The English, having formed the East India Company (a joint-stock company like its Dutch counterpart), after two consecutive voyages that ended in disaster, made their first successful voyage. Under the command of James Lancaster, they headed directly for the Sultanate of Aceh in Sumatra, the largest pepper market east of India. Then, heading even further east, Lancaster left a small group of merchants in Bantam, where a Dutch position already existed. The expedition returned to London in 1603, with 10 tons of pepper and many other spices. They were welcomed triumphantly. The list of financiers coincides with the company’s first group of shareholders: Nicholas Barnsley, grocer, 150 pounds of capital; Nery Bridgman, leather merchant, 200 pounds; James Deane, textile wholesaler, 300 pounds; Sir Stephen Steame, Mayor of London, 200 pounds; Richard Wiseman, goldsmith, 200 pounds; and two hundred others… These were people with a spirit of risk. The Mughal Empire that ruled India in the 17th century was a power that no European nation could match: it accounted for 22.5% of the world’s GDP, while England had only 1.8%. But it would be the political and military balance of power that would change the balance of power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The English, having formed the East India Company (a joint-stock company like its Dutch counterpart),…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-618640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ev-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n