Answer:
(a) Foundation: The English East India Company was formed by a group of London merchants and received a charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, giving it the monopoly of trade with the East. Its first permanent factory in India was set up at Surat (1613) with the permission of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir; Sir Thomas Roe, the ambassador of King James I at Jahangir's court (1615–19), later obtained more trade privileges. Later it established Fort St. George (Chennai), got Mumbai (1668) and founded Fort William (Kolkata).
(b) Powers given to the Company: The charter and later royal orders gave the Company the right to trade exclusively in the East, to make its own rules for its servants, to acquire land and build forts, to keep an army and navy, to coin money, to administer justice in its settlements, and to declare war and make peace with non-Christian rulers. These powers helped it turn from a trading company into a political power.
(c) Administrative structure of a factory: Each factory (trading centre) was headed by a President (or Governor) with a council. Under him worked servants in a fixed order — Senior Merchants, Merchants, Factors and Writers (clerks), with apprentices at the lowest level. The factory had warehouses, offices and living quarters and was usually protected by a fort and soldiers. Later the main factories became Presidencies — Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
