Rival Business Networks at the East India Sea and Persian Gulf: The Competitive World of Thomas Bowrey Commercial Networks (1690-1713)

The late 17th and early 18th centuries witnessed a period of intense commercial rivalry and networked economic activity spanning the East India Sea and the Persian Gulf. While large chartered corporations such as the British East India Company (EIC) and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) dominated maritime trade, independent merchants played a crucial yet often overlooked role in shaping global commerce. This study examines the business networks of Thomas Bowrey (1659-1713), an English merchant who operated in this competitive landscape, navigating the complex trade routes that connected India, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire. Drawing on archival records and employing social network analysis (SNA), it examines the dyadic ties linking Bowrey to a constellation of private financiers, investors, and merchant partners. In contrast to the monopolistic structures of chartered companies like the British East India Company (EIC), Bowrey’s decentralized business model relied on transregional collaboration, risk-sharing arrangements, and joint ownership ventures such as the merchant ship Mary Galley. This study highlights how independent actors resisted corporate dominance through innovative financial instruments, maritime insurance, and inter-imperial alliances by analyzing his partnerships with key figures-including George Jackson, Elias Dupuy, Thomas Hammond, and Richard Tolson. Furthermore, it situates Bowrey’s network within the broader geopolitical and commercial competition among English, Dutch, French, and Ottoman interests across major port cities. This study contributes to the understanding of alternative trade structures that coexisted with and challenged the dominance of formalized corporate enterprises. By reconstructing Bowrey’s business network, it sheds light on the resilience and adaptability of individual merchants who operated in a volatile global marketplace, revealing the agency of independent commercial actors in shaping the early modern trading world.