First published in 1922, this volume constitutes the first attempt yet made to trace the story of English intercourse with Burma from its origins in the 16th century to the middle of the 18th, framed by the period from the opening to the final years of the Syriam factory. Daniel G.E. Hall sought to fill a gap in the literature for students of British enterprise in the East, drawing out the progress of Burma from a commercially unviable backwater to arguably the richest province in resources of the British empire in India.