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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Short description|1700s–1832 Agency House in British India}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Alexander and Company
| logo =
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| type = Agency House
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| founded = 18th century in [[British India]]
| founders = Scottish traders and merchants
| hq_location = [[Fort William, India]], [[Calcutta]]
| hq_location_city = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]]
| hq_location_country = [[Company rule in India|British India]]
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| area_served = [[Company rule in India|British India]]
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| services = Trading and Banking
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}}

'''Alexander and Company, Limited''', often simply called '''Alexander and Co.''', was an [[Agency Houses in British India|Agency House in British India]] founded by traders and merchants from [[Scotland]]. Alexander and Co. has made several pioneering contributions to the economy of India. Alexander and Co. was the promoter and founder of [[List of oldest banks in India|India's very first bank]], the [[Bank of Hindostan]].<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/pm_earlyissues.aspx|title=Reserve Bank of India - Museum|website=rbi.org.in}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Background ===

Before the advent of joint-stock banking companies in India, the role of banks was played by agency houses. The agency houses performed various quasi-banking functions which included but were not limited to:<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|title=History of Banking|url=https://lkouniv.ac.in/site/writereaddata/siteContent/202004051341563589anurag_sriv_History_banking.pdf|access-date=27 May 2021|website=Ikouniv.ac.in}}</ref>

* Accepting deposits (Agency houses accepted deposits only from British nationals and other Europeans)
* Financing trade
* Lending of money (primarily to the Government)

=== Business ===

After their initial success, the agency houses started lending money to European entrepreneurs in India and not just the [[Company rule in India|Government]]. The Alexander and Co. agency house also lent money to several European entrepreneurs, the most notable among them was [[Josiah Marshall Heath]], an English metallurgist who owned several mining ventures in [[Company rule in India|British India]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal|last=Roy|first=Tirthankar|date=October 2009|title=Did globalisation aid industrial development in colonial India? A study of knowledge transfer in the iron industry|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001946460904600404|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=46|issue=4|pages=579–613|doi=10.1177/001946460904600404|s2cid=51991059 |issn=0019-4646|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

An amount of [[Indian Rupee|Rupees]] 100,000 had been loaned to [[Josiah Marshall Heath]] by the Alexander and Co. agency house in order to finance his mining related ventures. He used the sum to start the ''Porto Novo Steel and Iron Company''. By 1832, he was unable to repay the debt, and this contributed to the failure of the Alexander and Co. agency house.<ref name="auto"/>

=== Bank of Hindostan ===

After having experimented with lending and other banking activities, the Alexander and Co. agency house separated its banking activities and divested it into a separate banking company which was named the [[Bank of Hindostan]].<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://ehsthelongrun.net/2017/03/14/agency-house-crises-in-india-what-role-did-indigo-play/|title=Agency House Crises in India: What Role Did Indigo Play?|date=14 Mar 2017|access-date=27 May 2021|archive-date=20 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120104659/https://ehsthelongrun.net/2017/03/14/agency-house-crises-in-india-what-role-did-indigo-play/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/h1fOdMncOKOZ3TPUMvEYMN/The-chequered-history-of-Kolkatas-banks.html|title=The chequered history of Kolkata's banks|first=Aniek|last=Paul|date=22 Aug 2015|website=mint}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.spink.com/media/view?id=48|title=Banknotes For The Raj|website=www.spink.com}}</ref> The [[Bank of Hindostan]] was notable for being [[List of oldest banks in India|one of the oldest banks in India]].<ref name="auto2"/>

=== Failure ===

The Alexander and Co. agency house failed in the year 1832 due to major economic downturn affecting the [[Company rule in India|British India]]. The main cause of the economic crisis was the unexpected fall in the prices of commodities such as [[Indigo dye|Indigo]].<ref name="auto1"/> As a result and consequence of its failure, the [[Bank of Hindostan]] also failed and had to be liquidated in the very same year.<ref name="auto2"/>

== Legacy ==

The legacy of the Alexander and Co. and its role in shaping the [[Economy of India under Company rule|economic fortunes of India]] have been widely recognized. It has been credited as a major pioneer in the history of [[Banking in India]].<ref name="auto2"/>

The failure of the early Indian financial firms also led to the passing of the [[Societies Registration Act, 1860|Companies Act, 1860]] which granted limited liability to banking companies. Many of the early Indian Banks had been partnership firms with unlimited liability.<ref name="auto3"/>

==See also==
{{portal|Companies}}
* [[Banking in India]]
* [[Economy of India under Company rule]]
* [[Company rule in India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/28816/1/10672984.pdf THE RISE OF THE BRITISH MANAGING AGENCIES IN NORTH EASTERN INDIA 1836-1918]

[[Category:Economic history of India]]
[[Category:Trading companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Companies based in Kolkata]]

Alexander and Co. - Revision history

Indianeagle1: started the data from scratch