This Private Company had its Own Army, Navy, and Empire for Over a Century

7. The 18^th century saw the growth of the EIC into a world power

The Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17^th century led to the decline of the VOC and the steady expansion of the EIC until the British company, through its control of trade and its private armies, rivaled the British Empire as a world power. Eventually the EIC – not the British government – took over all of India, ruled it through company officers, and controlled the populace through its private armies, usually composed of local troops hired for the purpose. In India, they were usually Sepoys, and several British officers learned their trade-leading Sepoy troops, Wellington among them. The EIC also armed its ships, to protect them against ships of hostile nations and against pirates during the so-called Golden Age of Piracy in the Indian Ocean in the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries.

Activity by English pirates against his own treasure ships drew the outrage of Emperor Aurangzeb near the end of the 17^th century, and in revenge, he ordered attacks against the EIC, closing factories and throwing company officers into his dungeons. The EIC responded by offering the Mughal emperor reparations, and by placing a bounty on the head of the pirate chiefly responsible – Henry Every. The price on his head made Every the target of the first worldwide manhunt in history. The EIC also persuaded Parliament to specifically exempt Every from Royal or Gubernatorial pardon. Every eluded capture and his treasure stolen from the Mughal was never found.