The Swedish Colonization Plan

February 1790

Gustav III was lounging in Sweden, hearing reports on the rebuilding of the Swedish army, when he remembered a conversation he had had in 1787- a conversation that had been cut short by the Russo-Swedish War.

William Bolts, the independent merchant who had once worked with the British East India Company, was to conduct a grand colonizing expedition in the Indian Ocean and New Holland, sponsored by His Majesty Gustav III’s treasury and the Swedish East India Company.

The king revived this plan, ordering Bolts back to Stockholm. The merchant was happy to oblige and the two laid out the plans for what would be the Swedish colonization venture this year.

• Bolts will be given 90 soldiers and 200 settlers, the Swedish frigates Grippen (44), Uppland (44), and Riksens Stander (60), and a large merchant ship for carrying cargo. Also accompanying Bolts will be a botanist, a metallurgist, a ornithologist, and a painter

• Bolts will first sail around the Cape and, taking the Grippen along the coast, attempt to locate a geographically favorable location to build a colony, to defend the Swedish merchant vessels from the brutal South African Storms (Durban)

• Bolts will establish a factory and trading port at Karachi in Sindh. This port will be a valuable port of call from the Swedish East India Company and their trade to China.

• From there, Bolts will travel towards New Holland, where he will establish a colony at the mouth of Swan River (modern day Perth).

Bolts will be granted lifelong governorship over the Australian colony, which will be named “Gustavsholm.” 100 of the Settlers, along with 45 soldiers will remain there. Swedish ships will depart from the colony in early 1792 to return to Sweden. Bolts is granted permission to grant each of his settlers an acre of land, and to encourage farming and industry. We expect the colony to be fully self-sustaining within 5 years.

The colony at Durban Kungsholm will be well defended against native incursions, and a colonial governor will be sent to formally replace Colonel Karl Olsen who will be militarily in charge of the colony during its early phases. Each of the 100 settlers will be granted 1 acre of land, and again, be encouraged to mine and farm. Settlers and soldiers have strict orders not to intrude inland more than necessary, especially not to the Drakensberg. We will offer Great Britain and the British East India Company a price matching system to use our port for resupplying- half cost of whatever the Dutch are offering. In return, we ask that Britain acknowledge the Swedish claim to the land and help protect it should the Dutch attempt to expand the Cape Colony and encroach on the land claimed for the Swedish crown. Once the colony of Kungsholm is self-sufficient, the British will be given tariff and taxfree resupplying rights in the colony and the ability for the Imperial East India Company to construct warehouses and docks of their own at the location.

The factory in Karachi will be similar to other European trading ports/factories dotting the Indian subcontinent, owned and operated by the Swedish East India Company.

Before he departs from Gothenburg with his ships, Bolts is also tasked with documenting his attempted settlement of the Nicobar Islands and a plan for future settlement, which are Swedish sovereign soil. For these services, Bolts will be provided the sum of 1,000 £ annually for his services to the Crown.

Due to these ventures “increasing prosperity with trade to China,” the Swedish East India Company has agreed to pay for 50% of these ventures.

Gustavsholm

Kungsholm

(title should be Kronor not Kroner, autocorrect fucked me six ways to sunday)