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[[File:Clive.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|Clive of India after Plassey <ref>By Francis Hayman - Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=565912</ref>]]
In 1600, the East India Company was originally chartered to trade basic commodities such as silk, tea, salt opium and spices from India to Europe. Over time the East India company radically transformed itself from a trading company into an entity that controlled a massive empire in India. Britain, through the East India Company, was able to dominate the Indian sub-continent, that which includes modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka from the 1750s. The British effectively ruled the sub-continent for almost two centuries, from the 1750s until 1947, with relatively little opposition and unrest. [[How did the Sepoy Rebellion (Indian Mutiny) change India?|Importantly, the Sepoy Rebellion (First War of Independence), ultimately ended the role of the East Indian Company and forced Britain to administer India directly.]]
How was Britain, several thousand miles away and with a much smaller population come to dominate an entire sub-continent? The reason for this was as a direct result of a unique series of circumstances that allowed Britain to establish its authority over hundreds of millions of people. Among these factors were the decline of the Mughal Empire, a lack of unity among the local inhabitants, no real rivals, technological advantages and a clever policy of retaining local elites in power and gaining their cooperation.
