On this day 412 years ago, Queen Elizabeth I granted a Royal Charter giving the Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading with the East Indies a 15-year monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. The new British East India Company’s charter was renewed by King James I in 1609 for an indefinite period. Business prospered, and the charter was renewed again in 1657 by Oliver Cromwell.
The Industrial Revolution brought great wealth to Britain, leading to an increased demand for raw materials and commodities from India. As a result the British East India Company became the most important entity in international trade, and came to exert considerable influence on the British government. The Company maintained its own army and engaged in a range of military conflicts, resulting in the expansion of its territory and influence.
In 1857 a mutiny by some Indian soldiers in the East India Company’s army escalated into a widespread Indian rebellion, and reports of atrocities which occurred during the rebellion led to the nationalisation of the East India Company by the British government pursuant to the Government of India Act 1858, and the Company was dissolved in 1874.