The East India Company, established on December 31, 1600, enslaved India for 200 years!

- Mid Week - Hasmukh Gajjar

- The East India Company not only traded but also had an army of 2.50 lakh soldiers. There was no shame in taking out the sword where scales did not work. Taking advantage of the lack of leadership and internal foothold within the kingdoms, the company started to show signs.

India, united in diversity, celebrates New Year on an average every month. Although there is a religious calendar in Hindustan, the English calendar has the glory in daily life. Today's generation is suddenly left scratching its head when asked about a date as the world around it follows the date. Those who are proud of their Indian culture also have scheduled dates. Government offices and corporate houses work as per date. New Year's falls at midnight on the last day of the English year and is called the Thirty First celebration. When you get up early in the morning after sleeping on thirty-first, the date has changed.

December 31 i.e. Thirty First is also a special date in the history of India. According to the records of the British Library London, the East India Company, which kept India in slavery for 200 years, was also established on 31 December 1600. 21 businessmen laid the foundation of the company in London's Founder Hall Hotel. The British Crown also had direct consent and indirect participation with this company under a charter. There are some events in history that leave a long lasting impact. The pages of history are not only for reading events but also for learning from them. In the 16th century, 4th of the world's total production was produced in India. It was natural that indigenous people, self-reliance and barter are considered ideals today. Britain produced only 3% of the world economy. Countries like Portugal and Spain were in fierce trade competition with it. After the arrival of Vasco da Gama, the fame of India's prosperity had spread to Europe. Based on the travelogues and information of European tourists, European businessmen started trying to open trade in the eastern part of Puthvi.

In 1608, Captain William Hawkings landed at Surat port in India with a ship named Hector. Hawkings was the first representative of the East India Company in India. Dutch and Portuguese merchant ships had anchored in India before the British. When the East India Company came to India, no one imagined that they would enslave a country 20 times larger than the country they came from. The legacy of the Mughal rulers was in the hands of Jahangir after the death of Akbar. Jahangir could not trade without cooperation with the Emperor. Hawkings reached Agra about a year later but could not convince Jahangir. After that Sir Thomas Roe, Member of Parliament and Ambassador of Britain, was sent to India as the Shah's envoy. Sir Thomas Rowes appeared before Jahangir in 1615 with gifts. Jahangir digresses when Thomas Roe talks about trade and commerce. After 3 years of hard work, East India Company and British merchants finally got permission to trade (buy-sell) at the ports of the subcontinent. The traders of the company started making huge profits by buying cotton, guilli, potassium nitrate, tea from India at low prices and selling them at high prices. The company used to do most of its business of buying goods in exchange for silver. The year 1670 was important for the East India Company. Emperor Charles II of Britain gave permission to the East India Company to wage war and establish rule abroad. At first, the front had to be set up with the Portuguese and Dutch colonies in India. The company made a claim on the area near the coast of Bengal by winning small and big battles. The East India Company set up its first factory on the banks of the Hooghly River in 1651. Goods to be exported were purchased and kept in the warehouse of this factory. In 1681 CE, Sir Child of the East India Company wrote to the British Crown regarding Aurangzeb's nephew Nawab Shaistkhan's men interfering with the payment of taxes in Bengal. In 1686 CE, 19 ships with 200 guns and 600 saunyas left for India from Britain but did not fight against the Mughals.

In 1695, British pirate Henry Avery boarded and looted two ships of Aurangzeb, Fateh Mohammad and Ghulam Sawai. The ship had treasure worth 6 to 7 lakh British pounds. The British Emperor criticized the actions of Henry Avery and apologized for the action taken against the East India Company. In 1696, a large fort was built around it and the surrounding areas were attacked. Three villages were bought from the Mughals, one of which was Kalikata, which was later known as Kolkata. The East India Company also started its foothold in China. She used to buy silk and Chinese pottery from China. The company forced farmers in Bengal and Bihar to cultivate opium and started sending it to China. By cheating the Chinese agents, money for the purchase of silk and Chinese utensils was collected in this way. When the rulers of China came to know about it, they started fighting against the British but the British made China bow down. Captured several Chinese ports, one of which was Hong Kong. The Central Government of China kept writing letters to Queen Victoria but there was no reply from the front. After Aurangzeb's death in 1707, as Mughal rule gradually weakened, the company began recruiting local people into the army. Taking advantage of the lack of leadership and insider footholds within the kingdoms, the company began to show signs.

In 1756 AD, Siraj ud Daulah became the Nawab of Bengal, the richest state in India. Bengal at that time was famous in the world for cloth manufacturing. When Siraj ud Daula smelled a bad move, he broke the fort of the East India Company and imprisoned the British soldiers. The British could not stand against Siraj's army. On 23 June 1757, a battle took place in Plassey between the East India Company and the Nawab's army. The British won the war when the ambitious general of the Nawab's army, Mir Jafar, was defeated. As per the plan, the traitor Mirjafar was placed on the throne of Bengal. Besides trade, the British started collecting taxes from Mirjafar in Latka. Finally, Mirjafar got tired of this tussle and took the help of the fierce anti-Dutch of the East India Company. As the Dutch also turned against the British, around 1764 AD, the rule of Bengal came into the hands of the company. The East India Company not only traded but also had an army of 2.50 lakh soldiers. There was no shame in drawing the sword where the scales did not work.

Encourage local rulers to tax the company. In the eastern provinces of Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, 26 lakh rupees were received annually as revenue collection. The people were torn between the local rulers and the company government. At such a time, the cowardly and lazy Mughal Sultans in Delhi were shattered in the 1800s. Britain looted 45 trillion dollars between 1765 and 1938. This amount is twice the total economy of America.

About 35 famines occurred during the rule of the East India Company. Countless people died of starvation in the famines of 1770 to 1780. Inflation made such a difference that rice which used to get 60 kg for 1 rupee started to get 1.50 kg for 1 rupee. The ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, fell against the British but he also died in 1799 AD. In 1813, the British Parliament allowed other British companies to open their offices in India besides East India. Despite the Industrial Revolution, British cloth did not sell because it was inferior to the domestic products of India. Hence, the East India Company started destroying the local textile industry units. The population of Dhaka, bustling with muslin, decreased from 1.50 lakh to only 20 thousand. Along with the emergence of Indian markets with foreign textiles, Britain's trade with India doubled to 48 million pounds in 1822. By eliminating India's small scale industries, it increased the burden on agriculture. Hundreds of people who raised their heads in the freedom struggle of 1857 were publicly hanged by the company government. The company that came to do business with the scale was treated badly in the country. Finally, Britain completely abolished the Company Raj and India became a direct slave of the British Crown. East India was one such company in the world which had its own army and navy. With the help of this army, a country with a population of 20 crores was enslaved. This has not happened in the history of any country in the world, that is, East India Company has done a black job which no company has done in the history of mankind.