The English East India Company

The English East India Company was established on 31 December 1600 as per the Royal Charter issued by the Queen of England, Elizabeth I. The Company had sent Captain Hawkins to the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir in 1608 to secure permission to establish a “factory” (store house of goods) at Surat. It was turned down initially. However, in 1613, Jahangir issued the firman permitting the East India Company to establish its first trading post at Surat. Subsequently, Sir Thomas Roe obtained more trading rights and privileges for the East India Company. Accordingly, the English set up business centres at Agra, Ahmedabad and Broach. Slowly the English East India Company succeeded in expanding its area of trade.

In 1639, Francis Day established the city of Madras and constructed the Fort St. George. On the west coast, the Company obtained Bombay on lease from their King, Charles II for a rent of 10 pounds per annum in 1668. By the year 1690, Job Charnock, the agent of the East India Company purchased three villages namely, Sutanuti, Govindpur and Kalikatta, which, in course of time, grew into the city of Calcutta. It was fortified by Job Charnock, who named it Fort William after the English King, William III. The factories and trading centres which the English established all along the sea-coast of India were grouped under three presidencies namely Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.

After the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the Battle of Buxar in 1764, the Company became a political power.

India was under the East India Company’s rule till 1858 when it came under the direct administration of the British Crown. Robert Clive was the first Governor of Fort William under the Company’s rule. He was succeeded by Verelst and Cartier. In 1772, the Company appointed Warren Hastings as the Governor of Fort William.

• Warren Hastings (1772-1785)
• Sir John Shore (1793-1798)
• Sir George Barlow (1805-1807)
• Lord Hastings (1813-1823)
• Lord William Bentinck (1828-1835)
• Lord Ellenborough (1842-1844)
• Lord Dalhousie (1848-1856)

• Lord Corn Wallis (1786-1793)
• Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)
• Lord Minto (1807-1813)
• Lord Amherst (1823-1828)
• Lord Auckland (1836-1842)
• Lord Hardinge (1844-1848)
• Lord Canning (1856-1858)

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