Because trading was hazardous and had uncertain returns, investors formed commercial syndicates to spread the risk. The two most famous were the East India Company, a British organization chartered in 1600, and the Dutch East India Company, chartered in 1602. The latter issued stocks and bonds to the public, so it could be considered the world’s first publicly traded corporation.  The two companies competed, but each soon found regions of particular interest. The British company concentrated much of its commercial activity on India, while the Dutch favored the Maluku Islands (part of Indonesia).  The Dutch company founded an extensive trading outpost in the port city of Jakarta, on the northwest coast of Java, which they called Batavia. The British concentrated on India and founded a trading post at Bombay (now called Mumbai).

In 1618, the British East India Company established its first trade factory at Surat. Even though Bombay at the time was under the control of Portugal, the British had obtained a charter from the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. In 1661 Portugal gave Bombay to the British government, as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza when she married Charles II of England. In 1668 Bombay was given to the East India Company for a yearly payment of £10. In 1687 Bombay became the capital of the Company’s territories in India.

The Bombay Presidency is the term used to describe the territory occupied by the East India Company in British India.  In the 17th century, this was limited to trading posts on the island of Surat but eventually this territory expanded to include much of western and central India, as well as parts of Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.  The Bombay Presidency Punch owes its name to General Sir John Gayer, who wrote down a recipe for it in 1694 while he was the East India Company’s governor of the Bombay Presidency. 

The liquor originally used in this punch – and in most punches from Asia – is arrack, a spirit that’s usually made from sugarcane, rice, and/or palm sugars. It tastes somewhat like a raw, minimally processed rum with funky undertones.  Gayer specified palm arrack for his recipe but palm arrack is hard to find these days. Rum is a reasonable substitute and in the Americas it has become the staple spirit for punch. 

Ingredients

• 1/5^th gal Arrack or Dark Rum
• 1 pint lime juice
• 8 oz sugar
• 1 gallon club soda
• freshly grated nutmeg (garnish)
• fresh lime slices (garnish)
• 5 cups water

Muddle the sugar and lime juice together until the sugar has dissolved. Mix in the liquor and club soda. Stir once or twice to combine then garnish.  Ice wasn’t easy to come by in the 17th century, so punch was always served at room temperature or heated.

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