The venerable East India Company. History of the East India Company

East India Company I East India Company

English (1600-1858), a private company for trade with the East Indies (India and Southeast Asia) and China, which gradually turned into a political organization and apparatus of the English government for the exploitation and management of occupied territories. Since 1623 O.-I. K. concentrated its activities in India, from where it exported fabrics, yarn, indigo, opium, and saltpeter to Asian countries, as well as to Europe. In the 1st half of the 17th century. trade was carried out mainly through Surat; later the main strongholds were the founded O.-I. K. Madras, Bombay, Calcutta. His influence in India O.-I. K. established itself in the fight against European rivals (Portuguese, Dutch and French East India Companies) and local rulers, using bribery, blackmail and military force. Having won the wars of the 18th century. the French Indian Company (founded in 1719 on the basis of the East India and other French trading companies), the English O.-I. K. essentially monopolized the exploitation of India. Already in the 17th century. O.-I. The country acquired a number of state prerogatives: the right to wage war and make peace (1661), mint coins, have courts-martial, and have full control over its troops and fleet (1686). After 1757 (Battle of Plassey) it captured Bengal and a number of other territories. From the 2nd half of the 18th century. the basis of O.-I.’s activities It became not trade, but the collection of taxes, administration and robbery of occupied territories. By 1849 O.-I. K. subjugated basically all of India and, by 1852, Lower Burma. Income from trade, taxes, and robbery served as an important source of the initial accumulation of capital (See Initial accumulation of capital).

Colonial exploitation of India O.-I. This led to the death and impoverishment of millions of Indians, the decline of commercial handicraft production, the ruin of agriculture, and significant changes in agrarian relations.

From the middle of the 18th century.

lack of control O.-I. It began to cause discontent among the strengthened English industrial bourgeoisie, which was claiming to share in the profits from the exploitation of India. As a result of the adoption by the English Parliament of a number of acts (1773, 1784, 1813, 1833, 1853), the Board of Directors of O.-I. K. was subordinate to the Control Council appointed by the king; Governor-General of the Domain O.-I. K. began to be appointed prime minister; the dividend was capped at 10%. Monopoly O.-I. The restriction on trade with India was abolished in 1813, and from 1833 the trade activities of O.-I. was generally prohibited. In 1858, during the Indian People's Uprising of 1857-59 (See Indian People's Uprising of 1857-59) O.-I. The company was liquidated (with payment of compensation to shareholders of 3 million pounds sterling). India began to report directly to the Secretary of State (Minister) for Indian Affairs and the British Viceroy. Lit.:

Marx K. and Engels F., Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 9; Antonova K. A., The English conquest of India in the 18th century, M., 1958; The Cambridge history of India, v. 5, Camb., 1929; Mukherjee R., The rise and fall of the East India company, B., 1958.

L. B. Alaev. II

Dutch, United East India Company (UIC), monopoly trading company that existed in 1602-1798. It arose as a result of the merger of several competing companies. The shareholders of the OIC were the richest Dutch merchants. It was headed by 17 directors (including 8 from Amsterdam). The OIC was the main instrument with which the Dutch bourgeoisie created the Dutch colonial empire through violence, extortion and seizure. Throughout the entire space to the east from the Cape of Good Hope to the Strait of Magellan, the OIC had a monopoly on trade and navigation, duty-free transportation of goods to the metropolis, the creation of trading posts, fortresses, the recruitment and maintenance of troops, the fleet, the conduct of legal proceedings, the conclusion of international treaties, etc. In 1609, the OIC's own administration was created [from 1619 with a permanent residence in Batavia on the island. Java, which became the capital of the Dutch colonial possessions in the southeast. Asia (see article Indonesia)]. Relying on its trade and military power, the OIC ousted the Portuguese from the Moluccas and created trading posts on the coast of India, Ceylon, and other places. The OIC exterminated the local population, suppressed native uprisings, and, in order to maintain high monopoly prices for colonial goods, predatoryly destroyed spice bushes. In this way, the OIC, in its heyday (mid-17th century), ensured the payment of huge dividends to its shareholders - an average of 18%, and in some cases much more. The OIC had a significant influence on the politics and state apparatus of the republic. From the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries. in the context of the general economic decline of the Dutch Republic, competition from the English East India Company, etc., the decline of the OIC began. In 1798, the OIC was liquidated, all its property and assets became the property of the state (the final period of validity of the OIC privileges expired on December 31, 1799).

A. N. Chistozvonov.

III East India Company

French trading company that existed in 1664-1719. Organized on the initiative of J.B. Colbert in order to monopolize trade with India. It had several trading posts on the Indian coast (Masulipatam, Mahe, Chanderna-gor, etc.). The center of O.-I.'s possessions There was Pondicherry in India. Management O.-I. which was feudal in nature, was carried out by the royal government. The development of the company was hampered by petty supervision and regulation of its activities by government commissioners. At the beginning of the 18th century. O.-I. K. was absorbed by the new so-called. An Indian company that monopolized all French overseas trade.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what the "East India Company" is in other dictionaries:

The name of a number of trading societies in European countries of the colonial era. Each of the major powers established its own company, endowed with a monopoly on trade with the East Indies: the British East India Company was founded in 1600... ... Wikipedia

I English (1600 1858), a company of English merchants mainly for trade with the East Indies (the name of the territory of India and some other countries of South and Southeast Asia); gradually turned into a state management organization... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

English, company (1600 1858) of English merchants mainly for trade with the East Indies (the name of the territory of India and some other countries of South and Southeast Asia); gradually turned into a state management organization... ... Modern encyclopedia

English (1600 1858) company of English merchants mainly for trade with the East Indies (the name of the territory of India and some other countries of South and Southeast Asia); gradually turned into a state organization for managing English... ...

Dutch trading company (1602 1798). It had a monopoly on trade, navigation, placing trading posts, etc. in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Captured significant territories in Southeast Asia (on the island of Java, etc.) and on... ... Modern encyclopedia

Netherlands Trading Company (1602 1798). It had a monopoly on trade, navigation, placing trading posts, etc. in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Captured significant territories in the South-East. Asia (on the island of Java, etc.) and in southern Africa... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

1 . English (1600 1858) private company English. merchants for trade with the East Indies (as India, Southeast Asia and China were called in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries), which gradually turned into a state. organization for the management of English. possessions in India. In the 1st half. 17 at... Soviet historical encyclopedia

East India Company- (source) ... Spelling dictionary of the Russian language

OST INDIA COMPANY is an English private company for trade with the countries of East India (see OST INDIA) and China, which gradually turned into an organization for the management of English possessions in India; existed in 1600-1858. Creation of company B... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

OST INDIA COMPANY Dutch (United East India Company), a trading company of Dutch merchants that existed in 1602-1798. The Dutch East India Company had a monopoly on trade, navigation, and the establishment of trading posts... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Books

The history of Elizabeth, Queen of England. Volume 2, . St. Petersburg, 1795. Printing house of I. K. Shnor. Owner's binding. Bandage spine. The condition is good. Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603) - Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from November 17...

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Introduction

1. Sources and historiography

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

5. The company’s loss of a trade monopoly and its transformation into a mechanism for managing and exploiting the Indian metropolis

6. The 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 and through this company, the histories of England and India are connected, as well as much within these stories themselves: in English history, the Company seems to connect the reigns of two great queens - Elizabeth and Victoria, and in Indian history - two great empires: the Mughal and the 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 lifespan of a dynasty or even a state. Actually, for a 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 human history. This conclusion seems to be an exaggeration only at first glance. History knows many different trade and political forms. This is a “merchant state” (Venice), and “military trade associations”, and a union of trading cities (Hansa). History knows many powerful states and companies (for example, 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 cannot be compared with the history of the English company. The Dutch East India Company - its heyday was in the mid-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 this is most important, it was under strict state control (which was reflected in its constant reorganizations and changes of names) and, according to in essence, 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 one, and did not play such a role as the latter 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). Currently, the term “early modern history” is increasingly spreading, which emphasizes an independent rather than a functional period of an entire era, which has its own unique features. It was during this period that the English East India Company emerged and flourished, which in the capitalist era itself went into decline.

The last couple of decades have seen a revival of interest in the themes of empire 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 the topic of the thesis. Its main goal is to identify 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:

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

Consider the beginning of English trade in India, as well as 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 holdings in India;

Analyze the reasons for the company’s loss of a trade monopoly and its transformation into a mechanism for managing and exploiting the Indian 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 17th - early 19th 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 in many ways not adequate to the objective historical reality. All this determines the need and importance of developing problems related to the true volume of trade and shipping of the East India Company and its political influence in the Hindustan region. Issues such as monopolization of trade with India, export of gold and silver bullion, and 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. is almost completely ignored in most existing works. It is necessary to consider the characteristics of the trade, industrial and economic conditions that existed in India at the beginning of the 17th century, and to trace the changes in these conditions caused by Anglo-Indian relations over the following 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 characteristics of different civilizations and the specifics of the development of Western and Eastern empires. If we consider these processes from a global perspective, 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 prevent the development of the world trade, communications. Contacts in political, economic, intellectual and military relations were carried out according to all emerging models of regional autonomy through the introduction of intermediaries engaged in illegal trade. This structure of relationships in separate 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 them for studying 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 carried out only after its liquidation in 1858. These documents cover all areas of the company's activities since its founding.

For example, the source “The English Factories in India (1618-1641)” (“English factories in India in 1618-1641”) notes that since Surat could no longer fully satisfy England’s needs for cotton products, the interests of the English merchants begin to concentrate on Agra, the Samana districts, located at a short distance from Agra, and the Patna region, the capital of Bihar, begin to attract special 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 one to judge the relationship between exports and imports and quite fully reflect the state of British eastern trade.

A source such as “Documents in English Economic History” provides data that an English merchant, having arrived in India without any capital and without taking out a single pound from England, in 5-6 years of trade could receive and send home from 5 to 30 thousand pounds sterling. This may indicate that agents of the English East India Company were making huge profits from the sale of Indian goods in England. One of the reasons for such a rapid pace of enrichment is located in “London Export Trade in the 17th - 19th Century”. This source notes that the British were able 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 amounted to more than 100%).

At the beginning of the 20th century. correspondence between agents of the Indian trading posts of the East India Company and its board in England was published. This correspondence indicates that the company’s agents were tasked with much broader tasks than just the development of trade relations between England and the Mughal Empire; they were charged with studying the country in detail - economic features, political system, relationships within the ruling groups, etc. n. This correspondence allows us to fairly fully imagine the methods that the British used to strengthen their positions in Hindustan, as well as for their subsequent expansion into the interior of the country. Unlike the Portuguese, the British sought to penetrate into the interior regions of India and tried to penetrate as firmly as possible into the complex system of Indian internal trade relations. This was one of the main objectives of the company, the history of which can be clearly traced from 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” reveals the details of the agreement signed on October 21, 1612 between 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 English capital deep into the country, on the one hand, and on the other, dealt a significant blow to Spain, Holland and Portugal, which were competing for dominance in India.

The very existence of the East India Company was the subject of intense political struggle in England. This struggle, as well as the relationship between the company and 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 get 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 English policy, its goals and methods. For example, in a collection such as “Early Travels in India and Persia” (“Early Travels to India and Persia”), data is 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 area of the Malay Archipelago and the Spice Islands. The average profit during that period, taking into account all kinds of losses, was 200% for each share.

To clarify the reasons for English and overseas expansion, 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. Of great interest are the published and republished documents that shed light on various aspects of English penetration into the East and attempts to transform this policy into a state policy. Thus, in particular, the famous 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 “a subject in one hemisphere and a 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 turn its 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 the government into whose hands fate has thrown millions of peoples of India. It tells why India found itself in such a deplorable state, why its factories died, soil fertility decreased - the East India Company did not invest money in the development of the country, but only consumed its resources.

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

K. Marx's article “The East India Company, its history and results of activities” talks 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's article “On the Development of British 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 states that “the English East India Company, which arose at the beginning of the 17th century. and concentrating in its own hands (under increasingly tangible government and parliamentary control) operations in India - trade, military, diplomatic, political and the like - was, perhaps, the most successful form of penetration into India and consolidation in it under those conditions.” .

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

Source "The Rangpur Peasants' Revolt of 1782" is an extract from the indictment of Edmund Burke 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 East India Company Act 1773" , also known as the "Government Act", as well as the "East India Company Act 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, starting from the 18th century. Articles devoted to the formation and specific development of English overseas trade appear in certain scientific journals. This problem was touched upon to one degree or another by 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 arose about the nature of the British policy, 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. The research of M.A. is also of great interest. 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, "The History of British Aggression in the Middle East". V.V. devoted his work to the economic aspects of the company’s activities. Stockmar. Anglo-Indian relations in the 17th - 19th centuries. received sufficient coverage in the generalizing works of L.B. Alaeva, K.A. Antonova, K.Z. Ashrafyan, G.G. Kotovsky, A.I. Chicherova.

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”, work by 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, and 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 achieving independence. A separate section of the book is devoted to the English conquest of India and the policies of the colonial authorities.

The collective monograph written by two famous Indian historians working at the University of Calcutta, Dr. Narendra Krishna Sinha and Dr. Ann Chandra Banerjee, “History of India,” reflects the point of view of some Indian historians on the course of 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 by A. Basham “The Miracle That Was India” and A. Seal “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", characterizes the peoples who have inhabited India since ancient times, talks 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 and the heroic struggle of the Indian people for their liberation.

In the monograph by Ivashentsov G.A. “India” tells about a country of ancient and original civilization. The history of this country is revealed from its beginnings to the present. A separate chapter is devoted to the era of British colonial rule in India and to a description of the economic robbery of the country by the British.

Very interesting information was gleaned 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 by A.I. Fursova “Eastern feudalism and the history of the West: criticism of one interpretation” states that changes in the nature of the relations of the East India Company with Indian polities began to be outlined from the middle of the 17th century, when it, trying to protect itself from extortions, began to remove trade centers from them beyond their limits.

Article “The Plunder of Bengal. The struggle of the peoples of India against the English colonialists" talks about the methods of enriching the English colonialists on Indian soil (often by force), provides examples of the ruin of competitors, and shows the amounts that the East India Company was able to take out of the country. A description is given of the first attempts of the local population to repel the colonialists.

In the articles of 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, towards the local population, is revealed the colonialist essence of their policies. The methods by which this policy was achieved are shown. For example, the article “Freedom Lost and Found” states that the colonialists did everything to keep the “natives” in a state of deep spiritual depression and instill in them an inferiority complex. Thus, access to the archives of independent states, especially the 17th-18th centuries, was closed to the Indian public; One famous English historian collected Maratha chronicles and documents for his scientific work, processed them in the right spirit, and burned the originals. Here are also the thoughts of Ramachandra Pant, a prominent Maratha statesman and thinker, who wrote: “...These, in hats, strive 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 \u200b\u200b“progress” from England and other European countries as part of the Western model with 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, and the decline of economic and political organization in most of India by the time the British appeared.

The work used various methods of historical research: 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 allows us to compare certain stages of the influence of English colonialists on the development of 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 became part of the capitalist mode of production. At this time, the territorial boundaries of England's trade expanded, the volume of eastern trade increased sharply, and qualitative changes occurred in its structure.

The need to find markets and sources of cheap raw materials forced the British to actively engage in eastern trade. Having taken up this task, they also took into account the needs of neighboring states. It should be borne in mind that the cost of eastern goods increased when transported on English ships. Thus, transit trade played an important role in the rise of England. But to organize eastern trade it was necessary to adapt to the conditions of the Indian domestic market. English traders, eager to take over the trade of Indian merchants, faced 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 a 15-year monopoly on trade with the East founded the East India Company.

The English East India Company immediately included 215 members, of which over 50 were representatives of the largest companies. At the head of this company, which played a huge and fatal role in the oppression of the multi-million population of India, were the “governor” and a committee of 25 people chosen by the shareholders. The company received the right of monopoly (i.e., prohibited for all non-English members) trade with all countries lying from the Cape of Good Hope eastward to the Strait of Magellan, in other words, on all 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.

In England, the relationship of the East India Company with the authorities before the English bourgeois revolution of the mid-16th century. were of a complex nature. On the one hand, the company had to endure various claims of the early Stuarts (on its finances and privileges) and their neglect of its interests in the fight against the Dutch. On the other hand, the problems of the East India Company did not find sympathy from 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 activities 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 industrial goods and certain types of raw materials. However, 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 affairs abroad, expanding their privileges and supporting their claims to represent all of England in foreign trade .

However, the East India Company received its main privilege already during 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, initially, the East India Company already had a dual, political-economic (power-trading) nature: the monarchy delegated to it legislative, executive and judicial power over its subjects - the company's employees, as well as the right to conduct an independent foreign policy.

The period of the English Revolution 1640-1660. became the most dysfunctional in the history of the East India Company. Given the widespread unpopularity of any monopoly in society, the authorities (the Long Parliament, then Protector Cromwell) essentially refused to support the company. However, practice, and above all the successful competition of the Dutch East India Company, proved the need for 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 it a charter, which transformed it from a regulated company into a modern company with a permanent share capital. In essence, the new charter of the East India Company was an “eastern” addition to the Navigation Act of 1651, which heralded the beginning of mercantilism in England.

The late Stuarts had to reckon with the gains of the gentry and bourgeoisie in the revolution, and during the Restoration era (1660-1688) the East India Company gained powerful support from royal power - along with many privileges that essentially turned it 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 of admiralty jurisdiction, permission to mint coins in India). Constant real assistance from state authorities in confronting the East India Company with external (Dutch) and internal opponents was decisive for the company's successful trade at this time. However, by the end of the 17th century. As English manufacturing developed, the interests of the East India Company, which imported mainly Indian textiles, began to increasingly 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 Company's opponents 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, thanks to its strong economic position, the “old” East India Company essentially absorbed the “new” one, and the import ban did not significantly affect its trade due to the volume of re-exports to Europe.

In the first half of the 18th century. The relationship between the East India Company and the British state was mutually beneficial. The company became a constant source of large loans for the government, which is why it occupied one of the key places in the country's state credit system (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, Parliament continued to grant the company privileges that strengthened its status as a state-like organization. One of the most important of these was the legal opportunity for the East India Company to create a large land army. The need for this was dictated, first of all, by the growing by the middle of the 18th century. the struggle between Great Britain and France for world hegemony. In India, this struggle was waged in 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 as a humble petitioner for trade and some administrative benefits. The first segment of this era, the period of trading posts (1600s - 1690s), is characterized by the control of English activities on land by the authorities of large polities (the Mughal Empire, the Sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda). 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 thanks to the British military strength. In the Mughal Empire, they used pirate methods to "open" its ports to their ships, and the small 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 engage in 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 polities opposed the English naval lever of pressure with their own land lever and used it in the event of hostile actions by the British at sea and with the aim of extorting funds from them. Since it was costly for the East India Company to respond with a blockade each time, it preferred to negotiate; it also more often bought privileges than snatched them by force (especially since both of the company’s attempts to seriously talk to the Mughals in the language of force failed).

Changes in the nature of the relations of the East India Company with 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 move centers of trade with them beyond their borders. Only on the periphery of the empires was it possible to create fortified English enclaves (Madras, Bombay). The second segment of the era - the “period of forts” (1680s/1690s - 1740s) is characterized by the presence of such enclaves among the East India Company, and one of them appeared on the original Mughal territory - in Bengal (Calcutta). The transition to the second period was facilitated by 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 (presidential centers) 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 18th century. The East India Company shifted its focus 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 British positions led to their use of armed force on land in some cases. The most strikingly changing nature of the East India Company's relations with Indian polities is demonstrated by its relations with the weakest of them - the emporia of Malabar, where the British began to intervene in wars between the principalities. And yet, while still remaining primarily a commercial corporation, the East India Company as a whole followed its previous course of compromise with the authorities.

Thus, at the end of the 16th century in Europe, prices for goods that were delivered to Europe by sea from South and East Asia (East Indies) by the Portuguese and Dutch increased sharply. English merchants were interested in direct deliveries of overseas goods. But equipping naval 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 a tool for enriching the English metropolis at the expense of the fabulously rich Indian colonies .

3. The 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 ousted by a stronger competitor at that time - the Dutch East India Company, and the British moved their activities to India in 1609. The English East India Company lacked funds for intensive penetration into intra-Asian trade and for its expansion. Thus, 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 area of the Malay Archipelago and the Spice Islands. The average profit during that period, taking into account all kinds of losses, was 200% for each share. The British were able to make such huge profits from the first steps of penetrating India because their activities in the field of trade bordered on piracy (net profit during the first half of the 17th century amounted to more than 100%).

Indian goods sold in the Moluccas yielded 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 out a single pound from England, could receive and send home from 5 to 30 thousand pounds sterling in 5-6 years of trade. Agents of the English East India Company made huge profits from the sale of Indian goods in England. Anglo-Indian trade developed quite quickly over the following years - from 1611 to 1620. the average profit was 138% (sometimes reaching 234%). In 1617 the company had a profit of £1 million on a capital of £200,000. Obviously, compared to 1600 - 1610. There has been a significant increase in England's trading activity. Over 20 years of trade with India, according to the company’s report, goods worth five times less were exported from the country than imported. For example, in 1620, the sale of each piece of Indian fabric in England gave a profit of 300%, a pound of cloves or nutmeg - 800-900%, and this despite the fact that the English absolute monarchy adhered to the classical system of protectionism.

The booming illegal trade also contributed to the rapid growth of trade in the region. Sources dating back to the first third of the 17th century speak of a significant expansion of the widely practiced English “private” trade. The sailors of English ships brought either money or goods (swords, knives, glass, etc.) to India to exchange for Indian goods, and bought mainly high-quality Indian fabrics. Thus, every ship bound for England was loaded with goods that belonged not only to the company, but also to private individuals. In addition, many merchants who participated in Indian trade sent home with 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 herbs and spices were delivered in large quantities and where English and Indian goods could be sold at very competitive prices. The arrival of new ships from England under the command of J. Bickley in early October 1619 and the return of the Lion ship from Moha after a successful voyage, 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 raised the issue of trade in the Red Sea basin and began organizing regular flights. The leaders of the trading post appealed to the directorate with a request to send new ships for use in trade between India and the ports of the Red Sea. Indian authorities and local merchants warned the British against further export of Indian goods to the Red Sea ports. Moreover, Indian merchants resisted the British attempt to load ships under Bickley's command. Thus, the ships that delivered the main cargo for shipment to the Red Sea ports were confiscated by local authorities and sent to Rander. The British desire to conduct trade in the Red Sea basin was also dictated by the demand of the company's directorate for a significant expansion of the supply of cotton fabrics and food products from those places where prices were lowest. Since Surat could no longer fully satisfy England’s needs for 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 in large quantities from neighboring areas. The regions of Samana, located at a short distance from Agra, and the region of Patna, the capital of Bihar, are beginning to attract particular interest.

In order to obtain as much profit as possible, the British sought to penetrate into the interior of the country, since the goods delivered from Agra to Surat were almost twice as expensive as those exported from the interior regions 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 the trade. Representatives of the Mughal administration - the governors of Surat, Broch, and Ahmedabad - also participated in trade transactions and operations. Large Gujarati merchants acted as intermediaries between the British, artisans and local traders, lending significant sums of money, expecting protection from the Mughal authorities in return.

Thus, a comprador layer 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, Kashmiri fabrics from Lahore, muslin and taffeta from Bengal, etc. The main item of export was what was produced locally, directly in Gujarat: fabrics, white and printed, which were famous throughout the Middle East. In the first quarter of the 17th century. Hindustan is turning into an arena of 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 powerful enemy as India had never known before.

Having experience and some free capital, the British quickly got used to the new political situation in Europe and actively became involved in ocean trade. Trade in the countries of the East brought huge profits to London merchants. Purchasing goods in India was three times cheaper than in Turkey. The English East India Company traded Indian goods in Turkey, London, Genoa, the Netherlands, Marseilles, and 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 taking into account their 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 representatives of the authorities of Gujarat and Surat and the English East India Company. According to this treaty, 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 guaranteed the safety of the British and their trade in the territory of the empire (compensating for losses even in the event of Portuguese conquests); duties are set at 3.5% of the value of goods imported and exported by the British; within three days after the arrival of the company's ships, the English can trade on 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 Mohi traders; Mildton actually engaged in robbery and later forcibly forced Indian merchants to buy up English goods). The agreement also stipulated 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 began.

In 1612, the fleet of the English East India Company arrived in Surat under the command of T. Best, who, almost in an ultimatum form, demanded that the British be given trading privileges and the right to create 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 reach an agreement with 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 Portugal's trade and colonial policy. On November 29, 1612, a naval battle began - 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 the trading post and in 1613 became its first president. Leaving Surat in February 1613, Best, the victor 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 significant income to the company.

The British desire 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. Soon it 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, on board which were 3.5 thousand Europeans, 6 thousand local soldiers, 250 guns. Downton's four merchant ships had only 400 sailors and 80 guns. For a month, the British repulsed the attacks of the Portuguese and on February 11, 1615, the Portuguese fleet, heavily damaged, raised sails and went south. Although it is difficult to talk about Downton’s victory in purely military terms, the collapse of the Portuguese “battle efforts” was obvious: the prestige of the Portuguese fell sharply. The Second Battle of Swally in 1615, as the event is sometimes called, played a major role in the struggle of 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 Portuguese dominance was a thing of the past, and new contenders came to replace them.

The united French East India Company was founded in 1611, the Royal Danish East India Company in 1616, and the Scottish East India Company in 1617. Their appearance further contributed to the activation of British diplomacy. In 1612, two English ambassadors, P. Canning and W. Edward, on behalf of James I, met with Emperor Jahangir and conveyed to 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 converted into a joint stock company. In October 1612, Shah Safi, the ruler of Ahmedabad, and Best signed a treaty under which the English East India Company was allowed to establish trade relations with Gujarat. And already in the spring of 1613, Canning presented new letters to Emperor Jahangir in Agra with a request to expand England's trade presence in India.

The conclusion of agreements with Asian rulers, practically unfamiliar with the treaty system, drew these countries into the system of emerging international relations of a legal order, which created, on the one hand, additional difficulties in relations between England and the Mughal Empire, and on the other, the Mughal authorities thereby avoiding 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 17th century. An attempt was made to regulate Anglo-Dutch relations on a contractual basis. Trade and political contradictions that arose between these two countries have repeatedly led to major conflicts. The Dutch tried their best to seize 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 is noteworthy. Former employees and merchants of the Dutch United Company often acted as guides for the British and leaders of English expeditions. For example, Peter William van Elbing, under an assumed name, led an English expedition in 1611-1615. .

In 1616, an English fleet of five ships managed not only to obtain a large cargo of spices from Molluca in exchange for weapons and food, but also to take possession of the island of Pulu Run in the Banad archipelago. The Dutch failed to dislodge the British who were entrenched on the approaches to the Spice Islands. In Yamatra and especially in Bantam, the Dutch encountered the growing activity of the British. In the capital Banatam, competition between them more than once took the form of armed clashes. 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 things did not come to this, an agreement was concluded for 20 years on joint actions in India. Under this agreement, both companies remained independent, but received equal freedom of trade in all Indian ports. Price setting and purchasing had to be done in concert. Both companies retained all the shopping centers seized by the time of the agreement in India. All further conquests were to become the joint property of both companies. Thus, the English and Dutch companies were connected by common interests in the fight against the Portuguese. Driven out of Indonesia, the latter were still very strong in India.

How it all began

On April 1, 1664, Charpentier, a future academician of the French Academy of Sciences and protégé of Jean Baptiste Colbert, presented King Louis XIV with a 57-page memoir entitled "Note from Your Majesty's loyal subject on the establishment of a French trading company in India, useful to all Frenchmen". Louis greeted the offering favorably, 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. At it, one of the merchants, Mr. Faverol, voiced some provisions on the creation of his own East India Company in France.

Naturally, this speech was approved by the king and Colbert, because they were the ones who stood behind Faverolles. Further confirmation of this is the presence at the meeting of Messire de Berrier, one of the secretaries of the royal council, and the already mentioned Charpentier. The result of the merchant meeting was the sending of 9 delegates to the king on May 26, 1664 with a request to organize the East India Company on the model 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 familiarize himself 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 more than three hundred Parisian merchants gathered under the threat of possible disgrace in case of failure to appear. This time, royal conditions were announced - Louis proposed to fix the authorized capital of the new company at 15 million livres, which must be contributed 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 said that he agreed to contribute 300 thousand livres each time in the event that private shareholders contributed an amount of 400 thousand.

It was determined that the company would be managed by 12 directors, who would be selected from among shareholders holding shares of more than 20 thousand livres. Investors who have contributed more than 6 thousand livres will have the right to vote.

In August "The King's Declaration Establishing the East India Company" was introduced into the Paris Parliament, and on September 1 it was solemnly tested (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; declare war or peace on them, or carry out any other actions aimed at strengthening and expanding French trade.

Article 37. The above mentioned 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 engage in trade and navigation in the above-mentioned waters, while at the same time protecting any French vessels in this region, for which purpose it is allowed to requisition or seize the ships, supplies, and weapons necessary to the protection of our trade and our subjects.

Article 38. All lands and islands discovered by the company's ships will forever remain in its possession. Justice and Seigneurial Rights on company lands are administered by company representatives. In turn, the French King has the Right of Seigneur over the mines, gold deposits, money and jewelry, as well as any other minerals owned by the company. The King promises to use the Right of Seigneur 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 all and sundry, to use the force of arms in support of the Company's freedom of trade and navigation; remove the causes of any hardship or mistreatment by anyone; to accompany the company's ships and cargo at our expense with as many warships as the company needs, and not only off the coast of Europe or Africa, 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 the coat of arms. On the azure field was a golden lily (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 bloom 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 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 goods imported. 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 the matter was not without distortions. Members of the courts and masters of enterprises, under the threat of disgrace, were forced to bring money to the company. In the provinces, intendants used completely illegal methods of collecting shares. For example, in Auvergne, the sur-intendent locked all wealthy townspeople in prison and released only those who signed promissory notes in favor of the company.

A separate issue was the choice of the OIC headquarters. At first it was located in Norman Le Havre, where Louis ordered the construction of a rope production and a steam room for hemp cables. The board was then moved to 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 Duke of La Melière’s Company, popularly nicknamed the Orientals, had long been rotting. It was also decided to name the shipyard Eastern (L’Orient), hence the history of the glorious city of Lorient began.

Maiden voyage

In addition to the crews, the ships carried an additional 230 sailors and 288 colonists, who were planned to be landed in Madagascar. Among the settlers were Monsieur de Bosset, chairman of the Council of Eastern France (as they planned to name the future colony), his secretary, Sir Suchot de Renefort, and the lieutenant of the colony, Montaubon. It was these three people who were supposed to represent the power in the colony.

The organization of the expedition cost the OIC investors 500 thousand livres, including equipping ships, purchasing goods and provisions for the colonists.

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

Madagascar map

On July 14, the crew of the Saint-Paul landed on 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, Chapmargu became the head of the local militia, de Renefort became the secretary (scribe), and Montaubon became the chief judge. About 60 colonists were left in Fort-Dauphine, and the ships sailed to the island of Bourbon (modern name - 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. Then the ships separated. "Saint-Paul" headed for the northwestern coast of Madagascar, intending to then reach 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 Gallard, founded in 1642 by French merchants, where he found only two colonists (the rest had died by that time). They left 18 colonists (6 of them women) at the fort and headed for the island of Santa Maria, and then sailed back to Fort Dauphine.

The Thoreau crashed onto the rocks of Bourbon Island in November 1664; only 12 of its 63 crew members survived. The next day, the Vierge de Bon Port, which appeared off the island, picked up the survivors. Together with Toro, goods worth 100 thousand livres were lost (mainly sugar loaves, 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 overflowing with goods was already ready to head home, but the French 120-ton boat "St. Louis", which, 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 all the way to the shores of Brazil, to Pernambuco, where he stayed until 1666), and the captain of “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 Vierge de Bon-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. Excerpt from the Orange report »:

"On the 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 Sir de La Chesnay from Saint-Malo. The declared value of the cargo is 100 thousand pounds sterling.”.

The British boarded the OIC ship, overloaded all the valuables, and sank the ship itself. Of the 120 people in the Vierge de Bon-Port crew, 36 people drowned (the English privateer, loaded to the brim with goods, refused to take them on board). During the boarding, 2 more people were killed, 33 French (including the captain) were captured. The rest were released by the British on a boat. Captain La Chenay died in captivity on the Isle of Wight, and Secretary de Renefort (who had sailed 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 take place three months after the declaration was approved by Parliament, that is, 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 early March 1665 due to the reluctance of the merchants to participate in the affairs of the new company. By January, 6 million 800 thousand livres were hardly collected for the authorized fund (including 3 million 300 thousand allocated by the king). At the same time, many French people who contributed their shares refused to contribute additional money, “preferring to lose what was already given than to throw away some more money on an absolutely meaningless undertaking”. Nevertheless, on March 20, the king managed to assemble an assembly. 104 shareholders (who contributed more than 20 thousand livres) applied for the seats of 12 directors.

The 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 the director, from the financiers - the already familiar sir de Berrieux, from the merchants - Enfen, Poquelin the Father, Cado, Langlois, Jabash, Bachelier, Eren de Fay, Chanlatte and Warren. It was decided to open six separate representative offices (chambers) of the company in Paris, Rouen, Bordeaux, Le Havre, Lyon and Nantes.

The directors received the task before May to consider 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 a strong blow to the shareholders was the death of the Vierge de Bon Port ship in the summer of 1666, along with valuables worth 2 million 500 thousand livres. As a result, instead of 2 million 700 thousand livres, only 626 thousand livres were collected from investors. The main burden of the equipment of the second expedition again fell on the royal treasury.

The new squadron consisted of 10 ships:

Ship	Tonnage, t	Cannons	Commander
Saint-Jean-Baptist

François de Lopi, 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 division of the Chevalier de Rocher, consisting of the ships Ruby, Beaufort, Mercure and Infant.

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

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 leaders of the expedition were seriously afraid of attacks by the British (the second Anglo-Dutch War was underway, 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 to repair the ship with the help of the Portuguese. On July 25, he arrived in Pernambuco, where he stayed until November 2 (there the expedition discovered the Saint-Jacques, which had been strayed during the first expedition, which was mentioned earlier). The convoy headed across the stormy Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope.

Only on March 10, 1667, ships appeared in the Fort-Dauphin roadstead, where 5 women were landed. The expedition found this colony in a terrible state. The colonists are almost out of supplies. At the same time, the long journey of the convoy to the Indian Ocean played a cruel joke on Mondeverg - all the supplies on the ships were also eaten, and in Brazil they could not be replenished 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 in Fort-Dauphine met with 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 run out. The settlers had no choice but to steal livestock 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 a speedy movement to India, where the crews could replenish provisions, and the merchants could purchase scarce goods that would recoup the expenses of the expedition. Mondevergues nevertheless decided to stay in Fort-Dauphine to "to restore order in the colony". With the help 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 to purchase cattle and wheat from the Malagasy, and he banned most of the cows and pigs from being put under the knife, creating the first cattle yards in Fort-Dauphine.

Madagascan city of Tolanaro (formerly Fort-Dauphine)

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

In the fall of 1667, another ship of the company arrived in Fort-Dauphine - the cargo flute "Coronne" under the command of Markar Avansha, a Persian by nationality. Since the ship arrived quite quickly (it left France in March 1667), it had an excess of provisions. It was immediately requisitioned by Mondeverg for the needs of the colony. Avanchy tried to be indignant, but after the Marquis hinted to the native of Ispagan that the gallows was crying for him, he ordered the supplies to be unloaded.

On October 27, 1667, Caron and Avenchy set sail for India on the ships Saint-Jean-de-Baptiste and Saint-Denis. On December 24, they entered the roadstead of Cochin (a city in southwest India, at the time described a Dutch colony), where they were well received. Then the ships headed for Surat, and then went to Suali. There was brisk trade in all cities - the Saint-Jean-de-Baptiste had a noticeable decrease in gold, but the ship was full of brocade, pearls, diamonds, emeralds, Indian fabric, 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 at the roadstead of the Madagascar colony in May, where it unloaded food and livestock, which were purchased by the prudent Dutchman. On June 21, 1668, Saint-Jean-de-Baptiste headed home.

English trading post in Surat, 1668

Fort-Dauphine, thanks to the energetic actions of the Marquis of Mondeverg, recovered a little, but was still in a terrible state. Meanwhile, the second detachment under the leadership of Fay was waiting for ships from France (the imminent arrival of which was reported by Avanshi) in order to also go to India. Two ships of the Company - "Aigle d'Or" and "Force", which left Port-Louis on March 20, 1668, appeared in 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-Dauphine for India on August 12, 1669 (“Coronne,” which carried Caron, the “Saint-Jean” and the frigate “Mazarin” to Fort-Dauphine). These ships sailed along the Madagascar coast, encountered a strong storm near the northern part of the Mozambique Channel and appeared in the Surat roadstead only on September 23, 1669.

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

As for Fort-Dauphine, the frigate Saint-Paul, which 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 not satisfied with the service you provided me while commanding 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 will be merciful to you.

LouisXIV, King of France.

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

On February 9, 1671, Mondeverg finally sailed for his homeland. On July 22, “Maria” dropped anchor in the Groix roadstead (Isles of the Cardinals in Brittany). The marquis, who came ashore in the name of the king, was arrested by the lieutenant of the La Grange musketeers. The accused was taken to the castle of Saumur, where he died on January 23, 1672.

Time to collect stones

Immediately after the departure of Mondeverga's expedition, the company's shareholders began to count losses. The directors noted that they had spent significant sums on arming and supplying expeditions with goods, but the return was still not visible. The mistrust was so general that with difficulty 78,333 livres were collected instead of the planned 2 million 100 thousand. And at this critical moment, bad news came one after another. First, the shareholders were stunned by the death of the ship Vierge de Bon Port, then news came from Brazil, where the unfortunate Mondevergue had landed. Meanwhile, 1666 was approaching, and with it the payment of the third installment by shareholders.

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

The company's tangible assets at that time amounted to 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 thousand livres in goods at Port-Louis and Le Havre;
60 thousand feet of ropes and spare parts for rigging in Le Havre;
£473,000raw hemp;
100 anchors of different weights;
229 guns of various calibers;
72,560 alder logs;
289 masts in different ports of France.

The king, having familiarized himself with the state of affairs of the OIC, gathered the shareholders for an audience, where he persuaded them to move on. “You can’t quit halfway. I, as one of the shareholders, also suffer losses, but with such assets we can try to get our money back.". However, at the beginning of 1668, even the king began to be overwhelmed by doubts about the correctness of the chosen path.

French latifundia in the colonies

Finally, on March 20, 1668, news came from Caron, who reported that the first expedition had successfully reached India, the trade was quite successful, the average rate of profit on transactions was 60%. The letter also described 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 shareholders to pay off the most pressing debts.

At the same time, Louis had a serious conversation with Colbert about future financing of the company. The king recalled that he had already invested more than 7 million livres in the business, and for five years they had not received any, even the smallest, profit. Louis quite reasonably asked: is there any point in maintaining the ruined Fort-Dauphine, which does not bring any profit? Maybe it makes sense to move the colony directly to Surat? This conversation made Colbert A 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 arrived at the Port-Louis roadstead. According to reports, the total value of the goods brought was 2,796,650 livres, of which 84 thousand were paid as excise taxes, and the king deigned to pay 10 percent to shareholders as profit of the enterprise.

This event provoked a sharp increase in those wishing to join the ranks of shareholders; in three months more money was collected than in the previous 5 years. Now the merchants praised the foresight of Colbert and the king, and money began to flow 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 there were warehouses belonging to the de La Melière company. Colbert managed to buy them back for 120 thousand livres, of which 20 thousand livres went to the shareholders, who had gone bankrupt by that time, and 100 thousand to the head of the company, Duke Mazarin. The latter was also offered to become a preferred shareholder of the new company.

The sandy beach provided by the OIC formed a sort 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, which prevented the Charente and Blavais from merging into one river, an arsenal and several coastal batteries were located.

Lorian, 1678

Denny Langlois, one of the company's general directors, was sent to Port Louis and the eastern warehouses to take them under the OIC's hand. This was strongly opposed by the local lords - Prince Guemene and Seneschal Paul du Vergis d'Henebon, but with the help of Colbert Langlois, he managed to come to an agreement with them, paying compensation of 1207 pistoles. On August 31, Sir 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 experiment. 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 - Lorient - appeared later, around 1669. Until this time, the place owned by the company was called "lie l'Oryan" (Eastern place) or "l'Oryan de Port-Louis" (that is, eastern Port-Louis).

By the beginning of the 17th century, all convenient routes to India and trade with the colonies that lay along this route were under the jurisdiction of the Iberian (Spanish-Portuguese) Union. And Britain, naturally, was not happy with this. Of course, it was possible to start another war the old fashioned way, but the British acted more cunningly.

Trade campaign instead of war

Both the Portuguese and the Spanish exploited the natives under the same system: trade was carried out exclusively by the government, so cargo could only be transported on government ships, for which large fees were charged. At the same time, there were few ships, and in the metropolis itself, goods could only be stored in expensive government warehouses. As a result, Europe's needs were not met, and prices for colonial goods were greatly inflated.

The new naval powers of Holland, France and England wanted to change the established order, but getting involved in a war was not part of their plans. Monarchies preferred to place matters in the hands of their subjects, endowing them with broad powers for the time being and supporting them with military forces. So the East India Company arose first in England (1600), then in Holland (1602) and in France (1664). Of course, there were significantly more people willing to take a bite of the Indian pie, but it was these three powers that waged the main struggle.

The French left India already in 1769 after a clash with the British East India Company. The Dutch company managed to become the richest in 1669 and oust the Portuguese and English from Indonesia, but about a hundred years later lost the war to the British Empire and eventually declared bankruptcy in 1798.

The English (and later British) East India Company, established by Elizabeth I with the right of monopoly trade in the entire eastern space (from the Cape of Good Hope to the Strait of Magellan), existed for almost 300 years (until 1874), until it came under the full control of the British crowns As a result, all Anglo-Saxon crimes in the colonies are now associated not with the British Empire, but with the East India Company. A very advantageous position.

Crime one: robbery

The British East India Company became a safe means of expansion for the British. The expansion of the zone of influence was carried out in different formats: Indian princes could conduct their activities only with the knowledge of the company, and the Indians supported the British army, for which the East India Company kindly protected the indigenous population. The princes were allowed not to pay subsidies only if the British were given the authority to collect taxes from the princely lands. However, here the British government was cunning and took away lands for “mismanagement” or non-payment of taxes. For refusing to fulfill the subsidiary agreement, the Indian prince was threatened with war.

In general, after conquering most of India, in just 15 years the British exported wealth worth about a billion pounds sterling. The money received by the East India Company went towards loans for British parliamentarians, hence the loyalty on the part of Parliament.

Now we know at whose expense and with what money the industrial revolution was carried out in England.

Crime two: genocide

The leadership of the East India Company was very well versed in India's internal conflicts and understood that they were weakening the unity of the country. The British also knew about the high level of development of crafts and trade, primarily in Bengal. Therefore, it is not surprising that in order to expand the scale of production, the company's army under the leadership of Robert Clive attacked Bengali territory.

Having won, the East India Company immediately appropriated all the money and jewelry from the treasury of the conquered country. This once again increased her capital and allowed her to engage in even larger trading operations.

In Bengal, the company, pursuing the same goals of increasing profits, distributed local artisans among all the possessions of the British and forced them to sell their products at reduced prices, which, by the way, did not relieve the population from paying increased taxes.

The terrible result of such a destructive policy was the death of millions of Bengalis. In 1769-1770 Between 7 and 10 million people died from malnutrition, and ten years later, when the situation worsened again, famine claimed the lives of several million more.

The activities of the British East India Company only contributed to the degradation of the Indians: they went bankrupt, their traditional crafts died out, and agriculture fell into decline. In total, 40 million local residents died during the company's dominance in India.

Crime Three: Opium Wars

However, the British East India Company destroyed not only India and its indigenous population.

In 1711, the company established its trade office in Guangzhou, China, to purchase tea. However, it soon became unprofitable to buy anything with silver from competitors in Asia. And then the East India Company founded the “Chinese Inland Mission,” which pursued the not at all noble mission of addicting Chinese peasants to opium, the plantations of which were cultivated in Bengal, which had been captured by the company.

As a result of the propaganda of opium smoking in China, a huge sales market appeared, which was filled by the British East India Company. In 1799, the Chinese government banned the import of opium, but the company continued to smuggle it in at a rate of 900 tons per year. When, by the end of the 1830s, the imperial court was frightened by the fact that even law enforcement officers were already using the drug, and the supply of opium amounted to 1,400 tons per year, the death penalty was introduced for smuggling.

After destroying a shipment of 1,188 tons of opium (1839), the Chinese governor offered the British a deal: tea in exchange for voluntarily surrendering the drug. Many agreed, and each signed a statement that he would no longer trade opium in China.

The drug trafficking scheme began to collapse, which affected the interests of not only individuals, but the entire British Empire. The decrease in English purses was the reason for the outbreak of the First Opium War, as a result of which the import of the drug was legalized, and the degradation and large-scale extinction of the Chinese population continued.