The East India Company

Posted in Anniversary, History, Travel on Monday, 20 December 2010

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picture, East India Company, trade, merchants, silk

The East India company traded in silks, dyes and other commercial goods. Illustration by Severino Baraldi

31 December marks the anniversary of the East India Company, granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I on this day in 1600. Formed to pursue trade in the East Indies, its monopoly on trade was challenged by a rival and the two companies were merged in the early 18th century as The Honourable East India Company.

By the mid-18th century, most of their trade was in cotton, silk, dye, tea and opium from India. The company directly administered large areas of India and ruled for a century with an iron fist until the 1857 Indian Rebellion, after which the Government assumed control and the company was dissolved in 1874.

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