A commercial company 1600-1858 chartered by
Queen Elizabeth I and given a monopoly of
trade between England and the Far East. In
the 18th century it became, in effect, the
ruler of a large part of India, and a form of
dual control by the company and a committee
responsible to Parliament in London was
introduced by Pitt's India Act 1784. The end
of the monopoly of China trade came 1834, and
after the Sepoy Rebellion 1857 the crown took
complete control of the government of British
India; the India Act 1858 abolished the
company.