How a Private Company, Became a World Power - The British East India Company
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- The longest video, Q&A not included here, I have ever made.
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Now I will get around to adding my reference list to this but you have all waited long enough.
Amendment!
7th Most Powerful Submarine Fleet**
Right at the start, I read my literal "Don't say this, say this" note and didn't even realise.
The Pepsi deal technically lead to Pepsi having the 7th most powerful attack submarine fleet in the world, although the submarines were crap (I mean old Soviet so yeah), and they were a middleman, it was a thing
the Submarines also had been demilitarized (weapons disabled/removed) and were thus basically "hulks".
@@Ugly_German_Truths Even if they hadn't, they were Russian Warships and more than likely far more deadly to anyone serving on them than anyone you'd try to fight with them
Yeah, private companies being military powers and conducting affairs of state on their own hook, or at least as a proxy for a sovereign state, is nothing new and, to some extent still goes on. I mean, the initial colonization of the Americas largely happened this way rather than by the various "colonial powers" that get the blame for it today. Nearly every expedition from Columbus to the Conquistadors to all the later colonies (successful and failed) were the result of private citizens taking the initiative and all the risk, including much personal investment. The deal usually was, the leaders of the expeditions would get substantial investment from their sovereigns to make the expedition possible and, if it was, they'd have local rulership of whatever they occupied. In exchange, the sovereign got a big cut of the profits and also actual, if distant and light-handed, sovereignty over the new territory. Seems like a "Shark Tank" deal. And another risk always was that, because the sovereign back home actually owned the new territory, and this territory might be seen as valuable by other sovereigns, if the sovereign back home lost a war, then colonies could be traded without any input from those on the ground. And thus Cajuns came to be, not even mentioning the losses of all the natives caught up in all this.
Please tell me name of the video referenced at 7:50
"It's just...good business."
I was waiting for this
Pirates of the Caribbean was oddly accurate...
@@MrGksarathy in some ways, yeah. The costumes for the first three movies were weirdly authentic to the movies' late 1740s timeframe, for example.
@@charleslarrivee29081740s? I always thought the movies, at least the first 3, took place in the 1680s-90s because Port Royal wasn't destroyed yet and it matches up with the Golden Age of Piracy.
@@MrGksarathyyeah,.well,.about that... the movies also have pirate zombies, mermaids, the kraken, menfish, ghosts... savvy?
It might be the longest video you've ever made, but but you still left me wanting more. Good stuff.
Glad you enjoyed it!
"The moral equivalent of Amazon seizing a castle, and bribing the President"...
Hey, don't give them ideas.
In today's money had more then amazon, Google, Microsoft put together. Liken it more to the united states of America. Look at the british east india company flag
note a slight inaccuracy, the 1707 Acts of Union created the Kingdom of Great Britain, not the United Kingdom, Ireland was still treated as a separate kingdom, and the United Kingdom was created in 1801 with that Act of Union.
The UK was formed in 1922. The Kings title however didn't change for a few years. It was not created by the act of Union!
@@womble321 the modern name was adopted in 1922 after Ireland became independent, but the UK that exists today is the same as the one of 1801, there fore, the United Kingdom was created by the Act of Union of 1801.
Not to mention the spurious claim the Ottomans were in decline in the 1500s, even though they won numerous wars over the next 400 years to be destroyed along with all other Empires.
A good format, very relaxing to watch and informative (Made the other half watch the whole thing and she enjoyed it)
the weirdness of these private companies and how they interacted with other factions and making the ukrainian and russian mcdonalds comparisons is just so hilarious to me, keep up the good work!
Tho a bit inacurate, they are different companies. So like a russian KFC fighting ukrainian MCD
Actually, they were American companies in Russia. They might have been trying to rule the country. But, I suspect they had to settle for just selling fast food. When sanctions were set by their country (America) They decided to close the shop. The Russian government spent some of its money on keeping them open. So they now still provide the same service. Only now they are Russian.
Just recently got into Aubrey and Maturin again, probably for the fourth time, happens every three years or so.
Meaning I am all for this,
Big wooden boat = big smile.
Pulo Aura is in HMS Surprise, the third book. It's how I first learnt about it
I love your videos. Your audio has gotten SOOOOOO much better too. Cheers, from Colorado, USA
This was a topic I knew very little about outside of the Pirates of the Carribean movies, so I found this fascinsting. Keep up the great work!
Why does the whole history of the East India Company feel like an AnCap meme that somebody in the 1600s took way too seriously?
The Royal Navy needs more funding to increase the size of the fleet, for the awesome names more than anything
Hey bro, love your vids, the Russo navy ones caught me off guard n had me absolutely rolling! As I am violently American & an army infantry vet u got me wondering if there's any grada a funny to b had about fight'n around the world with 'merica & our apparent ride or die besties down unda n 'straya. I'm fairly confident that good ol 'straya has been the only nation to have accompanied us through every conflict & misadventure since ww2. I heart my combat wombat brethren
They are the only ones crazy enough to do it.
@@mikedrop4421only ones stupid enough.
Comment for algorithm. Love your stuff mate
Thank you!
Really enjoyed this. Chuckled at some personal remarks like "a beautiful ship". Well done!
Good job on the video, I'm thoroughly enjoying your content.
Dangit all, the map at 23:38 shows the Netherlands having the Afsluitdijk and the Noordoostpolder in 1810. How do map makers keep leaving those in?
Shhh we've always had those.
I watched your video and time flew by and I was left wanting more at the end, your video was that good. Informative plus entertaining, good luck to you and your channel I look forward to seeing more of your videos.
Thank you :)
Fantastic overview, I enjoyed it very much. I don't think enough people go into just how absurd various points in history were.
Can underestimate how much i LOVE the absence of ads in your video!!
The East India Company was fighting ONLY the long distance projected power of several nations over its history. Using an example of the French, (1) ship of the line, (3)Frigates. Meanwhile the National forces of both empires squared off with each other in Euro-centric waters/lands. The projected power is a small fraction of the total Sovereign power. Your point is a very good one, the East India Company, once given the ability to wage war on it's own terms by the Monarch was indeed a separate nation state supported by the government. It was an outgrowth of the "Letter of Mark" extended to a whole company as a mini-sovereign power.
That said, I very much liked the video overview of the Far Eastern power projection of European powers, and if done tactfully, I'm guessing you could make other views talking about the oppressive actions of these companies. I've seen other views on YT talking about smaller examples VoC atrocities vs the locals. Just as I've seen YT videos talking about US genocide of native peoples during events where man, women, children are murdered who had nothing to do with the offending action the military seeking revenge over. Glossing over genocidal European behavior just allows the history to be white washed away. Not saying this channel must cover it, but speaking generally.
A very well made video. I do feel like the company's and later the Raj's rule under the british monarchy of the indian sub continent deserves its own video. Its a grimm chapter of our shared history with the british, as im sure you're aware and do point out to. In fact the last 1300 years india has seen immense bloodshed. But our Gods breathe to this day and so i take it as a chapter of learning.
Again a brilliant video, was really hoping to see one on the evolution of the modern Indian military though 😅
Cheers from Delhi 🍻
Thank you for your comment.
I might come back to it and talk about the Raj.
Also no hard feelings 🇦🇺🏏🇦🇺🏏🇦🇺🏏🇦🇺
@@HistoryofEverythingChannel ah definitely not my friend. Those were different times. We'll get along just fine. If nothing else, chicken tikka masala is what we should talk about when talking about Indo-British history, nothing beats that with a nice garlic butter naan 😂.
Merry Christmas mate. 🎄🥂🎉🎅
Superb video, fantastically well informed.
I like how we have an entire genre of fiction devoted to the concept of giant corporations armed to the teeth running the world…when that’s not fiction, it’s just not as common nowadays.
its not really changed just the names have. Look at hedgefund, and financing companies. Black Rock comes to mind.
@@perteraboofolympus150 Not wrong. Though I'd also point out the main difference seems to be a distinct lack of actual economic ability to turn a profit...
Arasaka corpo-rats think they're invincible, takes a rockerboy merc like Silverhand to remind them they don't own the world.
What giant corporations are armed to the teeth these days? Where is the military force of McDonalds or Amazon?
@@paytonyoder1260 Never heard of PMCs? They're not a thing stateside usually, but mercenary companies have been a thing since the medieval era.
Hi, that was a really fun and informative video. Thank you.
Nice work 👍 Enjoyed that, thx
Honestly one of your best vids
Now that you've done the B.E.I.C, maybe possibly please do the Dutch V.O.C as a sequel?
It is on my to do list
or the UFC which is the most modern version@@HistoryofEverythingChannel
Amazing video, I love your style and sarcasm. That's not sarcasm.
I mean if amazon created a navy I wouldn't be surprised if they could out class many countries.
yeah me neither, they have the money.
Great video! Really good to see a video that states history as it actually is rather than "Britain invaded India and Britain bad". The EIC basically just fell into control of India after the collapse of the Mughal Empire and the UK then dissolved it as it wanted better treatment for people. It's also conveniently forgotten that the majority of members of the BEIC were actually Indian and while the BEIC and British Empire weren't perfect, they treated people MILES better than both the Mughal Empire and Maratha Confederacy and absolutely *did not* loot the often touted "trillions" from India as is stated by proven liars like Shashi Tharoor.
Dude, you're just doing the opposite type of braindead historical analysis, especially with that crack against Tharoor at the end.
The EIC may have stumbled into control of the subcontinent, but that still involved a lot of deliberate wars of conquest against many Indian states, who realized pretty soon at least somewhat where it was all going. Not to mention, just because the EIC recruited sepoys out of necessity, they aren't somehow less imperialist or that Indians are somehow less victims of British conquest. Additionally, the idea that they wanted better for the people is abject nonsense. They wanted the riches of India to fill their coffers, those of the Crown, and the pockets of their investors.
Finally, the British are responsible for millions more deaths than the Marathas or Mughals and all the wars they fought.
@@MrGksarathy the only nonsense being spouted here is from you and the fact that you don't know Tharoor is a liar is hilarious and means I can't take you seriously and so won't be wasting any more time discussing it with you.
@@skatman3278 I simply don't obsess over him the way you nationalist chuds do.
I would call you a Modi bhakt, but the idea that one would so vociferously defend the EIC and Raj is baffling to me.
@@skatman3278 Spot on there could have been thousand things wrong with them but British treated locals better than their own rulers. They built every system in India and their systems were far better than the existing systems, that is how they became successful. They created the rules and followed it.
Typical colonizer mentality. "We were ruling for the good of the savages". This lack of understanding in Britain about of their historical past In India is due to Indians trying to be polite with the British and not sharing the full horrors of the British Raj. British think they build everything that works. They never claim the same about African states. There they wash their hand by saying its the corrupt local elite. As the saying goes Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan.
i dont get how this channel has so few views, high quality information delivered with wit and appropriate visuals. Most similar channels use so much barely fitting stock footage it becomes unwatchable
Rule Britannia. 🇬🇧👑
Inventor of the concentration camp 🧐🗿🍷
Thanks.
Just gonna say it cause I don't immediately see it your thumbnail. Is has the battletech house iconography and I love it
East India Company gets all the attention, but the Hudson's Bay Company ruled an area twice or three times as large for 400 years 🤠
Didn't have nearly so many people or readily accessible resources though.
Briefly losing their territory to France for a couple of decades.
Thank you for the excellent video covering the history of a real-life mega corp!
Cyberpunk: 1777
Excellent work Brigadier General!
Yes, I really enjoyed this video. Thanks so much for your research on this topic.
Great video, thanks!
Interesting to see how little has changed in big business. With the details here, you can change names and dates and you could be telling us about a handful of modern companies.
Oh my a interesting idea, although I never got the notification for it I’ll watch this
When people say that gigantic Mega-Corporations with their own armies tat could control whole planets, like Weyland-Yutani from aliens or Arasaka from Cyberpunk could never exist, I just point at this and tell them, Megacorps have already existed in history.
*The Honourable East India Company, Building Better Worlds...*
Well done, old chap!👏👏👏
Thanks for this maritime history , I'm really getting into all the historical story telling on you tube ,
Great video!!! Would have watched it three times as long!!! More please.
Love your job man. Hope you keep doing it for a long time.
You have put an amazing amount of work into this research and video. Thank you.
This video is fantastic. I’d love to see a Dutch East India video too
I’d really enjoy longer content your great at keeping things interesting
As usual, another great video from you
Missed this when it dropped. Thanks for calling it out.
"it just works, ladies and gentlemen" - spiffing brit
Fantastic! Thank you for the work you put into this.
Thank you for a very entertaining and informative video. I subscribed. I like your style and the visuals were fun, too.
Please make more 1500 to 1800 content this is fantastic
It is always nice to learn parts of history I never knew before
Just “fell into” this channel.
Instant subscriber, as I’m addicted to history…..
Also, really like the format of your video.
Thank you so much
A worthy watch
- some internet commentator
How everyone on earth hasn't seen this tour de fource is more insane than me
-escaped mental patient
Yeah. Id watch more 9/10
-Jayk
Very good video, you covered a lot of ground but didn't even mention the Opium Wars!
There's a whole video on that coming eventually. It'll probably be an hour in itself
Can’t wait to see Drakes World Tour. Certified Plunder Boy baby!
A1 content don’t stop
Why no one is talking about that The British east Indian company is now owned by an Indian.
What an irony.
"Imagine if you will...Amazon having an armed PMC."
Any day now, honestly.
I see Master and Commander, I like.
Excellent video mate 👏
Making sure things like the east Indian company don't become a thing again is important.
nah they were pretty cool
@@blarrrgggmmmmm someone after my own heart.
Yeah. As someone of Indian descent, I do not want this shit to happen again to anyone else.
@@MrGksarathyno worries, companies were not from english merchants, at least until deep 19 century
Because basically were not british nor english these companies, so no need to blame the english, there werent the ones who set up none of these companies
Very interesting, I like your relaxed style of dialogue
Thank you. I aim to be relatively dead pan
Let's be honest if the US navy ever disappeared, apple would 100% form a pmc
To protect its shipping
I do like this longer format.
wagner: wagner pmc It is the most powerful Corporate Army in history.
The British East India Company : You amateur. You are not able to even take one Country .
great content. thanks.
Thanks for presenting an educational and entertaining history video.
I agree that the East India Company was more prosperous than the United States in 1895--any naval or military power would be situational, though. Expeditions still are a matter of logistics. Ten years later the United States still had a miniscule military, more of a frontier constabulary than an expedition-ready military force. The US Navy was building up, and in 1905 the USA brokered a peace deal between the Japanese and Russian empires. Russia lost its navy in 1905. What naval forces did the East India Trading Company have in 1895?
The 1775 American Revolution was a rebellion against thirteen crown-chartered private companies much like the East India Trading Company--and the Hudson Bay Company.
Love how that galleon ship has modern outlets, portable radiators, and a 🚭 sign.
Yeah, it was a real cutting edge design. 😂
TFW you realize that the Bengal Famine was probably the result of the charter requirements for 3 years of continuous profits (though of course, contributing factor rather than direct cause as for any event)
Thanks history, I enjoyed the video.
Just Brilliant!!! I'd love to see one on Bayer, the pharmaceutical company that was given to the Allies as part of Germany's reparations following WWII
I've been considering it!
Several years ago they also bought Monsanto...in case you didn't know that..I personally find this terrifying@@HistoryofEverythingChannel
A very good and highly informative video
It should be noted that the Dutch East India Company did come before, however both were brutal. I mean it in the sense of Genocide brutality for profits.
I am shocked there are not more movies or games about this. People will see "Big company controls everything" and make it science fiction rather than historic.
Cyberpunk 1677
There are some Dutch movies about the VOC. (United east India company)
Last thing you'd want to hear is a certain superpower has chartered a "your region" trading company 😅.
High on tea i see.
High on tea, at sea*
@@HistoryofEverythingChannel Boooo get off the stage!
Wait, was that Bach's 2nd unaccompanied cello suite (famous part) on harpsichord?
The EIC is fascinating but it gave us terrible results (if you weren't rich), a cyberpunk hellhole, and is one of the the biggest arguments against unrestrained capitalism.,
I have it written down at home. But yes from memory that's the one
Lesson about how a private company could rule the world
Microsoft? Google? Others? We've returned to a point where it is conceivable.
No, at the time where they founded those factories on Java, that word did not mean a Plant or production facility, but a trading post. What in Germany was called Hansekontor was in english a Hanse factory. Think of it as "making deals possible" not as "making things".
This is a fantastic video
Awsome names, the Red Dragon still is used...love it.🇬🇧🇬🇧👍
Turning into one of my favorite CZcamsrs
This is like Cyberpunk megacorps.
Wasn't the Pepsi Deal only a suggestion?
It partially happened but iirc the ships were scrapped for metal?
Thoroughly enjoyed
Imaging behaving in ways that are perfectly marketed with such things.
Letting you know I enjoyed it
Really great stuff...
As long back a company very powerful now it's going with all the powerful trapping like military might behind them.
The EIC was honestly super lucky in its timing of conquering the Indian subcontinent. They only gained power as the Mughal Empire declined, and they only gained land because the breakaway state of Bengal wasn't able to pay its debts to them upfront.
A good businessman does not hesitate when opportunity presents itself.
If Microsoft was formed a century earlier, Bill Gates would have an Army, and Paul Allen would be his admiral. Elon Musk would have done similar, though he would probably lose his army in an attritional war, because that country's ruler badmouthed him in the press.
They were better organized, wherever they went they made systems and followed their system. Not like the local ruler for whome law was what was their personal preferences. Apart from matter of state their just system was far better than local courts. There was corruption in their rank and files but as compared to local officials masses felt they are angels. They recruited huge number of locals in their armies and created a fighting force which they themselves were rightly proud of. If they recruited a spot for four rupees a month he will get his four rupees on completion of the month. Not like local armies where they were always underpaid or not paid for months.
@@snd9826 That raises the question, how could they ever have gotten this organized and powerful in the first place? They were lucky that India was entering a period of disunity in which a powerful empire couldn't exercise an effective monopoly on the use of force. Smaller entities like Bengal replaced them, and these entities couldn't raise revenue like the Mughals had in their heyday, so that led to the problems you point out. Not to mention, the usurpers against Siraj ud Daulah in Bengal couldn't pay Clove upfront, and that's literally the reason he took 3 provinces. It was a payment plan.
@@MrGksarathy Problem is when we blame others for our own shortcomings. Local zamindars system kept on operating until other better system came in. Remember every spoy wanted to join company buhadar forces and will be more loyal to them. Secondly people of subcontinent did not have nationalistic loyalties. In any case they were either a subject to one ruler or other.
it seems people cannot distinguish between the 2 era of British rule in India that being the East India Company and British Raj era which are completely different
The British Empire had already decided by 1820 that British rule in India was not going to be permanent and I would not be surprised if it did turn out that the British were thinking about same thing like the reforms that the Raja Manon Roy was able to bring in
As we know by 1919, the British Empire was committed to increasing Indian involvement in Government which was part the plan for India to be a dominion of the British Empire like what Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were by 1930 self governing dominions which 1950 for India make sense considering the amount of work that would be needed to get India ready for the responsibility of a self-governing dominion
My english ancestor was a prominent figure in starting the east India company. Sir Henry Firebrace & his sons. Courtiers to Charles 1 &2 & james 1.
Very well done Sir..
The Anglo-Dutch wars didn't start because of the VOC but because the English attacked Dutch merchant ships in Europe, the VOC only had the Dutch monopoly East of the Cape. The European trade was were the big money was and the English couldn't compete with the Dutch, no one could compete with these modern capitalists with their efficient ships build industrialized.
For the Dutch Republic the VOC was peanuts, a small cherry on a huge cake. The VOC wasn't rich in it's first 3 decades but growing through reinvesting profits instead of paying dividends, that's why the stock market was invented, so the VOC could grow. The VOC didn't hold control the land of Indonesia either, it controlled the seas and therefore around it. It had a big turn over but also lots of costs, as it was taking the war with Portugual overseas through trade. Most of the VOC's trade was between Asian "countries", not the year long sail trip home that would kill a chunk of the crews. Most Asians were far too sophisticated and snobbish to want European stuff, so it was either spices or silver that made them allow trade. Spices were the backbone of the Asian operation more than what it was all about.
A great and entertaining video.
Great video! You frequently talked about the company being brutal to the peoples of India, where may I learn more about the specifics of this?
The Anarchy is a brilliant read on yhr company
Companies were not set up by the english,