A Modern, Multinational Corporation? Flashcards
In 1813 the EIC established a fund of how much to be dedicated to the Christian education of Indian subjects?
100,000 rupees per year.
In which year did the EIC establish a fund of 100,000 rupees per year to be dedicated to the Christian education of Indian subjects?
1813
In which year were 271,000 men in the EIC’s army?
1857
In which year were 18,000 men in the EIC’s army?
1763
In 1857, how many men were in the EIC’s army?
271,000
What were the single white women that the EIC encouraged to travel to India as to marry employees called?
The Fishing Fleet
Between which years were 54% of the children baptised in St John’s, Calcutta ‘Eurasian and illegitimate’?
1767 and 1782
54% of the children baptised in which church between 1767 and 1782 were ‘Eurasian and illegitimate’?
St John’s, Calcutta
What percentage of the children baptised in St John’s, Calcutta between 1767 and 1782 were ‘Eurasian and illegitimate’?
54%
Between which years and in which place did a third of wills make reference to a native woman or mistress?
1870-1875 and it was in Bengal.
Between 1870 and 1875, what fraction of Wills in Bengal made a reference to what?
one third of wills in Bengal made reference to a native woman or mistress
From 1793 how much could Europeans earn?
Well over £1,000 after less than 5 years in the country.
From 1793 how much could Indians within the EIC earn?
Not more than £500 a year, that’s for sure.
In which year did the East India Company introduce reforms that decided who could hold certain positions within the company?
1793
What year did the EIC ban private trade
1793
Between 1799 and 1807, how much did the EIC debt increase by?
from £10 million to £26 million
What scandal happened in 1808?
The Carnatic bond scandal
What year was the Carnatic Bond scandal?
1808
Between which years did the EIC’s debt increase from £10 million to £26 million?
1799 and 1807
In 1763, how many men were in the EIC’s army?
18,000 men
In which year did 13,137 letters from India go unanswered?
1808
In 1808 how many letters from India went unanswered?
13,137
From which year did the EIC promise to it’s investors a fixed return of 10.5% and to grant the investor the right to vote in EIC meetings.
1793
From 1793, what did the EIC company promise to it’s investors?
A fixed return of 10.5% and granted the investor the right to vote in EIC meetings.
What did it mean that the EIC had a monopoly on trade in India?
This allowed only the EIC to export and sell goods stored in its London warehouses to India.
When did the EIC have a monopoly on trade in India?
1750s to 1834
An economic force (3)
- Imperialism (4)
- Industrial revolution (2)
- A global business (2)
An economic force (3)
1. Imperialism (4)
a. Although it began as a trading company, the EIC shifted to territorial conquest.
b. Following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the company formed a large army in the Indian subcontinent and conquered many of the indigenous powers.
c. By the time the company was dissolved in 1858, the British had gained control over significant parts of modern-day India: (1)
d. After that, the rule of India was directly transferred to the British Crown until independence was achieved in 1947.
An economic force (3)
1. Imperialism (4)
c. By the time the company was dissolved in 1858, the British had gained control over significant parts of modern-day India: (1)
i. Eg. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.
An economic force (3)
2. Industrial revolution (2)
a. Europe, and Britain in particular, ‘diverged’ economically from the rest of the world during the Industrial Revolution, due to the exploitation of resources and people in their colonies.
b. The GDP of Britain grew more than three times between 1700 and 1870, with a significant contribution from the empire in the East and West Indies.
An economic force (3)
3. A global business (2)
a. The company was granted a Royal Charter, which allowed it to operate as a single legal entity, and it conducted business globally.
b. It divided it’s stockholders from its directors and these stockholders had a vote to keep the directors in check. This might also increase faith in stockholders as they know that their interests are being taken into consideration.
Public company and private trade (4)
- Gen
- Inefficiency
- Corruption
- Economic failure
Public company and private trade
1. Gen (3)
a. The English East India Company had a global reach, which allowed it to trade in a variety of goods like spices, cloth, tea, and opium.
b. The company had a monopoly on trade in India from the 1750s to 1834, which allowed only it to export and sell goods stored in its London warehouses to India.
c. British individuals could invest money in the company and benefit from its high return on investment. (1)
Public company and private trade
1. Gen (3)
c. British individuals could invest money in the company and benefit from its high return on investment. (1)
i. From 1793, the company promised a fixed return of 10.5% and granted the investor the right to vote in EIC meetings.
Public company and private trade
2. Inefficiency (2)
a. The company directors governed from their headquarters in London and communicated via letter with their employees in India. (1)
b. Steamships cut this time to months in the 1830s (2)
Public company and private trade
2. Inefficiency (2)
a. The company directors governed from their headquarters in London and communicated via letter with their employees in India. (1)
i. Responses could be slow, being conveyed by sailing ships, and the directors often waited well over a year to receive a reply to their orders.
Public company and private trade
2. Inefficiency (2)
b. Steamships cut this time to months in the 1830s (2)
i. Even so, the EIC was never that efficient when it came to correspondence:
ii. in 1808 some 13,137 letters from India remained unanswered.
Public company and private trade
3. Corruption (3)
a. Corruption was widespread and incidents such as the Carnatic Bond scandal in 1808 cost the company millions of rupees and it only narrowly avoided bankruptcy. (3)
b. Between 1799 and 1807, the EIC’s debt increased from £10 million to £26 million.
c. On multiple occasions during the nineteenth century, it had to be bailed out by loans. from the British government.
Public company and private trade
3. Corruption (3)
a. Corruption was widespread and incidents such as the Carnatic Bond scandal in 1808 cost the company millions of rupees and it only narrowly avoided bankruptcy. (3)
i. In 1808, the British East India Company (EIC) tried to settle the debts of a deposed prince in the region of Carnatic.
ii. People realised this and forged bonds as a way of proof that he had taken loans from them and owed them.
iii. The company lost millions of rupees.
Public company and private trade
4. Economic failure (2)
a. Despite the East India Company’s huge debt and poor management, some of the European men the company employed in the eighteenth century were able to enrich themselves through private trade. (1)
b. However, all of this profiteering led to the company banning private trade in 1793. (4)
Public company and private trade
4. Economic failure (2)
a. Despite the East India Company’s huge debt and poor management, some of the European men the company employed in the eighteenth century were able to enrich themselves through private trade. (1)
i. Private trade refers to the practice of EIC employees using their positions to engage in their own personal trading ventures outside of the Company’s trade network.
Public company and private trade
4. Economic failure (2)
b. However, all of this profiteering led to the company banning private trade in 1793. (4)
i. The East India Company (EIC) banned private trade because it was seen as a threat to the company’s monopoly on global trade
ii. By engaging in private trade they could potentially create their own markets and compete with the EIC.
iii. This could undermine the Company’s business and potentially harm its reputation with other traders and officials who were dependent on EIC trade.
iv. The EIC wasn’t doing great financially, and private trade only made things worse by promoting individual gain over the interests of the company as a whole. Therefore, the ban on private trade was part of a larger effort to restore trust and confidence in the company, both among its stockholders and the wider community.
Institutional racism (4)
- Pay (2)
- Control of private life (5)
- Racial purity (1)
- Army (2)
Institutional racism (4)
1. Pay (2)
a. In 1793, the East India Company introduced reforms that decided who could hold certain positions within the company. (2)
b. This is despite the fact that the British relied heavily on the Indians that they employed for their knowledge of language and geography.
Institutional racism (4)
1. Pay (2)
a. In 1793, the East India Company introduced reforms that decided who could hold certain positions within the company. (2)
i. Indians were not allowed to earn more than £500 per year, while most Europeans could earn well over £1,000 after less than 5 years in the country.
ii. The article is really annoying and vague but it’s just a lot less likely to get hired on a higher level if you were Indian is what this point is supposed to be.
Institutional racism (4)
2. Control of private life (5)
a. With the reforms of the 1790s, the company sought to control not only the private trade of its employees but also their private lives.
b. In the mid-eighteenth- century it was relatively common for European men to take Indian women as concubines (mistresses). (2)
c. By the nineteenth century, interracial relationships in the East India Company were viewed negatively by its higher-ups. (1)
d. The company began to encourage single white women (known as the “fishing fleet”) to travel to India with the hope that they would marry white male employees.
e. With the introduction of pensions, the company men were encouraged to start legitimate families in India because if a man died there, his white widow and children would be provided for by the company.
Institutional racism (4)
2. Control of private life (5)
b. In the mid-eighteenth- century it was relatively common for European men to take Indian women as concubines (mistresses). (2)
i. Between 1780 and 1785 one third of wills in Bengal made reference to a native woman or mistress.
ii. 54% of the children baptised in St John’s, Calcutta between 1767 and 1782 were ‘Eurasian and illegitimate’.
Institutional racism (4)
2. Control of private life (5)
c. By the nineteenth century, interracial relationships in the East India Company were viewed negatively by its higher-ups. (1)
i. The number of mixed-race children being born declined during this time.
Institutional racism (4)
3. Racial purity (1)
a. Such interference in the private lives of their employees and the discouraging of interracial relationships shows that the EIC never considered its role to be purely the pursuit of profit, but that it was also simultaneously concerned with the ‘whiteness’ and racial purity of its employees.
Institutional racism (4)
4. Army (2)
a. To ensure the safety of its employees and the security of its territory, the company employed a vast army, with European officers and Indian subalterns (low rankers). (1)
b. This army also aided a massive expansion of territory and control, as the British pushed high up into the Himalayas and subdued local enemies such as the Mahrattas (Marathas).
Institutional racism (4)
4. Army (2)
a. To ensure the safety of its employees and the security of its territory, the company employed a vast army, with European officers and Indian subalterns (low rankers). (1)
i. In 1763, the force numbered some 18,000 men. By 1857 this had increased to 271,000.
Education and training (2)
- Employees (4)
- Wider society (5)
Education and training (2)
1. Employees (4)
a. During the 19th century many British professions attempted to adopt professionalism as a standard, the Indian civil service was no different in this effort.
b. In 1808 the East India Company sought to introduce professionalism into its civil service by requiring all prospective employees to pass an examination and attend a training college for two years. (1)
c. This was intended to ensure that civil servants were competent, qualified, and capable of performing their duties effectively.
d. The professionalism that the EIC had tried to instil in it’s employees was at best questionable and had been the cause of several riots.
Education and training (2)
1. Employees (4)
b. In 1808 the East India Company sought to introduce professionalism into its civil service by requiring all prospective employees to pass an examination and attend a training college for two years. (1)
i. Between 1808 and 1822, one such college saw at least five riots.
Education and training (2)
2. Wider society (5)
a. The EIC didn’t limit this idea of education to only it’s employees.
b. In 1813, it established a fund of 100,000 rupees per year to be dedicated to the Christian education of Indian subjects.
c. There was an idea by some of taking some Indians and basically converting them to be “English” by “improving” their tastes, opinions, morals, and intellect.
d. A desire to make Indians ‘English’ by education paid little heed to their indigenous traditions or culture.
e. This shift from economic justifications for colonisation towards evangelical, educational and racist arguments that would define British rule in India until independence 1947.
