East India Company
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The East India Company (EIC) was an British joint-stock company with headquarters in London. It was started for trading with the East Indies, but most trade was with India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China. It was given a charter, permission to exist, in 1600 and traded many things in India.
In the mid-18th century, the company built up its own presidency armies and won the Battle of Plassey, which brought it from only trading with India to actually ruling India.
The company had armed forces and armed ships. It fought against various Indian rulers and struggled against the Dutch East India Company and other European nations. It was ruled by one governor and 24 directors. It became a monopoly in most parts of India.[1]
After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the British government ruled India directly and the company was dissolved in 1874.[2] Its role was taken over by the Government of India (the British Raj). At its height, the Raj covered a huge area from Baluchistan in the west to Burma in the east, as well as Ceylon and a number of other islands.
East India Company Media
James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601
Red Dragon fought the Portuguese at the Battle of Swally in 1612, and made several voyages to the East Indies
A document with the original vermilion seal of Tokugawa Ieyasu, granting trade privileges in Japan to the East India Company in 1613
Rear view of the East India Company's factory at Cossimbazar
Company painting depicting an official of the East India Company, c. 1760
The East Offering its Riches to Britannia - Roma Spiridone, 1778 - BL Foster 245
An engraving of East India House, Leadenhall Street (1766)
References
- ↑ Chaudhury S. 1999. Merchants, companies, and trade: Europe and Asia in the early modern era. London: Cambridge University Press.
- ↑ Gardner, Brian 1972. The East India Company: a history. McCall Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8415-0124-6
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