In the first quarter of seventeenth century, in which of the following was/were the factory/factories of the English East India Company located? 1. Broach 2. Chicacole 3. Trichinopoly Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer: A. Only BROACH (1) had an English East India Company factory in the FIRST QUARTER of the 17th century (1601-1625). The English East India Company (EIC) chartered in 1600 established its earliest Indian factories on the WESTERN (GUJARAT) COAST, where Mughal trade in textiles and indigo was concentrated. (1) BROACH (modern BHARUCH, Gujarat) — CORRECT. EIC opened a factory at BROACH IN 1616, after the Surat factory (1612). Broach was an important Mughal-era port on the Narmada estuary, exporting Gujarat textiles and indigo. Sir Thomas Roe's embassy to Jahangir (1615-19) helped consolidate EIC trade in Gujarat. Early-17th-century EIC factories (1612-1625 timeline): - SURAT (1612) — the first EIC factory in India. - AGRA, AHMEDABAD, BROACH, MASULIPATNAM, ARMAGAON — all established in the next decade. (2) CHICACOLE (modern Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh) — WRONG. The English did not have a factory at Chicacole in the first quarter of the 17th century. EIC's Coromandel coast presence started with Masulipatnam (1611-1632) and FORT ST GEORGE / MADRAS (1639-40). Chicacole was a later northern Circars development. (3) TRICHINOPOLY (Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu) — WRONG. Trichinopoly became significant in EIC affairs in the 18th century (the Carnatic Wars, Robert Clive defended Trichinopoly siege). It had no EIC factory in 1601-25; the area was under the Madurai Nayaks. Source: NCERT Class 12 Themes in Indian History Part II / Tara Chand, History of the Freedom Movement in India.