Q 01/05

In which year was the East India Company founded?

A) 1660

B) 1707

C) 1757

D) 1600

Answer · why

D) 1600

Elizabeth I granted the charter on 31 December 1600; the company lasted until 1874.

Q 02/05

Which monarch granted the East India Company its founding charter?

A) Elizabeth I

B) Henry VIII

C) Charles II

D) James I

Answer · why

A) Elizabeth I

The petition came from George, Earl of Cumberland, and 218 others.

Q 03/05

What was its original chartered name in 1600?

A) Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies

B) The United Company of Merchants of England

C) The English Company Trading to the East Indies

D) The Honourable Company of Adventurers to the Indies

Answer · why

A) Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies

The 1697 rival was the English Company; the 1708 merger produced the United Company.

Q 04/05

For how many years did the original charter grant the company a monopoly on English trade east of the Cape of Good Hope?

A) Ninety-nine

B) Fifty

C) Five

D) Fifteen

Answer · why

D) Fifteen

Unlicensed traders faced forfeiture of ship and cargo and imprisonment at the royal pleasure.

Q 05/05

Roughly how large were the company's three presidency armies at their peak?

A) About 1 million soldiers

B) About 100,000 soldiers

C) About 260,000 soldiers

D) About 26,000 soldiers

Answer · why

C) About 260,000 soldiers

That was twice the size of the British Army at certain times.