5. In the first quarter of the seventeenth century, in which of the following was/ were the factory/factories of the English East India Company located? (2021)

1. Broach 

2. Chicacole 

3. Trichinopoly 

Select the correct answer using the code given below: 

(a) 1 only 

(b) 1 and 2 

(c) 3 only 

(d) 2 and 3 

5. Answer: (a) 

Option (a) is correct: The English East India Company had very humble beginnings in India. Captain Hawkins arrived in the court of Jahangir in April 1609. But the mission to establish a factory at Surat did not succeed due to opposition from the Portuguese, and Hawkins left Agra in November 1611. 

By 1623 it had established factories (trading posts) at Surat, Broach, Ahmedabad, Agra, and Masulipatam. From the very beginning, it tried to combine trade and diplomacy with war and control of the territory where its factories were situated. The factories of the British East India Company were not located in Chicacole and Trichinopoly in the first quarter of the 17th century