Originally founded as The Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies, it was one of the first joint-stock companies ever. With exclusive permission to trade with the East Indies for a period of fifteen years, it had 125 shareholders. At first it could not establish an outpost in the East indies, but eventually their ships arrived at Surat and were bale to build their first trading post within the following years. The company's high profits forced King James to grant subsidiary licenses to other trading companies in England, but in 1609 he renewed the original charter for an indefinite amount of time.
The traders often found themselves having to fight Dutch and Portuguese in the Indian Ocean. Realizing how the trade wars at sea were to their advantage, they attempted to gain more control on the mainland. In 1615 a mission was set off to arrange a commercial treaty giving the Company exclusive rights to reside and build tade posts in Surat and other areas. In return, the Company offered to provide to the emperor goods from the European market. The mission was widely successful.
Under this patronage they started gaining more and more. Soon they had managed to build many forts and strongholds. They continued expanding and were soon overpowering the Portuguese and Dutch activity in the area. The Company was further enhanced by the restoration of monarchy in England. King Charles II gave them the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas. They were a formidable force in the area, and eventually were able to utalize the moto "Under the patronage of the King and Parliament of England" for their actions.
As expansion continued, they developed triangular trade among China, India and Britain that enabled the English to drink tea and wear silk. But resistance often tried to force them back. However, with their vast military powers, the Company was able to silence most who tried to get in their way. Though, despite their obvious bold decisions in putting down and restistance, it was becoming clear that they were losing control of their power as it expanded over their vast area of captured colonies.
When a famine in Bengal killed off nearly one-sixth of the population, the costs soon began to overwhelm the company. The desperate directors of the company tried to avoid bankruptcy by appealing to Parliament for financial help. This eventually led to the Tea Act in 1773, a monopolistic action that would lead to the Boston Tea Party which would even go so far as to lead up to the American Revolutionary War.
Their vast control of trade all over the world would soon diminish however. Deprived of its trade monopoly in 1813, the company wound up as a trading enterprise. In 1858, the Company lost its administrative functions to the British government following an uprising in India. In the early 1860s, all of the Company's Indian possessions - including its armed forces - were appropriated by the Crown.
In 1874 the company was eventually ended.