The English East India Company in British Colonial History (1599-1833): Trading Company - Territorial Power by Désirée Marie Baumann - 2007

Die Blaue Eule, 2007. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. Scarce paperback, 145 pages, b&w maps and colour images in text. Interior is clean and bright throughout with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Covers show faint shelfworn marks, moderate rubbing to edges. Spine remains free of creases. -- "Even today, more than hundred-seventy years after its dissolution, the English East India Company is still well known for having been the most flourishing and prosperous of all European trading companies in Asia. However, while generally pursuing the interests of a trader, the Company gradually transformed into a territorial power which built fortified bases on Indian soil, maintained its own independent army, fought pirates and finally even took possession of Indian provinces former ruled by native kings. In short, during the two-hundred-thirty-four years of its existence, the East India Company developed from an English merchant organisation, aiming at securing its monopoly privileges, into a sovereign power which ultimately paved the way for the transformation of the Indian subcontinent into a British crown colony. Thus, the story of the East India Company represents a chapter of English economic and colonial history that had a major impact on the formation of the British Empire." -- Contents: 1. Introduction 2. England and European Competition during the Sixteenth Century [Colonialism with Special Regard to England's Ambitions; European Rival Companies] 3. The Early Years of the Great Trading Company [Founding Fathers of the East India Company; First Success and Optimism; EIC during the Civil War (1642-1649) and Consequences of the Charter granted by Cromwell 4. The East India Company: Most Successful Trading Company (1657-1709) [Prosperity and Royal Support; A Monopoly under Attack; Domestic Changes on the Indian Subcontinent; Dowgate Adventurers and the Formation of a New EIC (1702)] 5. Transformation into a Territorial Power (1709-1773) [Stability at Home, Interlopers and Pirates Abroad; Growing European Influence on the Indian Subcontinent; Robert Clive and the Consequences of the Battle of Plassey (1757); Contradictory Reactions from London] 6. Administrative Duties Replace Monopoly Privileges (1773-1833) [Lord North's Regulating Act; Company Policy in India under Governor-General Warren Hastings; Pitt's India Act (1784) and Wellesley's Expansion Politics; Decline of the East India Company] 7. Conclusion: The Achievements of the East India Company and the Inevitability of its Downfall; Bibliography; List of Illustrations; List of Maps; Appendix [Charter Granted by Queen Elizabeth to the East India Company, 1600; John Burnell's Account of Bombay, 1710; Robert Orme's Account of the Battle of Plassey, 1757; Lord North's Regulating Act, 1773; Pitt's India Act, 1784; Petition of the Merchants of London, Respecting Commercial Restrictions, 1820]