. From 1889 until 1959, the county was named the County of Southampton and has also been known as Southamptonshire. The region is believed to have continuously occupied since the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 BCE. At this time Britain was still attached to the European continent and was covered with deciduous woodland. The first inhabitants came overland from Europe, these were anatomically and behaviourally modern humans, notable sites from this period include Bouldnor Cliff. Agriculture had arrived in southern Britain by 4000 BCE, and with it a neolithic culture, some deforestation took place at that time, although it was during the Bronze Age, beginning in 2200 BCE, that this became more widespread and systematic. Hampshire has few monuments to show from early periods, although nearby Stonehenge was built in several phases at some time between 3100 BCE and 2200 BCE. It is maintained that by this period the people of Britain predominantly spoke a Celtic language, hillforts largely declined in importance in the second half of the second century BCE, with many being abandoned. Julius Caesar invaded southeastern England briefly in 55 and again in 54 BCE, notable sites from this period include Hengistbury Head, which was a major port. There is a Museum of the Iron Age in Andover, the Romans invaded Britain again in 43 CE, and Hampshire was incorporated into the Roman province of Britannia very quickly
4.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
5.
Devon
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Devon, also known as Devonshire, which was formerly its common and official name, is a county of England, reaching from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is part of South West England, bounded by Cornwall to the west, Somerset to the northeast, combined as a ceremonial county, Devons area is 6,707 km2 and its population is about 1.1 million. Devon derives its name from Dumnonia, which, during the British Iron Age, Roman Britain, the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the Kingdom of Wessex during the eighth and ninth centuries. The western boundary with Cornwall was set at the River Tamar by King Æthelstan in 936, Devon was constituted as a shire of the Kingdom of England thereafter. The north and south coasts of Devon each have both cliffs and sandy shores, and the bays contain seaside resorts, fishing towns. The inland terrain is rural, generally hilly, and has a low density in comparison to many other parts of England. Dartmoor is the largest open space in southern England at 954 km2, to the north of Dartmoor are the Culm Measures and Exmoor. In the valleys and lowlands of south and east Devon the soil is fertile, drained by rivers including the Exe, the Culm, the Teign, the Dart. As well as agriculture, much of the economy of Devon is linked with tourism, in the Brittonic, Devon is known as Welsh, Dyfnaint, Breton, Devnent and Cornish, Dewnens, each meaning deep valleys. One erroneous theory is that the suffix is due to a mistake in the making of the original letters patent for the Duke of Devonshire. However, there are references to Defenascire in Anglo-Saxon texts from before 1000 AD, the term Devonshire may have originated around the 8th century, when it changed from Dumnonia to Defenascir. Kents Cavern in Torquay had produced human remains from 30–40,000 years ago, Dartmoor is thought to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer peoples from about 6000 BC. The Romans held the area under occupation for around 350 years. Devon became a frontier between Brittonic and Anglo-Saxon Wessex, and it was absorbed into Wessex by the mid 9th century. This suggests the Anglo-Saxon migration into Devon was limited rather than a movement of people. The border with Cornwall was set by King Æthelstan on the east bank of the River Tamar in 936 AD, the arrival of William of Orange to launch the Glorious Revolution of 1688 took place at Brixham. Devon has produced tin, copper and other metals from ancient times, Devons tin miners enjoyed a substantial degree of independence through Devons Stannary Parliament, which dates back to the 12th century. The last recorded sitting was in 1748, agriculture has been an important industry in Devon since the 19th century
6.
Table Bay
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Table Bay is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain, bartolomeu Dias was the first European to explore this region in 1486. The bay, although famous for centuries as a haven for ships, is actually a rather poor natural harbour and is exposed to gales from both the SE and NW. Many sailing ships seeking refuge in the bay during the 17th and 18th centuries were driven ashore by storms, the Dutch colonists nevertheless persisted with their efforts on the shores of Table Bay, because good natural harbours along this coastline are almost non-existent. Eventually a harbour was built in Table Bay by a process of reclamation and was defended by breakwaters to protect shipping. The older part of structure is called the Victoria Dock. The newer part is called the Duncan Dock, robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades, is in this bay
7.
Zanzibar
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Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania in East Africa. It is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres off the coast of the mainland, the capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre is Stone Town, which is a World Heritage Site, the name Zanzibar is apparently derived from the Persian zang-bâr signifying black coast. Zanzibars main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism, in particular, the islands produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper. For this reason, the islands, together with Tanzanias Mafia Island, are called the Spice Islands. Zanzibar is the home of the endemic Zanzibar red colobus monkey, the Zanzibar servaline genet, the word Zanzibar came from Arabic Zanjibār, which is in turn from Persian Zang-bār, a compound of Zang + bār. The presence of microlithic tools suggest that it has been home to humans for at least 20,000 years, a Greco-Roman text between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, mentioned the island of Menuthias, which is probably Unguja. Little is known about the history of Zanzibar between the time of the Periplus and the death of Muhammad in 632 CE, from that point forward, wars in Asia and increasing trade motivated Persians, Arabs, and Indians to visit or migrate to Zanzibar. Persian traders used Zanzibar as a base for voyages between the Middle East, India, and Africa and they established garrisons on the islands and built the first Zoroastrian fire temples and mosques in the Southern Hemisphere. The impact of these traders and immigrants on the Swahili culture is uncertain, during the Middle Ages, Zanzibar and other settlements on the Swahili Coast were advanced. The littoral contained a number of autonomous trade cities and these towns grew in wealth as the Bantu Swahili people served as intermediaries and facilitators to local, Arab, Persian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Indian, and Chinese merchants. This interaction contributed in part to the evolution of the Swahili culture, although a Bantu language, Swahili as a consequence today includes some elements that were borrowed from other civilizations, particularly Arabic loanwords. With the wealth that they had acquired through trade, some of the Arab traders also became rulers of the coastal cities, vasco da Gamas visit in 1498 marked the beginning of European influence. In 1503 or 1504, Zanzibar became part of the Portuguese Empire when Captain Ruy Lourenço Ravasco Marques landed and demanded and received tribute from the sultan in exchange for peace, Zanzibar remained a possession of Portugal for almost two centuries. It initially became part of the Portuguese province of Arabia and Ethiopia and was administered by a governor general, around 1571, Zanzibar became part of the western division of the Portuguese empire and was administered from Mozambique. It appears, however, that the Portuguese did not closely administer Zanzibar, the first English ship to visit Unguja, the Edward Bonaventure in 1591, found that there was no Portuguese fort or garrison. The extent of their occupation was a depot where produce was purchased and collected for shipment to Mozambique. In other respects, the affairs of the island were managed by the local king and this hands-off approach ended when Portugal established a fort on Pemba around 1635 in response to the Sultan of Mombasas slaughter of Portuguese residents several years earlier
8.
Kanyakumari
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Kanyakumari pronunciation, also known as Kanniyakumari, formerly known as Cape Comorin, is a town in Kanyakumari District in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The name comes from the Devi Kanya Kumari Temple in the region and it is the southernmost tip of peninsular India. Kanyakumari town is the tip of the Cardamom Hills, an extension of the Western Ghats range. The nearest town is Nagercoil, the headquarters of Kanyakumari District,22 km away. Kanyakumari has been a town since Sangam period and is a popular tourist destination, ptolemys geography describes commercial relations between western India and Alexandria, the chief eastern emporium of the Roman Empire. He identified Kanyakumari along with the Gulf of Mannar as a center for pearl fishery and he also identifies Korkai, a place to the east of Kanyakumari, as an emporium of pearl trade. Kanyakumari District consists of those known locally as Nanjil Nadu. The names of the villages of the such as Azhagiapaandipuram, Bhoothapandy. Nanjilnadu was under the rule of Pandiyas till the early 10th century, the Kalkulam and Vilavancode taluks were under the rule of the Chera Dynasty. Veera Kerala Varma, one such chieftain, styled himself as Nanjil Kuravan, the annexation commenced by Veera Kerala Varma was to a large extent continued by his successors and completed by AD1115. For about four centuries, the Venad was ruled by powerful kings who were making incursions into the Pandian territories. As a result, Vijayanagar kings proceeded against Venad, in 1609 Kanyakumari fell into the hands of Viswanatha Nayak of Madurai. Consequent on this, there was no threat to Nanjilnadu until 1634. During the regime of Ravi Varma and Marthanda Varma, Venad was disturbed by the internal strife, sanda Sahib of Arcot took advantage of this situation and attacked Nanjilnadu. After Marthanda Varma, Venad had weak rulers and as a result there was frequent interference by the British whose control was established over Venad. From 1947 to 1956, it was under the rule of Maharaja of Travancore. During the period between 1956–1961, the system has fallen in line with that of other districts in Tamil Nadu. Kanyakumari has been a centre for art and religion for centuries
9.
Penang
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Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts, Penang Island, where the city, George Town, is located. Penang is bordered by Kedah to the north and the east, known as the Silicon Valley of the East for its industries, Penang is also one of the most urbanised and economically-important states in the country. George Town, which was founded by the British in 1786, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Penang has the third highest Human Development Index in Malaysia, after the State of Selangor and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. Its heterogeneous population is diverse in ethnicity, culture, language. A resident of Penang is colloquially known as a Penangite, Penang Lang or Penangkaran, the name of Penang comes from the modern Malay name Pulau Pinang, which means the island of the areca nut palm. The name Penang may refer either to Penang Island or the state of Penang, Penang is also known as the Pearl of the Orient, 东方之珠 and Pulau Pinang Pulau Mutiara. Penang is shortened as PG in English, or PP in Malay, early Malays called Penang Island Pulau Ka-Satu, meaning The First Island, because it was the largest island encountered on the trading sea-route between Lingga and Kedah. The Siamese, then the overlord of the Kedah Sultanate, referred to the island as Koh Maak, in the 15th century, Penang Island was referred to as Bīnláng Yù in the navigational drawings used by Admiral Zheng He of Ming China in his expeditions to the South Seas. The 16th-century Portuguese historian Emanuel Godinho de Eredias map of the Malay Peninsula in his Description of Malacca in 1613 referred to the island as Pulo Pinaom, archaeological evidence shows that Penang was inhabited by the Semang-Pangan of the Juru and Yen lineage. Both of these are now considered extinct cultures and they were hunter-gatherers of the Negrito stock having short stature and dark complexion, and were dispersed by the Malays as far back as 900 years ago. The last recorded aboriginal settlement in Penang was in the 1920s in Kubang Semang, the first evidence of prehistoric human settlement in what is now Penang were found in Guar Kepah, a cave in Seberang Perai in 1860. Based on mounds of sea shells with human skeletons, stone implements, broken ceramics, and food leftovers inside, other stone tools found in various places on Penang Island pointed to the existence of Neolithic settlements dating to 5,000 years ago. One of the first Englishmen to reach Penang was the navigator, sailing from Plymouth for the East Indies, James reached Batu Ferringhi in June 1592, remaining on Penang Island until September of the same year and pillaging every vessel he encountered. In the early 18th century, ethnic Minangkabaus from Sumatra opened up a settlement on Penang Island, Haji Muhammad Salleh, known as Nakhoda Intan, anchored at Batu Uban and built a seaside settlement in 1734. Later, the Arabs arrived and settled mainly at Jelutong, the Arabs then intermarried with the Minangkabau, this gave rise to the Arab-Minangkabau admixture now described as Malay, as they have assimilated into the local Malay community. However, the history of Penang only began in 1786. On 17 July that year, Captain Francis Light, an English trader-adventurer of the British East India Company, landed on Penang Island, Fort Cornwallis was later built at the site where he first set foot
10.
Rye, East Sussex
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In medieval times, however, as an important member of the Cinque Ports confederation, it was at the head of an embayment of the English Channel and almost entirely surrounded by the sea. Rye is officially a parish but with its historic roots has the status of a town. There is a fishing fleet, and Rye Harbour has facilities for yachts. The name of Rye is believed to come from rie meaning a bank, medieval maps show that Rye was originally located on a huge embayment of the English Channel called the Rye Camber, which provided a safe anchorage and harbour. Probably as early as Roman times, Rye was important as a place of shipment, the Mermaid Inn originally dates to 1156. Rye, as part of the Saxon Manor of Rameslie, was given to the Benedictine Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy by King Æthelred, it was to remain in Norman hands until 1247. As one of the two Antient Townes, Rye was to become a limb of the Cinque Ports Confederation by 1189, the protection of the town as one of the Cinque Ports was very important, due to the commerce that trading brought. One of the oldest buildings in Rye is Ypres Tower, which was built in 1249 as Baddings Tower, to defend the town from the French and it is now part of the Rye Museum. Rye received its charter from King Edward I in 1289, and acquired privileges, the Landgate dates from 1329 in the early years of the reign of King Edward III. It is still the only route into the medieval centre of Rye and is suitable only for light vehicles. In 2015, some 25 tonnes of pigeon excrement that had built up had to be removed from Landgate Arch for fear of damaging the ancient structure, the River Rother originally took an easterly course to flow into the sea near what is now New Romney. However, the violent storms in the 13th century cut the town off from the sea, destroyed Old Winchelsea, then the sea and the river combined in about 1375 to destroy the eastern part of the town and ships began use the current area to unload their cargoes. Two years later the town was sacked and burnt by the French, Rye was considered one of the finest of the Cinque Ports even though constant work had to be done to stop the gradual silting-up of the river and the harbour. Acts of Parliament had to be passed to enable the Rother to be kept navigable at all, with the coming of bigger ships and larger deepwater ports, Ryes economy began to decline, and fishing and particularly smuggling became more important. Imposition of taxes on goods had encouraged smuggling since 1301, but by the end of the 17th century it became widespread throughout Kent and Sussex, with wool being the largest commodity. When luxury goods were added, smuggling became a criminal pursuit. Since 1803 there have been stationed at Rye although the lifeboat station is now at Rye Harbour approx 2 miles down-river from the town. The worst disaster in its history occurred in 1928, when the Mary Stanford Lifeboat sank with all hands, the incident is recorded by a tablet at Winchelsea church, by the imposing memorial at Rye Harbour Church and by the folk-song The Mary Stanford of Rye
11.
East India Company
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The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal
12.
Pernambuco
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Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. The state of Pernambuco also includes the archipelago Fernando de Noronha and its capital and largest city, Recife, is one of the most important economic and urban hubs in the country. As of 2013 estimates, Recifes metropolitan area is the fifth most populous in the country, in 1982 the city of Olinda, the second oldest city in Brazil, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Recife, the capital and Olinda have one of the most traditional Brazilian Carnivals. Both have architecture of Portugal, with centuries-old casarões and churches, kilometers of beaches, the proximity of the equator guarantees sunshine throughout the year, with average temperatures of 26 °C. Pernambuco comprises a narrow coastal zone, a high inland plateau. Ranges of these form the boundary lines with three states–the Serra dos Irmãos and Serra Vermelha with Piauí, the Serra do Araripe with Ceará. The coastal area is fertile, and was covered by the humid Pernambuco coastal forests. It is now place to extensive sugar cane plantations and it has a hot, humid climate, relieved to some extent by the south-east trade winds. The middle zone, called the region, has a drier climate and lighter vegetation, including the semi-deciduous Pernambuco interior forests. The inland region, called the sertão is high, stony, and dry, the climate is characterized by hot days and cool nights. There are two defined seasons, a rainy season from March to June, and a dry season for the remaining months. The interior of the state is covered mostly by the dry thorny scrub vegetation called caatinga, the Rio São Francisco is the main water source for this area. The climate is mild in the countryside of the state because of the Borborema Plateau. Some towns are located more than 1000 meters above sea level, the island of Fernando de Noronha in the Atlantic Ocean,535 km northeast of Recife, has been part of Pernambuco since 1988. The rivers of the include a number of small plateau streams flowing southward to the São Francisco River. The former are the Moxotó, Ema, Pajeú, Terra Nova, Brigida, Boa Vista and Pontai, a large tributary of the Uná, the Rio Jacuhipe, forms part of the boundary line with Alagoas. Originally inhabited by tribes of Tupi-Guarani speaking indigenous peoples, Pernambuco was first settled by the Portuguese in the 16th century
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