The History of the East India Company

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#eastindiacompany #history #documentary

Recommended reading:
The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company - https://amzn.to/3wtuqAn
The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company - https://amzn.to/3XQ3bMg
Between Monopoly and Free Trade: The English East India Company, 1600-1757 - https://amzn.to/3j1pHTA
The Indian Mutiny: 1857 - https://amzn.to/3kJzbmT

The city of London has been the centre of Britain’s economic and commercial activity for centuries, with many of the largest and wealthiest companies in the world choosing to locate their headquarters in the nation’s capital to this day. However, none of these modern businesses can compare to what was undoubtedly the most powerful multinational corporation the world has ever seen. Established over 400 years ago, the East India Company, from it’s headquarters on Leadenhall Street, would rise from humble beginnings as a trading company for voyages to India; to effectively becoming the de facto state government of the entire sub-continent.

During it’s heyday, the Company would surpass the strength and wealth of even the mightiest nation states, and with it’s own private armies, would push aside the long established native dynasties of India, seizing control of their territories for itself. All this would be achieved by maintaining an iron grip on the most valuable trade routes in the world, which generated staggering amounts of wealth for it’s employees and shareholders. But how did this private corporation come to rule over one of the largest and richest regions on earth in the first place? This is the history of the East India Company.