East India Company Gold Mohur Minted Under the Bengal Presidency - C.4068, Origin: Minted in Murshidabad, India, Circa: 1824 AD, Collection: Islamic Art, Style: East India Company, Medium: Gold, After the British defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, a group of London merchants petitioned the Queen for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean. After a few successful and unsuccessful sailing ventures, another group of merchants raised capital and formed a corporation to which the Queen granted a Royal Charter awarding the company a monopoly of trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope. Despite initial competition from the Dutch in the East Indian spice trade, the Company began to report high profits from their trading posts in India. In time, these trading posts were expanded and the British gained a territorial foothold in mainland India. The British expanded their Indian holdings, eventually eclipsing the Portuguese State of India. Despite efforts by the English parliament to encourage competition, even going so far as to set up a parallel trading company, the economical and political might of the East India Company effectively ensured their lucrative monopoly. Military expansion during the 18th century and early 19th centuries resulted in the Company operating more as a nation and less as a trading enterprise. Although the Company was officially dissolved after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, its legacy lived on in the growth of the British Empire as its armies became the military forces of British India.

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