I'm interested in what it was actually like to be a trader in India and Africa. What were the different types of job? What sort of side trades were made? What was the day to day life like? I want the boring details as well as the romantic details. What were the pitfalls of buying Tea or Coffee? What sort of things were imported and where did they go and how were they delivered? Where did traders live? In communes or alone? How much money did they make at the low end and the top end? What sort of corruption occurred? Did traders bring their families? etc.
You may be interested in the following:
Part 1 (1750-1842) of this collection of diaries and related records of British people in India which includes a section on East India Company officials and wives of East India Company officials.
Richard Cock's Diary is online, he was head of the East India Company's factory in Japan in the seventeenth century: volume one and volume two.
The Consultation Book and Diary of Fort St George, Madras; and Letters to and from Fort St George, Madras: 127 volumes online.
Letters received by the East India company from its servants in the East 1602-1617: volume one, volume two, volume three, volume four, volume five, volume six.
The embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the court of the Great Mogul, 1615-1619, as narrated in his journal and correspondence Volume One and Volume Two: diplomatic mission to promote the interests of the East Indian Company.
The Diaries of Streynsham Master and other contemporary papers relating thereto 1675-1680 Volume One and Volume Two: Agent at Madras
The diary of William Hedges, esq. (afterwards Sir William Hedges), during his agency in Bengal : as well as on his voyage out and return overland (1681-1697) Volume One, Volume Two, Volume Three