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Article: India
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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INDIA
The establishment of a colonial relationship between Britain and India through the medium of a trading company had a long gestation period of over a century and a half. The complete formalization of this relationship, with the British crown assuming direct responsibility for the Indian dominions, took yet another century.
It was on the last day of the year 1600 that a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I incorporated some 219 members under the title of The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies. This was the body that came to be known as the East India Company. The trade carried on by the company between Europe and Asia increased rapidly, and by ...