THE BUSINESS OF EMPIRE: British east India company - Essay Example

The company’s shares were held by wealthy aristocrats and merchants. The government held no shares in the firm and its control over the company was indirect. The firm in the end came to govern vast regions of India through its individual private militaries, assuming governmental functions and employing military power (Chaudhuri, 2008). This paper will analyze the economics, culture and politics of 1600-1800s in respect to the British East India Company. Following the Spanish Armada defeat in 1588, London traders presented an appeal to Queen Elizabeth the first for authorization to sail towards the Indian Ocean.

This first group sailed the Indian Ocean and returned in 1594 to England. A second group sailed in 1596 to the East but they got lost in the sea. In 1598, another faction came together and formed a corporation. This group made two sailing attempts and their second attempt was successful. The Queen contracted the corporation with a Royal Charter under the Company and Governor of London Merchants dealing with the Eastern Indies. . Owing to the high profits generated, this drove King James the First to contract subsidiary permits to other trade firms in England.

By 1609, the firm was managed by a Governor together with 24 directors (Furber, 2000). British traders regularly engaged in conflicts with Portuguese and Dutch counterparts. In the 1612 Battle of Swally, the firm attained a key triumph over the Portugal (Bowen, Margarette& Nigel, 2003). The victory drove the British East India Company to gain a regional foothold of the Indian mainland by sanctioning both Portugal and Dutch. Through the imperial patronage contracted by King James the first, the company was able to expand its trading operations in India.

The British East India Company launched a collaborative attack with the Dutch company on Spanish and Portuguese ships to secure the China ports. By 1647, the firm had twenty three factories (Harrington, 2010). The 1648 signing of the Munster treaty braked the firm’s bight future. The treaty freed Netherlands from the Spanish rule permitting Spain to have full attention to expand its trading operations at home as well as in the distant waters. The Dutch company was very competitive and had expanded its spice trade monopoly within Malaccan straits through ousting Portugal during 1640-41 periods (Furber, 2000).

The Dutch Indie and British Indie companies engaged in intense competition that led to Anglo-Dutch conflicts of 17th as well as 18th centuries. In 1657, the 1609 charter was renewed bringing minor transformations in the firm. This enhanced the company’s status via the restoration of the empire in England (Brenner, 1993) and (Bowen, Margarette& Nigel, 2003). Around 1670, King James the 2nd contracted