The Birth of Empire: The East India Company

The East India Company, founded in 1600, lasted for 258 years before the British state gained full control of its activities. How did it become so powerful? British historian and TV presenter Dan Snow travels through India in the footsteps of the company that revolutionized the British lifestyle and laid the foundations for global trading systems that remain in place today.

How did the British government control the East India Company – and help it create an empire that, at its peak, funded governments, toppled princes and generated spectacular amounts of money from trading textiles and spices? In the second and final part of his documentary series, British historian and TV presenter Dan Snow traces the rise and fall of the world’s first multinational.