The East India Company

For its time, the East India Company was the most effective colonial power in the eastern hemisphere. The East India company was established December 31st, 1600, when Queen Elizabeth I granted 200 English merchants trading rights in the East Indies (Johnson). The East Indies consisted of the land of South and Southeast Asia including the Philippines and the islands of the Malay Archipelago— Sumatra, Borneo, New Guinea and other near that relative location. After forming separate groups, one merchant group became famously known as the East India Company, and without interfering with the Indian spice market, the company sought after the Indian textile industry. The Company was able to expand their trading grounds until setting foot along the

The East India Company’s interest in Indian trade promoted their desire to colonize different economically advanced regions of India. India and other regions of southwestern Asia were originally under control of the Mughal Empire, and by the early 1600’s the empire had developed military dominance, wealth, and an abundance of Indian artisans. The empire’s artisans were yearned for all over the world for their ability to produce large amounts of high quality products. Anything the British produced was overshadowed by the Mughal empire’s artisans and this fact sparked Britain’s interest in Indian trade. In the early 17th century, members belonging to the East India Company traveled for the first time to the Mughal Court to negotiate trading relations with the empire (Major). As word spread about Britain’s affairs, the Dutch became furious they would interfere with the Indian spice market which the Dutch relied on for trade revenue. The Dutch conducted a attack upon the East India Company and other competitors that sought after the spice market. In 1623, the company underwent the attack in Indonesia and decided to enter the empire’s textile trading industry and focus its trade in India (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica). With the

The empire began to dissolve when the current leader started to heavily tax its citizens. Along with the citizens, the East India Company refused to pay the taxes they were imparted with and decided to enter into secret affairs that went against the empire. After the empire had received information that the British were rebelling, overnight, military forces took 60 British soldiers hostage in June 1756 (Bellenoit). This event is known as the Black Hole of Calcutta, and it lit a fire underneath the British. The company brought in a British military officer named Robert Clive to arrange revenge plans on the Mughal Empire. Clive secretly established relationships with wealthy banking families in India. Banking families were Bengal’s main source of income due to the extensive amount of money they had to pay in taxes. However, with the families on the side of the British, the Mughal’s had difficulty funding its military. Among his ideas for revenge, Clive devised a plan to drive out the current ruler of the empire. In 1757, the Battle of Plassey took place in Bengal, and after achieving victory, the East India Company was granted 28 million rupees (Marshall). They were also admitted the right to collect taxes from 29 parganas, administrative units of India (Bellenoit). Taxation was the most important award from winning the