First English Speaking Indian in recorded history

Do you know that the first Indian to become a speaker of the English language in recorded history was a washerman commonly called 'dhobi' in the indigenous language?

Although the British East India Company set up its first factory in Bengal in 1651 at Hooghly, the spread of systematic English education began in the nineteenth century. How, then, did the Englishmen and the Bengalis interact during this period of nearly a century and a half?

 

Here's a fascinating story of how a washerman (Dhobi) became the first interpreter for the East India Company by a stroke of luck.

The Apostheosis of Ratan Sarkar

A curious recollection of the event still survives in Calcutta. The story is told that, while lying in Garden Reach, at all times a favorite anchorage, Stafford sent over to Govindpur to ask the Setts and Bysacks for a “Dobhash”, meaning an interpreter or broker. The simple villagers mistook the word dobhash for dhoba, a washerman, and accordingly sent one, named Ratan Sarkar. Luckily the man could understand a little English, and was so intelligent, that man could understand a little English, and was so intelligent, that his new employers were promoted the dignity of being the English interpreter in Bengal.