Company rule in India (sometimes, Company Raj, "raj," lit. "rule" in Hindi) refers to the rule or dominion of the British East India Company over parts of the Indian subcontinent.
This is variously taken to have commenced in 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, when the Nawab of Bengal Sirajuddaulah surrendera his dominions to the Company, in 1765, when the Company is granted the diwani, or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal and Bihar, or in 1773, when the Company establishes a capital in Calcutta, appoints its first Governor-General, Warren Hastings, and becomes directly involved in governance.
The East India Company is a private company owned by stockholders and reporting to a board of directors in London.
Originally formed as a monopoly on trade, it increasingly takes on governmental powers with its own army and judiciary.
It seldom turns a profit, as employees divert funds into their own pockets.
The British government has little control, and there is increasing anger at the corruption and irresponsibility of Company officials or "nabobs" who make vast fortunes in a few years.
Pitt's India Act of 1784 give the British government effective control of the private company for the first time.
The new policies are designed for an elite civil service career that minimizes temptations for corruption.
Increasingly, Company officials live in separate compounds according to British standards.
The Company's rule lasts until 1858, when, after the Indian rebellion of 1857, it is abolished.
With the Government of India Act 1858, the British government assumes the task of directly administering India in the new British Raj.
