CHAPTER III

EARLY HISTORY OF BRITISH RULE IN INDIA,
The East India Company.
The assumption of the government of India by
the Crown and the extinction of the East India
Company in 1838 was followed by a general reconstruction
 of the system of government and a
revision of the laws relating to it. The present
constitution of the executive and legislative departments
 in India is based mainly upon legislation
offected since that year. The previous enactments
and administration have thus lost much of their
value and importance; but still the general
tharacter and historical bearing of the government
under the East India Company must necessarily
be studied as an introduction to the consideration
in detail of the existing organization.
The legal history of the East India Company
may be roughly divided into three periods, each
of which represents a peculiar phase of its existence.
 There is, first, the period from 1600 A. D.
to 1773 A. D., during which the Company traded
with India, founded factories, and acquired territories
 by grant or purchase from the native rulers
for the purposes of business. The Company were
at this time subordinate to the native government,
though they managed their own affairs at the
various stations and factories, and exercised some