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.

The English East India Company was formed in 1599 by merchants known as the 'Merchant Adventurers'. Queen Elizabeth granted a charter in December 1600, giving the company a 15-year monopoly on Eastern trade.

By 1619, the English had established factories on the West Coast at Agra, Ahmedabad, Baroda, and Broach. All these factories were controlled by the president and council of the Surat factory.

Factories were also established at Masulipatam (1611) and Armagaon (1626) on the South-eastern Coast and at Hariharpur and Balasore in Orissa (1633), and Hugli in 1651 in Eastern India.

During the Carnatic Wars (18th century), Chicacole was granted to the French by Salabat Jung. Trichinopoly was under the Kingdom of Arcot during the Carnatic wars. Therefore, neither Chicacole nor Trichinopoly had an EIC factory in the first quarter of the 17th century.

Statement 1 is correct. Statements 2 and 3 are not correct. Hence, only option a is correct.