Ramdulal Sarkar was a Bengali merchant and a foremost name in the Indo-American maritime trade during the 18th and early 19th century.
Life
Sarkar was born in 1752 to Balaram Sarkar in the village of Rekjani near Dum Dum, West Bengal while his parents were on the run during the Mahratta invasion of 1751-1752. Sarkar became an orphan soon after, and maternal grandfather, Ramsundar Biswas, brought him to Calcutta. His maternal grandmother found work as a cook in the house of the wealthy merchant, Madanmohan Dutta, the Dewan of Export Warehouses. He received education along with the sons of Dutta and soon became known for his excellent penmanship and accounting. Dutta made him a Bill Sarkar for Rs. 5/month. He saved Rs. 100 and opened a timber business for his grandfather. Soon, he was promoted to the position of Ship Sarkar for Rs. 10/month. His duty included visiting Diamond Harbourevery day and supervise the loading and unloading of cargo. Sarkar chanced upon a foundering vessel on the Hoogly river and inspected the wreck and cost of recovery out of habit. A few days later, Dutta sent him to Tulloh and Company to attend and auction for few items but all were auctioned off. The next item was the wreck he had previously inspected and he bid on it with Dutta's money. His bid was accepted for Rs. 14,000. While leaving, an Englishman approached him with the interest of buying the same ship, and Sarkar sold the ship to him for Rs. 100,000. He recounted the incident to Dutta, his master, and he said: "Ramdoolal, the money is yours … you sowed the seed and you shall reap the harvest." Dutta kept Rs. 14,000 and gave the remaining to Sarkar. The unexpected windfall became the working capital for Sarkar. Sarkar became associated Fairly Fergusson & Company and other independent traders as their banian. Rather than British trading houses, Sarkar associated with American traders as their local agent to facilitate maritime trading from Calcutta to America. By 1790, merchant houses in Salem, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston were sending their trading vessels to buy goods from Bengal; Sarkar was their primary associate. He became a household name with American merchant houses. A shipping vessel named Ram Dolloll was dedicated to his name by his American counterparts. In the book Calcutta Banians for the American Trade: Portraits of Early Nineteenth-Century Bengali Merchants in the Collections of the Peabody Museum, Salem and Essex Institute, Bean writes:
