European Firms Enter the Indian Ocean Trade

The British, Dutch, Danish and French East India Companies are founded at different times over the course of the seventeenth century. 

Before setting their sights on developing a military and political presence in India (as the Portuguese had already done a century earlier), these firms operate as middlemen in the Indian Ocean trade and open ‘factories’ (pre-industrial workshops) in various towns along coastal South Asia. Their primary interests are textiles, spices and slaves, and they compete fiercely with one another, often engaging in maritime battles that affect the diplomatic relations between European powers and local rulers in Asia and Africa.