| East India Company |
| The most important of the various East India companies, this company was a major force in the history of India for more than 200 years. The original charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, under the title of "The Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies". The company was granted a monopoly of trade in Asia, Africa, and America, with the formal restriction that it might not contest the prior trading rights of "any Christian prince". The company was managed by a governor and 24 directors chosen from its stockholders. In early voyages it penetrated as far as Japan, and in 1610 and 1611 its first factories, or trading posts, were established in India in the provinces of Madras and Bombay. Under a perpetual charter granted in 1609 by King James I, the company began to compete with the Dutch trading monopoly in the Malay Archipelago, but after the massacre of Amboina the company conceded to the Dutch the area that became known as the Netherlands East Indies. Its armed merchantmen, however, continued to attack Dutch, French, and Portuguese competitors. In 1650 and 1655 the company absorbed rival companies that had been incorporated under the Commonwealth and Protectorate by Oliver Cromwell. In 1657 Cromwell ordered it reorganized as the sole joint-stock company with rights to the Indian trade. In the reign of Charles II the company acquired sovereign rights in addition to its trading privileges. In 1689, with the establishment of administrative districts called presidencies in the Indian provinces of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, the company began its long rule in India. Silk, spices, cotton, and indigo were among the treasures brought back to Europe. It was continually harassed by traders who were not members of the company and were not licensed by the Crown to trade. In 1698, under a parliamentary ruling in favour of free trade, these private newcomers were able to set up a new company, called the New Company or English Company. The East India Company, however, bought control of this upstart, and in 1708 an act of Parliament amalgamated the two as "The United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies". The charter was renewed several times in the 18th century, each time with financial concessions to the Crown. The victories of Robert Clive, a company official, over the French at Arcot in 1751 and at Plassey in 1757 made the company the dominant power in India. All European rivalry vanished with the defeat of the French at Pondicherry in 1761. In 1773 the British government established a governor-generalship in India, thereby greatly decreasing administrative control by the company; however, its governor of Bengal, Warren Hastings, became the first governor-general of India. In 1784 the India Act created a department of the British government to exercise political, military, and financial control over the Indian affairs of the company, and for the next half century British control was extended over most of the subcontinent. In 1813 the company?s monopoly of the Indian trade was abolished, and in 1833 it lost its China trade monopoly. Its annual dividends of 10.5 per cent were made a fixed charge on Indian revenues. The company continued its administrative functions until the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859), a widespread revolt that began with the Indian soldiers in the company?s Bengal army. In 1858, by the Act for the Better Government of India, the Crown assumed all governmental responsibilities held by the company, and its 24,000-man military force was incorporated into the British army. The company was dissolved on January 1, 1874, when the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act came into effect. Motto: Auspicio Regis et Senatus Angliae = "By command of the King and Parliament of England". |
| Madras Presidency |
The Madras Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India. English trade was begun on the east coast of India in 1611. The first factory was at Mazulipatam and was maintained intermittently until modern times. Madras was founded in 1639 and Fort St. George was made the chief factory on the east coast in 1641. A mint was established at Fort St. George where coins of the style of Vijayanagar were struck. The Madras mint begun minting copper coins after the renovation. In 1689 silver fanams were authorized to be struck by the new Board of Directors. In 1692 the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb gave permission for Mughal type Rupees to be struck at Madras. These circulated locally and were also send to Bengal. The chief competition for the Madras coins were the Arcot Rupees. Some of the bulk coins from Madras were sent to the Nawabs mint to be made into Arcot Rupees. In 1742 the East India Company applied for and received permission to make their own Arcot Rupees. Coining operations ceased in Madras in 1869. Madras Presidency coins were produced from ca. 1660 to 1835. |
At its greatest extent, the presidency included much of southern India, including the present-day Indian State of Tamil Nadu, the Malabar region of North Kerala, Lakshadweep Islands, the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, Ganjam, Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangapur and Gajapati districts of southern Orissa and the Bellary, Dakshina Kannada, and Udupi districts of Karnataka. The presidency had its winter capital at Madras and summer capital at Ootacamund. In 1639, the English East India Company purchased the village of Madraspatnam and one year later it established the Agency of Fort St George, precursor of the Madras Presidency, although there had been Company factories at Machilipatnam and Armagon since the very early 17th century. The agency was upgraded to a Presidency in 1652 before once more reverting to its previous status in 1655. In 1684, it was re-elevated to a Presidency and Elihu Yale was appointed as President. In 1785, under the provisions of Pitt's India Act, Madras became one of three provinces established by the East India Company. Thereafter, the head of the area was styled "Governor" rather than "President" and became subordinate to the Governor-General in Calcutta, a title that would persist until 1947. Judicial, legislative and executive powers rested with the Governor who was assisted by a Council whose constitution was modified by reforms enacted in 1861, 1909, 1919 and 1935. Regular elections were conducted in Madras up to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. By 1908, the province comprised twenty-two districts, each under a District Collector, and it was further sub-divided into taluks and firqas with villages making up the smallest unit of administration. Following the Montague-Chelmsford reforms of 1919, Madras was the first province of British India to implement a system of dyarchy, and thereafter its Governor ruled alongside a Prime Minister. In the early decades of the 20th century, many significant contributors to the Indian independence movement came from Madras. With the advent of Indian independence on August 15, 1947, the Presidency was dissolved. Madras was later admitted as a state of the Indian Union at the inauguration of the Republic of India on January 26, 1950, and was reorganized in 1956. |