Madras, trading posts, and Company finance

The failed French siege of Madras in 1758-59 introduces a comparison of what the two companies could fortify and sustain. The British Company could finance fortifications and local security for commercial access, while the French government repeatedly had to support its weaker Company. These were ports and trading stations before they became instruments of territorial rule. Some settlements grew from small factories into defended towns linked by roads to inland production and population centres. Secure harbours, inland connections, and protected exchange made them strategic infrastructure as well as commercial sites.