, the British East India Company) was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies
, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent
and China
. The Company was granted an English Royal Charter
, under the name Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies, by Elizabeth I
on 31 December 1600, making it the oldest among several similarly formed European East India Companies
, the largest of which was the Dutch East India Company
.
1600 The British East India Company is chartered.
1639 Madras (now Chennai), India, is founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak rulers.
1773 The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
1773 Just before the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, several of the British East India Company's tea ships are set ablaze at the old seaport of Annapolis, Maryland.
1803 Second Anglo-Maratha War: Battle of Assaye between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.
1806 The Vellore Mutiny is the first instance of a mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company.
1839 The British East India Company captures Aden.
1842 Dr. William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 4,500 men and 12,000 camp followers when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad.
1856 The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company after a peaceful abdication of Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh.
1857 The British East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British and is considered to be the First Martyr in the War of Indian Independence.