EAST INDIA COMPANIES OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES-[-Portuguese, English, French,dutch,danish, Swedish] 1587 TO 1857

EAST INDIA COMPANIES OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES-[-Portuguese, English, French,dutch,danish, Swedish] 1587 TO 1857

EUROPEANS CAME TO TRADE ;WHILE SOME LOOTED COLONIES

The Spaniards and the Portuguese founded, East India Company in 1587, the Dutch in 1595 were the first to start serious trading as monopolists under the Dutch East India Company, and then the English arrived in 1600 with their East India Company, followed in 1664-1719 by the French with their Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales, then 1719-20 Compagnie des Indes and in 1720-89 Compagnie Française des Indes. They were followed by the Danes, the Austrian and the American, all these are well known but little has been written so far about the Swedish East India Company of 1731-1813.

The Glorious Spices

Pepper	Cinnamon	Cloves	Nutmeg	Mace
(Kerala)	(Ceylon)	(Ternate & Tidore)	(Banda Islands)	(Banda Islands)

[1]East Indiacompany English

companyENGLISH

Company[english]

Former type	Public
Industry	International trade
Founded	1600
Defunct	1 January 1874
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom

Colonial India

The East Indiaman Repulse (1820)
Colonial India
Portuguese India	1510–1961
Dutch India	1605–1825
Danish India	1620–1869
French India	1759–1954
British India 1613–1947
East India Company	1612–1757
Company rule in India	1757–1857
British Raj	1858–1947
British rule in Burma	1824–1867
Princely states	1765–1947
Partition of India	1947
v · d · e

[2]Spanish East Indies

Spanish East Indies (Spanish: Indias Orientales Españolas) was a term used to describe Spanish territories in Asia-Pacific which lasted for three centuries (1565 to 1898). It encompassed the Philippine Islands, and its dependencies including the Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands, and for a period of time, parts of Formosa(Taiwan), Sabah, and parts of the Moluccas. From 1565 to 1821 these territories were part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain based in Mexico City, and after Mexican independence they were ruled directly from Madrid. Following the Spanish-American War in 1898, most of the islands were occupied by the United States while the remaining territories were sold to Germany during the German-Spanish Treaty of 1899. The King of Spain traditionally styled himself "King of the East and West Indies"

The galleons carried spices, porcelain, ivory, lacquerware, processed silk cloth gathered from both the Spice Islands, and Asia-Pacific, to be sold in the Americas, namely New Spain and Peru as well as in European markets. East Asia trading was primarily on a silver standard; the goods were mostly bought by Mexican silver. The cargoes were transported by land across Mexico to the port of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico, where they were loaded onto the Spanish treasure fleet bound for Spain. This route was the alternative to the trip west across the Indian Ocean, and around the Cape of Good Hope, which was reserved to Portugal according to the Treaty of Tordesillas. It also avoided stopping over at ports controlled by competing powers


nt
The Spaniards and the Portuguese founded, East India Company in 1587, the Dutch in 1595 were the first to start serious trading as monopolists under the Dutch East India Company, and then the English arrived in 1600 with their East India Company, followed in 1664-1719 by the French with their Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales, then 1719-20 Compagnie des Indes and in 1720-89 Compagnie Française des Indes. They were followed by the Danes, the Austrian and the American, all these are well known but little has been written so far about the Swedish East India Company of 1731-1813.

The extensive East Indies are subdivided into two sections (from a European perspective), archaically called Hither India and Further India. The first is the former British India, the second is modern Southeast Asia or the (ASEAN) Bloc.
Regions of the East Indies are sometimes known by the colonial empire they once belonged to, hence

, British East Indies refers to Malaysia,

the Dutch East Indies means Indonesia,

and Spanish East Indies means the Philippines.

Indias Orientales Españolas Spanish East Indies
Spanish colony
← 1565–1898 ↓
Flag Coat of arms
Map of the Spanish East Indies (19th century)
Capital	Cebu (1565-1571) Manila (1571-1898)
Language(s)	Spanish and native languages.
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Political structure	Colony
Monarch
- 1565-1598	Philip II
- 1896-1898	Alfonso XIII
Governor-General
- 1565-1572	Miguel López de Legazpi
- 1898	Diego de los Ríos
Historical era	Spanish colonization
- Colonization	April 27, 1565
- Treaty of Paris	December 10, 1898
Area
- 1877	300,000 km2(115,831 sq mi)
Population
- 1877 est.	5,567,685
Density	18.6 /km2 (48.1 /sq mi)
Currency	Peso fuerte
Preceded by Succeeded by Nw Spain Republic of Negros Repubic of Zamboanga First Philippine Republic United States German New Guinea

Indian subcontine

Spanish Galleon

Indian cultural sphere

Western New Guinea

British occupation of Manila

Spanish rule in the Philippines was briefly interrupted in 1762, when British troops captured the capital city of Manila during the Seven Years' War. The British, however, were unable to establish control over other areas of the Philippine Islands. Through the efforts of the Spanish lieutenant governor, Simón de Anda y Salazar, the remainder of the islands remained loyal to Spain. The British promised support for an uprising led first by Diego Silang and later by his wife Gabriela, but the British force never materialized. Under the peace settlement Manila was exchanged, along with British-occupied Havana, for Florida and Minorca. It was handed over to the Spanish authorities in April 1764.

Routes of early Spanish expeditions in the Philippines.

The Manila-Acapulco trade route started in 1568 and Spanish treasure fleets (white) and its eastwards rivals, the Portuguese India Armadas routes of 1498-1640 (blue)t took four months to sail across the Pacific Ocean from Manila to Acapulco, NavigatorUrdaneta was the first to sail the Pacific from east to west, establishing the maritime route from Asia to America in 1565, that lasted until 1815 .A total of 110 Manila galleons set sail in the 250 years of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade (1565 to 1815).

[3]Swedish East India Company

The Swedish East India Company (Swedish: Svenska Ostindiska Companiet orSOIC) was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company and grew to become the largest trading company in Sweden during the 18th century, though its European influence was marginal, until it folded in 1813
The first expedition

The driving force was the Scottish trader Colin Campbell, who had gained firsthand knowledge of the China trade as supercargo for the Ostend Company; he was knighted by the Swedish King and moved to Gothenburg to organise the first expedition. Campbell's reconstruction of his diary of the initial voyage, rediscovered in 1986, is a primary source. It sailed in 9 February 1732, as the vessel Friedericus Rex Sueciae, with Campbell onboard, also appointed ambassador to the Chinese court, accomanied by the Ulrica. The captain of Fredericus was Georg Herman af Trolle: both he and Campbell had previously visited China. Altogether the crew was around one hundred.

The expedition started well – the Cape of Good Hope was passed, the vessel arrived safely in Canton (Guangzhou), the main trading port in China at the time, in September 1732, after 181 sailing days, and trading was carried out successfully, over four months' time. Initially, the goods sought were spices; however on later voyages demand soon meant that porcelain and tea made up the bulk of the trade.

On its return, the vessel was stopped by the Dutch between Java and Sumatra, and brought to Batavia. Campbell protested and produced his papers, but the Dutch argued that they had suspected the vessel falsely flew the Swedish flag. The expedition was eventually released, but time was lost and the winds unfavourable. So many of the seamen died on route that the ship had to recruit Norwegian sailors upon reaching the coast of Norway.

On 27 August 1733 the vessel returned to Gothenburg, almost one and a half years after its departure. The voyage was a huge economic success, the auction bringing in some 900,000 Swedish riksdaler. The dividend paid was 25% of the capital invested.

The full scale replica East Indiaman Götheborg in Oslo, on 10 June 2005, for the centenary of the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden

The Swedish. East Indiaman Götheborg

Armoiries de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales[4][FRENCH EAST INDIA COMPANY]

Rue de la Compagnie. Pondicherry:-

g trade contacts with India and the east. In 1611 Louis XII granted monopoly to a company to pursue their quest, but did not achieve any progress. In 1664 Louis XIV granted another permission to start trade with India. The trade with India was a matter of prestige as the European politics was dominated by rivalries in the eighteenth century. In India Anglo French conflict started with the Austrian war of succession which ended in the seven years war. Pondicherry was the hub of French settlements. Other French factories and settlements were at Masulipatanam, Karikal, Mahi, Surat and Chandernagore. The struggle for establishing supremacy in trade resulted in wars between the English and the French in the Deccan. The first Carnatic war was fought between 1746-48. The second Carnatic war was fought between 1748-54 and the third Carnatic war was between 1758-63. This was the war that sealed the fateof the French possessions in India. Owing to Commercial superiority and better financial position, private ownership of the English company and support by the British government, the East India Company flourished in India. Superiority of the English officers, besides this the French continental preoccupations, the superior English navy and the impact of English domination in Bengal, the recall of Duplex and the blunders of Count de Lally contributed to the French failure in India. Thus the struggle for colonial supremacy resulted the English having overcome the European obstacle. Little did then one realize that this was the beginning of a diplomatic policy that would reign supreme in India for the next two centuries.

Planned by Jean Baptiste Colbert, it was chartered by King Louis XIV for the purpose of trading in the Eastern Hemisphere. The first Director General for the Company was François Caron,

Governor's residence OF FRENCH INDIA

[FRENCH]Colonial quarter street-PONDICHERRY

Danish East India CompanyThe [5]Danish East India Company (Danish: Dansk

Østindisk Kompagni) was a Danish chartered company

It was founded in 1616, following a privilege of Danish King Christian IV. It was focused on trade with India and had its base inTranquebar, in the fort Dansborg, the seat of its governor (seeindirect rule) of Danish India, who was styled Opperhoved. During its heyday, the Danish East India Company and Swedish East India Company imported more tea than the British East India Companyand smuggled 90 percent of it into Britain, where it could be sold at a huge profit.

After a short blossoming, it lost importance quickly and was dissolved in 1729. In 1730, it was refounded as the Asiatisk Kompagni ("Asiatic Company") and with the royal licence conferred in 1732, the new company was granted a 40-year monopoly on all Danish trade east of the Cape of Good Hope, yet in 1772, it lost its monopoly, and in 1779 Danish India became a crown colony.

During the Napoleonic Wars, in 1801 and again in 1807, the British Navy attacked Copenhagen in the Battle of Copenhagen (1807). As a consequence of the last attack, Denmark (one of few West European countries not occupied by Bonaparte) lost its entire fleet and the island of Helgoland (part of the duchy of Holstein-Gottorp; ceded to Germany in 1890) to Britain. Denmark finally sold its remaining settlements in mainland India in 1845 and the Danish Gold Coast to the British in 1850.

.

Christian IV of Denmark and Norway.

Fort Dansborg at Tranquebar, built byOve Gedde in 1620[Tharangambadi (or Tranquebar) is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was a Danish colony in India from 1620-1845.]


Fort Dansborg. Established in 1620 and partially renovated during 2002 by the Tranquebar Association. View from the governor's bungalow.

Tranquebar, about 1600.

Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg monument in Tranquebar.

A painting of old Serampore [AT BARRACKPORE]-- UNDER DANISH EAST INDIA COMPANY It was part of Danish India under the name Frederiksnagore from 1755 to 1845.

Serampore
— City —
Serampore Location of Serampore in West Bengal and India
Coordinates	22.75°N88.34°E
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District(s)	Hooghly
Parliamentary constituency	Sreerampur
Assembly constituency	Sreerampur
Population	197,955 (2001)
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	Portrait of Johannes Søbøtker Hohlenberg, leader of the Danish trade mission in Serampore, painted byChristian Albrecht Jensen in 1826 Boat people paddle between Barrackpore and Serampore on the Hooghly river. A photograph shot in 2006

Dutch East India Company

The [6]Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in Dutch, literally "United East IndianCompany") was a chartered company established in 1602,

Background

During the 16th century, the spice trade was dominated by the Portuguese who used Lisbon as a staple port. Before the Dutch Revolt, Antwerp had played an important role as a distribution center in northern Europe, but after 1591 the Portuguese used an international syndicate of the German Fuggers and Welsers, and Spanish and Italian firms that used Hamburg as its northern staple, to distribute their goods, thereby cutting out Dutch merchants. At the same time, the Portuguese trade system was so inefficient that it was unable to supply growing demand, in particular the demand for pepper. The demand for spices was relatively inelastic, and the lagging supply of pepper therefore caused a sharp rise in pepper prices at the time.

Likewise, as Portugal had been "united" with the Spanish crown, with which the Dutch Republicwas at war, in 1580, the Portuguese Empire became an appropriate target for military incursions. These three factors formed motive for Dutch merchants to enter the intercontinental spice trade themselves at this time. Finally, a number of Dutchmen like Jan Huyghen van Linschoten and Cornelis de Houtman obtained first hand knowledge of the "secret" Portuguese trade routes and practices, thereby providing opportunity. The stage was thus set for Houtman's four-ship exploratory expedition to Banten, the main pepper port of West Java, where they clashed with both the Portuguese and indigenous Indonesians.

Formation

Investment in these expeditions was a very high-risk venture, not only because of the usual dangers of piracy, disease and shipwreck, but also because the interplay of inelastic demand and relatively elastic supply of spices could make prices tumble at just the wrong moment, thereby ruining prospects of profitability. To manage such risk the forming of a cartel to control supply would seem logical. This first occurred to the English, who bundled their forces into a monopoly enterprise, the East India Company in 1600, thereby threatening their Dutch competitors with ruin. In 1602, the Dutch government followed suit, sponsoring the creation of a single "United East Indies Company" that was also granted a monopoly over the Asian trade.

To manage such risk the forming of a cartel to control supply would seem logical. This first occurred to the English, who bundled their forces into a monopoly enterprise, the East India Company in 1600, thereby threatening their Dutch competitors with ruin. In 1602, the Dutch government followed suit, sponsoring the creation of a single "United East Indies Company" that was also granted a monopoly over the Asian trade.

Diplomatic agreements in Europe in 1620 ushered in a period of cooperation between the Dutch and the English over the spice trade. This ended with a notorious, but disputed incident, known as the 'Amboyna massacre', where ten Englishmen were arrested, tried and beheaded for conspiracy against the Dutch government. Although this caused outrage in Europe and a diplomatic crisis, the English quietly withdrew from most of their Indonesian activities (except trading in Bantam) and focused on other Asian interests.

The VOC traded throughout Asia. Ships coming into Batavia from the Netherlands carried supplies for VOC settlements in Asia. Silver and copper from Japan were used to trade with India and China for silk, cotton, porcelain, and textiles. These products were either traded within Asia for the coveted spices or brought back to Europe. The VOC was also instrumental in introducing European ideas and technology to Asia. The Company supported Christian missionaries and traded modern technology with China and Japan. A more peaceful VOC trade post on Dejima, an artificial island off the coast of Nagasaki, was for more than two hundred years the only place where Europeans were permitted to trade with Japan.

Dutch East India Company l

Former type	Public company
Industry	Trade
Fate	Bankruptcy
Founded	20 March 1602
Defunct	17 March 1798
Headquarters	East India House, Amsterdam,Holland, Dutch Republic

A bond issued by the Dutch East India Company, dating from 7 November 1623, for the amount of 2,400 florins

.

The shipyard of the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam, circa 1750.

VOC headquarters in Amsterdam (theOost-Indisch Huis)

A modern reconstruction of the 18th centuryVOC Amsterdam is permanently anchored in the harbor at the Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum(the National Maritime Museum) in Amsterdam.

Dutch Batavia in the 17th Century, built in what is now North Jakarta

The Dutch East Indies Company sent its first ships to the Orient to trade. It soon became an important factor in trading in Asia.

Colombo[CEYLON -SRI LANKA], gravure uit circa 1680

Decline

The 1741 Battle of Colachel by Nairs of Travancore under Raja Marthanda Varma was therefore a rearguard action. The Dutch commander Captain Eustachius De Lannoy was captured. Marthanda Varma agreed to spare the Dutch captain's life on condition that he joined his army and trained his soldiers on modern lines. This defeat in the Travancore-Dutch War is considered the earliest example of an organized Asian power overcoming European military technology and tactics; and it signaled the decline of Dutch power in India.

[7]Portuguese East India Company

Departure of fleet for the Indies from Lisbon harbor, by Theodor de Bry, 1592

Carracks of the India Armada of 1507, from theLivro de Lisuarte de Abreu

The Jerónimos Monastery, built on the profits of the India armadas

The large carrack, thought to be the Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai, and other Portuguese carracks of various sizes. From painting, attributed to either Gregório Lopes or Cornelis Antoniszoon, showing voyage of the marriage party of Portuguese Infanta Beatriz to Savoy,

Portuguese carrack

It was around this time (1614) that the idea for a chartered private Portuguese East Indies company, organized along the lines of Dutch and English companies, was first broached.King Philip IV of Spain (III of Portugal) put the idea in motion in 1624 and appointed D. Jorge Mascarenhas, mayor of Lisbon and member of the Council of State, to head a committee to implement Solis proposal. Despite being supported by Olivares, the proposal faced much skepticism and opposition, particularly by the Duke of Villahermosa (head of the Council of State for Portugal), and Mascarenhas had considerable trouble securing investment commitments.The Companhia do commércio da Índia (or Companhia da India Oriental) finally came into existence in August 1628, when it was granted a charter by King Philip IV. The Companhia was to be governed by a Cámara de Géral Administração.

The company was launched with only around half the capital it originally sought to raise.

The route of Vasco da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499), what became the typical Carreira da Índia

The End

The Companhia proved unsuccessful. Investors remained skeptical, overseas Portuguese merchants rejected the new Companhia's authority, and the Anglo-Dutch breach of the old Portuguese empire in Asia had become irreperrable, squeezing margins on the spice trade. The Companhia proved unprofitable, and soon ceased operating and was liquidated in April, 1633.

The Portuguese East India Company was founded in 1628 by Philip III of Portugal[ It was granted a monopoly on the spice trade with India. The intention was to attract private capital into this trade, but was unsuccessful in this regard and ceased operating in 1633.]

Silver and coins to be used in the East India Trade: Spanish Eight Reals coins 'Pieces of Eight'. To the left a 'Pillar Dollar' type and to the right a 'Cob' type, and a bar of silver from the VOC, indented to be made into coins.

Two sides of a duit, a coin minted in 1735 by the VOC.

EAST INDIA COMPANIES OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES-[-Portuguese, English, French,dutch,danish, Swedish] 1587 TO 1857

EUROPEANS CAME TO TRADE ;WHILE SOME LOOTED COLONIES

The Spaniards and the Portuguese founded, East India Company in 1587, the Dutch in 1595 were the first to start serious trading as monopolists under the Dutch East India Company, and then the English arrived in 1600 with their East India Company, followed in 1664-1719 by the French with their Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales, then 1719-20 Compagnie des Indes and in 1720-89 Compagnie Française des Indes. They were followed by the Danes, the Austrian and the American, all these are well known but little has been written so far about the Swedish East India Company of 1731-1813.

The Glorious Spices

Pepper	Cinnamon	Cloves	Nutmeg	Mace
(Kerala)	(Ceylon)	(Ternate & Tidore)	(Banda Islands)	(Banda Islands)

[1]East Indiacompany English

companyENGLISH

Company[english]

Former type	Public
Industry	International trade
Founded	1600
Defunct	1 January 1874
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom

Colonial India

The East Indiaman Repulse (1820)
Colonial India
Portuguese India	1510–1961
Dutch India	1605–1825
Danish India	1620–1869
French India	1759–1954
British India 1613–1947
East India Company	1612–1757
Company rule in India	1757–1857
British Raj	1858–1947
British rule in Burma	1824–1867
Princely states	1765–1947
Partition of India	1947
v · d · e

[2]Spanish East Indies

Spanish East Indies (Spanish: Indias Orientales Españolas) was a term used to describe Spanish territories in Asia-Pacific which lasted for three centuries (1565 to 1898). It encompassed the Philippine Islands, and its dependencies including the Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands, and for a period of time, parts of Formosa(Taiwan), Sabah, and parts of the Moluccas. From 1565 to 1821 these territories were part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain based in Mexico City, and after Mexican independence they were ruled directly from Madrid. Following the Spanish-American War in 1898, most of the islands were occupied by the United States while the remaining territories were sold to Germany during the German-Spanish Treaty of 1899. The King of Spain traditionally styled himself "King of the East and West Indies"

The galleons carried spices, porcelain, ivory, lacquerware, processed silk cloth gathered from both the Spice Islands, and Asia-Pacific, to be sold in the Americas, namely New Spain and Peru as well as in European markets. East Asia trading was primarily on a silver standard; the goods were mostly bought by Mexican silver. The cargoes were transported by land across Mexico to the port of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico, where they were loaded onto the Spanish treasure fleet bound for Spain. This route was the alternative to the trip west across the Indian Ocean, and around the Cape of Good Hope, which was reserved to Portugal according to the Treaty of Tordesillas. It also avoided stopping over at ports controlled by competing powers


nt
The Spaniards and the Portuguese founded, East India Company in 1587, the Dutch in 1595 were the first to start serious trading as monopolists under the Dutch East India Company, and then the English arrived in 1600 with their East India Company, followed in 1664-1719 by the French with their Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales, then 1719-20 Compagnie des Indes and in 1720-89 Compagnie Française des Indes. They were followed by the Danes, the Austrian and the American, all these are well known but little has been written so far about the Swedish East India Company of 1731-1813.

The extensive East Indies are subdivided into two sections (from a European perspective), archaically called Hither India and Further India. The first is the former British India, the second is modern Southeast Asia or the (ASEAN) Bloc.
Regions of the East Indies are sometimes known by the colonial empire they once belonged to, hence

, British East Indies refers to Malaysia,

the Dutch East Indies means Indonesia,

and Spanish East Indies means the Philippines.

Indias Orientales Españolas Spanish East Indies
Spanish colony
← 1565–1898 ↓
Flag Coat of arms
Map of the Spanish East Indies (19th century)
Capital	Cebu (1565-1571) Manila (1571-1898)
Language(s)	Spanish and native languages.
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Political structure	Colony
Monarch
- 1565-1598	Philip II
- 1896-1898	Alfonso XIII
Governor-General
- 1565-1572	Miguel López de Legazpi
- 1898	Diego de los Ríos
Historical era	Spanish colonization
- Colonization	April 27, 1565
- Treaty of Paris	December 10, 1898
Area
- 1877	300,000 km2(115,831 sq mi)
Population
- 1877 est.	5,567,685
Density	18.6 /km2 (48.1 /sq mi)
Currency	Peso fuerte
Preceded by Succeeded by Nw Spain Republic of Negros Repubic of Zamboanga First Philippine Republic United States German New Guinea

Indian subcontine

Spanish Galleon

Indian cultural sphere

Western New Guinea

British occupation of Manila

Spanish rule in the Philippines was briefly interrupted in 1762, when British troops captured the capital city of Manila during the Seven Years' War. The British, however, were unable to establish control over other areas of the Philippine Islands. Through the efforts of the Spanish lieutenant governor, Simón de Anda y Salazar, the remainder of the islands remained loyal to Spain. The British promised support for an uprising led first by Diego Silang and later by his wife Gabriela, but the British force never materialized. Under the peace settlement Manila was exchanged, along with British-occupied Havana, for Florida and Minorca. It was handed over to the Spanish authorities in April 1764.

Routes of early Spanish expeditions in the Philippines.

The Manila-Acapulco trade route started in 1568 and Spanish treasure fleets (white) and its eastwards rivals, the Portuguese India Armadas routes of 1498-1640 (blue)t took four months to sail across the Pacific Ocean from Manila to Acapulco, NavigatorUrdaneta was the first to sail the Pacific from east to west, establishing the maritime route from Asia to America in 1565, that lasted until 1815 .A total of 110 Manila galleons set sail in the 250 years of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade (1565 to 1815).

[3]Swedish East India Company

The Swedish East India Company (Swedish: Svenska Ostindiska Companiet orSOIC) was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company and grew to become the largest trading company in Sweden during the 18th century, though its European influence was marginal, until it folded in 1813
The first expedition

The driving force was the Scottish trader Colin Campbell, who had gained firsthand knowledge of the China trade as supercargo for the Ostend Company; he was knighted by the Swedish King and moved to Gothenburg to organise the first expedition. Campbell's reconstruction of his diary of the initial voyage, rediscovered in 1986, is a primary source. It sailed in 9 February 1732, as the vessel Friedericus Rex Sueciae, with Campbell onboard, also appointed ambassador to the Chinese court, accomanied by the Ulrica. The captain of Fredericus was Georg Herman af Trolle: both he and Campbell had previously visited China. Altogether the crew was around one hundred.

The expedition started well – the Cape of Good Hope was passed, the vessel arrived safely in Canton (Guangzhou), the main trading port in China at the time, in September 1732, after 181 sailing days, and trading was carried out successfully, over four months' time. Initially, the goods sought were spices; however on later voyages demand soon meant that porcelain and tea made up the bulk of the trade.

On its return, the vessel was stopped by the Dutch between Java and Sumatra, and brought to Batavia. Campbell protested and produced his papers, but the Dutch argued that they had suspected the vessel falsely flew the Swedish flag. The expedition was eventually released, but time was lost and the winds unfavourable. So many of the seamen died on route that the ship had to recruit Norwegian sailors upon reaching the coast of Norway.

On 27 August 1733 the vessel returned to Gothenburg, almost one and a half years after its departure. The voyage was a huge economic success, the auction bringing in some 900,000 Swedish riksdaler. The dividend paid was 25% of the capital invested.

The full scale replica East Indiaman Götheborg in Oslo, on 10 June 2005, for the centenary of the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden

The Swedish. East Indiaman Götheborg

Armoiries de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales[4][FRENCH EAST INDIA COMPANY]

Rue de la Compagnie. Pondicherry:-

g trade contacts with India and the east. In 1611 Louis XII granted monopoly to a company to pursue their quest, but did not achieve any progress. In 1664 Louis XIV granted another permission to start trade with India. The trade with India was a matter of prestige as the European politics was dominated by rivalries in the eighteenth century. In India Anglo French conflict started with the Austrian war of succession which ended in the seven years war. Pondicherry was the hub of French settlements. Other French factories and settlements were at Masulipatanam, Karikal, Mahi, Surat and Chandernagore. The struggle for establishing supremacy in trade resulted in wars between the English and the French in the Deccan. The first Carnatic war was fought between 1746-48. The second Carnatic war was fought between 1748-54 and the third Carnatic war was between 1758-63. This was the war that sealed the fateof the French possessions in India. Owing to Commercial superiority and better financial position, private ownership of the English company and support by the British government, the East India Company flourished in India. Superiority of the English officers, besides this the French continental preoccupations, the superior English navy and the impact of English domination in Bengal, the recall of Duplex and the blunders of Count de Lally contributed to the French failure in India. Thus the struggle for colonial supremacy resulted the English having overcome the European obstacle. Little did then one realize that this was the beginning of a diplomatic policy that would reign supreme in India for the next two centuries.

Planned by Jean Baptiste Colbert, it was chartered by King Louis XIV for the purpose of trading in the Eastern Hemisphere. The first Director General for the Company was François Caron,

Governor's residence OF FRENCH INDIA

[FRENCH]Colonial quarter street-PONDICHERRY

Danish East India CompanyThe [5]Danish East India Company (Danish: Dansk

Østindisk Kompagni) was a Danish chartered company

It was founded in 1616, following a privilege of Danish King Christian IV. It was focused on trade with India and had its base inTranquebar, in the fort Dansborg, the seat of its governor (seeindirect rule) of Danish India, who was styled Opperhoved. During its heyday, the Danish East India Company and Swedish East India Company imported more tea than the British East India Companyand smuggled 90 percent of it into Britain, where it could be sold at a huge profit.

After a short blossoming, it lost importance quickly and was dissolved in 1729. In 1730, it was refounded as the Asiatisk Kompagni ("Asiatic Company") and with the royal licence conferred in 1732, the new company was granted a 40-year monopoly on all Danish trade east of the Cape of Good Hope, yet in 1772, it lost its monopoly, and in 1779 Danish India became a crown colony.

During the Napoleonic Wars, in 1801 and again in 1807, the British Navy attacked Copenhagen in the Battle of Copenhagen (1807). As a consequence of the last attack, Denmark (one of few West European countries not occupied by Bonaparte) lost its entire fleet and the island of Helgoland (part of the duchy of Holstein-Gottorp; ceded to Germany in 1890) to Britain. Denmark finally sold its remaining settlements in mainland India in 1845 and the Danish Gold Coast to the British in 1850.

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Christian IV of Denmark and Norway.

Fort Dansborg at Tranquebar, built byOve Gedde in 1620[Tharangambadi (or Tranquebar) is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was a Danish colony in India from 1620-1845.]


Fort Dansborg. Established in 1620 and partially renovated during 2002 by the Tranquebar Association. View from the governor's bungalow.

Tranquebar, about 1600.

Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg monument in Tranquebar.

A painting of old Serampore [AT BARRACKPORE]-- UNDER DANISH EAST INDIA COMPANY It was part of Danish India under the name Frederiksnagore from 1755 to 1845.

Serampore
— City —
Serampore Location of Serampore in West Bengal and India
Coordinates	22.75°N88.34°E
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District(s)	Hooghly
Parliamentary constituency	Sreerampur
Assembly constituency	Sreerampur
Population	197,955 (2001)
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	Portrait of Johannes Søbøtker Hohlenberg, leader of the Danish trade mission in Serampore, painted byChristian Albrecht Jensen in 1826 Boat people paddle between Barrackpore and Serampore on the Hooghly river. A photograph shot in 2006

Dutch East India Company

The [6]Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in Dutch, literally "United East IndianCompany") was a chartered company established in 1602,

Background

During the 16th century, the spice trade was dominated by the Portuguese who used Lisbon as a staple port. Before the Dutch Revolt, Antwerp had played an important role as a distribution center in northern Europe, but after 1591 the Portuguese used an international syndicate of the German Fuggers and Welsers, and Spanish and Italian firms that used Hamburg as its northern staple, to distribute their goods, thereby cutting out Dutch merchants. At the same time, the Portuguese trade system was so inefficient that it was unable to supply growing demand, in particular the demand for pepper. The demand for spices was relatively inelastic, and the lagging supply of pepper therefore caused a sharp rise in pepper prices at the time.

Likewise, as Portugal had been "united" with the Spanish crown, with which the Dutch Republicwas at war, in 1580, the Portuguese Empire became an appropriate target for military incursions. These three factors formed motive for Dutch merchants to enter the intercontinental spice trade themselves at this time. Finally, a number of Dutchmen like Jan Huyghen van Linschoten and Cornelis de Houtman obtained first hand knowledge of the "secret" Portuguese trade routes and practices, thereby providing opportunity. The stage was thus set for Houtman's four-ship exploratory expedition to Banten, the main pepper port of West Java, where they clashed with both the Portuguese and indigenous Indonesians.

Formation

Investment in these expeditions was a very high-risk venture, not only because of the usual dangers of piracy, disease and shipwreck, but also because the interplay of inelastic demand and relatively elastic supply of spices could make prices tumble at just the wrong moment, thereby ruining prospects of profitability. To manage such risk the forming of a cartel to control supply would seem logical. This first occurred to the English, who bundled their forces into a monopoly enterprise, the East India Company in 1600, thereby threatening their Dutch competitors with ruin. In 1602, the Dutch government followed suit, sponsoring the creation of a single "United East Indies Company" that was also granted a monopoly over the Asian trade.

To manage such risk the forming of a cartel to control supply would seem logical. This first occurred to the English, who bundled their forces into a monopoly enterprise, the East India Company in 1600, thereby threatening their Dutch competitors with ruin. In 1602, the Dutch government followed suit, sponsoring the creation of a single "United East Indies Company" that was also granted a monopoly over the Asian trade.

Diplomatic agreements in Europe in 1620 ushered in a period of cooperation between the Dutch and the English over the spice trade. This ended with a notorious, but disputed incident, known as the 'Amboyna massacre', where ten Englishmen were arrested, tried and beheaded for conspiracy against the Dutch government. Although this caused outrage in Europe and a diplomatic crisis, the English quietly withdrew from most of their Indonesian activities (except trading in Bantam) and focused on other Asian interests.

The VOC traded throughout Asia. Ships coming into Batavia from the Netherlands carried supplies for VOC settlements in Asia. Silver and copper from Japan were used to trade with India and China for silk, cotton, porcelain, and textiles. These products were either traded within Asia for the coveted spices or brought back to Europe. The VOC was also instrumental in introducing European ideas and technology to Asia. The Company supported Christian missionaries and traded modern technology with China and Japan. A more peaceful VOC trade post on Dejima, an artificial island off the coast of Nagasaki, was for more than two hundred years the only place where Europeans were permitted to trade with Japan.

Dutch East India Company l

Former type	Public company
Industry	Trade
Fate	Bankruptcy
Founded	20 March 1602
Defunct	17 March 1798
Headquarters	East India House, Amsterdam,Holland, Dutch Republic

A bond issued by the Dutch East India Company, dating from 7 November 1623, for the amount of 2,400 florins

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The shipyard of the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam, circa 1750.

VOC headquarters in Amsterdam (theOost-Indisch Huis)

A modern reconstruction of the 18th centuryVOC Amsterdam is permanently anchored in the harbor at the Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum(the National Maritime Museum) in Amsterdam.

Dutch Batavia in the 17th Century, built in what is now North Jakarta

The Dutch East Indies Company sent its first ships to the Orient to trade. It soon became an important factor in trading in Asia.

Colombo[CEYLON -SRI LANKA], gravure uit circa 1680

Decline

The 1741 Battle of Colachel by Nairs of Travancore under Raja Marthanda Varma was therefore a rearguard action. The Dutch commander Captain Eustachius De Lannoy was captured. Marthanda Varma agreed to spare the Dutch captain's life on condition that he joined his army and trained his soldiers on modern lines. This defeat in the Travancore-Dutch War is considered the earliest example of an organized Asian power overcoming European military technology and tactics; and it signaled the decline of Dutch power in India.

[7]Portuguese East India Company

Departure of fleet for the Indies from Lisbon harbor, by Theodor de Bry, 1592

Carracks of the India Armada of 1507, from theLivro de Lisuarte de Abreu

The Jerónimos Monastery, built on the profits of the India armadas

The large carrack, thought to be the Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai, and other Portuguese carracks of various sizes. From painting, attributed to either Gregório Lopes or Cornelis Antoniszoon, showing voyage of the marriage party of Portuguese Infanta Beatriz to Savoy,

Portuguese carrack

It was around this time (1614) that the idea for a chartered private Portuguese East Indies company, organized along the lines of Dutch and English companies, was first broached.King Philip IV of Spain (III of Portugal) put the idea in motion in 1624 and appointed D. Jorge Mascarenhas, mayor of Lisbon and member of the Council of State, to head a committee to implement Solis proposal. Despite being supported by Olivares, the proposal faced much skepticism and opposition, particularly by the Duke of Villahermosa (head of the Council of State for Portugal), and Mascarenhas had considerable trouble securing investment commitments.The Companhia do commércio da Índia (or Companhia da India Oriental) finally came into existence in August 1628, when it was granted a charter by King Philip IV. The Companhia was to be governed by a Cámara de Géral Administração.

The company was launched with only around half the capital it originally sought to raise.

The route of Vasco da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499), what became the typical Carreira da Índia

The End

The Companhia proved unsuccessful. Investors remained skeptical, overseas Portuguese merchants rejected the new Companhia's authority, and the Anglo-Dutch breach of the old Portuguese empire in Asia had become irreperrable, squeezing margins on the spice trade. The Companhia proved unprofitable, and soon ceased operating and was liquidated in April, 1633.

The Portuguese East India Company was founded in 1628 by Philip III of Portugal[ It was granted a monopoly on the spice trade with India. The intention was to attract private capital into this trade, but was unsuccessful in this regard and ceased operating in 1633.]

Silver and coins to be used in the East India Trade: Spanish Eight Reals coins 'Pieces of Eight'. To the left a 'Pillar Dollar' type and to the right a 'Cob' type, and a bar of silver from the VOC, indented to be made into coins.

Two sides of a duit, a coin minted in 1735 by the VOC.