James Gillray, 'The Leadenhall volunteer, drest in his shawl', published by Hannah Humphrey 8 March 1797

London, National Portrait Gallery, NPG D12480

Image here from: https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2019/03/colours-of-the-royal-east-india-volunteers.html

The Honourable John Company of Leadenhall Street. For a long time that was the way they referred to the East India Company - rather like it was an endearing uncle. The reality was somewhat different.

The Company got its start in the reign of Elizabeth I. Back then, the goal was not India but the East Indies (Indonesia). The fledgling company struggled in those waters, which included the lucrative Spice Islands. The Dutch were in charge and they intended to keep it that way.  

The Company decamped to outposts (known as factories) on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent. Initially, they were just curious guests of the Great Moghuls, who at that time ruled most of India, but the balance of power would eventually shift. By the eighteenth century, the Company had a near monopoly on the importation of Indian goods to Europe. Their only rivals were the French. The ensuing struggles would have profound consequences not just in terms of the elimination of all European rivals, but in the increasing domination of the whole of India. What could possibly go wrong…?

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