Elihu Yale
Elihu Yale | |
|---|---|
_-_1789.1_-_Yale_University_Art_Gallery.jpg) Portrait by Enoch Seeman, 1717 | |
| President of Fort St. George | |
| In office 25 July 1687 – 3 October 1692 | |
| Preceded by | William Gyfford |
| Succeeded by | Nathaniel Higginson |
| In office 8 August 1684 – 26 January 1685 | |
| Preceded by | William Gyfford (Agent) |
| Succeeded by | William Gyfford |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 April 1649 |
| Died | 8 July 1721 (aged 72) London, England |
| Signature |  |
Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British colonial administrator. Born in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Yale lived in America only as a child, and spent the rest of his life in England, Wales, and India. He became a clerk for the East India Company at Fort St. George, later Madras, and eventually rose to the Presidency of the settlement. He was later removed from the post under charges of corruption for self-dealing, and required to pay a fine.[1] In 1699, he returned to Britain with a considerable fortune, around £200,000 (equivalent to £32.2 million in 2025),[2] mostly made by selling diamonds, and spent his time and wealth in philanthropy and art collecting.[3][4]
He was the primary benefactor of Yale College, now Yale University, which was named in his honor, following a donation of books, portraits, and textiles at the request of Rev. Cotton Mather, a Harvard University graduate. He had no male heir, and no descendants of his have survived past his grandchildren.[5] In the 21st century, Yale's connections to slavery in India began to be more closely explored, a process assisted by the digitalisation and online publication of the East India Company's records.[6] In 2020, Peter Salovey, president of Yale University, launched the Yale and Slavery Research Project to explore the university's historical links with slavery and colonialism, including Elihu Yale's role.[7]
Early life
[edit source]Yale was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to David Yale (1613–1690), a wealthy Boston merchant and attorney to Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, and Ursula Knight; he was the grandson of Anne Yale (born Lloyd), daughter of Bishop George Lloyd.[8] After the death of her first husband, Thomas Yale Sr. (1587–1619), son of Chancellor David Yale, Anne Yale married Theophilus Eaton, ambassador to Denmark. Eaton was the co-founder of two of the Thirteen British Colonies, which are represented on the Flag of the United States, mainly through the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the New Haven Colony, and was the brother of Nathaniel Eaton, Harvard's first Headmaster and President designate, at the founding of Harvard in 1636.
His son, Samuel Eaton, the uncle of Elihu, was also involved in the foundation of Harvard, being one of the seven founder members of the Harvard Corporation, the governing board and charter that incorporated the college in 1650. It was they, along with Elihu's uncle and aunt, Thomas Yale Jr., and Anne Yale Jr., who brought the reconstituted Eaton/Yale family to America, while other members of the family stayed in England. Their estates in Wales were Plas-yn-Yale and Plas Grono, and Elihu's brother was London merchant Thomas Yale, later ambassador to the King of Siam for the East India Company.[9]
Elihu's father, David Yale, would later come from London to New Haven Colony with his stepfather, Theophilus Eaton, in 1639.[10] He moved to Boston in 1641[11] and met and married Elihu Yale's mother, Ursula, in 1643.[11] In 1652, at the age of three, Elihu Yale left New England, as David Yale took his family back to London.[8] While documentation of this period is sparse, a letter suggests that David Yale remained a successful merchant and settled his family in the Hanseatic merchant district "Steelyard Court".[12] In 1662, at the age of thirteen, Elihu Yale entered the private school of William Dugard, but Dugard died a few months after Elihu Yale enrolled.[13] Yale likely lived through the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of London.[14]
East India Company
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In 1670, Yale joined the British East India Company, starting as a clerk at East India House in London.[15] Among the board was the Earl of Berkeley, Sir Samuel Barnardiston, Vice-Admiral John Robinson, and Chairman Sir Andrew Riccard.[15] Yale's uncle, Connecticut Gov. Edward Hopkins, was also one of the shareholders.[15] It is possible that Yale had business training in his father's merchant counting house beforehand.[15] He then sailed to India in December 1671 on one of the East Indiamen, on a voyage that would take six months, with the eminent dangers of pirates, storms and diseases.[16]
He landed in Madras on 23 June 1672, at Fort St. George, where Portuguese, English and Hindu lived.[15] He then learned the rules of Gov. William Langhorne, some of which being the interdiction to start a duel, to desert the fort, or to blaspheme, and met with Father Ephrem de Nevers.[17] At the time, the East India Company was already exporting to Europe spices, pepper, precious stones, Chinese porcelains, Japanese screens, and cotton cloth.[18] In 1674, Yale was sent to negotiate the potential establishment of a new factory, and by February, was allowed to deal in private trade, which included pearls, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, neckcloths, cloves and nutmegs.[19] By 1677, Gov. Langhorne was accused of corruption by competitors within the Company.[20] The directors were always suspicious, and with huge fortune being made six months away from London, they easily mistrust their employees.[20]
He was then replaced by Gov. Streynsham Master, the son-in-law of Richard Legh of Lyme Hall.[21] In April 1678, Yale was promoted to the rank of Factor, doubling his salary.[21] In June arrived the Welsh chaplain John Evans, future Bishop of Meath, who would become a lifelong friend.[21] In 1679, Yale's duties now involved receiving and invoicing textiles worth about 100,000 pagodas, consisting of neckcloths, chintz, and longcloth of various grades.[22] With the death of Joseph Hynmers, second-in-command, Yale was made Assistant to the Warehouse Keeper, and started courting his widow.[22] They married at St. Mary's Church, the oldest Anglican Church in India, on 4 November 1680, with Sir Henry Oxenden, Governor of Bombay, as brideman.[22] With his wife's capital, Yale learned the trade and became a specialist in diamonds and precious stones.[22]
Madras Council
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In January 1681, he was promoted to the office of Provisional Customer.[23] In the same year, Gov. Streynsham Master was replaced by William Gyfford, and Yale was sent as a diplomat to meet the VOC Governor of Pulicat.[23] Despite Master's loyalty, the directors once again believed the charges of bad management, fueled by enemies, who brought complaints after complaints to the board in London.[23] According to Madras historian Arthur Pringle, the official records are full of invented circumstantial charges of injustice and fraud.[23] Yale was then promoted to the office of Mintmaster, and was given a seat on the council, occupying the fifth position on a board of six, as the directors were "pleased with Elihu's behavior and ability".[24] In 1682, he was sent to Porto Novo on the Coromandel Coast to find investment opportunities for the sale of longcloth.[25] During his mission, a great storm struck the coast, and 14,000 persons died.[25] He made assessments of harbor facilities and fortifications, and was welcomed with coconuts as gifts of diplomacy.[26]
Yale then negotiated with Sikandar Shah, the Sultan of Bijapur, and obtained permission for the gold trade in his territory.[27] In 1683, as a member of Gov. Gyfford's council, he became a cofounder of the Madras Bank, the oldest in India.[28] On 12 February, the second-in-command was dismissed for his "language that was too independent and not sufficiently subservient in his letters".[29] The Councilmen rose in rank, with Yale becoming Warehouse Keeper.[29] When Gov. Gyfford was sent to inspect factories in the Bay of Bengal, Yale became acting governor for a few months, and procured three elephants from King Narai of Siam, to be sent to the Sultan of Gingee as war elephants.[30] In peace time, they were used with a Howdah as status symbols, while at war, they were the prototypes of the modern tank.[31][32] Yale then obtained a house and garden at St. Thomas Mount for the sickly and their convalesce.[33] Thereafter, he received 3 princes from Sumatra, Indonesia, bringing a letter from Sultanah Inayat Syah, Queen of Acheen, resulting in a trade agreement.[34] About this time, King Charles II of England died, with James II ascending to the throne.[34] The change was well welcomed by the company, as the chairman, Sir Josiah Child, had spent a fortune on James's ascension.[34] Yale then organized the official ceremony at Fort St. George, with Gov. Gyfford resuming his office, and received the ambassadors of Persia and Siam.[34]
Presidency of Madras
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In July 1687, Yale was appointed President of Madras and Governor of Fort St. George, replacing William Gyfford.[35][36] A difficulty of the office was to deal with the native rulers through firmans, as Madras was surrounded by the Mughal Empire, with rulers always asking for bribes.[37] When their demands were refused, they would seize the food supplies, half starving the company's servants with a blockade.[37] In terms of size, Madras consisted of about 300,000 people, or around 6% of England's population at the time.[38] Yale had previously been popular with both the Europeans and native Indians,[39] and reverted to the former practice of living and dining in the Fort House with merchants, writers and factors.[39]
With Yale's nomination, Sir Josiah Child hoped that Madras would be less critical of London.[33] As the East India Company's headquarters were thousands of miles away, the board implemented policies that were not well adapted to the conditions in Madras.[40] Letters took 6 months to be received, sometimes over a year, making communications difficult.[33] One of these policies was the creation of a new tax upon Madras inhabitants that Yale had now to carry out, which caused a local rebellion.[33] During this time, they accused him of not cutting expenses down, such as keeping a Bengal tiger at the fort, among other things.[41] Those who were taxed the most were the owners of the 128 houses within the fort, which half belonged to the Portuguese merchants.[42] The company's chairman sent a letter to Yale, writing that "your elaborate arguments to persuade us not to impose a moderate duty upon the Portuguese and other inhabitants of our city of Madras, whom we do protect and exceedingly encourage in their several vocations, have no weight at all with us".[42]
Yale had received similar letters during the Great Famine under Gov. Gyfford, where they had refused to collect taxes, with the directors replying that "you are still fencing against our creating revenue at the Fort, with slight, insignificant arguments, wherein the worst is that you should have so mean an opinion of us, as to think such sophistical reasons will make any impressions on our judgment".[42] The directors also gave the order to close the Garden House, which was used for those who were resting outside the city, having a place to eat.[41] Yale didn't follow this order and kept Gov. Gyfford there as his health was fragile.[41] During August 1687, Yale is then recorded corresponding with the Ambassador of Shah Suleiman of Persia, regarding his arrival with a Koran to try to convert the Siamese king to Mohammedanism, which the latter refused.[43][44] Being bankrupt after his failed mission, Yale loaned him money, which was never repaid.[45][43][46]
Anglo-Siamese War
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For many years, merchants of Madras and Siam were trading partners in the Andaman Sea, trading in rhinoceros horns, elephant tusks, copper and other commodities.[47] Yale's brother, Thomas Yale, became ambassador to King Narai of Siam, and during this time, Elihu would entertain at his house the French ambassador and musketeer, Count Claude de Forbin, drinking to the health of the royal families of England and France.[48][9][49] But around August 1687, disputes regarding Siam's strategic importance emerged among European powers, and Gov. Yale was charged by King Narai's agents regarding the sale of jewels, which they estimated having overpaid by 25%.[50] The man behind the charges was a Greek named Constantine Phaulkon, who wanted to lower English's influence over King Narai, and get him closer to Louis XIV of France through Chevalier de Chaumont.[47][50]
This trading dispute started the Anglo-Siamese War, with Yale acting on behalf of King James II of England, which resulted in number of casualties for the company, as cities were now being robbed by Siameses.[50] Some English merchants at Siam sided with the enemy, and became involved in acts of piracy, which had Yale send warships in retaliation against Englishmen who changed sides.[47] No peace treaty was ever signed, but the war against the Company will eventually stop around 1688.[51] In London, the directors investigated the accusations of the Siameses on Yale and cleared his name, declaring that "you can not be ignorant that Phaulkon himself in the King of Siam's name, began the war... upon a pretense that Mr. Yale injured the King of Siam in a bargain".[50] Phaulkon's alliance with France would later cost him his life, being assassinated by the Siameses nobles during the Siamese revolution of 1688.[50] On 11 August 1687, Yale approved the recall of several Englishmen to Madras detained by Prussian Wolf Henrik von Kalnein, governor of Tranquebar under the Danish East India Co..[52]
Siege of Golconda
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About a month later, on 22 September 1687, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb conquered the nearby Kingdom of Golconda, defeating Sultan Abul Shah at the Siege of Golconda, ending the Qutb Shahi dynasty.[53][54] Aurangzeb was a member of Tamerlane's dynasty, and his parents, founders of the Taj Mahal, were direct descendants of Genghis Khan.[55][56] As Yale expected the Mughal's revenge for the Anglo-Mughal War started by the directors in Bengal, he prepared for war and raised a Portuguese militia, but as the Mughal had thousands of war elephants, he and the council had no choice but to pay him 50,000 pagodas to keep the Company's activities in Madras.[54] Gov. Yale was now under the overlordship of the Islamic Mughal Empire.[57][58] He sent diplomats to pay Emperor Aurangzeb, one of which was his friend Daniel Chardin, diamond merchant and brother of Sir Jean Chardin, Yale's partner in England.[54] He also sent letters to Mughal general Mahabat Khan, and complied with the ceremonies of prince Muhammad Bakhs and prime minister Asad Khan.[59] The situation was delicate as the Dutch and Louis XIV at Versailles were also trying to get the Mughal in their favor, and the directors would hold Yale responsible if anything went wrong, including failing to keep the Golconda diamonds trade from the Kollur Mines.[60]
At the time, India was the world producer of diamonds, with Golconda producing 60% of its total output.[61] Most of Yale's private fortune will be obtained from this trade with the Moghul, who received royalties, while Yale used his expertise and capital to hold on these stones until they were faceted and polished in Amsterdam, on their way to London.[62] The process took on average 3 years before getting a return on investment, and Yale had 50 trained men to protect the goods from robbers during transportation.[62] By 1688, Sir Josiah Child, the Company's largest shareholder, retired with a fortune of about £200,000 (equivalent to £43.2 million in 2025),[2] and married his daughter to the son of the 1st Duke of Beaufort at Badminton House.[63][64][65] During the same year, Yale welcomed the Armenian merchants to establish themselves at Fort St. George following their persecution in Europe.[66] In July, he sent diplomats for the arrival of Dutch Gov. Johannes Camphuys, and on 29 September 1688, he inaugurated the Madras Corporation, where Nathaniel Higginson was elected its first mayor, with Amsterdam merchant Jacques de Paiva and others, elected on its board.[67][68][69] Initially founded to restrain Yale's powers as governor, it became the oldest corporation in India, and the second oldest municipal body in the world after the City of London.[70][71][72] Paiva's widow, Hieronima, would become Yale's mistress and bear him a son named Charles.[73]
Anglo-Dutch relations
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Following the English Revolution of 1688, William of Orange, a Dutch, ascended to the throne of England, replacing James II, which was a fatal blow for Sir Josiah Child who had bet on the wrong side.[74] The past wars between the Dutch and English merchants in Madras were now settled, and both started to form alliances through marriage.[75][74] From then on, the directors' letters to Yale changed in tone.[74] Sir Langhorne started complimenting him on his private trade in diamonds, as they now saw it as a way to expand the company to new markets without having to bear the risks themselves.[74] Yale tried to build routes at Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines, getting from them Clove and Ironwood.[74] He was then put on a secret committee with Sir John Child, governor of Bombay, and Nathaniel Higginson, mayor of Madras, to plan the establishment of a new fort near the South Seas, to engage in trade with China.[74] On 17 March 1689, Yale received the arrival of Commander Job Charnock, with his staff and four companies of soldiers.[76] He arrived from a failed mission that consisted of blocking and seizing the ships of Mughal Aurangzeb, who had attacked the company's ships in the Bay of Bengal, and taken control of Chittagong during the Anglo-Mughal War.[76]
Charnock stayed in Madras for a few months under Gov. Yale's protection, which caused dissensions in the council for fear of the Mughal's revenge.[77][76] The Council eventually outvoted Yale, and Charnock was forced to leave, where he would found the city of Calcutta.[77][76] In July, 1690, news of the war between William of Orange and Louis XIV of France arrived in Madras, and Yale prepared Fort St. George once more for war.[78] On 15 August, the French sent seven warships to attack the