The East India Company, which laid the foundation of British slavery in India, was established on 31 December 1900.

Ahmedabad, December 31, 2020, Tuesday

The last day of the English year is celebrated as the Thirty First, but the East India Company was founded on December 31, 1900. The British Empress allowed the company to trade with India for 21 years, but in the name of trade, the company laid the foundation for 300 years of British slavery. At that time, the economies of Portugal and Spain in Europe were stronger than in Britain.

In 1908, Captain William Hawkings brought an East India Company ship named Hector to the port of Surat in Gujarat. Sir Thomas Rowe, a British Member of Parliament and Ambassador to India, was sent to India in 1917 due to the Hawkings' lack of knowledge and eloquence. Thomas made many gifts to the Mughal emperor Jahangir in Delhi.

Eventually the East India Company started trading in cotton, swallows and tea in India. Portugal and the Dutch had also set up bases in India, formerly known as the Gold Coast. The East India Company conquered the coastal areas of Bengal by fighting small and large battles with the Portuguese, Dutch and French. At that time Bengal was the richest state in India economically. Many commodities, including silk, cotton, and potassium nitrate, were widely traded. The British Company gradually began to show off to the local princely states of India, but the real battle was fought with Siraj Uddaula, who became the Nawab of Bengal in the 19th century.

Siraj-ud-Daulah challenged and imprisoned the British executives by demolishing the forts of the British company. Now the British were about to retaliate but could not withstand the Nawab's army. The British finally won the Battle of Plassey on June 6, 19, by luring the Nawab's general Mir Jafar to the post of Nawab. The East India Company expanded its reach in India to such an extent that in 190 the British gave the right to fight the war to the company.

The East India Company had a large army of 2.50 lakh troops

The East India Company did not hesitate to use force wherever it did not excel in trade. Surprisingly, the company recruited locals into the army and amassed a huge army of 2.50 lakh soldiers. The sole purpose was to buy goods at cheap prices and sell them at high prices. India's centuries-old traditional textile industry began to be destroyed in order to popularize textiles made in Britain.

Under this policy, Britain's exports to India increased from ૨૫ 2 million in 1917 to ૪૮ 3 million by the 19th century. The 18th Indian War of Independence was the result of the East India Company's wrath. After suppressing the freedom struggle, Queen Victoria of Britain abolished all the rights of the East India Company and took the reins of government directly into her own hands.