Page 195 - Dilmun 21

eh tsaE ai

he East lndia ompany had the unusual distinction o ruling an entire
count.yr lts origins were much humble.r n 15e December 1600 a group o
merchants who had incorporated themselves into the East lndia company
were given monopoly privileges on all trade with the East lndies. he
company s ships irst arrived in lndia at the potr o Surat, in 160. iSr homas
Roe reached the coutr o the ughal emperor, Jahangir, as the emissayr o
ing James ١ in 1615 and gained or the British the right to established a
actoyr at Surat, radually the Briitsh eclipsed the Potruguese and over the
years they saw a massive epansion o their trading operations in lndia.
Numerous trading posts were established along the east and west coats o
lndia, and considerable English communities developed around the three
presidency towns o alcutta, Bombay and adras. ١٦ 1717, the ompany
achieved its hithetro most notable success when it received a irman or royal
dictate rom the ughal Emperor eempting the ompany rom the payment
o custom duties in Bengal.

he company saw the rise o its ortunes, and its transormation rom a
trading venture to a ruling enterprise, when one o its militayr oicials, Robetr
live, deeated the orces o the Nawab o Bengal, Sira‫ ﺯ‬Ud Daulah at the
Battle o Plassey in 1757.A ew years later the company acquired the irght
to colle revenues on behal o the ughal Empero,r but the initial years o its
administration where calamitous or the people o Bengal. he ompany s
sevants were largely a rapacious and sel aggrandizing lot, and the plunder
o Bengal let the ormelry rich province in a state o utter destitution. he
amine o 1769-70, which the ompany s poliices did nothing to alleviate,
may have taken the lives o as many as a third o the population, he
company, despite the increase in trade and the revenues coming in rom
other sources, ound itsel burdened with massive militayr ependitures, and
its desturction seemed imminent. State intevrention put the ailing company
back on its eet, and Lord Notrh s lndia Bill, also known as the Regulating Act
o 177, provided or greater parliamentayr control over the aairs o the
ocmpan,y besides placing lndia under the urle o a overnor eneral.