English East India Company

Timeline

1. 1600London · EnglandQueen Elizabeth I granted a royal charter giving the company a 15-year monopoly on East Indies trade; its full name was 'The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies', with 218 shareholders participating in the first fundraising.
2. 1601–1603Indian Ocean route · Indian OceanJames Lancaster led the first voyage, carrying the queen's letters to the Indian subcontinent, and successfully profited from Sumatra's pepper trade, laying the commercial foundation for East Indies trade.
3. 1608–1613Surat · IndiaThe company's agent William Hawkins arrived at the court of Mughal emperor Akbar, and in 1613 the company was permitted to establish its first permanent trading post at Surat, marking the formal beginning of British commercial presence on the Indian subcontinent.