POINTS TO REMEMBER

. The Charter Act of 1813 abolished the monopoly of the East India Company in Indian trade. The 1833 Act abolished Company's monopoly in trade with China.
. The word 'factory' in the 17th and the 18th century English meant foreign trading stations set up by a merchant company.
. The forts built by the foreign merchants in India pro­vided a nucleus for spreading their (merchants) control over the neighbouring territory.
. The East India Company turned into a territorial power after undergoing the following three phases-the voyage system, the factory system and the fort system.
. In the early decades of the 19th century, the value of cotton cloth exported from India to England declined greatly, while that of the import of it from England increased by about 15 times.
. The East India Company was a joint stock enterprise, i.e. a number of stock or shareholders had invested their capital in it.
. A new company, the United Company of the Merchants of England Trading to East Indies was founded in 1708. But the new company continued to be called the East India company.
. The British government's monopoly right to the East India Company to trade with India and China was primarily motivated by the desire to bring home wealth from foreign trade. It was also meant to assure the investors of their income.
. The 'charter' issued by the British Parliament was a deed or a written grant of monopoly rights renewed from time to time by the government.
. 'Free Merchants' or 'interlopers' were the English mer­chants who indulged in private business, which was unauthorised under the charter. The main objective of the free merchants was to expand their business at the cost of the company's business.