Figure 1.--Lord Corwallis besiged by the Ameticans and French at Yorktown, Virginia lost America forBritain--surely the greatest loss in British history. He had greater success in India and conducted a seige of his own. During the 3rd Mysore War (1790-92) which threatened the BEIC hold on India, a British force under Lieutenant-General Lord Cornwallis, Governor-General of India, with a largely BEIC Army managed to besiege Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore, at his well fortified island capital of Seringapatam. Britain with the new French Republic crerating chaos in Europe was in no position to send a large army to India. Rather a relatively small force under Cornewallis reinforced the BEIC army made up of many Seapoys. Tipu was forced to make peaceand had to cede a large part of his kingdom as well as making a substantial financial reparation to the BEIC. Cornwallis also demanded two of Tipu's sons as hostages to ensure that Tipu kept his word (1792). The young Princes Abdul Khaliq (10 hyerars old) and Mohin-ud-din (8 years old), left their father's city in impressive pincely fashion, mounted on elephants in a procession led by camels, standard bearers, and a uniformed escort guard. They were formally received by Cornwallis with a 21-gun salute, an honor usually reservd for heads of state. TCorweallis presente the boys a gold watch. In return, they young princes gave him a fine Persian sword. Tipu aftr meeting his commitments got his sons back 2 years later after meeting his treaty commitments (1794). The artist was Robert Home painted at about the time the event actually took place.

"They were much more than the name suggests. Not just a company, but actually a whole semi-govrernmental organiation in their own right."

-- Prof Rana Mitter, University of Oxford

English merchants began trading in India (early-17th century) well before Britain and the United Kingdom was created. The British were especially active in the northeast--Bengal. The other European powers were also active. Some of them actually seized territories like the Portuguese in Goa. The once mighty Mughal Empire unraveled as the Europeans expanded their control. Eventually the struggle for India fell to a military struggle between Britain and France. The struggle for the most part was a commercial one, although military adventure was not unknown. Britain at first estblished control of India and then governed India through the East India Company, a private company chartered by the Crown. The British East India Company (BEIC) began as a purely political enterprise, but metamorphosed in to a political entity at first in Bengal. The BEIC gradually expanded its control through a combination of commercial influence, military action, and power-brokering. The BEIC co-opted both the Mughal revenue and administrative system. 【Bellenoit】 The Seven Years War (1756-63) in Europe led to perhaps the first world war pitting England and France. This involved the French and Indian War in North America and the struggle for India in Asia along with naval engagements around the world. The turning pont in this struggle was the battle Plassey / Palashi (1757). Despite its importance, the battle was fought by a very small number of soldiers. The British East India Company (BEIC) fielded an army of about 3,000 men against the forces of the young Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud Daulah, and the French East India Company totaling about 5,000 men. The battle began (June 23, 1757). The Nawab's commanders allowed rain to spoil the gun powder for their cannons. The British with more experience protected their gun powder. The British were thus able to emerge victorious. The Nawab lost over 500 men while the British lost only 22 men. The British forced the Nawab to pay an indemnity of $5 million from his treasury. The lesser known Battle of Buxar was probably even more important (1764). This proved important in financing the East India Company further expansion. The East India Company conducted trade in cotton, silk, tea, opium, and other products. And after Plassey it used its growing military power to expand control over more of India. Fielding armies is an expensive undertaking. Once in control, the BEIC could use taxation to generate income in addition to profits from trading. The BEIC was run entirely by British civilians and soldiers. High taxes proved a burden on the Bengalis and was a factor in a terrible famine (1770-73). Some estimates suggest that 10 million Indians may have died from hunger and disease. That was about a third of the population of Bengal at the time. The war with France also led to higher taxes in North America and eventually the Revolution. The tea spilled into Boston harbor was BEIC tea. The loss of the American colonies led to a reappraisal of colonial policies in Britain, especially after the Napoleonic Wars, the final round of the centuries old struggle with France. The BEIC operations had less impact as company activities were not a matter of public record and the subject people were not English speaking Britons. The BEIC became basically a tax collecting entity. They essentially concocted a system by which the Indian masses financed their own subjugation. It was the first and perhaps the greatest of all multi-national corporations. 【Dalrymmple】

Sources

Bellenoit, Hsyden J. "A History of British India," The Great Courses.

Dalkrymple, William. The Anarchy (Bloomsbury Publishing, Sydney: 2019), 522p. This is a brilliant history of the Btitish East India Company, arguably the definitive history of the first and perhaps the greates of all multi-national corporations. The author explains that his book as a warning against the excesses of corporate greed. This we have no quarel with. Any instituirion which aquires power is a potential danger and needs to be monitored. But he goes on to claim that his book was relevant to modern timnes, claming that the Great Recession (2008-09) was caused by corprate greed. Corprations ceratainly played a role, but the root cause lay at the foot of Government. Federal Reserve interest rate policy was part of the cause. And the Federal Government's liberal policies, insisting that banks make loans to low income people who could not afford to pay home mortgages was the other root cause.

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Created: 11:42 PM 9/21/2025
Last updated: 11:42 PM 9/21/2025