- (The) East India Company
- East India Company, The,1. a British joint-stock company chartered in 1600 to trade with the East Indies. In the 1700's its conquests led to the organization of British India, and for a time it exercised sovereignty jointly with the crown. Its noncommercial functions were relinquished in 1858.2. the name of similar companies chartered in Denmark, Sweden, France, and Holland.
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an English company started in 1600 to develop trade in the East Indies (= the islands off the south-east coast of Asia, including Java and Borneo). By the 18th century it had its own army and political service, and was responsible for the ↑administration of parts of India. In the early 19th century the company founded the modern ↑Singapore, which became a British ↑colony in 1826. The East India Company continued to increase its power in India, but after the ↑Indian Mutiny in 1858 the British government took over its work there, and the company ceased to exist.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
