The
East India Company was established in 1600 to challenge the Dutch-Portuguese
monopoly of the spice trade. Queen Elizabeth granted the company monopoly
rights to bring goods from India. With the approval of local Indian
rulers, the East India Company established trading posts in Madras,
Bombay and Calcutta. The company was now trading in cottons, silks,
indigo, saltpeter and tea.
The East India Company had a monopoly of this trade until 1694 when
the House of Commons passed an act that
enabled all British firms to trade with India. The East India Company
retained its dominant position and continued to make large profits
from India and by 1720, 15% of Britain's imports came from India.
The international headquarters for the company was established at
East India House in Leadenhall Street. James Mill
and his son, John Stuart Mill, both worked
for the company and eventually both became head of the office at East
India House.
The British government became concerned with the power of the East
India Company and in 1783 Charles Fox attempted
to persuade Parliament to pass a bill that would replace the company's
directors with a board of commissioners. George
III made it known to the House of Lords
that he would consider anyone voting with the Bill an enemy.
The following year, the new Prime Minister, William
Pitt convinced George III and Parliament
to accept a new India Bill. This measure
created a new Board of Trade and helped
to transfer the political, financial and military power of the East
India Company to the British government. The East India Company now
found it difficult to make a profit from its activities and in 1834
ceased trading and instead acted as a managing agency for the government.
The company finally came to an end in 1873 and Lloyds
took over East India House.
Rudolf
Ackermann, East India House, from Microcosm of London
(1808)
(1)
William Pyne, The
Microcosm of London (1808)
On
the 1st March, 1801, the debts of the East India Company amounted
to £5,393,989 their effects to £15,404,736 and their sales
increased since February 1793, from £4,988,300 to £7,602,041.
The person employed in the home establishment of this important company
exceed 3,670.
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