I’ve read about the history of the East India Company (“EIC”) and I’m still not sure I get how it operated.
JS Mill rose to the post of Examiner in 1856. Since English organizational terms often hold more to tradition than actual power, I’m really not sure what the Examiner did and how much clout he had. Was he like a CEO?
In terms of de facto power rather than de jure, how independent was the EIC?
How important were its military assets? Did the India Companies of different countries go to war with each other like megacorporations do in cyberpunk science-fiction?
When summoned the EIC did have to answer to Parliament, but it wasn’t often and went about it’s business without oversight until the 1857 rebellion when it was dissolved. Keep in mind this suited both the EIC and Parliament as there was plenty of interconnected interests and backscratching. The EIC was notoriously unprofitable to its shareholders, the bulk of it’s assets found their way in company man’s pockets like Robert Clive who when summoned by the board for his independent military adventures said “Mr. Chairman, at this moment I stand astonished at my own moderation!”
Very. In the words of Jan Pieterzoon Coen, Director of the Dutch East India Company 1615,
However, the EIC never fought European powers without Parliament approval and only fought native kingdoms when it suited immediate goals, they acted with some oversight in Bengal early and then with no interference at all later. The real limiting factor was war was expensive and ate at their bottom line.
I suggest listening to This Sceptered Isle: Empires if you’re interested in this topic.
The EIC was as far as I understand was a quasi-governmental for-profit organization.
My great-great-great-great-grandfather (plus minus the odd great) was fairly prominent in the East India Company (in fact his name may well have been in the book the OP read). He received what was essentially received the EIC equivalent of a commission in the British army, then somewhere along the line his talent as a negotiator was noticed and he was made what was the EIC equivalent of an ambassador to one of the local rulers. He negotiated an alliance between the EIC and this ruler against the Tipu Sultan and when the Tipu Sultan was defeated he became very rich as a result. A lot of the spoils were also given to the British government which pleased them enough to give him a title.