EIC and a Web of Plants

The East India Company was a British joint-stock company that took over half of the trade globally with materials such as cotton, silk, tea, spices, salt, and opium. The company was originally successful because it dominated Indian cotton cloth in Europe towards the end of the 17^th century. The cloth woven by Indian weavers was imported into Britain as demand for this cheap, washable, and lightweight fabric increased. The company established more factories and furthered its successes with its main establishments in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta,the secure base for the EIC. These settlements turned from factories to major commercial towns under the British authority. The company was even able to establish an army of local people in India commanded by British officers. Indian merchants and artisans moved into these towns to do business with the Company and the British residing there.

http://www.realrupee.com/uploads/30_cotton1farmers.jpg

While to the east, the EIC in 1664 placed its first order for tea from China to be imported to Britain, and orders only exponentially increased as the years went on. The EIC traded British wool and Indian cottons for Chinese tea, porcelain, and silk. Tea imports soon became the largest single item in Britain’s trading account. The company had complete monopoly on the trade after gaining a royal charter from the Queen and using the rising popularity of tea to their advantage. For the following century, the British would exploit the tea trade for profit and political power, until troubles come about with American colonies in the form of taxation and smuggling.

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When the export to China of British and Indian commodities declined, there was a trade imbalance between the British and Chinese. This resulted in a silver shortage to pay for tea and pressured them to find another good to bring in profit – opium. The EIC was responsible for most of opium’s production in India after gaining exclusive rights to purchase it from Bengal’s farmers, but the product was actually sold through private agencies. By having the opium sold to China and getting the citizens addicted to the plant’s properties, the EIC was able to get silver and use it to buy tea.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/Opium_addicts_of_Qing_Dynasty.jpg

Thus cotton, tea, and opium were all entangled in the British East India Company’s scheme to gain control over international trade and profit at the expense of other nations and peoples.

http://www.economist.com/node/21541753