ABSTRACT
Extract I (Chapter 2): Founding of the English East India Company and early settlements
These voyages1 were so successful that the most able London merchants decided in 1600 to found a company. This obtained an exclusive charter for trade with India and the East Indies. The act granted the charter for a period of 15 years, saying that if it appeared to be harmful to the good of the state, it would be revoked, and the company wound up, with its members being given two years advance notice.
