Foundation of East India Companies

The first East India Company was the British East India Company. The term East India Company refers to the following entities. {Kindly note the order of establishment}

• British East India Company, founded in 1600
• Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602
• Danish East India Company, founded in 1616
• Portuguese East India Company, founded in 1628
• French East India Company, founded in 1664
• Swedish East India Company, founded in 1731

The voyages at that time involved higher investments, huge risks of piracy and shipwreck and there was a large fluctuation in not only the supply (of spices) but also demand (due to competition). Therefore, in Europe, even a single voyage was preceded by formation of a company, which was liquidated when the voyage was over and the shareholders shared the profits or losses as the case was. For the first time, British East India Company was formed by bundling all the forces into monopoly enterprises. The Netherlands government took was a step ahead of their British Counterparts and gave all the powers to the company which were required to rule a colony just like a sovereign country.