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    Categories>History & Society>When Corporations Conquered Countries: The East India Company Story

    When Corporations Conquered Countries: The East India Company Story

    49 min
    |
    |
    Feb 27, 2026
    HistoryPoliticsBusiness

    Explore how a 1600s trading company became history's first corporate empire, wielding armies twice Britain's size and ruling millions—with chilling parallels to today's corporate giants.

    When Corporations Conquered Countries: The East India Company Story

    Best quote from When Corporations Conquered Countries: The East India Company Story

    “

    The East India Company represented a fusion of private profit and public power, essentially operating as a state masquerading as a business with the power of a nation-state but the moral obligations of a 17th-century trading company.

    ”

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    Key Takeaways

    1

    When Corporations Conquered Countries

    0:00
    0:16
    0:29
    0:47
    0:58
    2

    The Merchant Adventurers' Gamble

    1:16
    1:35
    1:41
    2:00
    2:07
    2:23
    2:33
    2:47
    2:58
    3:17
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    3:49
    4:05
    4:11
    4:26
    4:32
    4:53
    5:01
    5:18
    5:27
    5:42
    3

    The Mughal Opportunity

    5:53
    6:06
    6:21
    6:33
    6:47
    6:59
    7:18
    7:29
    7:43
    7:55
    8:14
    8:21
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    8:49
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    9:15
    9:28
    9:40
    9:55
    10:07
    10:19
    4:32
    10:50
    11:01
    4

    The Revenue Machine

    11:13
    11:26
    11:37
    11:53
    12:05
    12:19
    12:31
    12:46
    12:57
    13:13
    13:26
    13:41
    2:07
    14:07
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    14:32
    14:43
    14:56
    15:09
    15:24
    15:35
    15:46
    9:40
    16:14
    16:29
    16:44
    5

    The Opium Empire

    16:57
    17:10
    17:27
    17:39
    17:54
    18:04
    18:20
    18:35
    18:52
    19:00
    19:15
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    3:26
    20:06
    20:17
    20:29
    20:48
    20:59
    21:15
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    22:03
    6

    The Boston Tea Party Connection

    22:15
    6:21
    22:43
    22:57
    23:13
    23:28
    23:41
    23:54
    24:03
    24:20
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    7

    The Unraveling Empire

    27:36
    3:26
    28:03
    28:19
    28:34
    28:47
    29:00
    29:16
    29:27
    29:42
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    31:10
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    8

    Modern Corporate Parallels

    32:41
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    37:24
    37:37
    9

    Lessons for Today's Power Brokers

    37:53
    38:06
    6:21
    38:39
    38:51
    39:07
    39:26
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    39:57
    40:14
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    41:15
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    43:00
    43:18
    10

    Reflecting on Corporate Empire

    43:33
    43:46
    44:03
    3:26
    44:34
    44:49
    45:07
    38:39
    45:42
    45:59
    46:12
    46:28
    46:39
    46:55
    47:10
    47:27
    47:38
    47:53
    48:08
    48:24
    48:37
    48:52

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