The East India Company (also known as the East India Trading Company, English East

India Company,[1] and, after the Treaty of Union, the British East India Company)[2] was an
early English joint-stock company[3] that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East
Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China. The oldest
among several similarly formed European East India Companies, 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.[4] After a rival English
company challenged its monopoly in the late 17th century, the two companies were merged in
1708 to form the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies,
commonly styled the Honourable East India Company,[5] and abbreviated, HEIC;[6] the
Company was colloquially referred to as John Company,[7] and in India as Company Bahadur
(Hindustani bahādur, "brave"/"authority").[8]

The East India Company traded mainly in cotton, silk, indigo dye, saltpetre, tea, and opium. The
Company also came to rule large areas of India, exercising military power and assuming
administrative functions, to the exclusion, gradually, of its commercial pursuits. Company rule in
India, which effectively began in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey, lasted until 1858, when,
following the events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and under the Government of India Act
1858, the British Crown assumed direct administration of India in the new British Raj. The
Company itself was finally dissolved on 1 January 1874, as a result of the East India Stock
Dividend Redemption Act.

The Company long held a privileged position in relation to the English, and later the British,
government. As a result, it was frequently granted special rights and privileges, including trade
monopolies and exemptions. These caused resentment among its competitors, who saw unfair
advantage in the Company's position. Despite this resentment, the Company remained a
powerful force for over 200 years.