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The '''East India Company''' (EIC) was also known as the '''Honourable East India Company''' (HEIC) and '[[John Company]]'. It was a joint-stock company that was granted an English Royal Charter on December 31, 1600 by Elizabeth I. The British East India Company started out as a commercial trading venture, but grew in strength and eventually virtually ruled India until the [[Indian Mutiny]] in 1857.<br>

== 17th century Factories ==Listed below are some of the early trading posts set up by the East India Company. The Company initially concentrated on the East Indies spice trade but was vigorously opposed by the Dutch. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Dutch_Treaty_of_1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824] saw the cessation of all Dutch activities in the Indian subcontinent and all English activities in the East Indies. ==== Bantam ====The first trading post set up in 1603 at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantam_(city) Banten], Java by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lancaster James Lancaster]. Initially the factories on the Coromandel Coast reported to Bantam. The factory was closed in 1683.