In the late 16th century, a group of London merchants petitioned Queen Elizabeth I to allow them to build English trade in Asia. She granted a charter in 1600 to support the English East India Company for 15 years, which King James I later turned into rights and perpetuity. In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Suzannah Lipscomb talks to historian Dr David Veevers from Queen Mary University of London about his exciting research into the origins of the English - later British - East India Company, which casts a new light on the story of the British in India, especially how the later dominance of the Empire was by no means guaranteed in its earliest days.

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