Post Indian Trading Company. French East India Company: Founding

Ships of the East India Company in the port of Amsterdam.

On March 20, 1602, the world's first joint-stock company, the Dutch East India Company, was established.

Having existed for two centuries, it had a tremendous impact on the development of world trade and politics. Many of the company's projects were so successful that they continued to exist even after its death. The company itself, as befits a capitalist monster, ended its existence with an epic bankruptcy that shook the world economy.

Spawn of war capitalism

At the end of the 16th century, Portuguese and Spanish merchants held almost the entire trade in spices, which were valued more than gold in Europe. The Dutch had no access to the super-profitable Asian markets. And the Portuguese were not going to tolerate competitors, destroying the Dutch ships at every opportunity.

Nevertheless, the thirst for gold often pushed Europeans to unimaginable accomplishments. Starting in 1594, separate groups of herring traders founded several companies that were supposed to deal with direct supplies of spices from Asia. For almost a dozen subsequent years, the Dutch did not achieve significant success, but in 1602 the States General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands intervened in the process. By their decision, six companies were merged into one large one - East India (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, abbreviated as VOC), and in order for traders to consolidate more vigorously, the new structure was granted the right to monopoly trade with Asian countries.

REFERENCE : According to the patent issued by the States General on March 20, 1602, onlyThe VOC had the right to trade east of the cape Good Hope and west of the Strait of Magellan. Thus, the sphere of monopoly trade of the East India Company included the Pacific and Indian Oceans, occupying half the planet.

It can be said that the East India Company was equally a product of war and commerce: Holland waged a desperate struggle with Spain, and trade was for the authorities an additional source of funds for the maintenance of the army. In addition, the commercial success of the VOC in the colonial countries undermined the economic power of the main Dutch enemy, and its ships were directly used to fight the Spanish fleet. In the future, the VOC became the most effective tool that the young state opposed military power the then world hegemon.

Founders of the United East India Company. Photo: sejarah-nusantara.anri.go.id

First joint-stock empire

The most important role for the East India Company was played by the commercial know-how of that time - the enterprise became the first joint-stock company in history.

From the very beginning, the VOC had the features of a public company: all 73 of its founders agreed to be jointly responsible for lost ships and equally share all the profits. By printing and issuing shares, the founders raised 6.5 million florins of authorized capital - an amount that at that time exceeded the budgets of some European countries.

REFERENCE : For the first two years of existenceVOC shares of the company rose by 10%, and when it was possible to arrange the supply of Chinese tea from Java, they began to rise in price by 10% per year. For 120 years, shares have grown in price by 1260%.

It is important that the investments were managed not by single entrepreneurs acting on the basis of personal experience and intuition, but by real narrow professionals: shipbuilders, sailors, sales agents, lawyers, market specialists. In efficiency, the East India Company was as superior to the merchant guilds as the manufactories were to the craftsmen. At the same time, due to the higher margin, the company had such a turnover of capital that it was impossible to ensure in any of the then production.

Betrayal and smuggling

At its height, the VOC had 25,000 employees in Asia and 3,000 in the Netherlands. The total number of states in the world reached 50 thousand people. About 10 thousand of them were heavily armed mercenaries, and at times the number of armed employees was half the company's staff. The fleet consisted of 150 commercial ships and 40 warships armed with guns, capable of dealing with pirates and sinking British and Portuguese warships.

By the way, it was Portugal throughout the 17th century that was the main “food competitor” of the Dutch monster. The struggle with her ships and trading posts was not for life, but for death.

In 1641, the East India Company managed to win a full-fledged colonial war without turning to their government, solely through their own troops and ships. However, having dealt with the Portuguese, the VOC received new opponents - the British and French East India Companies, created in its image and likeness.

The desire to get the maximum profit played a cruel joke with the company. Like modern managers, VOC management preferred to save on salaries. Whenever possible, everyone was underpaid: from Asian laborers to hired foreign captains. As a result, employees massively engaged in smuggling, hiding from the management both the transported goods and part of the profits. Self-activity of the staff slowly but surely undermined the profitability of the company. However, in general, the robbery of the colonies, the monopoly of trade and skilled resource management allowed the VOC to operate successfully until the 80s of the 18th century.

giant skeleton

Equipping the trade infrastructure, VOC created a huge network of trading posts, ports and fortresses - on the Cape of Good Hope, in Bengal, Malacca, China, the Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand). The city of Batavia (now Jakarta) rebuilt from scratch was proclaimed the capital of the company. The second most populated city in South Africa, Cape Town is nothing more than the former Kapstad, the VOC supply base.

The successful development of trading posts in Africa attracted many Dutch and German colonists to the south of the continent. Their descendants formed the Boer people. The modified Dutch became the language of Afrikaans, and its speakers created several states: the Transvaal, the Orange Republic, and South Africa. Thanks to the VOC, Ceylon, Indonesia developed; The company also financed the British Henry Hudson, who in 1609, trying to open the northern route to India, explored the coast of Canada and described the bay that now bears his name.

It was the East India Company that created the skeleton of a globalized world, which is well recognized even now, despite the changes and redistribution of spheres of influence.

Final according to the laws of the genre

A powerful infrastructure and accumulated capital allowed the VOC to survive all the crises of the 17th and most of the 18th centuries. A special legal status of the company - "a state within a state" - played a huge role. The VOC leadership had its own court, enjoyed the right to conclude international treaties, and minted coins that circulated throughout Asia. In order to reduce the death rate of employees, the company's management even sponsored botanical research, during which pharmacists were looking for new medicinal plants.

The end of the giant, like its beginning, turned out to be closely connected with the fate of the state. During the 4th Anglo-Dutch War, the company suffered colossal losses: about 60 million ... no, not people - guilders. The financial balance was upset, and the winners imposed conditions on the Netherlands that were contrary to the interests of the company.

However, the sharks of capitalism would not be themselves if they failed to transfer the problems of the corporation to the state. In March 1795, the company, already effectively incapacitated, was nationalized, and its debts, which had grown to 120 million guilders, were taken over by the government.

People who followed the development of the debt crisis in the EU may be surprised to recognize in this story the scenario of hanging private bank debt on the state, which took place in Iceland, Ireland and partly in Portugal in 2009-2011. Yes, nothing is new under the sun - including corporate scams.

After nationalization, the company existed for another three years and was abolished on March 17, 1798.

Reading the article will take: 13 min.

400-Year-Old British East India Company Business Scheme: Armed Robbery

Approximately 250 years ago, a new word appeared in the English language - loot - translated today as "booty", "trophy" and "freebie". The origin of the verbal new acquisition is India, where "lūṭ" meant booty obtained by robbery. It is this word that can characterize the whole essence of the second transnational corporation of our planet, known as the East India Company.

Emblem of the East India Company. The slogan on it "Auspicio regis et senatus angliae" is translated from Latin as "Under the authority of the Crown and the Parliament of England"

I will note right away: the name "East India Company" does not directly refer to England. It reflects the sphere of colonial interests of European enterprises - South Asia. Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Denmark and even Germany (Prussia) had their own East India Companies. However, only one joint-stock enterprise surpassed in all scale the other national trading companies and absorbed their colonial territories - the British East India Company. Therefore, in this article, the “East India Company” refers to the English enterprise.

England on the way to Great Britain

In the 17th century, Britain was one of the poorest states in Western Europe. The series of crises left to the kingdom by the rebellious Henry VIII - the rejection of Catholicism, the confusion with the succession to the throne and the undisguised hostility of all the "sister" states in the Roman past - it seemed that only the marriage union of Elizabeth Tudor with the offspring of the royal house of Spain could solve these problems.

Queen Elizabeth I of England. Her stubborn opposition to Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands led to the creation of the English East India Company

But youngest daughter the Protestant king was not interested in marriage, nor was she interested in the Catholic faith. She intended to remain the Queen of England even on her deathbed, not sharing power with anyone at all. The daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII - Elizabeth I - showed the royal houses of Europe such a rebellious temper as her father.

In England, Elizabeth Tudor, the most revered British queen, three years before her death supported the creation of the East India Company, a merchant maritime JSC, which later became the greatest transnational corporation on our planet in the 17th-19th centuries AD. By the way, modern popularity in English on Earth in many ways happened precisely thanks to the East India Company.

Meanwhile, the entire European colonial history, starting from the end of the 15th century, was based on a single goal - to reach India and China by sea.

England becomes a maritime power

Everyone was looking for this mysterious and fabulously rich country of spices, gold and diamonds 500 years ago - the Spaniards, the French, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Danes ... As a result, the Spaniards found South America, starting to extract resources from there (conquest). The rest, having experienced many maritime failures, focused on Africa. India first became a colonial star in the crown of Portugal - the way to it around the African continent was discovered by the navigator-privateer Vasco da Gama, who arrived on Indian shores in 1498 on three ships.

Vasco da Gama, Portuguese navigator and privateer. The discoverer of the sea route along the coast of the African continent to the Indian Ocean

Observing how neighboring European states were enriched with each arrival of sea vessels from distant overseas colonies, Henry VII Tudor ordered the construction of the first large-capacity ships for the needs of England. By the accession to the English throne of his son Henry VIII in 1509, the kingdom had five ships, and five years later there were already 30 or more.

However, the possession of a full-fledged ocean fleet did not in itself create opportunities for colonial enrichment - England had neither nautical charts nor experienced captains who could follow the course across the ocean expanses. The routes to the southwest (to South America), mastered by the Spaniards and the Portuguese, were not suitable for English trading expeditions - the British crown did not need colonial conflicts with Spain or Portugal. Of course, English privateers periodically attacked Spanish galleons loaded with silver, but the British authorities supported this type of sailors behind the scenes. And they were always ready to give up the privateers caught in the unsuccessful capture of colonial cargo.

The search for India by the British

The Genoese navigator John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) suggested to Henry VII a trip to the west across the sea (the Europeans did not know about the existence of the Atlantic Ocean at that time) to find India. The chances of success increased with the news that the Spanish crown, thanks to the Portuguese navigator Christopher Columbus, found a sea route to India in 1492 (in fact, South America was discovered, but neither Columbus nor anyone else knew about it).

Giovanni Caboto (eng. John Cabot) Genoese navigator, in search of a sea route to India, who discovered a route across the Atlantic Ocean to North America

With the blessing of the English crown and with the financing of Bristol merchants, John Cabot reached the coast of North America (the territory of modern Canada) on one ship in 1497, considering these lands to be the “blissful islands of Brazil” - a remote eastern part of India. However, English geographers decided that the land found by Cabot was part of the “kingdom of the great khan” (as China was called in Europe). Subsequently, it was the discovery of Cabot and the right of England declared by him to own the lands of North America that led to the formation of the American colony of Great Britain and the emergence of the modern USA.

The second attempt to sail to India, or at least to China, was made by a squadron under the command of the English navigators Hugh Willoughby and Richard Chancellor. A British expedition of three ships was sent east across the northern seas in 1553. After many months of travel and wintering off the coast of Lapland, Chancellor's only ship entered the Dvina Bay of the White Sea. The crews of two other ships that missed Chancellor died during the winter at the mouth of the Varzina River.

Richard Chancellor, English navigator, at the reception of Ivan the Terrible (engraving). He opened the northern sea route to Russia and participated in organizing trade relations with her, although he initially tried to swim to India

Meeting with local fishermen, Richard Chancellor learned that he was not in India, but in Russia. The gracious reception of English sailors by Ivan IV the Terrible led to an active centuries-old trade between England and Russia with the formation of a privileged merchant monopoly, the Muscovy Company. However, the Russian tsar, who waged frequent wars, was exclusively interested in English military goods (gunpowder, guns, cannon iron, etc.), which caused protests from the kings of Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Union, Denmark and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Therefore, the trade of the British with the Russians did not give high profits.

How England Found India

The first English navigator to discover a sea route to India was the privateer James Lancaster. Having obtained detailed copies of Portuguese nautical charts from the bankrupt Dutch merchant Jan Huygen van Linschoten and leading a flotilla of three paramilitary ships, Lancaster reached the Indian Ocean in 1591-1592 and went east further than India - to the Malay Peninsula. Pursuing his favorite business - robbing all the ships that came across nearby - Lancaster spent a year near Malaysian Penang. In 1594 he returned to England, becoming the discoverer of India for the English crown and the first captain hired to carry cargo to South Asia.

James Lancaster, English navigator and privateer (privateer), who opened the way for Britain to South Asia. Using van Linschoten's sea charts with routes, depths and shallows plotted on them, he circled Africa and entered the Indian Ocean, where he robbed the ships of Asian merchants.

However, the reason for the formation of the East India Company was not the acquisition of nautical charts with a route to India - Dutch merchants doubled the cost of pepper. It was for this reason that English merchants turned to Queen Elizabeth I for support, who allowed, on favorable terms for the British crown (royal charter), direct monopoly trade with an overseas state. To confuse the Portuguese and Dutch, India was called the country of the "Mughals".

In addition to the British, the Indian empire of the Timurids (Baburids), who controlled most of modern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the southeastern lands of Afghanistan, was not called the "Great Mughals" by anyone. The rulers themselves (padishahs) of this empire called their state Gurkanian (from the word "Gurkānī" - from the Persian "son-in-law of the khan"), considering themselves descendants of the great Asian conqueror Tamerlane.

How the East India Company solved the problem of Portugal

The first four flights of the British, made in 1601-1608, made the Portuguese nervous, but there were no reasons for direct colonial conflicts between the two kingdoms yet. England did not yet have land holdings in South Asia. Portugal, after several battles with Arab rulers in the 16th century, controlled most of south coast The Persian Gulf, the island of Mozambique, the Azores, Bombay and Goa entirely, as well as several cities in the Indian state of Gujarat. And the Portuguese successfully repelled the attacks of the Ottoman Turks, finally establishing their dominant position in the South Asian territories.

The flag of the East India Company on its merchant and warships

In an attempt to restore the status quo, four ships of the Portuguese Navy attempted to block and destroy four ships of the East India Company at the end of November 1612 near the town of Suvali (Gujarat, India). Captain James Best, who commanded the English flotilla, managed not only to repulse the attacks of the Portuguese, but also to win the battle.

Interestingly, it was the unsuccessful attack of the Portuguese that convinced the Mughal empire's padishah Jahangir to give permission to create a trading post for the East India Company. He saw the British as an opportunity for fair dealing, especially since the British East India Company did not interfere in the affairs of local religious denominations. And the Portuguese actively propagated Catholicism and attacked ships with Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca, thanks to which they enjoyed the full support of the papal throne. By the way, the envoy to the English King James I, sent by land by James Best after reaching an agreement with the Mughal king Anthony Starkey, was poisoned on the way by Jesuit monks in the interests of the Pope.

Charles II, King of England. His marriage to Catherine of Braganna, daughter of King John IV of Portugal, solved the problems of the East India Company in the Portuguese-Indian colonies.

It was after the naval battle with the Portuguese that the leaders of the British East India Company decided to create their own navy and land army. Investment in the spice trade needed protection that the English crown could not and would not provide.

Starting from 1662, the colonial conflict in South Asia between Portugal and England was settled - after the restoration of the power of the crown in Great Britain, Charles II married the daughter of the Portuguese king, receiving Bombay and Tangier as a dowry (the king handed them over to the East India Company for a symbolic payment of 10 pounds sterling per year). Portugal needed the fleet of England to protect their colonies in South America from the encroachments of the Spaniards - India was considered by them not so valuable.

How did the East India Company solve the French problem?

The French version of the East India Company arose in 1664 and a little more than 10 years later, two Indian colonies, Pondicherry and Chandernagor, were founded by its representatives. For the next 100 years, the southeastern part of the Hindustan peninsula was controlled by the French colonialists.

However, in 1756, the Seven Years' War broke out in Europe, the opponents of which, among other things, were England and France. A year later, hostilities began between the French and British colonial troops on the territory of Hindustan.

Major General Robert Clive as a young man. Under his leadership, the army of the British East India Company took control of the entire Hindustan peninsula.

The French General Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally made the biggest strategic mistake - he refused to support the young Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daula, who opposed the British and captured Calcutta. Lally hoped to remain neutral with the British colonial troops, but as soon as East India Company General Robert Clive forced the Bengal ruler to surrender, East India Company troops attacked French trading posts and military fortifications.

Defeated by the British at Fort Vandivash, the Comte de Lally tried to take refuge in the French fortress of Pondicherry with the troops that he had left (about 600 people). The French colonial military squadron under the command of Admiral Antoine d'Aché, which suffered heavy losses in the crews of ships after three battles with the fleet of the East India Company at Cuddalore in 1758-1759, went to the island of Mauritius. General de Lally had no hope for help from the sea. After 4.5 months of siege, the French surrendered the fortress in January 1761 to the troops of the British East India Company.

The aftermath of the Battle of Pondicherry, which took place in 1760-61 and became part of the Seven Years' War. The French Fort of Pondicherry was completely dismantled by the East India Company.

Subsequently, the British demolished the fortress of Pondicherry completely in order to erase any reminders of French colonial rule. Although, at the end of the Seven Years' War, France partially regained the territories of the Indian colonies, she lost the right to build fortified forts and keep troops in Bengal. In 1769, the French completely left South Asia, and the British East India Company took complete control of the entire Hindustan.

How the East India Company solved the problem of the Netherlands

Military conflicts between England and the Netherlands occurred four times during the period 1652-1794, with Great Britain receiving the greatest benefit from these wars. The Dutch were direct competitors of the British in the struggle for colonial markets - although their merchant fleet was poorly armed, it was large.

The emerging class of the English bourgeoisie needed to expand trade. A series of state upheavals in England, which led to the English revolution and the execution of Charles I, brought the parliamentarians of Britain to the fore in solving external and internal state issues. The leaders of the East India Company took advantage of this - they bribed parliamentarians with shares of their corporation, encouraging them to support the interests of the enterprise in order to extract the greatest personal income.

The battle of the English and Dutch fleets during the first Anglo-Dutch war

As a result of the last, fourth war with the Netherlands, a peace treaty (Paris) was concluded in 1783. The Dutch East India Company was forced to transfer to Great Britain Nagapattinam, a city in the southern part of India, which belonged to the Netherlands for over 150 years. As a result, the East India Enterprise of the Dutch merchants went bankrupt and ceased to exist in 1798. And British merchant ships were given the full right to conduct unhindered trade in the former colonial territories of the Dutch East Indies, which now belonged to the crown of the Netherlands.

Nationalization of the East India Company by Great Britain

Having achieved monopoly possession of all the territories of Colonial India during the wars of the 17th-19th centuries, the British mega-corporation began to pump out the maximum profit from the natives. Its representatives, who were the actual rulers of numerous states of South Asia, demanded that the puppet native authorities sharply limit the cultivation of grain crops, grow opium poppy, indigo and tea.

Also, the London board of the East India Company decided to increase profits by increasing the annual land tax for the farmers of Hindustan - the entire territory of the peninsula and significant areas adjacent to it from the west, east and north belonged to the British corporation. Famine years became frequent in British India - in the first case, which occurred in 1769-1773, over 10 million local residents (a third of the population) died of starvation in Bengal alone.

In the photo - a starving Hindu family during the famine in Bengal, which happened in 1943, i.e. much later than the events described. However, the situation in the famine years in Hindustan, controlled by the East India Company, was much worse.

Mass famine among the population of Colonial India, during the period of its complete control of the East India Company, occurred in 1783-1784 (11 million people died), in 1791-1792 (11 million people died), in 1837-1838 ( 800 thousand people died), 1868-1870 (1.5 million people died).

Indicative nuance: in the course of the fight against the famine of 1873-1874, the manager of the company, Richard Temple, overestimated possible consequences another drought and spent "too much" money on the purchase of Burmese grain for the starving population of the colonies - 100,000 tons of grain were bought and delivered in vain. Although the death rate from starvation was minimized (a few died), the Temple was severely criticized both in Parliament and in the UK media.

Sir Richard Temple II, 1st Baronet of Great Britain. Managed the colonies of the East India
companies in 1846-1880

To whitewash himself, Richard Temple conducted experiments to determine the minimum dietary norm for the natives - he ordered several dozen healthy and strong Indians to be selected for the labor camp, to keep each test group on a certain diet and wait who would survive and who would die of starvation. In his memoirs, Temple wrote that some of the Indian boys in the labor camp were so weak from hunger that they looked like living skeletons, completely unable to work. It is worth noting that for "Indian services" to the UK, Richard Temple received the title of baronet.

The British leaders of the East India Company were not interested in the lack of food for the population of the Indian colonies. However, the widespread famine caused another problem - popular uprisings began in India. Previously, the British managed to minimize the risks of uprisings due to the social disunity of the population of Hindustan. Castes, many religious denominations, ethnic strife and tribal conflicts between the hereditary rulers of numerous mini-states - these were luxurious conditions for foreign colonial control of Indian lands.

83-year-old Bahadur Shah II, the last king of the Great Mughals. In a photo taken in 1858, he is awaiting a decision from the colonial court for his part in the sepoy uprising. His children, who are able to inherit the padishah throne, have been executed by this moment.

However, the increasing famine against the background of the frankly indifferent behavior of the employees of the East India Company towards the indigenous population of the colonies caused an uprising in the ranks of the colonial army, most of which was recruited from the inhabitants of Hindustan. In 1857-1859, there was a sepoy uprising, supported by many local rulers of South Asia, including the last Mughal padishah, Bahadur Shah II. The suppression of the uprising took more than three years, the mercenary troops of the East India Company drowned the lands of Hindustan in blood, massacring about 10 million people.

Lord Henry John Temple, III Viscount Palmerston. He submitted for consideration british parliament act of transferring colonial India from the East India colony to the English crown

Against the backdrop of ugly news from the Indian colonies, the British Parliament by a majority in 1858 passes the “Act for the Better Government of India”, introduced by Henry John Temple, third Viscount Palmerston (Lord Palmerston). Under the terms of the Act, the administration of the English colonies in South Asia is transferred to the British crown, i.e. Queen Victoria of Great Britain also becomes Queen of India.

The East India Company is recognized as unable to cope with the leadership of the Indian colonial territories, and therefore must be closed. Having completed the transfer of affairs and property to the Secretary of State of Her Majesty and the Indian Civil Service created by the authorities of England, in 1874 the East India Company ceases to exist.

Uniqueness of the British East India Company

Any of today's mega-corporations - Google, Exxon Mobile or Pepsi Co - with their multibillion-dollar annual turnover of funds are only a faint semblance of a powerful British corporation created in 1600. From the inception of the British East India Company for the next 100 years, all of its business operations were managed by no more than 35 people who made up the permanent staff of the main office in Leadenhall Street, London. All other personnel, including captains and crews of ships, as well as an extensive military contingent, were hired for a period strictly limited by contracts.

The territory of South Asia, which was a colony of the East India Company. After the complete closure of the trading corporation in 1874, the lands marked on the map came under British rule.

The East India Company's army and navy were three times the size of the royal armed forces. At the beginning of the 18th century, the size of the corporate army was 260,000 people, the navy consisted of more than 50 multi-deck ships with modern cannon weapons and crews prepared for battle.

By the way, it was on the remote island of St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, discovered by the Portuguese, originally belonging to the Netherlands and captured from them by the East India Company in 1569, that Napoleon Bonaparte was kept under the control of the troops of the trading corporation until the end of his days. It was absolutely impossible for the former emperor of France to escape from this island, like the Italian Elba, as well as to attract any of the Nepalese Gurkha soldiers to his side.

The position of the island of St. Helena, where Napoleon Bonaparte was kept until his death

The annual turnover of the corporation in its best period - the first half of the 18th century - was equal to half of the entire annual turnover of Great Britain (hundreds of millions of pounds sterling). The East India Company minted its coins on the territory of its colonies, which together exceeded the area of ​​the British Isles.

Having made a huge contribution to the Pax Britannica project, the leadership of the East India Company also influenced the development of societies and political forces in various parts of the Earth. For example, Chinatowns in the US came about because of the Opium Wars started by corporations. And the reason for the struggle for independence for the American settlers was given by the "Boston Tea Party" - the supply of tea by the East India Company at dumping prices.

Coin minted by the East India Company for settlements within the borders of the Indian colonies

Massacres indiscriminately by gender and age, torture, blackmail, famine, bribery, deceit, intimidation, robbery, bloody military operations by "wild" detachments of peoples alien to the local population - the leaders of the British East India Company did not suffer from philanthropy. The irresistible greed of the second mega-corporation, its irresistible desire to maintain a monopoly position in the markets of our planet - that is what drove the East India Company forward. However, for any modern corporation, this approach in business is the norm.

In conclusion, an explanation is required for attentive guests of the svagor.com blog - why did I call the English East India the second megacorporation in the historical past of the Earth? Because I consider the first and more ancient mega-corporation that still exists - the papacy and the Catholic Church.

The example of the British and Dutch, who successfully developed lands remote from Europe using private capital and private initiative in the form of trading East India Companies (OIC), in the 60s of the 17th century inspired the creation of a similar joint-stock company and the king of France. Louis XIV and his associate Colbert set to work with energy. At the same time, one of the main obstacles to the creation of a new trading empire in the Indian Ocean basin turned out to be not the navies of competing states, but the inertia of thinking of their own French merchants. The merchants did not want to invest in a new venture with unclear prospects and huge risks.

How it all began

On April 1, 1664, Charpentier, the future academician of the French Academy of Sciences and protege of Jean Baptiste Colbert, presented King Louis XIV with a 57-page memoir entitled "Note from a loyal subject of Your Majesty on the establishment of a French trading company in India, useful to all the French". Louis favorably received the offering, and already on May 21, on the initiative of Colbert, the de facto head of the French government, a meeting of Parisian merchants was organized. On it, one of the merchants - Mr. Faverolle - announced some provisions on the creation of his East India Company in France.

Naturally, this speech was approved by the king and Colbert, because it was they who stood behind Faveroll. Another confirmation of this is the presence at the meeting of Messire de Berry, one of the secretaries of the royal council, and the already mentioned Charpentier. On May 26, 1664, 9 delegates were sent to the king with a request to organize the East India Company along the lines of the English and Dutch. The delegates were received by Louis during the meeting of the Royal Court with great favor, and the king asked the merchants for a few days to get acquainted with their proposals.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert, one of the founding fathers of the French East India Company

A new meeting was scheduled for July 5, with the participation of Louis himself, to which, under the threat of possible disgrace in case of failure to appear, more than three hundred Parisian merchants gathered. This time, royal conditions were announced - Louis proposed fixing the authorized capital of the new company at 15 million livres, which should be paid by shareholders within three years. The state agreed to make a first contribution of 3 million livres, and in addition - 300 thousand to equip the first expedition. The king also announced that he agreed to contribute 300,000 livres each time in the event that private shareholders contributed an amount of 400,000.

It was determined that the company would be managed by 12 directors, who would be chosen from shareholders with a share of more than 20,000 livres. Contributors who contributed more than 6,000 livres will have the right to vote.

In August "King's Declaration of the Establishment of the East India Company" was submitted to the Paris Parliament, and on September 1, solemnly approved (approved) by the deputies. This declaration included 48 articles. Here are some of them:

« Article 36. The company has the right to send ambassadors and embassies to the rulers of India and Madagascar on behalf of the French king; to declare war or peace on them, or to carry out any other action aimed at strengthening and expanding French trade.

Article 37. The above company can operate from the Cape of Good Hope to the Strait of Magellan in all the South Seas. Our permission is given to the company for 50 years, and the countdown begins from the day the first ships equipped by the company sail to the East. The Company shall be engaged in trade and navigation in the aforesaid waters, while at the same time protecting any French ships in the region, for which purpose it is permitted to requisition or seize the ships, supplies, armaments it needs, necessary for the protection of our trade and our subjects.

Article 38. All lands and islands discovered by the ships of the company will forever remain in its possession. Justice and Senior Law on company lands is administered by company representatives. In turn, the French king has the Seigneur's Right over mines, gold deposits, money and jewelry, as well as any other minerals owned by the company. The King promises to use the Right of Senior only in the interests of the country.

Article 40. We, the King of France, promise the company to defend its representatives and its interests against everyone and everything, to use force of arms in order to maintain the freedom of trade and navigation of the company; remove the causes of any embarrassment or mistreatment by anyone; to escort the ships and cargoes of the company at our expense with as many warships as the company needs, and not only off the coast of Europe or Africa, but also in the waters of the West and East Indies.

Coat of arms of the French East India Company

The king approved the companies and coat of arms. On an azure field was a golden lily (the symbol of the House of Bourbon), which was bordered by olive and palm branches. At the bottom was the motto - "Florebo, quocunque ferar" ("I will flourish where I am planted"). .

Customs duties on goods imported by the OIC, according to the tariff of 1664, were determined at 3% of their estimated expert value. For the sale of French goods, the company received a reduction or exemption from customs duties, including from the tax on salt (if this salt was intended for salting fish).

The king provided a bonus of 50 livres for each ton of goods exported by the company and 75 livres for each ton of imported goods. The colonists and agents of the company, after 8 years in India, could return to France with the rank of master in their corporations. Officers and directors of departments received nobility from the king for themselves and their offspring.

The king and members of his family set an example by becoming shareholders of the OIC, but things were not without distortions. Members of the courts and masters of enterprises, under the threat of disgrace, were forced to carry money to the company. In the provinces, the quartermasters used quite lawless methods of collecting shares. So, for example, in Auvergne, the sur-intendent locked up all wealthy citizens in prison and released only those who signed IOUs in favor of the company.

Separately, there was the question of choosing the headquarters of the OIC. At first, it was located in Le Havre, Normandy, where Louis ordered the construction of a rope production and a steam room for hemp cables. Then the board was transferred to the Basque Bayona. And only on December 14, 1664, Louis gave the order to build shipyards near the Breton Port Louis, where the warehouses of the Company of the Duke of La Melliere, popularly called the Oriental, had long rotted. It was also decided to call the shipyard Eastern (L’Orient), hence the history of the glorious city of Lorient began.

Maiden voyage

On the ships, in addition to the crews, there were an additional 230 sailors and 288 colonists who were planned to be landed in Madagascar. Among the settlers were M. de Bosset, President of the Council of East Francia (as they planned to name the future colony), his secretary, M. Souchot de Renefort, and Lieutenant of the Montaubon colony. It was these three people who were supposed to represent the power in the colony.

The organization of the expedition cost the OIC contributors 500,000 livres, including the equipment of ships, the purchase of goods and provisions for the colonists.

On June 3, French ships passed the traverse of the Cape of Good Hope, and on July 10 appeared off the coast of Madagascar - near the village of Fort Dauphine (now Taulagnaru), formed by representatives of the de La Melliere Company in 1635. It was announced to the chairman of the former colony, Mr. Champmargue, that the Company de La Melliere no longer had the exclusive privilege of trading with the East, now this right belongs to the French OIC.

Map of Madagascar

On July 14, the crew of the Saint-Paul landed on the shore, and the same procedure was carried out for the acceptance of Madagascar into the citizenship of the French king. De Bosset became the manager of the colony, Champmargue - the head of the local militia, de Renefort - the secretary (clerk), and Montaubon - the chief judge. About 60 colonists were left in Fort Dauphine, and the ships sailed to the island of Bourbon (the modern name is Reunion), where there was also a small French colony founded in 1642. There it was announced that representatives of the OIC had come to power and another 20 colonists landed. The ships then split up. "Saint-Paul" headed for the northwestern coast of Madagascar, intending to then go to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. However, the crew of this ship rebelled, the captain rounded Madagascar by the Mozambique Strait and headed for France.

"Aigle Blanc" from the island of Bourbon also went to the northwestern coast of Madagascar. He visited Fort Gallar, founded in 1642 by French merchants, where he found only two colonists (the rest had died by that time). 18 colonists were left in the fort (of which 6 were women) and headed for the island of Santa Maria, and then sailed back to Fort Dauphine.

"Toro" in November 1664 flew to the rocks of the island of Bourbon, survived only 12 of the 63 members of his crew. The next day, the Vierges-de-Bon-Port appeared off the island and picked up the survivors. Together with Toro, goods worth 100 thousand livres were lost (mainly sugar heads, leather, cochineal).

The first trading yards of the French OIC in Bayonne

The ship "Vierge-de-Bon-Port" was engaged in the purchase of colonial goods and gold from the Mozambican and Madagascar kings. On February 12, 1666, the ship full of goods was already ready to head home, but the French 120-ton boat "Saint- Louis", who, together with the 130-ton Saint-Jacques, left Le Havre on July 24, 1665 (this small expedition cost the company's shareholders an additional 60 thousand livres). During the storm, the ships lost each other (“Saint-Jacques” was carried as far as the coast of Brazil, to Pernambuco, where he stayed until 1666), and the captain of the “Saint-Louis” reached the rendezvous point, to the island of Bourbon. The teams made several visits to each other's ships. Finally, on February 20, 1666, the Vierges de Beaune Port weighed anchor and went home.

On July 9, 1666, near the island of Guernsey in the English Channel, the ship was attacked by the English privateer Orange, commanded by Captain John Lyshe. An excerpt from the Orange »:

"9thHMS Orange attacked a French ship belonging to the French East India Company, which was sailing from Madagascar and the Red Sea. Groupage cargo - gold, brocade, silk, amber, pearls, precious stones, corals, wax and other scarce goods. The owner is Messire de La Chesnay of Saint-Malo. The declared value of the cargo is 100 thousand pounds sterling”.

The British boarded the OIC ship, overloaded themselves with all the valuables, and sank the ship itself. Of the 120 people of the Vierges de Beaune Port crew, 36 people drowned (their English privateer, loaded to the eyeballs with goods, refused to take on board). During the boarding, 2 more people were killed, 33 Frenchmen (including the captain) were taken prisoner. The rest of the British released on the boat. Captain Le Chesnay died in captivity on the Isle of Wight, and the secretary de Renefort (who sailed on a ship to France) was released after the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in April 1667.

Second expedition

According to the declaration on the formation of the East India Company approved on September 1, 1664, the first meeting of its shareholders was to be held three months after the approval of the declaration by Parliament, that is, on December 1, 1664. The main purpose of this assembly was to elect permanent directors for a period of 7 years.

However, the meeting was postponed to the beginning of March 1665 due to the unwillingness of the merchants to participate in the affairs of the new company. By January, 6,800,000 livres (including 3,300,000 allocated by the king) had hardly been collected into the statutory fund. At the same time, many French people who contributed their shares refused to contribute additional money, “preferring to lose what has already been given than throwing some more money on an absolutely meaningless undertaking”. Nevertheless, on March 20, the king managed to convene an assembly. 104 shareholders (who contributed more than 20 thousand livres) applied for the places of 12 directors.

Voting took place in the royal hall of the Louvre. Jean-Baptiste Colbert was elected president of the company. From the nobility Sir de Thou became directors, from the financiers - Messire de Berry, already familiar to us, from the merchants - Enfen, Poquelin-father, Cado, Langlois, Jabash, Bachelier, Eren de Fey, Chanlatte and Warrenne. It was decided to open six separate representative offices (chambers) of the company in Paris, Rouen, Bordeaux, Le Havre, Lyon and Nantes.

The directors were instructed to consider before May the possibility of sending a new expedition to the East, which this time was supposed to reach the Indian coast. This task was set by the king and Colbert, but the death of the Vierges-de-Bon-Port ship in the summer of 1666, along with valuables worth 2 million 500 thousand livres, was a strong blow to the shareholders. As a result, instead of 2,700,000 livres, only 626,000 livres were collected from the depositors. The bulk of the equipment of the second expedition again fell on the royal treasury.

The new squadron consisted of 10 ships:

Ship		Tonnage, t	guns	Commander
Saint-Jean-Baptiste

François de Lopy, Marquis de Mondeverga was appointed commander of the squadron, to whom the king granted the title of "admiral and lieutenant general of all French waters and lands beyond the equator." As an escort, the detachment was assigned the Chevalier de Rocher division, consisting of the Ruby, Beaufort, Mercure and Infan ships.

Accompanying the expedition as directors was the Dutchman Caron, who had been taken into French service, and Sir Fay. In addition to the crews, on board the ships were 4 infantry regiments, 4 French and 4 Dutch merchants with goods, 40 colonists, 32 women, and a total of about two thousand people. The equipment of the expedition cost 1 million livres, another 1 million 100 thousand were taken on board in the form of goods and specie.

The convoy and escort left La Rochelle on March 14, 1666. First, the ships headed for the Canary Islands, where they made a short stop. The 120-ton frigate Notre Dame de Paris was also purchased there, since the expedition leaders were seriously afraid of British attacks (there was a second Anglo-Dutch war in which France was an ally of Holland). On May 20, the squadron resumed movement, but a dangerous leak was discovered on the Terron, and Mondeverg headed for Brazil in order to repair the ship with the help of the Portuguese. On July 25, he arrived in Pernambuco, where he stayed until November 2 (the expedition also discovered the Saint-Jacques, which was strayed off during the first expedition, which was mentioned earlier). Through the stormy Atlantic, the convoy headed for the Cape of Good Hope.

Only on March 10, 1667, the ships appeared on the roadstead of Fort Dauphine, where they landed 5 women. The expedition found this colony in a terrible state. The colonists were almost out of supplies. At the same time, the long journey of the convoy to the Indian Ocean played a cruel joke on Mondeverg - they also ate all the supplies on the ships, and in Brazil they could not replenish them due to crop failure and the high cost of goods (Portuguese Brazil had not yet recovered from the Portuguese-Dutch colonial wars).

Mondeverg's desire to replenish provisions at Fort Dauphine met with a sharp rebuff from the colonists, who simply refused to transfer or sell anything to the crews. They justified this state of affairs by the fact that the squadron arrived six months later, and all the supplies left in the colony by the first expedition had long since ended. The settlers had no choice but to steal cattle from the locals, to which the Malagasy also began to respond with raids. Thanks to nine 4-pounder guns, the French managed to fend off their attacks, but there was very little gunpowder left. The Aigle Blanc, which remained in Madagascar, was pulled ashore, completely dilapidated and partly dismantled for firewood.

Having discovered this state of affairs in the colony, Caron and Fay insisted on an early move to India, where the crews could replenish provisions, and merchants could buy scarce goods that would pay for the expenses of the expedition. Mondeverg nevertheless decided to linger in Fort-Dauphine in order to "put things in order in the colony". By the forces of the crews, the village was surrounded by a stone wall, the Marquis introduced a rationing system for products, which everyone now received regardless of ranks and titles. He also allocated his money for the purchase of cattle and wheat from the Malagasy, and he forbade most of the cows and pigs to be put under the knife, creating the first stockyards in Fort Dauphine.

Madagascar city of Tolanaro (formerly Fort Dauphine)

Mondeverg also sent two ships to Bourbon Island, where he requisitioned some of the food for the Madagascan settlers.

In the autumn of 1667, another ship of the company arrived in Fort-Dauphine - the cargo flute "Coronne" under the command of Markar Avanshi, a Persian by nationality. Since the ship arrived rather quickly (leaving France in March 1667), there was an excess of provisions on it. He was immediately requisitioned by Mondeverg for the needs of the colony. Avanshi tried to be indignant, but after the marquis hinted to the native of Ispagan that the gallows were crying for him, he ordered the supplies to be unloaded.

On October 27, 1667, Caron and Avanchy set off for India on the ships Saint-Jean-de-Baptiste and Saint-Denis. On December 24, they entered the raid of Cochin (a city in southwestern India, at the time described, a Dutch colony), where they were well received. Then the ships headed for Surat, and then they went to Suali. There was a brisk trade in all cities - the Saint-Jean-de-Baptiste had noticeably decreased gold, but the ship was full of brocade, pearls, diamonds, emeralds, Indian fabrics, corals and many other goods. On April 24, 1668, Caron sent the Saint-Jean-de-Baptiste filled to the brim to Fort Dauphine. The ship appeared on the roadstead of the Madagascar colony in May, where it unloaded food and livestock, which was purchased by the prudent Dutchman. June 21, 1668 "Saint-Jean-de-Baptiste" headed home.

English Trading Post at Surat, 1668

Fort Dauphine, thanks to the energetic actions of the Marquis Mondeverg, revived a little, but was still in a terrible state. Meanwhile, the second detachment, under the leadership of Fay, was waiting for ships from France (which Avanshi reported about their imminent approach), in order to also go to India. The two ships of the Company, the Aigle d'Or and the Force, which left Port Louis on March 20, 1668, arrived at Fort Dauphine on September 15 and 30, 1668, respectively.

On October 19, the second Indian convoy (Maria, Aigle d'Or and Force) sailed for Surat. The third caravan left Fort-Dauphin for India on August 12, 1669 ("Coronne", which took Caron, the Saint-Jean gookor and the Mazarin frigate to Fort-Dauphin). These ships passed along the Madagascar coast, near the northern part of the Mozambique Channel they got into a strong storm and appeared on the Surat roadstead only on September 23, 1669.

Thus, a large French squadron was now present in Surat, which, where by force, where by money, established relations with the rulers of Malabar and the Coromandel coast.

As for Fort Dauphine, the frigate Saint-Paul, who arrived there on October 2, 1669, brought a letter to Mondeverg, where the king expressed his dissatisfaction with the affairs in the colony. It read:

"Mr. Mondeverg. I am dissatisfied with the service you have rendered me during your command of the colony of Fort Dauphine. Upon receipt of this letter, you must board the first ship bound for France. I pray to God that he be merciful to you.

LouisXIV, King of France.

The Marquis, being absolutely sure that he would be justified, on April 15, 1670, boarded the "Maria" and, taking with him another ship of the OIC "Force", sailed to his homeland. Near the Cape of Good Hope, the ships lost each other and traveled to France separately. The Force arrived at Port Louis on September 10, 1670. "Maria" returned to Madagascar and stayed there until November 1670, until another French squadron appeared in Fort Dauphine, which was carrying the new Viceroy of French India.

On February 9, 1671, Mondeverg finally sailed home. July 22 "Maria" anchored in the roads of the Groix (Islands of the Cardinals in Brittany). The marquis, who had landed on the shore, was arrested in the name of the king by the lieutenant of the musketeers, La Grange. The accused was escorted to the castle of Saumur, where he died on January 23, 1672.

Time to collect stones

Immediately after the departure of the Mondeverg expedition, the shareholders of the company began to count the losses. The directors noted that they spent considerable sums on arming and supplying the expeditions with goods, and the return was not visible. The mistrust was so general that 78,333 livres were collected with difficulty instead of the planned 2,100,000. And at this critical moment came one after another bad news. First, the death of the Vierge de Beaune-Por ship entered into a stupor of shareholders, then news came from Brazil, where the unprivate Mondeverg had been brought. Meanwhile, the year 1666 was approaching, and with it the payment of the third installment by the shareholders.

The directors collectively sent a petition to Louis XIV asking for the company to be declared bankrupt. The case could only be saved by new investments from the king. Louis provided the money. According to the financial statements for February 1667, the total expenditure of the company amounted to 4,991,000 livres, while the shareholders contributed only 3,196,730 livres. Thus, the OIC had a deficit of 1,794,270 livres, which made it difficult to pay the salaries of the company's employees and pay off suppliers.

The company's tangible assets at that time were 18 ships in India and 12 ships in France, as well as 7 ships under construction. Besides -

• 600 thousand livres in Spanish reals in Port Louis;
• 250,000 livres in goods at Port-Louis and Le Havre;
• 60,000 feet of rope and rigging parts at Le Havre;
• 473,000 poundsraw hemp;
• 100 anchors of different weights;
• 229 guns of various calibers;
• 72,560 alder logs;
• 289 masts in different French ports.

The king, having familiarized himself with the state of affairs of the OIC, gathered the shareholders for an audience, where he persuaded them to go further. “You can’t give up halfway through. I, as one of the shareholders, also incur losses, but with such assets we can try to get our money back.. However, at the beginning of 1668, even the king began to have doubts about the correctness of the chosen path.

French latifundia in the colonies

Finally, on March 20, 1668, news came from Karon, who reported that the first expedition had successfully reached India, trade was quite successful, and the average rate of return on transactions was 60%. The letter also spoke about the situation in Madagascar and the measures taken by Mondeverg to improve the situation. This news served as an incentive for the king to invest another 2 million livres in the business, which saved the company from bankruptcy and allowed the shareholders to close their most pressing debts.

At the same time, Louis had a serious talk with Colbert about the future financing of the company. The king recalled that he had already invested more than 7 million livres in the business, and in five years they had not received any, even the smallest profit. Louis quite reasonably asked - does it make sense to keep the devastated Fort Dauphine, which does not bring any profit? Maybe it makes sense to move the colony directly to Surat? This conversation made Colbert but the assembly of shareholders of the company to recognize that "The colonization of Madagascar was a mistake".

Finally, on March 12, 1669, the long-awaited "Saint-Jean-de-Baptiste" came to the port-Louis raid. According to the reports, the total value of the goods brought was 2,796,650 livres, of which 84,000 were paid as excise duties, and 10 percent the king deigned to pay to the shareholders as profits of the enterprise.

This event provoked a sharp increase in those wishing to join the ranks of shareholders, more money was collected in three months than in the previous 5 years. Now the merchants praised the foresight of Colbert and the king, the money flowed like a river. There were many willing to risk their capital for the sake of trade with the East.

Afterword. Founding of Lorian

Back in June of the same year, the king, by his rescript, allowed the company's ships to be located in Port-Louis, at the mouth of the Charente. In the vicinity of this city were warehouses that belonged to the company de La Melliere. Colbert managed to buy them back for 120,000 livres, of which 20,000 livres went to the shareholders, who by that time had gone bankrupt, and 100,000 to the head of the company, the Duke of Mazarin. The latter was also invited to become a preferred shareholder of the new company.

The sandy shore provided by the OIC formed a kind of peninsula that jutted out into the sea. On its right bank, at the insistence of Colbert, a shipyard was founded, on a high cape that prevented the Charente and Blavet from merging into one river, an arsenal and several coastal batteries were located.

Lorian, 1678

Danny Langlois, one of the company's general directors, was sent to Port-Louis and the eastern warehouses to take them under the arm of the OIC. This was strongly opposed by the local lords - Prince Gemene and Seneschal Paul du Vergy d'Henebon, but with the help of Colbert Langlois managed to negotiate with them, paying compensation in 1207 pistoles. On August 31, Messire Denis, on behalf of the company, solemnly took possession of the new lands. The shipyards were built very quickly, already in 1667 the first 180-ton ship was launched, this ship was considered as the first experience. According to Colbert's plans, the company needed to build a dozen ships with a displacement of 500 to 1000 tons.

The name of the new city - Lorian - appeared later, around 1669. Until that time, the place owned by the digging was called "lie l'Oryan" (East place) or "l'Oryan de Port-Louis" (that is, the eastern Port-Louis).

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Hosted at http://www.allbest.ru/

Introduction

1. Sources and historiography

4. Formation of the colonial administrative apparatus and expansion of the company's holdings in India

5. Loss of the trading monopoly by the company and its transformation into a mechanism for the management and exploitation of India by the metropolis

6. English East India Company as an instrument of British colonial expansion in Central and Southeast Asia

Conclusion

List of sources and literature

Introduction

The English East India Company (1600 - 1858) is the same age as English capitalism. Historically, it is not much younger than the Mughal Empire. In this company and through it, the histories of England and India are connected, as well as much within these stories themselves: in English history, the Company, as it were, unites the reign of two great queens - Elizabeth and Victoria, and in Indian history - two great empires: Mughal and British. The company was "born" three years before the death of Elizabeth I and during the lifetime of Shakespeare, and "died" under Victoria and Dickens, having survived three and a half dynasties (Tudors, Stuarts, Hanoverians and Cromwell's protectorate).

Two and a half centuries is the period of existence of a dynasty or even a state. Actually, long time The East India Company was a state within a state, even in two - Great Britain and Mughal India.

The East India Company is a unique organization in the history of mankind. Such a conclusion seems to be an exaggeration only at first glance. History knows many different trade and political forms. This is the “merchant state” (Venice), and “military trade associations”, and the union of trading cities (Hanse). History knows many powerful states and companies (for example, the current transnational corporations). But in history there is only one case of the existence of a trading company, which at the same time was a political organism, a state-company within a state.

It should be noted that companies of this type existed not only in England, but also, for example, in Holland (1602 - 1798), France (with reorganizations and interruptions, it existed from 1664 to 1794). However, their history does not compare with the history of the English company. The Dutch East India Company - its heyday was in the middle of the 17th century - never had the strength and power that its English "full namesake" possessed, never controlled such vast territories, just as Holland never occupied such a place in the world economy. like England. As for the French East India Company, firstly, it lasted half as long, and secondly, and most importantly, it was under the strict control of the state (which was reflected in its constant reorganizations and name changes) and, according to in fact, was not an independent agent of the socio-economic process. None of the East India Companies occupied such a place in their colonial empires as the English did, and did not play such a role as this last one in penetrating the East, and then in the exploitation of the colonies. Apparently, the uniqueness of the English East India Company corresponds to the uniqueness of both English history and the phenomenon that economic historians call "Anglo-Saxon capitalism" (J. Gray).

In recent decades, there has been a revival of interest in the era of the 15th-18th centuries. This era has always been inconvenient for researchers - no longer feudal (and not traditional), but not yet capitalist (and not modern). At present, the term “early modern history” is becoming more and more widespread, which emphasizes an independent, rather than a functional period of an entire era, which has its own unique features. It is precisely this that accounts for the rise and flourishing of the English East India Company, which declines in the proper capitalist era.

The last couple of decades have seen a revival of interest in the themes of empires and colonialism. The history of empires, in particular the British colonial one, is considered by many historians as an alternative to state-centric history. In this context, one of the most relevant topics again becomes the theme of the East India Company as one of the most active builders of the British Empire.

All of the above determined the relevance and predetermined the choice of topic. thesis. Its main goal is to reveal the features of the activities of the English East India Company in the 17th - 18th centuries: from the beginning of colonial trade to the establishment of dominance in India.

Achieving this goal involves solving the following interrelated tasks:

To study the events associated with the creation of the English East India Company, to find out the goals and objectives of its activities;

Consider the beginning of English trade in India, and the struggle of the English East India Company with competitors for dominance;

Find out the features of the formation of the colonial administrative apparatus and the circumstances of the expansion of the company's possessions in India;

Analyze the reasons for the company's loss of a trading monopoly and its transformation into a mechanism for managing and exploiting India by the metropolis;

Consider the English East India Company as an instrument of British colonial expansion in Central and Southeast Asia.

1. Sources and historiography

Domestic and foreign historical science has accumulated a lot of knowledge on the history of the formation of trade and political relations between England and India in the XVII - early XIX centuries However, the expansion of the source base, the improvement of scientific approaches and research methods make the accumulated knowledge insufficient and far from complete, and the conclusions and assessments based on this knowledge are largely inadequate to objective historical reality. All this determines the necessity and importance of developing problems related to the true volume of trade and maritime transport of the East India Company and its political influence in the Hindustan region. Issues such as the monopolization of trade with India, the export of gold and silver bullion, the impact of Indian imports on Indian industry are of considerable scientific interest.

It should be emphasized that the trade exchange between England and India in 1625-1679. almost completely ignored in most of the available works. It is necessary to consider the peculiarities of the commercial, industrial and economic conditions that existed in India at the beginning of the 17th century, to trace the changes in these conditions caused by Anglo-Indian relations in the course of subsequent centuries. Considerable attention is paid below to the analysis of the methods of British introduction into the system of trade and political relations in Hindustan: cooperation and opposition to British influence, agreements and compromises. Although contradictory and even mutually exclusive, these methods, nevertheless, brought the results necessary for the regions to improve their economic and political systems.

Based on the analysis of various sources, it becomes possible to compare the features of different civilizations and the specifics of the development of Western and Eastern empires. If we consider these processes on a global level, then all of them in Europe and the East, despite the socio-economic and political differences separating them, oceans and deserts (nomadic regions, pirate zones, etc.), could not interfere with the development of the world trade, communications. Contacts in political, economic, intellectual and military relations were carried out on all emerging models of regional autonomy through the introduction of intermediaries involved in illegal trade. A similar structure of relations in the separated regions determined the nature of trade relations until the middle of the 19th century.

There are rich and varied sources on the problem under study. Some were taken by the author of the thesis from the Internet. The most important of these for the study of British policy in the East during this period are the official documents of the British East India Company: "A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company" and "The English Factories in India (1618-1641)". During the period of the company's activity, its documents relating to this period were practically not published, most of the publications were made only after its liquidation in 1858. These documents cover all areas of the company's activities since its inception.

So, for example, in the source "The English Factories in India (1618-1641)" ("English factories in India in 1618-1641") it is noted that since Surat could no longer fully meet the needs of England in cotton products, the interests of the English merchants begin to concentrate on Agra, the areas of Samana, located at a short distance from Agra, and the area of ​​Patna, the capital of Bihar, begin to arouse particular interest. This indicates the expansion of English trading interests in India at the beginning of the East India Company.

Statistical materials: "Documents in English Economic History" and "London Export Trade in the 17th - 19th Century" - allow us to judge the relationship between exports and imports, quite fully reflect the state of British eastern trade.

In such a source as “Documents in English Economic History” (“Documents on the history of England”), there is evidence that an English merchant, having arrived in India without any capital and without taking a single pound out of England, could receive and send home from £5,000 to £30,000. This may indicate that the agents of the English East India Company made huge profits from the sale of Indian goods in England. One of the reasons for such a rapid rate of enrichment is placed in "London Export Trade in the 17th - 19th Century" ("English Foreign Trade in the 17th - 19th Centuries"). This source notes that the British managed to receive such huge profits from the first steps of penetrating India for the reason that their activities in the field of trade bordered on piracy (net profit during the first half of the 17th century was more than 100%).

At the beginning of the XX century. Correspondence of the agents of the Indian trading posts of the East India Company with its board in England was published. This correspondence indicates that the company's agents were given much broader tasks than just the development of trade relations between England and the Mughal Empire, they were charged with the duty to study the country in detail - economic features, political system, relationships within the ruling groups, etc. n. This correspondence allows us to give a fairly complete picture of the methods used by the British to strengthen their positions in Hindustan, as well as for their subsequent expansion inland. Unlike the Portuguese, the British sought to penetrate into the hinterland of India, tried to infiltrate the complex system of Indian internal trade relations as firmly as possible. This was one of the main tasks of the company, whose history is well traced through documents reflecting the activities of British trading posts,.

In a collection of documents on the history of the largest English companies in the period from the 17th to the 20th centuries. "The Great Chartered Companies" ("Large Companies"), details of the agreement signed on October 21, 1612 between the representatives of the authorities of Gujarat and Surat and the English East India Company, according to which the company was allowed to trade and have trading posts in the Mughal Empire. This provided excellent opportunities for the further penetration of British capital deep into the country, on the one hand, and on the other, dealt a tangible blow to Spain, Holland and Portugal, competing for dominance in India.

The very existence of the East India Company was the subject of a sharp political struggle in England. This struggle, as well as the relationship between the company and the royal power, is reflected in official documents: in special publications, parliamentary debates. The latter are especially interesting, since during the discussion, opposition political groups revealed the negative aspects of the company's activities. This makes it possible to form a fairly complete picture of its activities.

The source base also includes official reports, documents about the first travels and embassies of the British in India. They make it possible to judge the economic basis of British politics, its aims and methods. For example, in such a collection as “Early Travels in India and Persia” (“Early Travels to India and Persia”), data are provided that the period from 1601 to 1613. in the activities of the English East India Company, was characterized by the fact that the British tried to establish themselves in the region of the Malay Archipelago and the Spice Islands. The average profit in that period, taking into account all kinds of losses, was 200% per share.

Documents characterizing the internal and external trade of England in a given period, as well as parliamentary debates on these issues, are of great importance for clarifying the causes of English and overseas expansion. Of great interest are published and republished documents that shed light on various aspects of English penetration into the East and attempts to turn this policy into a state one. Thus, in particular, the well-known English historian T. Macaulay cites the circumstances of the gradual transformation of the East India Company in the second half of the 18th century. into some semblance of a state in the East, which he described as "subject in one hemisphere and sovereign in the other." The reason for this was the events of the Seven Years' War, which ended in victory for the British, but greatly depleted the treasury, as a result of which the search for funds forced the crown to pay attention to the Company.

Also in the article by T. Macaulay "On the mechanism of the robbery of India by the British" it is said that England demanded as much money as possible from India without giving anything in return. "More, more money" - this is the motto of that power, into whose hands fate has thrown millions of peoples of India. It tells why India was in such a deplorable state, why its factories died, the fertility of the soil decreased - the East India Company did not invest in the development of the country, but only consumed its resources.

Articles by K. Marx were also used as sources in writing this thesis: “British rule in India” and “The East India Company, its history and results of activity” . K. Marx gives a description of India, its socio-economic situation, culture. The plans of the British colonialists regarding this country are revealed. The negative attitude of the author towards these plans is shown.

K. Marx's article "The East India Company, its history and results of activity" tells about the activities of the English East India Company in India from the formation of this company to its decline, about its clashes with the English Parliament.

G. Gibbins' article "On the Development of the British Settling Colonies" reveals the reasons why England turned its attention to India and decided to colonize it, and also describes in detail the methods of economic exploitation of this country. The article also says that “the English East India Company, which arose at the beginning of the 17th century. and concentrating in its hands (under increasingly tangible governmental and parliamentary control) operations in India - trade, military, diplomatic, political, and the like - was perhaps the most successful form of penetration into India in those conditions and gaining a foothold in it " .

Sources "Treaty with [Peace] Jafar Ali Khan (1757)" "Treaty and agreement of the East India Company with Suraj ud-Doula (1757)", "Report of W. Hastings to the Board of Directors", "Navigation Act October 9, 1761 , "Articles of the treaty and agreement between the governor and the council of Fort William, representing the English East India Company, and the Nawab of Shuja ul-Mulk Hissam ad-doulah Mir Muhammad Jafar Khan Bahadur Mahabat Jang", "Subsidiary alliance with the Nizam", "Firman of King Shah Alam Granting Divani Companies of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa", "French Council at Chandernagore - Supreme Council of Ile de France 16. XII. 1756 on the anti-English uprising in Bengal" show how the British forced the rulers of the Indian provinces to give power to the East India Company. These treaties meant in fact the establishment of the political and military dominance of the British in India.

Source "Rebellion of the peasants in Rangpur in 1782" is an extract from Edmund Burke's accusatory speech at the trial of the former Governor-General of India, W. Hastings, in the House of Commons. In his speech, E. Burke describes the life of Indian peasants, tax oppression by the British - all the reasons that pushed the people to revolt.

Source "From the act of the East India Company 1773" , also known as the "Governance Act", as well as the "East India Company Act of 1784" reveal the reasons and methods for establishing control over the East India Company by the English king and parliament.

In pre-revolutionary Russian historical science, there were no special studies devoted to the analysis of English penetration into India. However, since the 18th century articles on the formation and specific development of English overseas trade appear in individual scientific journals. Russian historians S.V. Vasilevsky, A.S. Rotchev, I.I. Berezin and others.

Russian publicists paid close attention to India. Already in the 40s of the XIX century. a lot was written about this country, and in connection with the events of 1857, a discussion began about the nature of the policy of the British, the prospects for the development of the uprising that began there, and further relations between India and England.

The problems of the genesis of capitalism in Western European countries, including such aspects as the role of foreign trade and trade expansion in this process, were actively developed by Soviet historians. The most important theoretical problems of the genesis of capitalism in Europe are covered in the work of A.N. Chistozvonova. Of great interest are also the studies of M.A. Barga and V.I. Lavrovsky. The initial period of British penetration into India was studied by A.A. Basov, A.E. Kudryavtsev, A.Ya. Levin, M.M. Yabrova, Yu.I. Losev, E.L. Steinberg "A History of British Aggression in the Middle East". V.V. Stockmar. Anglo-Indian relations in the XVII - XIX centuries. received sufficient coverage in the generalizing works of L.B. Alaeva, K.A. Antonova, K.Z. Ashrafyan , G.G. Kotovsky, A.I. Chicherov.

When writing the thesis, the author used the following Soviet literature: the collective work of Antonova K.A., G.M. Bongard-Levina, G.G. Kotovsky "History of India", the work of E.V. Tarle "Essay on the history of the colonial policy of Western European states", which outlines the centuries-old history of India from ancient times, shows the role of India in the historical and cultural development of mankind, highlights the significance and place of this country in the world. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the political, economic and socio-cultural development of India after independence. A separate section of the book is devoted to the English conquest of India, the policy of the colonial authorities.

In a collective monograph written by two well-known Indian historians who worked at the University of Calcutta, Dr. Narendra Krishna Sinha and Dr. Annl Chandra Banerjee "History of India", reflects the point of view of a part of Indian historians on the course historical development in this country. The authors used data collected by Indian scientists in their book. In the book, Sinha and Banerjee pay attention to the peculiarities of the historical development of individual peoples of India.

In the monographs of A. Basham "The Miracle that was India" and A. Force "The revival of Indian nationalism at the beginning of the 19th century." , article by O.Kh. Speight "India and Pakistan tells about the history of Indian civilization", a description is given of the peoples who have inhabited India since antiquity, it is described in detail about literature, art, philosophy, science. The influence of the West on the culture of this country, as well as India's contribution to world culture, is characterized.

D. Nehru's work "The Discovery of India" tells how British rule was established in India, about the heroic struggle of the Indian people for their liberation.

In the monograph of Ivashentsov G.A. "India" tells about the country of an ancient and distinctive civilization. The history of this country is revealed from the beginning of its inception to the present. A separate chapter is devoted to the era of dominance in India by the British colonialists, a description of the economic robbery of the country by the British.

Very interesting information was taken from the article by A.I. Fursov "The English East India Company: political and economic nature, main stages of development", which assesses both the East India Company itself and its activities in the process of British colonization of the Indian states (polities). The periodization of the activities of the East India Company is shown and a complete description is given for each period. It also shows the reasons for the decline of the Company's power in the 19th century.

In another article, A.I. Fursov "Eastern Feudalism and the History of the West: Criticism of an Interpretation" states that changes in the nature of relations between the East India Company and the Indian polities began to emerge from the middle of the 17th century, when, in an effort to protect itself from extortions, it began to take out trade centers from them outside of them.

Article “The plunder of Bengal. The Struggle of the Peoples of India against the English Colonizers tells about the methods of enrichment of the English colonialists on Indian soil (often by force), gives examples of the ruin of competitors, shows the amounts that the East India Company managed to take out of the country. The description of the first attempts of the local population to repulse the colonialists is given.

In articles by E.Yu. Vanina "Freedom, Lost and Found" and "The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Empire (20s of the 16th - mid-18th centuries) in India" contains information regarding the attitude of Europeans, including the British, to the local population, reveals colonialist essence of their policy. The methods by which this policy was achieved are shown. For example, in the article "Freedom, Lost and Found", it is said that the colonialists did everything to keep the "natives" in a state of deep spiritual depression, to instill in them an inferiority complex. Yes, access to the archives independent states, especially the XVII-XVIII centuries, was closed to the Indian public; one famous English historian collected for his scientific work Marathi chronicles and documents, processed them in the right spirit, and burned the originals. It also cites the thoughts of Ramachandra Pant, a prominent Maratha statesman and thinker, who wrote: "... These, in hats, seek to come here, strengthen themselves, seize new lands and establish their religion ...".

However, it should still be noted that the Indians accepted the idea of ​​"progress" from England and other European countries as part of the Western model by which they sought to rebuild India. This perception was facilitated by the peculiarities of the Indian socio-economic system, which distinguished it from other Asian societies and, first of all, from China, the decline of economic and political organization in most of India by the time the British appeared.

Various methods of historical research were used in the work: historical-genetic, historical-comparative, historical-systemic.

The use of the historical-genetic method makes it possible to consider the process of development of Anglo-Indian relations in historical sequence. The use of the historical-genetic method also makes it possible to identify specific stages in the development of Anglo-Indian relations and correlate them with certain stages in the process of weakening the East India Company in Europe.

The historical-comparative method makes it possible to compare certain stages of the influence of the British colonizers on the development of the Indian states in the 17th-18th centuries.

2. Creation of the English East India Company, the purpose and objectives of its activities

At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries, during the formation of the world capitalist market, the sphere of trade becomes part of the capitalist mode of production. At this time, the territorial boundaries of England's trade were expanding, the volume of eastern trade was sharply increasing, and qualitative changes were taking place in its structure.

The need to find markets and sources of cheap raw materials forced the British to actively engage in eastern trade. Having engaged in it, they also took into account the needs of neighboring states. It should be borne in mind that the value of Oriental goods rose when they were transported on English ships. Thus transit trade played an important role in the rise of England. But in order to organize Eastern trade, it was necessary to adapt to the conditions of the Indian domestic market. English merchants who sought to intercept the trade of Indian merchants met fierce competition from the Portuguese and Dutch.

On December 31, 1600, a group of London merchants, who received a charter from Queen Elizabeth I for monopoly trade with the East for a period of 15 years, founded the East India Company.

The English East India Company immediately included 215 members, of which over 50 were representatives of the largest firms. At the head of this company, which played a huge and fatal role in the oppression of the multi-million population of India, was the "governor" and a committee of 25 people, chosen by the shareholders. The company received the right to monopoly (i.e., forbidden to all British who are not part of it) trade with all countries lying from the Cape of Good Hope to the east up to the Strait of Magellan, in other words, to all the lands washed by the Indian and Pacific oceans. As soon as royal approval followed, the initial capital increased to 69,091 pounds sterling, and already in April 1601 the company sent the first trading expedition to India, consisting of 4 ships.

The British East India Company played a leading role in England's trade with the countries of the Indian Ocean basin.

In England, the relations of the East India Company with the government before the English bourgeois revolution in the middle of the 16th century. wore complex nature. On the one hand, the company had to endure different kind the claims of the early Stuarts (on her finances and privileges) and their neglect of her interests in the fight against the Dutch. On the other hand, the problems of the East India Company did not find sympathy with the parliament, which looked at it only as a royal “brainchild” and a source of funds for the monarch not controlled by the communities. The English monarchy carried out a number of measures in the field of domestic and foreign trade, which were of great importance for ensuring the income of the crown. Particularly noteworthy are the protectionist acts banning the import into England of foreign manufactured goods and certain types of raw materials. Nevertheless, the governments of Elizabeth I and James I could not get rid of the state budget deficit and sought to use the company of merchant adventurers to settle their financial issues abroad, expanding their privileges and supporting their claims to represent all of England in foreign trade. .

However, the main privilege of the East India Company received already at incorporation - limited jurisdiction over its employees. This was required by the nature of the activities of the East India Company as a monopoly organization conducting trade business not just outside the country, but outside the Christian world - in another part of the world, where England as a state was not yet present in any way. Therefore, already initially the East India Company had a dual, political-economic (power-trading) nature: the monarchy delegated to it legislative, executive and judicial power over its subjects - employees of the company, as well as the right to maintain an independent foreign policy.

The period of the English Revolution 1640-1660. became the most unsuccessful in the history of the East India Company. In the context of widespread unpopularity in society of any monopolies, the authorities (the Long Parliament, then the Protector Cromwell) essentially refused to support the company. However, practice, and above all the successful competition of the Dutch East India Company, proved the necessity of the existence of a monopoly large corporation in England's foreign trade with the East. Therefore, in 1657, the protectorate regime moved to protect the interests of the East India Company: Cromwell granted her a charter that turned her from regulated company to the company modern type- with permanent share capital. In essence, the new charter of the East India Company was an "Eastern" addition to the Navigation Act of 1651, which ushered in the policy of mercantilism in England.

The late Stuarts had to reckon with the conquests of the gentry and the bourgeoisie in the revolution, and in the era of the Restoration (1660-1688), the East India Company gained powerful support from the royal power - along with many privileges that turned it, in fact, into a state in the zone of its monopoly activity (a number of small territories, the right to declare war on "pagan peoples", the right to admiralty jurisdiction, permission to mint a coin in India). Permanent real help state power in confronting the East India Company with external (Dutch) and internal opponents was decisive for the successful trade of the company at this time. However, by the end of the XVII century. As the English manufacture The interests of the East India Company, which imports mainly Indian textiles, began to increasingly come into conflict with the interests of broad circles of the bourgeoisie. Having established too close ties with the Stuarts, the East India Company, after the "glorious revolution" of 1688, found itself in the face of a hostile parliament. The offensive of the opponents of the Company was crowned with some success: in 1698, an alternative East India Company was created, and manufacturers achieved a ban on the import of some Indian products. However, due to its strong economic position, the "old" East India Company, in fact, absorbed the "new" one, and the import ban did not significantly affect its trade due to volume re-export to Europe.

In the first half of the XVIII century. relations between the East India Company and the British state were mutually beneficial. The company became a constant source of large loans for the government, which is why it took one of the key places in the state credit system of the country (along with the Bank of England). It is not surprising that she gained considerable influence in Parliament (to which real power passed after 1688) and successfully mobilized it to repel her opponents - English private merchants and foreign East India companies. Moreover, the parliament continued to give the company privileges that strengthened its status as a state-like organization. One of the most important of these was the legal possibility for the East India Company to create a large land army. The need for this was dictated, first of all, by the growing mid-eighteenth in. British struggle with France for world hegemony. In India, this struggle took the form of a confrontation between the East India Companies of the two countries, which led to a series of wars between the companies (1746-1761).

In India in the 17th - mid-18th centuries. The East India Company acted for the most part in the role of a humble applicant for trade and some administrative benefits. The first segment of this era, the trading post period (1600s - 1690s), was characterized by the control of British activities on land by the authorities of large polities (the Mughal empire, the Bijapur and Golconda sultanates). However, due to the dual nature of the East India Company, its relations with them were not limited to trade. This trade itself was made possible by the British having military force. In the Mughal Empire, they used piracy to "open" its ports to their ships, and the petty principalities of South India were attracted by the opportunities that opened up when they entered into a military alliance with the company. One of the fundamental differences between the European East India Companies and the Asian merchant groups was precisely the “internalization of defense costs”, i.e. the ability of these companies themselves to maritime violence. However, on land, the British were almost powerless, since the personnel of their trading posts were essentially held hostage by the authorities. The authorities of the polities countered the English naval lever of pressure with their land lever and used it in case of hostile actions of the British at sea and with the aim of extorting funds from them. Since it was expensive for the East India Company to respond with a blockade each time, she preferred to negotiate; it also bought privileges more often than wrested them out by force (especially since both attempts by the company to seriously talk with the Mughals in the language of force failed).

Changes in the nature of relations between the East India Company and the Indian polities began to take shape from the middle of the 17th century, when, in an effort to protect itself from exactions, it began to move the centers of trade with them beyond their borders. Only on the periphery of empires could fortified English enclaves (Madras, Bombay) be created. The second segment of the era - the “period of forts” (1680s / 1690s - 1740s) is characterized by the presence of such enclaves in the East India Company, and one of them appeared already on the original Mughal territory - in Bengal (Calcutta). The transition to the second period was facilitated by the processes of the weakening of the Mughal Sultanate and the growth of the power of the East India Company in both its guises - power and trade. Objectively, the growth of its enclaves (centers of presidency) gradually turned them not only into economic and demographic, but also into power competitors of Indian polities.

With the actual collapse of the Mughal Sultanate in the first half of the XVIII century. The East India Company shifted its main attention to relations with the real centers of power - the emerging independent principalities (primarily the Nawabs of Bengal, Carnatic, Surat and the Maratha polity). The strengthening of the positions of the British led to the use of armed force by them in some cases even on land. The most strikingly changing nature of the relationship of the East India Company with the Indian polities is demonstrated by its relationship with the weakest of them - the emporia of Malabar, where the British began to interfere in the wars between the principalities. And yet, while still predominantly a commercial corporation, the East India Company as a whole followed its former course of compromise with the authorities.

Thus, at the end of the 16th century, prices for goods delivered to Europe by sea from South and East Asia (East Indies) by the Portuguese and Dutch increased sharply in Europe. English merchants were interested in direct deliveries of overseas goods. But the equipment of sea expeditions to the East Indies was an expensive, risky business, and the merchants were forced to pool their capital, as a result of which the famous British East India Company arose, which for several centuries turned into an instrument for enriching the English metropolis at the expense of the fabulously rich Indian colonies. .

3. Beginning of English trade in India. Fighting competitors for dominance

english trading india monopoly

For the first two decades, the company traded with island Southeast Asia, but then it was supplanted by a stronger competitor at that time, the Dutch East India Company, and from 1609 the British moved their activities to India. The English East India Company lacked funds for intensive introduction into intra-Asian trade and for its expansion. So, the period from 1601 to 1613. in the activities of the English East India Company, was characterized by the fact that the British tried to establish themselves in the region of the Malay Archipelago and the Spice Islands. The average profit in that period, taking into account all kinds of losses, was 200% per share. The British managed to receive such huge profits from the first steps of penetration into India for the reason that their activities in the field of trade bordered on piracy (net profit during the first half of the 17th century was more than 100%).

Indian goods sold in the Moluccas gave a profit of 300%, and spices bought in southern India could be sold in Surat at a ratio of 1:10. An English merchant, having arrived in India without any capital and without taking a single pound out of England, in 5-6 years of trade could receive and send home from 5 to 30 thousand pounds sterling. Agents of the English East India Company made huge profits from the sale of Indian goods in England. Anglo-Indian trade developed quite rapidly and over the following years - from 1611 to 1620. average profit amounted to 138% (sometimes reached 234%). In 1617 the company made a profit of £1 million on a capital of £200,000. Obviously, compared with 1600-1610. there has been a significant increase in trading activity in England. For 20 years of trade with India, according to the company's report, goods were exported from the country for an amount five times less than imported. For example, in 1620, the sale in England of each piece of Indian fabric gave a profit of 300%, a pound of carnation or nutmeg - 800-900%, and this despite the fact that the English absolute monarchy adhered to the classical system of protectionism.

A flourishing illegal trade also contributed to the rapid growth of trade in the region. Sources relating to the first third of the 17th century speak of a significant expansion of the English "private" trade practiced everywhere. Sailors of English ships brought to India either money or goods (swords, knives, glass, etc.) to be exchanged for Indian goods, and bought mainly high-quality Indian fabrics. Thus, every ship bound for England was loaded with goods belonging not only to the company, but also to private individuals. In addition, many merchants who participated in the Indian trade sent home with the representatives of the administration a significant amount of goods, often owned by the company. Moreover, the goods were hidden in such secluded places where they could not be found on the ship.

The British were interested in trade between Surat and the countries of the Red Sea basin, where they were delivered in large quantities spices and spices and where English and Indian goods could be sold at very favorable prices. Arrival at the beginning of October 1619 of new ships from England under the command of J. Bickley and return after successful trip ship "Lion" from Mohi, where Indian goods were sold quickly and at fairly high prices, and the absolute profit of this expedition was 100%, forced the leadership of the Surat trading post to raise the issue of trade in the Red Sea basin and begin organizing regular flights. The heads of the trading post turned to the directorate with a request to send new ships for use in trade between India and the ports of the Red Sea. The Indian authorities and local merchants warned the British against further export of Indian goods to the ports of the Red Sea. Moreover, the Indian merchants resisted the attempt of the British to load the ships under the command of Bickley. So, the ships that delivered the main cargo for shipment to the ports of the Red Sea were confiscated by the local authorities and sent to Rander. The desire of the British to conduct trade in the Red Sea basin was also dictated by the demand of the directorate of the company for a significant expansion of the supply of cotton fabrics and food products from those places where prices were the lowest. Since Surat could no longer fully meet the needs of England in cotton products, the interests of the English merchants began to concentrate on Agra, where, in addition to indigo, high-quality carpets and cotton fabrics were delivered from neighboring regions in large quantities. Of particular interest are the regions of Samana, located at a short distance from Agra, and the region of Patna, the capital of Bihar.

In order to obtain as much profit as possible, the British sought to penetrate deep into the country, since the goods delivered from Agra to Surat were almost twice as expensive as those exported from the hinterland of Hindustan. Penetration into the interior of the country raised the question of entering into trade relations with local feudal lords. Often even members of the padishah's family took part in trade. Representatives of the Mughal administration - governors of Surat, Broch, Ahmedabad - also participated in trade transactions and operations. Large Gujarati merchants acted as intermediaries between the British, artisans and local merchants, lending significant amounts of money, expecting protection from the Mughal authorities in return.

Thus, a comprador stratum associated with foreign capital appeared in Gujarat. Not only goods produced in other parts of India were exported from Surat: sugar, indigo from Agra, pepper from Malabar, Kashmir fabrics from Lahore, muslin and taffeta from Bengal, etc. The main export was that which was produced locally, directly in Gujarat: fabrics, white and printed, which were famous throughout the Middle East. In the first quarter of the XVII century. Hindustan is turning into the arena of a fierce struggle for the redistribution of spheres of influence. The feudal Indian principalities, which were at war with each other, had to face European trading companies, which became for them such a strong adversary that India had not known before.

With experience and some free capital, the British quickly got used to the new political situation in Europe and were actively involved in ocean trade. Trade in the countries of the East gave huge profits to London merchants. Buying goods in India was three times cheaper than in Turkey. The English East India Company traded Indian goods in Turkey, and in London, and in Genoa, and in the Netherlands, and in Marseilles, and in other places. Trade with India also contributed to the sale of European, and primarily English, goods.

Already in the first years of their penetration into India, the British did not limit themselves to obtaining trade privileges, but sought to act in accordance with them. political interests. This sharply complicated Anglo-Spanish and Anglo-Dutch relations and led to open clashes. The victory of the British in the fight against the Spaniards strengthened their position in India, which was a kind of addition to the agreement signed on October 21, 1612 between the representatives of the authorities of Gujarat and Surat and the English East India Company. According to this agreement, the company was allowed to trade and have trading posts in the Mughal Empire. This agreement had to be confirmed by the shah's firman, which the Indian side undertook to achieve. It consisted of 13 articles, and its essence boiled down to the following: the Mughal authorities guarantee the safety of the British and their trade on the territory of the empire (compensating losses even in the event of Portuguese seizures); duties are set at a rate of 3.5% of the value of goods imported and exported by the British; within three days after the arrival of the ships of the company, the British can trade on the shore with local merchants, bypassing customs; the property of English merchants in the event of their death in India is returned to the company; Indian authorities undertake not to demand compensation for damage caused by the English expedition under the command of G. Mildton in the Red Sea (in April 1612, the ships of the expedition sailed to the Red Sea to take revenge on the Indian merchants and Arab merchants of Mohi; Mildton actually engaged in robbery and later forcibly forced Indian merchants to buy up English goods). The agreement also provided that the ambassador of the English king would be sent to the capital of the Mughal state to resolve all important and controversial issues that could violate the agreement reached. After the signing of this treaty, an even more active penetration of the English East India Company into India begins.

In 1612, the fleet of the English East India Company under the command of T. Best arrived in Surat, who almost in an ultimatum demanded that the British be granted trading privileges and the right to establish a trading post. This demand was reinforced by the capture of an Indian ship with a rich cargo and many pilgrims returning from the holy places of Arabia. Under such pressure, the Mughal administration had to come to an agreement with the representatives of the company. While Best was waiting to receive the Padishah's firman from Agra, four Portuguese warships appeared near Surat, sent there from Goa to protect the interests of the trade and colonial policy of Portugal. November 29, 1612 began a naval battle - the battle of Swally. For almost a month, the English and Portuguese ships fought. The British victory strengthened their position in India. In Surat, Best left his agent T. Aldworth, who founded a trading post and in 1613 became its first president. After leaving Surat in February 1613, Best, victorious at Swally, robbed several Indian ships, then went to Ache and other ports of Sumatra and returned to England in June 1614 with a cargo of pepper, bringing a significant income to the company.

The desire of the British to expand trade relations with India caused a second significant clash with the Portuguese. Four English ships under the command of N. Downton arrived in Surat in October 1614. It soon became known that the Viceroy of Goa was preparing a military action against the flotilla of the English company, and in mid-January 1615, the main forces of the Portuguese appeared at Swally under the command of Don Jeronimo Azevedo : six large ships and six small frigates, carrying 3.5 thousand Europeans, 6 thousand local soldiers, 250 guns. The four Downton merchant ships had only 400 sailors and 80 cannons. For a month, the British fought off the attacks of the Portuguese, and on February 11, 1615, the Portuguese fleet, badly damaged, set sail and went south. Although in a purely military sense it is difficult to talk about the victory of Downton, the collapse of the "battle efforts" of the Portuguese was obvious: the prestige of the Portuguese fell sharply. The Second Battle of Swally in 1615, as this event is sometimes called, played a large role in the struggle of the European powers for India. Battles of Swally in 1612 and 1615 did not affect the Anglo-Portuguese rivalry, the struggle continued, but the time of the domination of the Portuguese was a thing of the past, and they were replaced by new applicants.

In 1611 the united French East India Company was established, in 1616 the Royal Danish East India Company, and in 1617 the Scottish East India Company. Their appearance further contributed to the intensification of British diplomacy. In 1612 two English ambassadors, P. Canning and V. Edward, on behalf of James I, met with Emperor Jahangir and gave him a message from the king. These diplomatic efforts of England were crowned with success: the emperor allowed the establishment of trading posts in Surat and Ahmedabad. In the same year, the English East India Company was transformed into a joint stock company. In October 1612, Shah Safi, the ruler of Ahmedabad, and Best signed a treaty by which the English East India Company was allowed to establish trade relations with Gujarat. And already in the spring of 1613 Canning handed new letters to Emperor Jahangir in Agra with a request to expand the commercial presence of England in India.

The conclusion of agreements with Asian rulers, who were practically unfamiliar with the contractual system, drew these countries into the system of emerging international relations legal order, which created, on the one hand, additional difficulties in relations between England and the Mughal Empire, and on the other hand, the Mughal authorities thereby avoided the development of preferential ties with any one European country. So, on February 7, 1615, Jahangir issued a firman, according to which he allowed the British to establish permanent trade relations with the Mughal Empire, and on June 7 of the same year he concluded exactly the same agreement with the Portuguese. At the beginning of the XVII century. An attempt was made to settle Anglo-Dutch relations on a contractual basis. The trade and political contradictions that arose between these two countries repeatedly led to major conflicts. The Dutch tried in every possible way to intercept the Indian market from the British. To do this, they began to buy Indian goods at high prices in order to close Indian local markets from the British. In turn, the British did not abandon the idea of ​​​​penetrating the Moluccas - into the zone of monopoly domination of the Dutch.

The role of the Dutch in the service of the English company deserves attention. Former employees and merchants of the Netherlands United Company often acted as English guides and leaders of English expeditions. For example, Peter William van Elbing, under a false name, led the English expedition in 1611-1615. .

In 1616, the English fleet of five ships managed not only to receive a large cargo of spices on Molluk in exchange for weapons and food, but also to capture the island of Pulu Run in the Banad archipelago. The Dutch failed to dislodge the British who had settled on the approaches to the spice islands. In Yamatra, and especially in Bantam, the Dutch came up against the growing activity of the British. In the Banatam capital, competition between them took the form of armed clashes more than once. The near end of the twelve-year truce concluded in 1609 by the Netherlands with Spain raised the question of rapprochement with England. In 1619, there was even a question of merging the English and Dutch East India Companies into a single organization. Although the matter did not come to this, an agreement was nevertheless concluded for 20 years on joint actions in India. Under this agreement, both companies retained independence, but received equal freedom of trade in all Indian ports. Price setting and purchase had to be done in concert. Both companies retained all the shopping centers in India seized by the time of the agreement. All further conquests were to become the joint property of both companies. Thus, the English and Dutch companies were bound by the common interests of fighting the Portuguese. Forced out of Indonesia the last ones were still very strong in India.

Similar Documents

The development of Indian territories by England through the East India Company. Management of the conquered territories of India. Socio-economic and political activities of the East India Company in the first half of the 19th century, the Sepoy uprising, the liquidation of the company.

thesis, added 07/05/2013


Russian periodicals of the second half of the 19th century. as a public "platform" for the discussion of English history. The specificity of the development of the English theme by Kraevsky's "Notes of the Fatherland", Shubinsky's "Historical Bulletin", Sukhotin's "Bulletin of World History".

thesis, added 06/03/2017


History of Indian civilization: India in antiquity and the Middle Ages, India in modern times and in the modern era. The legal system of India: elements of the state structure, features of the modern legal development of India and constitutional law.

term paper, added 07/12/2012


The history of the origin and development of Hinduism as a world religion, its beliefs and character traits, religious policy. Features of the revision of the history and chronologies of the early Indian civilization. The development of yoga and tantrism at the present stage in India.

abstract, added 07/25/2009


Features of the development of Indian civilization, which is considered one of the oldest on the planet. Formation of the Vedic tradition in India. The Vedas are the sacred books of the ancient Indian religion. Faith of Vedism: pantheon of gods, ritual and cult practice.

term paper, added 12/17/2014


"The Irish Question" on the Eve of the English Revolution. The Rise and Beginning of the Irish Rebellion. The Long Parliament and the political environment after the formation of the Confederation. Irish royalist forces. Conquest of Ireland by Cromwell. Consequences of the new regime.

term paper, added 06/25/2013


The history of the formation of the Mughal state, its economic and political state in various periods of development. The appearance of the British in India, the predatory policy of the East India Company. The struggle of the popular masses of India against colonialism and feudalism.

thesis, added 10/20/2010


History of the colonial exploitation of India in the last third of the 19th century. Acquaintance with the policy of the British authorities in the 70-80s. Causes of the revolutionary upsurge of 1905-1908 Assessment of the economic and political state of the country after the coup.

term paper, added 02/13/2011


The reform movement that began in England in the 14th century as a result of the social struggle between the secular classes and the clergy. Strengthening of the English Church during the reign of Elizabeth I Tudor. The evolution of the views of domestic historians on the course of events.

abstract, added 06/25/2017


Change in the status of the East India Company. The consequences of the cultural and agrarian policy of the British in India. The resistance of the peoples of India to the British colonial oppression. Popular uprising of 1857-1859. Indian National Congress and Muslim League.

The site reviewer studied the history of the trading British East India Company, which practically seized control of India, became famous for robberies and abuses, and also made the British Empire one of the most powerful countries in the world.

The British East India Company, like its Dutch East India Company, was effectively a state within a state. Having its own army and actively influencing the development of the British Empire, it became one of the most important factors in the brilliant financial position of the state. The company allowed the British to create a colonial empire, which included the pearl of the British crown - India.

Founding of the British East India Company

The British East India Company was founded by Queen Elizabeth I. After winning the war with Spain and defeating the Invincible Armada, she decided to seize control of the trade in spices and other goods brought from the East. The official founding date of the British East India Company is December 31, 1600.

For a long time it was called the English East India Company, and became British in the early 18th century. Among its 125 shareholders was Queen Elizabeth I. The total capital was 72 thousand pounds. The Queen issued a charter granting the company monopoly trade with the East for 15 years, and James I made the charter indefinite.

The English company was founded before the Dutch counterpart, but its shares went public later. Until 1657, after each successful expedition, income or goods were divided among the shareholders, after which it was necessary to invest again in a new journey. The company was led by a council of 24 people and a governor-general. The English of that time had perhaps the best navigators in the world. Relying on her captains, Elizabeth could hope for success.

In 1601, the first expedition to the Spice Islands was led by James Lancaster. The navigator achieved his goals: he conducted several trade deals and opened a trading post in Bantam, and after returning he received the title of knight. From the trip, he brought mostly pepper, which was not uncommon, so the first expedition is considered not very profitable.

Thanks to Lancaster, the British East India Company had a rule to carry out prophylaxis against scurvy. According to legend, Sir James made the sailors on his ship drink three tablespoons of lemon juice every day. Soon other ships noticed that the crew of the Lancaster Sea Dragon was less sick and began to do the same. The custom spread to the entire fleet and became another hallmark of the sailors who served in the company. There is a version that Lancaster forced the crew of his ship to drink lemon juice with ants.

There were several more expeditions, and information about them is contradictory. Some sources speak of failures - others, on the contrary, report successes. It can be said for sure that until 1613 the British were mainly engaged in piracy: the profit was almost 300%, but the local population chose the Dutch from two evils, who tried to colonize the region.

Most of the English goods were of no interest to the local population: they did not need dense fabric and sheep's wool in a hot climate. In 1608, the British first came to India, but mainly robbed merchant ships there and sold the resulting goods.

This could not go on for a long time, so in 1609 the company's management sent Sir William Hawkins to India, who was supposed to enlist the support of Padishah Jahangir. Hawkins knew Turkish well and liked the padishah very much. Thanks to his efforts, as well as the arrival of ships under the command of Best, the company was able to establish a trading post in Surat.

At the insistence of Jahangir, Hawkins remained in India and soon received a title and a wife. There is an interesting legend about this: Hawkins allegedly agreed to marry only a Christian woman, secretly hoping that the right girl won't find. Jahangir, to everyone's surprise, found a Christian princess in the bride, and even with a dowry - the Englishman had nowhere to go.