The East India Company, founded in 1600, was a dominant global trading corporation with a monopoly on British trade with the East. It played a crucial role in the global trade network, importing valuable goods like cotton, tea, and silk to Britain and significantly impacting global commerce.
The Company also engaged in the transatlantic slave trade and later turned to smuggling opium into China, leading to the Opium Wars with severe human and political consequences. By the late 18th century, the East India Company had established a powerful military presence, conquering and ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent. Its aggressive expansion and exploitative practices led to widespread unrest, culminating in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
After the rebellion, the British government assumed direct control over India, marking the end of the East India Company's rule and its complex legacy of trade, colonization, and conflict.