When did East India Company come to India?
A. 1600
B. 1602
C. 1608
D. 1610
East India Company Arrival
In 1600, a group of English businessmen asked Elizabeth I for a royal charter that would let their voyage to the East Indies on behalf of the crown in exchange for a monopoly on trade. The East India Company was incorporated by royal charter on December 31, 1600. It was an English company formed for the exploitation of trade with East and Southeast Asia and India.
East India Company Departure
During the Partition of India in 1947, Britain East India withdrew from India in 1947.
The East India Company History in Hindi
The British first came to India as the East India Company, with the sole intention of trading. But corruption and greed led them to ultimately take over as rulers of India. Watch this video to find out how the East India Company became the British Raj.
With the arrival of the Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama in 1498 at Calicut in South India, European explorers started arriving on Indian shores. Their prime purpose was the profitable spice trade.
At the end of 1600, Queen Elizabeth of England allowed a large body of merchants to form a new trading company to trade with the East Indies, India and Southeast Asia, which later came to be known as the East India Company. In 1617, Sir Thomas Roe approached the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir and sought his permission to build a factory in Surat. In two years, this permission was granted.
Within ten years, another factory opened in Bombay, which became the headquarters of the company. Soon the Indian region was divided into three Presidencies; Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Each presidency functioned by itself, but was answerable to the Court of Directors in London.
The company cleverly followed a triangular trade. They exchanged English gold and silver coins for Indian goods. They then utilized these in China to subsidize the prices of commodities they bought there. With this system the Company earned huge profits and became richer.