Company rule in India
Company rule in India (sometimes Company Raj, from Hindi: rāj, lit. 'rule') was the rule of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. This is variously taken to have commenced in 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, when the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah was defeated and replaced with Mir Jafar, who had the support of the East India Company; or in 1765, when the Company was granted the diwani, or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal and Bihar; or in 1773, when the Company abolished local rule (Nizamat) in Bengal and established a capital in Calcutta, appointed its first Governor-General, Warren Hastings, and became directly involved in governance. The Company ruled until 1858, when, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the Government of India Act 1858, the India Office of the British government assumed the task of directly administering India in the new British Raj.
Company rule in India | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1757/1765/1773–1858 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Areas of South Asia under Company rule (a) 1774–1804 and (b) 1805–1858 shown in two shades of pink | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | British colony | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Calcutta | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Official: 1773–1858: English; 1773–1836: Persian 1837–1858: primarily Urdu but also: Languages of South Asia. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Administered by the East India Company functioning as a quasi-sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown and regulated by the British Parliament | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Governor-General | |||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1774–1785 (first) | Warren Hastings | ||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1857–1858 (last) | Charles Canning | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 June 1757 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
• Treaty of Allahabad | 16 August 1765 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1772–1818 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1845–1846, 1848–1849 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 August 1858 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
• Nationalisation of the Company and assumption of direct administration by the British crown | 2 August 1858 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1858 | 1,940,000 km2 (750,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Rupee | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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