East India Company in India | History of East India Company

The East India Company was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was established to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia) and later with East Asia. The company eventually established control over large parts of the Indian subcontinent and Hong Kong. At its peak, the company was, in many ways, the largest corporation in the world and had its own armed forces, including three Presidency armies with approximately 260,000 soldiers.

Initially named "The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies," the company was responsible for approximately half of the world's trade in the mid-1700s and early 1800s, particularly in goods such as cotton, silk, indigo, sugar, salt, spices, ginger, tea, precious stones, and later, opium. The company also initiated British rule in the Indian subcontinent.

Ultimately, the company ruled over large parts of the Indian subcontinent, wielding military power and assuming administrative responsibilities. The company's territory in the region gradually expanded after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, and by 1858, most of what is now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh was either directly under the company's control or a princely state closely allied to it by treaty. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, under the Government of India Act of 1858, the British government assumed direct control over what is now Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and India, thus establishing the British Indian Empire.

Later, despite increasing government intervention, the company faced financial difficulties. Under the provisions of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act passed a year earlier, the company was dissolved in 1874, as by then the Government of India Act had rendered it an unnecessary, powerless, and outdated institution. The British government took over the administrative responsibilities of the company, and its military units were incorporated into the British army.

History

Beginnings

In 1577, Francis Drake set sail from England on an expedition to plunder Spanish settlements in South America in search of gold and silver. Sailing on the ship named the Golden Hind, he completed this task and then crossed the Pacific Ocean in 1579, a route then known only to the Spanish and Portuguese. Drake eventually reached the East Indies, arriving near the Moluccas, known as the Spice Islands, and met with Sultan Babullah. In exchange for linen, gold, and silver, the English obtained various types of valuable spices, including cloves and nutmeg. Drake returned to England in 1580 and became a national hero; his voyage brought considerable wealth to the English treasury and yielded investors a return of approximately 5,000 percent.

Immediately following the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the seizure of Spanish and Portuguese ships and their cargo gave English adventurers the opportunity to travel the world in search of riches. London merchants requested permission from Elizabeth I to sail into the Indian Ocean. Their aim was to break the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly on the Far Eastern trade. Elizabeth granted permission, and in 1591, James Lancaster and two other ships, financed by the Levant Company, sailed on the Bonaventure from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arabian Sea, thus becoming the first English expedition to reach India.

The greatest prize for promoting English trade was the capture of the large Portuguese carrack ship, Madre de Deus, by Walter Raleigh and the Earl of Cumberland at the Battle of Flores on August 13, 1592. When it arrived in Dartmouth, it was the largest ship ever seen in England, and it carried chests filled with precious stones, pearls, gold, silver coins, ambergris, textiles, carpets, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, benzoin (a highly fragrant balsamic resin used in perfumes and medicines), red dye, cochineal, and ivory. The ship's logbook was also invaluable, containing important information about trade routes to China, India, and Japan. In 1596, three more English ships set sail for the East, but all were lost at sea. However, a year later, Ralph Fitch arrived; he was an adventurous trader who, along with his companions, had undertaken an amazing nine-year journey through Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, India, and Southeast Asia. Fitch was consulted on matters relating to India and provided Lancaster with even more valuable information.