East India College was founded in 1806 as a training centre for « writers » (i.e. employees) serving the company. It was originally located at Hertford Castle, but in 1809 it moved to purpose-built premises in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire. The college closed in 1858; but in 1862 the buildings were reopened as a public school, now Haileybury and Imperial Service College. The British East India Company, sometimes called the John Company, was a joint-stock company that received an English royal charter from Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600 with the intention of promoting commercial privileges in India. The royal charter granted the new The Honourable Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies (HEIC) a 15-year monopoly on all trade in the East Indies. The company grew from a commercial company to one that effectively dominated India when it assumed state and military auxiliary functions until its dissolution in 1858. Increasingly, the enterprise was forced to promote the material and moral progress of its Indian subjects, for while trade remained the main objective of the Empire, the British began to justify imperialism by speaking of a duty of « civilization » and « education. » However, the company`s servants were able to earn huge sums of money and were paid highly, while their colleagues at home received modest salaries. The utilitarian philosopher John Stuart Mill, who worked for the company, defended its record, arguing that it should continue to govern India because it was above partisan politics and devoted entirely to Indian affairs, while London was too far from India to manage properly. The company`s policy of annexing Indian states whose leaders it deemed « corrupt » (or when they refused to recognize a ruler`s heir) was one of the main causes of the revolt of 1857-1858. Technically, the company had always ruled as an agent of the Mughal emperor. The last emperor was deposed and exiled after nominally leading the revolt. After this anti-British rebellion (or the First Indian War of Independence), the British government decided that direct government would be more appropriate.
Corporate influence, with its fatal mix of power, money, and irresponsibility, is particularly strong and dangerous in fragile states where corporations are insufficiently or ineffectively regulated, and where the purchasing power of a large corporation can outbid or overwhelm an underfunded government. This seems to have been the case under the Congress government that governed India until last year. But, as we saw in London, the media can still bend to the influence of companies like HSBC – while Sir Malcolm Rifkind`s boast of opening British embassies in favour of Chinese companies shows that the link between business and politics is closer than ever. The region, encompassed by modern India, was destroyed after the decline of the Mughal Empire in the first half of the 18th century. It is the seat of the municipality of São Paulo. [15] Nadir Shah`s destruction of Mughal power and his removal from the funds that had financed it quickly led to the collapse of the empire. That same year, the French East India Company began minting its own coins, and soon, without anyone being able to stop them, the French and English drilled their own sepoys and militarized their operations. It didn`t take long for the EIC to cover the whole world. Almost single-handedly, it reversed the trade balance, which had led to a continuous exodus of Western gold bars eastward since Roman times.
The EIC transported opium to China and, in due course, waged the opium wars to seize an offshore base in Hong Kong and secure its profitable monopoly on drugs. In the West, he shipped Chinese tea to Massachusetts, where his spill into Boston Harbor sparked the American Revolutionary War. Prior to 1837, the East India Company Dominions in India did not have a universal public postal service shared by all regions. Although there are courier services that connect the larger cities to their respective provincial seats of government (i.e. the presidential cities of Fort William (Calcutta), Fort St. George (Madras) and Mumbai), individuals are allowed to use them sparingly for a fee. This situation changed in 1837, when Act XVII of the same year established a public office headed by the company`s government. Post offices were established and postmasters appointed in major cities.
Postmasters in presidential cities oversaw some provincial post offices and were responsible for major postal services between provinces. In contrast, district tax collectors (originally property tax collectors) managed district post offices, including their local postal services. The postal services required payment in cash, which had to be made in advance, with the amount charged generally varying according to weight and distance. For example, the charge of sending a letter from Calcutta to Bombay was a rupee; however, that from Calcutta to Agra was 12 Annas (or three-quarters of a rupee) for each tola (three-eighths of an ounce). [87] [88] The East India Company Military Seminary was founded in 1809 at Addiscombe, near Croydon, Surrey, to train young officers to serve in the Company`s armies in India. It was based in Addiscombe Place, an early 18th century mansion. The government took control of it in 1858 and renamed it the Royal Indian Military College. It was closed in 1861 and the site was later redeveloped. The Company Rule in India (sometimes Company Raj,[6] from Hindi: राज्, Romanized: rāj, lit. `rule`[7]) refers to the rule or rule of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. It is believed to have begun in 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, when the Nawab of Bengal transferred his estates to the Company,[8] in 1765, when the Company obtained the Diwani or the right to collect revenues in Bengal and Bihar,[9] or in 1773, when the Society established a capital at Calcutta.
He appointed the first governor general, Warren Hastings, and was directly involved in governance. [10] The rule lasted until 1858, when, after the Indian rebellion of 1857 and following the Government of India Act 1858, the British government assumed the task of directly administering India in the new British Raj.