The Historical Association: The East India Company: the Corporation that Changed the World

This Historical Association branch event explores the East India Company and its central role in the making of the British Empire in Asia. The lecture traces the Company’s development from a modest Elizabethan trading venture into a vast commercial and political power, showing how it helped broker Britain’s relations with Asia for nearly 250 years.

The talk examines the wider consequences of the Company’s activities, including conflict, conquest, piracy, and political intrigue, as well as the growth of global trade and the spread of goods that reshaped everyday life in Britain. It also considers the impact on India, where the Company laid important foundations for British imperial rule.

The lecture is led by Professor John Mcaleer of the University of Southampton.