The Courteen association, later called the Assada company was an English trading company founded in 1635 in an attempt to break the monopoly of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

in trade with

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. The East India Company was founded by a charter in 1600 with a fifteen-year monopoly on trade with the east and extended in 1609 by

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

to an indefinite period subject to a 3-year notice of the revocation. This monopoly caused jealousy among merchants who did not subscribe to it and in 1635 King Charles I granted a trading license to Sir William Courteen under the name of the Courteen association permitting it also to trade with the east at any location in which the East India Company had no presence. Courteen's fellow promoters included

Endymion Porter Sir Endymion Porter (1587–1649) was an English diplomat and royalist. Early life He was descended from Sir William Porter, sergeant-at-arms to Henry VII, and son of Edmund Porter, of Aston-sub-Edge in Gloucestershire, by his cousin Angela, ...

, groom of the King's bedchamber and Sir

Francis Windebank Sir Francis Windebank (1582 – 1 September 1646) was an English politician who was Secretary of State under Charles I. Biography Francis was the only son of Sir Thomas Windebank of Hougham, Lincolnshire, who owed his advancement to the Cec ...

, his Secretary of State. The company had a troubled beginning, it was badly managed, lost ships at sea and suffered a collapse in 1636, after which Courteen fled to the continent where he died.Riddick, The history of British India: a chronology During the English civil war the Crown gave its support to the Courteen association and badly treated the East India merchants, causing them to generally support Parliament. In 1649 the Courteen Association changed its name to the Assada company. The enmity between the two trading organisations continued until a settlement was ordered by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') was a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...

and the two merged in 1657.Mehta -Advanced study in the history of modern India 1707-1813

References

* * * Shipping companies of British India Colonial Indian companies Chartered companies 1635 establishments in England 1657 disestablishments Trading companies British Indian history Companies established in 1635 1650s disestablishments in England Economy of Stuart England {{UK-company-stub

See also

References