What was the name of the British East India Company?
The East India Company ( EIC ), also known as the Honourable East India Company ( HEIC ), East India Trading Company ( EITC ), or the British East India Company, and informally known as John Company, Company Bahadur, or simply The Company, was an English and later British joint-stock company.
Who was defeated by the East India Company?
The prince is eagerly thrusting a scroll into the hands of a statesmanlike, slightly overweight Englishman in a red frock coat. The painting shows a scene from August 1765, when the young Mughal emperor Shah Alam, exiled from Delhi and defeated by East India Company troops, was forced into what we would now call an act of involuntary privatisation.
Who was the Governor of the East India Company?
This was a time when India accounted for around a quarter of all global manufacturing. In contrast, Britain then contributed less than 2% to global GDP, and the East India Company was so small that it was still operating from the home of its governor, Sir Thomas Smythe, with a permanent staff of only six.
When did the East India Company get dissolved?
Following the uprising in India, the British government dissolved the company. Parliament passed the Government of India Act of 1858, which ended the company’s role in India and declared that India would be governed by the British crown. The company’s impressive headquarters in London, East India House, was torn down in 1861.
Why was the Dutch East India Company formed?
Learn more about the Dutch East India Company. The company was formed to share in the East Indian spice trade. That trade had been a monopoly of Spain and Portugal until the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588) by England gave the English the chance to break the monopoly.
Where are the records of the East India Company?
Unlike all other British Government records, the records from the East India Company (and its successor the India Office) are not in The National Archives at Kew, London, but are held by the British Library in London as part of the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections.
What was the governance of the East India Company?
The governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or „committees“, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, which appointed them. Ten committees reported to the Court of Directors.
What was the role of the Dutch East India Company?
The Spanish and the Portugese were originally dominant on these new sailing routes, but after the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 the British and Dutch were able to take more of an active role in trade with the East Indies. The Dutch initially took a lead in this, focusing mainly on spices and in particular the trade of peppercorns.
Why was the East India Company dissolved in 1874?
The company was dissolved in 1874 as a result of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act passed one year earlier, as the Government of India Act had by then rendered it vestigial, powerless, and obsolete. The official government machinery of British Raj had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies.