British India

Cloves from Indonesia

Cinnamon from China and Burma

Pepper from India

Nutmeg from Indonesia

Asian Spices

Frankincense from Arabia

D.E.I.C. bond, November 7, 1623

Company logo

Created in 1602 to control the spice trade in southeast Asia

First multinational corporation

First corporation to issue stocks

Traded throughout Asia Used silver from Spanish

mines in Peru and copper from Japan to trade with India and China for textiles

Brought European ideas and technology to Asia

Dominant European force in Asia for nearly 200 years

The Dutch East India Company

Granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I in December 1600, to trade with India

Joint-stock company where investors buy into it

Royal Charter gave the company a monopoly on all trade in the East Indies

Over time the British East India Company became an unofficial extension of the British government

Shaped and applied Britain’s colonial and commercial policies

British East India Company

Map created by:

http://www.history.upenn.edu/coursepages/hist086/material/schmidt26a.jpg

http://www.colonialvoyage.com/

In 1773 the British Parliament passed the Regulating Act for India which required the East India Company to appoint an official to be Governor-General of all the districts controlled by the Company (which in 1773 comprised Bengal, Oudh and the Carnatic).

The British government appointed a council of four men to advise and control the Governor-General.

British judges were sent to India to administer the British legal system.

British India, 1889

Company arms and flag

Tea was cultivated in

India for export to Britain.

There it would become a trade commodity on

the British market.

Opium balls, such as these in an 1828 British warehouse in Patna, British India, were a great source

of income for the British. This opium was awaiting shipment to China. Opium was made from poppies,

shown on either side of the warehouse sketch.

Sepoys of the East India Company fighting during

an Indian revolt, 1857-58.East India company merchant in India,

1850.

The British East India Company set up trading outposts at Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras.

By the mid 1800s, the company controlled a large area of India, and treated India as its own private colony.

In 1857 Indian soldiers rebelled against the company. After that incident, the British government took direct control. British military and mercantile goals were intertwined.

The British military presence in India

directly supported British trade.

Indian soldiers recruited to fight for the British

army, 1902.

In the long run, the British were active rulers in India.

They kept public order and ended many local wars.

The British military also trained local Indians to become soldiers.

Many British families moved to India as their permanent home. They imported European culture

with them. They established factories, hospitals, and schools in India. Indians were not treated equally by

the British.

It was important for the British to have a strong

network of transportation and

communication in India. They designed India’s

railroad system, brought telegraph and telephone

technology, a postal system, news reporting,

and banking.

China proved to be a formidable opponent to European imperialism.

Chinese receiving opium from Patna, British India

British trade with China centered around opium. The British imported opium from India to China in exchange for silk. Chinese silver was used to buy opium, and the Chinese government was fearful of a trade imbalance. China demanded that opium sales stop, but the British

did not comply. This led to the Opium Wars.

Opium dens, 1850

Empress Dowager Ci Xi

Empress Dowager Ci Xi worked with her

government officials to fight against the British in the First Opium War,

from 1839-1842.

The treaty ended the First Opium War in 1842. It opened the ports of Guangzhou,

Jinmen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai to British trade and

residence; in addition Hong Kong was ceded

to the British.

Treaty of Nanjing

Began in 1856 when the Chinese allegedly conducted an illegal search of the British ship, the Arrow, at Guangzhou

British and French troops took Guangzhou and Tianjin in 1858

China was forced to open 11 more ports, allow foreign commerce in Beijing, sanction Christian missionary work, and legalize British importation of opium in the Treaty of Tianjin

However, China attempted to block the entry of diplomats into Beijing in 1859 to prevent enforcement of the new treaty terms

In response, the British and French occupied Beijing and burned the imperial summer palace

After the war China was forced to accept the Treaty of Tianjin

The Second Opium War, 1856-1860

The Opium Wars brought an end to the isolation of the ancient Chinese civilization

and introduced far-reaching social, economic and cultural ideas to the Chinese.

This cartoon depicts England, Germany, Russia, France, and Japan at the table, ready to cut up China after the Opium Wars. It is reminiscent of the Berlin Conference when the

African continent was divided between the European powers.

England annexed Hong Kong and Kowloon

France took over Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos)

Russia moved into Chinese Turkistan and Manchuria

Japan grabbed Taiwan and won dominance over Korea

Asia was carved up after the Opium Wars

On June 21, 1900, the Chinese Empress declared war on all foreign powers. This led to a two-month assault

on the legations in Beijing led by a group known as the Boxers.

“The present situation is becoming daily more difficult. The various Powers cast upon us looks of tiger-like voracity, hustling each other to be first

to seize our innermost territories. . . . Should the strong enemies become

aggressive and press us to consent to things we can never accept, we have no

alternative but to rely upon the justice of our cause. . . . If our . . . hundreds of millions of

inhabitants . . . would prove their loyalty to their emperor

and love of their country, what is there to fear from any

invader? Let us not think about making peace.”

Empress Dowager Tsu Hsi

Boxer Rebels

Empress Tsu Hsi

The Boxer Rebellion challenged Western commercial and political influence in China. The Chinese, though great in number, could

not stop the imperial forces.

In response, eight nations sent troops: Japan, Russia, Germany, the United States, Great Britain,

Italy and Austria-Hungary

The alliance eventually numbered 54,000:

Japanese (20,840) U. S. (3,420) Austro-Hungarian(75) British (12,020) French (3,520) German (900) Italian (80) Russian (13,150) and anti-Boxer Chinese troops

The Heroic Defense of the English Legation in Beijing

by Fritz Neumann

At the end of the two month struggle, the international troops put down the uprising on

August 14, 1900.

This political cartoon shows the winners celebrating the fall of Peking, 1900 at the end of the

Boxer Rebellion. What countries are

represented? Which country lies on the ground?

Chinese general Li Hongzhang with Lord

Salisbury and Lord Curzon, the year following the Boxer Rebellion, 1901.