History of the East Indian Company. History of the British East India Company: how English merchants conquered India. How England Found India

03.05.2020

1 . English (1600-1858) - private company English. merchants for trade with the East Indies (as India, Southeast Asia and China were called in Europe in the 17-18 centuries), which gradually turned into a state. org-tion on the management of English. possessions in India. In the 1st floor. 17th century O.-I. to. was an amorphous org-tion of London merchants, periodically pooling capital for bargaining. expeditions to the East Indies. From 1657 (Cromwell's charter) turned into an action. company with fixed capital. Like a bargain. org-tion O.-I. to. sold in Asian countries and exported to Europe ind. The goods - xl.-boom. and silk fabrics, raw silk, indigo, opium, sugar, saltpeter, etc. After a long. struggle with competitors - Portugal, goal. and French East India Companies, eng. private traders - and after a series of clashes with ind. rulers (the expulsion of the British from Bengal - 1687-1690, the siege of Bombay by the Mongol troops - 1690, etc.) O.-I. succeeded in the 17th century. create in India a network of trading posts and several. fortified strongholds (Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, etc.). In the 2nd floor. 17th century O.-I. to. received from English. pr-va a number of state prerogatives. power: the right to declare war and make peace in Oet-India, to dispose of their own army and navy, to mint coins, to establish courts-martial. In 1708 she received a monopoly on trade with the East Indies. In 1717 O.-I. k. obtained from the Great Mogul Farrukhsiyar a firman for duty-free trade and tax collection in part of Bengal. As a result, the duration English wars. O.-I. to. defeated the French. O.-I. to. and to ser. 18th century became the only contender for the column. dominance in India. After the Battle of Plassey (1757), Bengal actually became the possession of O.-I. j. After the Battle of Buxar (1764), Bihar and Orissa were also captured. In con. 18th century as a result of the Anglo-Mysore wars, O.-I. to. captured the South. India, made Mysore and Hyderabad its tributaries. By 1818 the Sev. India and Maharashtra (see Anglo-Maratha Wars). Last independent ind. the state - the state of the Sikhs in the Punjab - was annexed in 1849 (see Anglo-Sikh wars). After the capture of ind. territories Ch. means of enrichment O.-I. to. was no longer trade, but the direct exploitation of ind. peasants by collecting land. tax. To enhance the exploitation of O.-I. to. carried out the restructuring of the agr. relations in India (see Zamindari, Rayatvari). The urban craft began to go bankrupt as a result of the competition of the English. goods. Indian merchants fell into the position of dependent junior partners. Stolen O.-I. to. in India, capital played a big role in the successful completion of prom. revolution in England. O.-I. to. prepared the transformation of India into a market and a source of raw materials for the English. prom. From Ser. 18th century to participate in the profits from the exploitation of India began to claim English. prom. bourgeoisie; she spoke out against the uncontrolled bossing of O.-I. to. in India. Acts for the Government of India, adopted by the English. parliament (see Norta bill and Pitt law of 1784), the leadership of O.-I. to. was brought under the control of the English. pr-va, the general-governor of the company's holdings began to be appointed by the prime minister, dividends were limited to 10%; in 1813 the company's monopoly of trade with India was abolished. Act of Parliament 1833 O.-I. to. was abolished as bargaining. organization. Finally, in 1858, in the context of an aggravation of internal political. situation in India, resulting in the Indian popular uprising of 1857-59, O.-I. K. was eliminated, and India was directly subordinate to the Secretary of State (Minister) for Indian Affairs and English. viceroy (1858-1947). Lit .: Marx K. and Engels F., Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 9, p. 109-10, 130-36, 142-44, 151-60, 203-07, 224-30; Antonova K. A., English. the conquest of India in the XVIII century., M., 1958; Chicherov A. I., Economic development India before English. conquest (Craft and trade in the XVI-XVIII centuries), M., 1965; Mukherjee Ft., The rise and fall of the East Indian Company, V., 1958. L. B. Alaev. Moscow. 2 . (Oost Indische Compagnie) Dutch (Dutch), United O.-I. k., - monopoly bargaining. a company that existed in 1602-1798; ch. tool, with the help of which niderl. the bourgeoisie created the Dutch colonial empire through violence, extortion and conquest. The first overseas trading companies emerged in Holland in the 1990s. 16th century The decision of Gen. states on March 20, 1602, they were united into O.-I. to. with the aim of suppressing their mutual competition and developing a common policy in overseas trade. The former are independent. the companies became its branches (chambers) - 4 in Amsterdam, 2 each in Zeeland and Rotterdam, 1 for Delft and 1 for Horn and Enkhuizen (jointly). Accordingly, the quotas of these chambers were 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 (Delft and Rotterdam together) and 1/8 of the main. capital O.-I. to., which initially consisted of 6.5 million florins. The chambers were controlled by the boards of Ch. shareholders holding shares of at least 1,000 flam. pounds. A general directorate was created consisting of 17 directors (including 8 from Amsterdam, 4 from Zeeland). Zone O.-I. to. stretched from the Cape of Good Hope to Magellan Strait. Throughout this space, she had the monopoly right of trade and navigation, duty-free transportation of goods to the metropolis, the creation of trading posts, fortresses, the recruitment and maintenance of troops, the fleet, the conduct of legal proceedings, the conclusion of international contracts. contracts, etc., i.e., all the rights of the state. sovereignty exercised by O.-I. to. on behalf of Gen. states of the republic. Own administration O.-I. The k. was established in 1609 (since 1619, during the governorship of Jan Pieterszon Kuhn, with a permanent residence in Batavia). Based on your bargain. and military power, O.-I. K. expelled the Portuguese, Spaniards and British from the Moluccas, created trading posts on the coast of India, in Ceylon and in other places. At the same time O.-I. K. exterminated the local population of entire islands, suppressed the uprisings of the natives, in order to support the high monopoly prices for the colon. goods rapaciously destroyed thickets of spices. In such ways O.-I. to ensure the payment of huge dividends to its shareholders - an average of 18% for the entire period 1602-1798, and in several. times higher during the heyday (mid-17th century). Shareholders O.-I. to. were the richest merchants from the regency families (Jan Oldenbarnevelt himself contributed to its organization), which allowed her not only to arbitrarily rule in the colonies, but also to influence politics and the state in the direction she needed. apparatus of the republic. Wars with England and the competition of the English O.-I. to., abuses, predation and corruption of the administration led O. -AND. to the decline, which affected especially strongly in the 18th century. As a result, the 4th Anglo-Gol. war (1780-84) O.-I. to. lost many trading posts and fortresses. In 1796 her debts amounted to 120 million florins. In 1798 O.-I. k. was liquidated, and all its property and assets became the property of the Batavian Republic. (The term of validity of the privileges of O.-I. k. expired on December 31, 1799). Source or T. see at Art. Dutch colonial empire, Indonesia. A. N. Chistozvonov. Moscow. 3 . French (1664-1719) - bargaining. a company organized at the initiative of Colbert with the aim of monopolizing trade with India. Received from the French pr-va monopoly right to navigation and trade in the Pacific and Indus. oceans. On ind. coast O.-I. to. had several. trading posts (Masulipatam, Mahe, Chandernagor, Calicut, etc.). The center of possessions O.-I. to. in India was Pondicherry. O.-I. k. led the queens. pr-in. She wore a feud. character. Its development was hampered by the petty guardianship of the court circles, the regulation of its bargaining. government activities. commissioners; in 1700 her privileges were limited by the king. It was later absorbed by the established Low Ind. company, which monopolized almost all of France's overseas trade.

The company was run by a governor and a board of directors who were responsible to the shareholders' meeting. The commercial company soon acquired government and military functions that it had lost only in . Following the Dutch East India Company, the British also began listing their shares on the stock exchange.

The company also had interests outside of India, seeking to secure safe routes to the British Isles. In 1620, she tried to capture Table Mountain in what is now South Africa, and later occupied Saint Helena. Company troops held Napoleon on Saint Helena; its products were attacked by American colonists during the Boston Tea Party, and the Company's shipyards served as a model for St. Petersburg.

Operations in India

The expansion took two main forms. The first was the use of so-called subsidiary contracts, essentially feudal - local rulers transferred the conduct of foreign affairs to the Company and were obliged to pay a "subsidy" for the maintenance of the Company's army. In case of non-payment, the territory was annexed by the British. In addition, the local ruler undertook to maintain a British official ("resident") at his court. Thus, the company recognized "native states" headed by Hindu maharajas and Muslim nawabs. The second form was direct rule.

The "subsidies" paid to the Company by local rulers were spent on recruiting troops, which consisted mainly of local population Thus, the expansion was carried out by the hands of the Indians and with the money of the Indians. The disintegration of the Mughal Empire, which occurred towards the end of the 18th century, contributed to the spread of the system of "subsidiary agreements". De facto, the territory of modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh consisted of several hundred independent principalities that were at war with each other.

The first ruler to accept a "subsidiary treaty" was the Nizam of Hyderabad. In a number of cases, such treaties were imposed by force; thus, the ruler of Mysore refused to accept the treaty, but was forced to do so as a result of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. The Maratha Union of Principalities was forced to sign a subsidiary treaty on the following terms:

With the Peshwa (First Minister) there remains a permanent Anglo-Sipai army of 6 thousand people.
A number of territorial districts are annexed by the Company.
The Peshwa does not sign any contracts without consulting the Company.
The Peshwa does not declare war without consulting the Company.
Any territorial claims of the Peshwa to the local principalities must be arbitrated by the Company.
Peshwa withdraws claims to Surat and Baroda.
The Peshwa recalls all Europeans from his service.
International affairs are conducted in consultation with the Company.

The strongest opponents of the Company were two states that had formed on the ruins of the Mughal empire - the Maratha Union and the state of the Sikhs. The collapse of the Sikh empire was facilitated by the chaos that ensued in it after the death in 1839 of its founder, Ranjit Singh. Civil strife broke out both between individual sardars (generals of the Sikh army and de facto large feudal lords), and between the Khalsa (the Sikh community) and the darbar (courtyard). In addition, the Sikh population experienced friction with local Muslims, often ready to fight under British banners against the Sikhs.

At the end of the 18th century, under Governor-General Richard Wellesley, active expansion began; The company captured Cochin (), Jaipur (), Travankur (1795), Hyderabad (), Mysore (), principalities along the Sutlej River (1815), central Indian principalities (), Kutch and Gujarat (), Rajputana (1818), Bahawalpur () . The annexed provinces included Delhi (1803) and Sindh (1843). Punjab, the Northwest Frontier and Kashmir were captured in 1849 during the Anglo-Sikh wars. Kashmir was immediately sold to the Dogra dynasty, which ruled in the principality of Jammu, and became a "native state". B Berar is annexed, Oudh is annexed.

Britain saw the Russian Empire as its competitor in colonial expansion. Fearing the influence of the Russians on Persia, the Company began to increase pressure on Afghanistan, and the First Anglo-Afghan War took place. Russia established a protectorate over the Khanate of Bukhara and annexed Samarkand, between the two empires began a rivalry for influence in Central Asia, which in the Anglo-Saxon tradition has the name "Great Game".

Army

AT next years Anglo-French relations deteriorate sharply. The clashes lead to a sharp increase in government spending. Already in 1742, the company's privileges were extended by the government to in exchange for a loan of 1 million pounds sterling.

The Seven Years' War ended with the defeat of France. She managed to keep only small enclaves in Pondicherry, Meiha, Karikal and Chadernagar without any military presence. At the same time, Britain begins its rapid expansion in India. The cost of capturing Bengal, and the ensuing famine that wiped out a quarter to a third of the population, caused serious financial difficulties for the Company, which were exacerbated by economic stagnation in Europe. The Board of Directors tried to avoid bankruptcy by turning to Parliament for financial assistance. In 1773, the Company gained more autonomy in its trading operations in India, and began trading with America. The Company's monopolistic activities were the occasion for the Boston Tea Party, which started the American Revolutionary War.

By 1813, the Company had seized control of all of India, excluding the Punjab, Sindh and Nepal. Local princes became vassals of the Company. The resulting expense forced a petition to Parliament for relief. As a result, the monopoly was abolished, excluding the trade in tea, and trade with China. In 1833, the remnants of the trading monopoly were destroyed.

In 1845 the Dutch colony of Tranquebar was sold to Britain. The company begins to expand its influence to China, the Philippines and Java. Lacking funds to purchase tea from China, the Company began mass-growing opium in India for export to China.

Company decline

After the Indian National Uprising in 1857, the English Parliament passed the Act for the Better Government of India, according to which the company transfers its administrative functions to the British crown from 1858. The company is liquidated.

East India Company in World Culture

Notes

Literature

Antonova K. A., Bongard-Levin G. M., Kotovsky G. G. History of India. - M., 1979.
Guber A., Kheifets A. New story countries of the foreign East. - M., 1961.
Adams b. The Laws of Civilizations and Decay. An Essays on History. - New York, 1898. - P. 305.
Hobsbaum E. Age of Revolution. Europe 1789-1848. - Rostov-on-Don, 1999.
Encyclopedic Dictionary / Brockhaus F. A., Efron I. A.
The World History. - M ., 2000. - T. 14. - ISBN 985-433-711-1
Fursov K. A. Merchant power: relations of the English East India Company with the English state and Indian patrimonies. M.: Association of scientific publications KMK, 2006.
Fursov K. East India Company: the history of the great oligarch / K. Fursov // New time. - M., 2001. - No. 2-3. - S. 40-43.
Fursov K. A. Relations between the English East India Company and the Mughal Sultanate: the problem of periodization // Moscow University Bulletin. Series 13: Oriental Studies. - 2004. - No. 2. - S. 3-25.
Efimov, E. G. The concept of "sub-imperialism" of the English East India Company P.J. Marshall / E. G. Efimov // X Regional Conference of Young Researchers of the Volgograd Region, November 8-11. 2005: abstract. report Issue. 3. Philosophical sciences and cultural studies. Historical sciences / VolGU [and others]. - Volgograd, 2006. - C. 180-181.
Efimov, E. G. The English East India Company in the second half of the 18th century: the question of national identity (to the formulation of the problem) / E. G. Efimov // XI Regional Conference of Young Researchers of the Volgograd Region, November 8-10. 2006 Issue. 3. Philosophical sciences and cultural studies. Historical sciences: abstract. report / Volgograd state. un-t [and others]. - Volgograd, 2007. - C. 124-126.

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The site reviewer studied the history of the trading British East India Company, which practically seized control of India, became famous for robberies and abuses, and also made the British Empire one of the most powerful countries in the world.

The British East India Company, like its Dutch East India Company, was effectively a state within a state. Having its own army and actively influencing the development of the British Empire, it became one of the most important factors in the brilliant financial position states. The company allowed the British to create a colonial empire, which included the pearl of the British crown - India.

Founding of the British East India Company

The British East India Company was founded by Queen Elizabeth I. After winning the war with Spain and defeating the Invincible Armada, she decided to seize control of the trade in spices and other goods brought from the East. The official founding date of the British East India Company is December 31, 1600.

For a long time it was called the English East India Company, and became British in the early 18th century. Among its 125 shareholders was Queen Elizabeth I. The total capital was 72 thousand pounds. The Queen issued a charter granting the company monopoly trade with the East for 15 years, and James I made the charter indefinite.

The English company was founded before the Dutch counterpart, but its shares went public later. Until 1657, after each successful expedition, income or goods were divided among the shareholders, after which it was necessary to invest again in a new journey. The company was led by a council of 24 people and a governor-general. The English of that time had perhaps the best navigators in the world. Relying on her captains, Elizabeth could hope for success.

In 1601, the first expedition to the Spice Islands was led by James Lancaster. The navigator achieved his goals: he spent several trade deals and opened a trading post in Bantam, and after returning received the title of knight. From the trip, he brought mostly pepper, which was not uncommon, so the first expedition is considered not very profitable.

Thanks to Lancaster, the British East India Company had a rule to carry out prophylaxis against scurvy. According to legend, Sir James made the sailors on his ship drink three tablespoons of lemon juice every day. Soon other ships noticed that the crew of the Lancaster Sea Dragon was less sick and began to do the same. The custom spread to the entire fleet and became another hallmark of the sailors who served in the company. There is a version that Lancaster forced the crew of his ship to drink lemon juice with ants.

There were several more expeditions, and information about them is contradictory. Some sources speak of failures - others, on the contrary, report successes. It can be said for sure that until 1613 the British were mainly engaged in piracy: the profit was almost 300%, but the local population chose the Dutch from two evils, who tried to colonize the region.

Most of the English goods were of no interest to the local population: they did not need dense fabric and sheep's wool in a hot climate. In 1608, the British first came to India, but mainly robbed merchant ships there and sold the resulting goods.

This could not go on for a long time, so in 1609 the company's management sent Sir William Hawkins to India, who was supposed to enlist the support of Padishah Jahangir. Hawkins knew Turkish well and liked the padishah very much. Thanks to his efforts, as well as the arrival of ships under the command of Best, the company was able to establish a trading post in Surat.

At the insistence of Jahangir, Hawkins remained in India and soon received a title and a wife. There is an interesting legend about this: Hawkins allegedly agreed to marry only a Christian woman, secretly hoping that they would not find a suitable girl. Jahangir, to everyone's surprise, found a Christian princess in the bride, and even with a dowry - the Englishman had nowhere to go.

Industry international trade British East India Company at Wikimedia Commons

In fact, the royal decree gave the company a monopoly on trade in India. Initially the company had 125 shareholders and a capital of £72,000. The company was run by a governor and a board of directors who were responsible to the shareholders' meeting. The commercial company soon acquired government and military functions, which it lost only in 1858. Following the Dutch East India Company, the British Company also began listing its shares on the stock exchange.

The company also had interests outside of India, seeking to secure safe routes to the British Isles. In 1620, she tried to capture Table Mountain in what is now South Africa, and later occupied Saint Helena. Company troops held Napoleon on Saint Helena. Its products were attacked by American colonists during the Boston Tea Party, and the Company's shipyards served as a model for St. Petersburg.

Operations in India

The company was founded on December 31, 1600 under the name "Company of merchants of London trading in the East Indies" (Eng. Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading with the East Indies). From 1601 to 1610 she organized three trading expeditions to Southeast Asia. The first of these was commanded by the famous privateer James Lancaster, who received a knighthood for the successful completion of his mission. Activity in India began in 1612, when the Mughal king Jahangir authorized the establishment of a trading post in Surat. At first, various names were used: "Honorable East India Company" (eng. Honorable East India Company), "East India Company", "Bahadur Company".

The strengthening of the company and its abuses in India forced the British authorities to intervene in its activities already at the end of the 18th century. In 1774, the British Parliament passed the Act for the Rules of the Better Administration of the Affairs of the East India Company, but it was hardly considered. Then in 1784 the Law on better management British East India Company and its possessions in India, which provided that the company's possessions in India and it itself were transferred to the British Control Council, and by 1813 its trading privileges were eliminated.

The expansion of the British East India Company took two main forms. The first was the use of so-called subsidiary agreements, essentially feudal - local rulers transferred the Company to foreign policy and pledged to pay a "subsidy" for the upkeep of the Company's army. In case of non-payment by the principality of the "subsidy", its territory was annexed by the British. In addition, the local ruler undertook to maintain a British official ("resident") at his court. Thus, the company recognized "native states" headed by Hindu maharajas and Muslim nawabs. The second form was direct rule.

The "subsidies" paid to the Company by the local rulers were spent on the recruitment of troops, which consisted mainly of the local population, thus the expansion was carried out by the hands of the Indians and with the money of the Indians. The spread of the system of "subsidiary agreements" was facilitated by the collapse of the Mughal empire, which occurred towards the end of the 18th century. De facto, the territory of modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh consisted of several hundred independent principalities that were at war with each other.

With the Peshwa (First Minister) there remains a permanent Anglo-Sipai army of 6 thousand people.
A number of territorial districts are annexed by the Company.
The Peshwa does not sign any contracts without consulting the Company.
The Peshwa does not declare war without consulting the Company.
Any territorial claims of the Peshwa to the local principalities must be arbitrated by the Company.
Peshwa withdraws claims to Surat and Baroda.
The Peshwa recalls all Europeans from his service.
International affairs are conducted in consultation with the Company.

The strongest opponents of the company were two states that formed on the ruins of the Mughal empire - the Maratha Union and the State of the Sikhs. The collapse of the Sikh Empire was facilitated by the chaos that came in it after the death in 1839 of its founder, Ranjit Singh. Civil strife broke out both between individual sardars (generals of the Sikh army and de facto large feudal lords), and between the Khalsa (the Sikh community) and the darbar (courtyard). In addition, the Sikh population experienced friction with local Muslims, often ready to fight under British banners against the Sikhs.

At the end of the 18th century, under the Governor-General Richard Wellesley, active expansion began. The company captured Cochin (), Jaipur (), Travankur (1795), Hyderabad (), Mysore (), principalities along the Sutlej River (1815), central Indian principalities (), Kutch and Gujarat (), Rajputana (1818), Bahawalpur () . The annexed provinces included Delhi (1803) and Sindh (1843). Punjab, the Northwest Frontier and Kashmir were captured in 1849 during the Anglo-Sikh wars. Kashmir was immediately sold to the Dogra dynasty, which ruled in the principality of Jammu, and became a "native state". B is annexed by Berar, and B is annexed by Oudh.

Britain saw the Russian Empire as its competitor in colonial expansion. Fearing Russian influence on Persia, the company began to increase pressure on Afghanistan, and the First Anglo-Afghan War took place. Russia established a protectorate over the Khanate of Bukhara and annexed Samarkand, between the two empires began a rivalry for influence in Central Asia, which in the Anglo-Saxon tradition has the name "Great Game".

Operations in Arabia

From the end of the 18th century, the company began to show interest in Oman. In 1798, a representative of the company, the Persian Mahdi Ali Khan, came to Sultan Said, who concluded an anti-French treaty with him, in fact, about a protectorate. Under this agreement, the Sultan undertook not to let into his territory in war time French ships, not to allow French and Dutch subjects to stay in their possessions, not to allow France and Holland to establish trading bases on their territory in wartime, to assist England in the fight against France. However, the Sultan did not then allow the company to create a fortified trading post in Oman. In 1800, the treaty was supplemented and England received the right to keep its resident in Oman.

Army

Company in the feudal system of India

At the beginning of the British expansion in India, there was a feudal system that was formed as a result of the Muslim conquest of the 16th century (see. Mughal Empire). Zamindars (landowners) collected feudal rent. Their activities were monitored by a council ("sofa"). The land itself was considered state property and could be taken from the zamindar.

The British East India Company built into this system, having received in 1765 sofas the right to collect taxes in Bengal. It soon became clear that the British did not have enough experienced administrators who would understand local taxes and payments, and tax collection was farmed out. The result of the Company's tax policy was the Bengal famine -1770, which claimed the lives of 7-10 million people (that is, from one quarter to one third of the population of the Bengal Presidency).

Monopoly

In subsequent years, Anglo-French relations deteriorated sharply. The clashes led to a sharp increase in government spending. Already in 1742, the company's privileges were extended by the government to in return for a loan of 1 million pounds sterling.

The Seven Years' War ended with the defeat of France. She managed to keep only small enclaves in Pondicherry, Meiha, Karikal and Chadernagar without any military presence. At the same time, Britain began its rapid expansion in India. The cost of taking over Bengal, and the ensuing famine that wiped out between a quarter and a third of the population, caused serious financial difficulties for the company, which were exacerbated by economic stagnation in Europe. The Board of Directors tried to avoid bankruptcy by asking Parliament for financial help. In 1773, the company gained more autonomy in its trading operations in India, and began trading with America. The company's monopolistic activities were the occasion for the Boston Tea Party, which started the American Revolutionary War.

By 1813, the company had seized control of all of India, excluding the Punjab, Sindh and Nepal. Local princes became vassals of the Company. The resulting expense forced a petition to Parliament for relief. As a result, the monopoly was abolished, excluding the trade in tea, and trade with China. In 1833, the remnants of the trading monopoly were destroyed.

In 1845 the Dutch colony of Tranquebar was sold to Britain. The company began to expand its influence to China, the Philippines and Java. Lacking funds to purchase tea from China, the company began mass-growing opium in India for export to China.

Adams b. The Laws of Civilizations and Decay. An Essays on History. - New York, 1898. - P. 305.

Hobsbaum E. Age of Revolution. Europe 1789-1848. - Rostov-on-Don, 1999.

Encyclopedic Dictionary / Brockhaus F. A., Efron I. A.

The World History. - M., 2000. - T. 14. - ISBN 985-433-711-1.

Fursov K. A. Merchant power: relations of the English East India Company with the English state and Indian patrimonies. M.: Association of scientific publications KMK, 2006.

Fursov K. East India Company: the history of the great oligarch / K. Fursov // New time. - M., 2001. - No. 2-3. - S. 40-43.

Fursov K. A. Relations between the English East India Company and the Mughal Sultanate: the problem of periodization // Moscow University Bulletin. Series 13: Oriental Studies. - 2004. - No. 2. - S. 3-25.

Efimov, E. G. The concept of "sub-imperialism" of the English East India Company P.J. Marshall / E. G. Efimov // X Regional Conference of Young Researchers of the Volgograd Region, November 8-11. 2005: abstract. report Issue. 3. Philosophical sciences and cultural studies. Historical sciences / VolGU [and others]. - Volgograd, 2006. - C. 180-181.

Efimov, E. G. The English East India Company in the second half of the 18th century: the question of national identity (to the formulation of the problem) / E. G. Efimov // XI Regional Conference of Young Researchers of the Volgograd Region, November 8-10. 2006 Issue. 3. Philosophical sciences and cultural studies. Historical sciences: abstract. report / Volgograd state. un-t [and others]. - Volgograd, 2007. - C. 124-126.

The British East India Company, like its Dutch East India Company, was effectively a state within a state. Having its own army and actively influencing the development of the British Empire, it became one of the most important factors in the brilliant financial position of the state. The company allowed the British to create a colonial empire, which included the pearl of the British crown - India.

Founding of the British East India Company

In 1601, the first expedition to the Spice Islands was led by James Lancaster. The navigator achieved his goals: he conducted several trade deals and opened a trading post in Bantam, and after returning he received the title of knight. From the trip, he brought mostly pepper, which was not uncommon, so the first expedition is considered not very profitable.