East India Company

The East India Company, also known as Honourable East India Company^[1] or British India Company,^[2] was a British trading enterprise that delivered goods and commodities to several ports throughout the British Empire, and a major naval force during the Age of Enlightenment and the Golden Age of Piracy.

History[]

Early history[]

The company, originally chartered as the Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies, was founded in 1600, through a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I of England.^[1] Throughout its history, the company held a tight monopoly on trade throughout most of the coastlines of the known world, and established a massive trading network that spanned from India and China in the east to the Caribbean Sea and the Thirteen Colonies in the west. The company owned over 1700 ships, creating the largest and most powerful merchant navy of all time.^[3]

Secretly, however, the business was used on several occasions by members of the Templar Order, in their efforts to spread their influence throughout the ever-growing empire. As of 1713, Sir Aubrey Hague was an executive of the company, and Benjamin Pritchard was a captain sailing for the company until his death that year; both men had been Templars. ^[4]

Additionally, Duncan Walpole had been in the employ of the company, before a fellow sailor approached and recruited him into the Assassin Brotherhood.^[3] Later, Walpole was persuaded by Henry Spencer, a Templar and a member of the East India Company's Court of Directors, to betray the Assassins and join the Templar Order.^[5]

Operations in Southeast Asia[]

By the 1720s, the company had become engaged in a proxy war with the rival Dutch East India Company, resulting in political tensions between the British and the Dutch. This was especially true around Southeast Asia, where many Dutch sailors blamed the British for the deaths of their comrades at sea and would not hesitate to attack any Englishman on sight.^[6]

In late 1724, an East India Company ship sailing from the South China Sea to the Caribbean was intercepted by the West Indies Assassins, who recovered a document mentioning the lost Khmer city of Angkor, rumored to be an Isu site. The Brotherhood subsequently contacted Edward Kenway, who agreed to conduct an investigation and recover any Pieces of Eden hidden in Angkor.^[6]

An East India Company ship under attack by the Jackdaw — An East India Company ship under attack by the *Jackdaw*

In January 1725, a British Templar working for the East India Company was killed in the Caribbean by the Assassin Adéwalé. As he died, the Templar revealed that the document previously acquired by the Brotherhood was in fact a trap, meant to lure Edward to his doom. Adéwalé consequently contacted the British Assassins to warn them about the conspiracy, so that they could hopefully thwart it.^[7]

That same year, the Templars used the East India Company to conduct their own search for Angkor. On the orders of Alan Jacob, the Far East Company's representative in Macau^[8] and a Templar Grand Master operating in Southeast Asia,^[9] the company organized an expedition to Indochina to find Angkor,^[10] and had several ships tail Edward Kenway and the members of his Zhang Wei Union.^[11]

Furthermore, the Templar John Young acted as a spy for the company and befriended Edward while accompanying him on his journey. Following Edward's retrieval of a Piece of Eden from Yangon, Burma, John revealed his true allegiance when he betrayed Edward and stole the artifact, hoping it could be used to resurrect his fiancée, Xialun Qing. After John delivered the Piece of Eden to Alan, their fleet set sail for Angkor to recover the artifact housed there.^[9]

American Revolution[]

Around 1748, the East India Company was in danger of facing resistance from the Kingdom of Mysore and the Assassins in the area. John Harrison, who was stationed in Calcutta, wrote a letter to fellow Templar William Johnson asking for aid in dealing with the Assassins stationed in the area and to help the company prosper.^[12]

Several years later, in 1773, the company was being used by Johnson to fund the sale of Kanien'kehá:ka territory in colonial America. The company was the only business able to import tea to the city of Boston, where it was taxed at alarming prices before the profits would go to Johnson.^[13] However, the intervention of the Sons of Liberty, as well as that of the Colonial Assassin Connor, sparked the Boston Tea Party and saw the remainder of the unsold tea dumped into Boston's harbor, foiling Johnson's plan.^[14]

Victorian era[]

In 1839, after the Templar Francis Cotton successfully poisoned Ranjit Singh, the Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, the resulting confusion following the ruler's death allowed the company to launch the Anglo-Sikh wars, which ultimately resulted in the annexation of India by the British.^[15]

William Sleeman and company soldiers confronting Arbaaz

Following Cotton's death in 1839, the senior Templar William Sleeman of the same company was placed in charge of Templar operations in India, and organized several expeditions to find Isu Temples, hoping to retrieve the Pieces of Eden housed within.^[16] After stealing the Koh-i-Noor from the Indian Assassins,^[17] Sleeman used it in conjuction with a Precursor box to reveal the locations of several Temples.^[18] However, his plans were foiled by the Assassin Arbaaz Mir, who managed to steal back the Koh-i-Noor and hide it away.^[19]

The Crown eventually took control of the East India Company's powers and assets in 1858.^[1] In 1868, the company sought to crush the independence of India, with the assistance of Templars led by Brinley Ellsworth. Their efforts included plotting the assassination of the last Sikh Maharaja, Duleep Singh;^[20] smuggling large amounts of stolen Punjabi gold into London;^[21]^[22] and attempting to sabotage India and the British Empire's diplomatic relations by framing Singh for the theft of the Koh-i-Noor.^[23] However, all of these plans were thwarted by the Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye, while Singh was inspired to fight for India's independence even harder than before.^[24]

By 1874, the East India Company had become virtually powerless and obsolete, and it was officially dissolved under the terms of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act, which saw the Crown assume its governmental functions and command of its military.^[25]