East India Company

= East India Company =

The East India Company was one of the major tenants of the Royal Exchange, storing a vast amount of their inventory in the bowels of the great building.

The front office was a subdued affair, handsomely appointed, backed by a large map of the known world with small flags marking the East India Trading Companies holdings. A young man, perhaps in his late 20's with pale blond hair and equally pale complexion, sat behind a large desk that held several stacks of papers, each weighed down to keep them from blowing about from the opening door.

History in Brief
Founded in 1600, it was more properly known as the Honorable East India Company, but also called the East India Trading Company, or colloquially as "John Company." The company's main trade goods were cotton, silk, indigo dye, saltpetre, tea, and opium, and focused mainly on India.

By a series of five acts around 1670, King Charles II provisioned it with the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas.