The East India Company; which became the British East India Company after the 1707 Treaty of Union; was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies; but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China. The Company was granted an English Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600. After a rival English company challenged its monopoly in the late 17th century; the two companies were merged in 1708 to form the Honourable East India Company (HEIC); colloquially referred to as John Company.

The East India Company traded mainly in cotton; silk; indigo dye; saltpetre; tea and opium. The Company also came to rule large areas of India; exercising military power and assuming administrative functions; to the exclusion; gradually; of its commercial pursuits; it effectively functioned as a megacorporation. Company rule in India; which effectively began in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey; lasted until 1858; when; following the events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857; the British Crown assumed direct administration of India in the new British Raj. The Company itself was finally dissolved on 1 January 1874; as a result of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act.