16.1 Political Affairs · Part 5

functioned at different scales, merchants were also not a homogeneous group. There were traders and retailers who serviced markets in By this time the Dutch had given up Pulicat and moved their headquarters further south to Nagapattinam. They had decided to shift their focus to the spice-producing islands of Indonesia and established their capital at Jakarta (Batavia). Chennai, in the meantime, had grown into a prosperous town. The English, after many years of struggle, became a power to reckon with in the region. Surat continued to suffer due to the uncertain political conditions, and by , the local merchants had begun to declare themselves to be “under the protection” of the Dutch or the English in order to feel more secure. Bombay therefore became a viable alternative as a trade centre, attracting merchants from Surat and other parts of Gujarat. Nagapattinam in