United States Australia Brazil Canada Germany India Ireland Japan Mexico New Zealand Philippines South Africa United Kingdom
The East India Company: The Corporation That Conquered Nations — Fexingo History podcast artwork
History

The East India Company: The Corporation That Conquered Nations — Fexingo History

by Fexingo
HistorySociety & Culture
Is this your show? Claim it
Listen on Apple PodcastsRSS feed

Recently ranked · United States

Last recorded placements from this show’s chart history. These are not current rankings.

Not on the United States charts we track today.

If you like The East India Company: The Corporation…, try…

Latest episodes

  • The EIC's Forgotten Naval Empire

    October 28, 2026 · 9 min

    We usually talk about the East India Company’s armies and its bureaucrats in Calcutta, but there was a third pillar that held the empire together: its navy. In this episode, we step away from the land wars of Plassey and Buxar to look at…

  • The East India Company's Corporate Coup

    October 27, 2026 · 10 min

    This episode explores the internal power struggles within the East India Company during the 1770s, focusing on the Regulating Act of 1773 and the ensuing war between the Court of Directors in London and the Supreme Court of Judicature in…

  • The EIC's Shadow Diplomats: Subsidiary System Secrets

    October 26, 2026 · 8 min

    While the East India Company is often remembered for its armies and tea, its most enduring legacy lies in a quieter, more insidious mechanism of control: the Subsidiary System. This episode explores how Robert Clive and later Lord…

  • The EIC's Silent Coup: How Plots Overthrew Princes

    October 25, 2026 · 8 min

    We explore the shadowy world of EIC political intrigue in early 19th-century India, focusing on the pivotal role of the 'Dubash' intermediaries and the complex web of alliances that allowed Company officials to dismantle sovereign powers…

  • The EIC's Corporate Boardroom Wars in London

    October 24, 2026 · 8 min

    While we often focus on the battles and bureaucrats in India, the real power of the East India Company was exerted from a single room in London: Leadenhall Street. This episode explores the internal civil war that nearly destroyed the…

Show 7 more episodesShow fewer episodes

  • The EIC's Botanical Spies and the Tea Heist

    October 23, 2026 · 14 min

    While we have covered the political maneuvering of Robert Clive and the administrative rigor of the Writers' Buildings, this episode turns to a different kind of conquest: the botanical one. In the mid-nineteenth century, the British East…

  • Robert Clive's Bengal Famine: The EIC's Hunger Crisis

    October 22, 2026 · 10 min

    In 1770, a catastrophic famine struck Bengal, killing an estimated ten million people. While earlier episodes covered the political maneuvering behind the Battle of Plassey and the administrative structures of the Diwani, this episode…

  • The East India Company's Forgotten Spy Robert Fortune

    October 21, 2026 · 12 min

    In 1848, the East India Company dispatched a Scottish botanist named Robert Fortune on a dangerous mission to infiltrate the interior of China. Tasked with stealing tea plant cuttings and seeds from the heart of the Qing Empire, Fortune…

  • The EIC's Forgotten Clerks: Paper Empire of India

    October 20, 2026 · 9 min

    We often picture the East India Company as a realm of generals and nawabs, but its true power lay in the quiet, dusty corridors of the Writers' Buildings in Calcutta. This episode explores the 'Lost Clerks'—young men sent from Britain to…

  • The EIC's Tea Spies and the Canton System

    October 18, 2026 · 8 min

    We explore how the East India Company, desperate to break China’s monopoly on tea, turned to espionage, smuggling, and botanical theft. We follow William Bolts’ early critiques of the Company’s trade practices and examine how figures like…

  • The EIC's Opium Wars: The Corporate Drug Trade

    October 17, 2026 · 6 min

    We often think of the East India Company as a merchant guild, but by the 1830s it had become the world’s largest drug trafficker. This episode explores how the Company engineered the First Opium War against the Qing Dynasty, turning…

  • The EIC's Tea Monopoly and the Opium Wars

    October 17, 2026 · 9 min

    For decades, the East India Company ruled India through ledgers, armies, and surgeons, but its most lucrative conquest wasn't a battlefield victory—it was a botanical one. In this episode, we explore how the Company transformed from a…

Full episode archive on Apple Podcasts →

About the show

How did a London trading company become the de facto ruler of India? The East India Company started as a joint-stock venture in 1600, chasing spices, but by the mid-18th century it ran armies, minted coins, and governed millions. Lucas and Luna trace the Company's transformation from merchant fleet to imperial machine: the battle of Plassey (1757) where Robert Clive bent Bengal to Company will; the scandalous 'nabobs' who returned with fortunes; the opium trades that forced open China; and the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 that finally brought Crown rule. They explore how a corporation waged war (Anglo-Mysore conflicts, Anglo-Maratha wars), administered justice (Warren Hastings' impeachment), and reshaped global trade—tea, silk, saltpeter. Along the way, they question whether the Company was a rogue state or just capitalism ahead of its time. This is the story of how profit and power fused to build an empire that still echoes in today's debates over corporate influence and colonial legacies. #EastIndiaCompany #BritishEmpire #RobertClive #BattleOfPlassey #WarrenHastings #SepoyRebellion #OpiumWars #Nabobs #AngloMysoreWars #AngloMarathaWars #Imperialism #ColonialIndia #JointStock #CorporatePower #TeaTrade #History #WorldHistory #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo