Misplaced Pages

#701298

85-600: In 1815, Nepal lost this region to the East India Company through the Sugauli Treaty . For 45 years it was a part of British India and returned to Nepal in 1860 in recognition for supporting the suppression of the Indian Independence movement in 1857. Today, this annexed area is still called Naya Muluk meaning new country . An area of 368 km (142 sq mi) was set aside as

170-611: A group of prominent merchants and explorers met to discuss a potential East Indies venture under a royal charter . Besides Fitch and Lancaster, the group included Stephen Soame , then Lord Mayor of London ; Thomas Smythe , a powerful London politician and administrator who had established the Levant Company ; Richard Hakluyt , writer and proponent of British colonization of the Americas ; and several other sea-farers who had served with Drake and Raleigh. On 22 September,

255-497: A hero; his circumnavigation raised an enormous amount of money for England's coffers, and investors received a return of some 5,000 per cent. Thus started an important element in the eastern design during the late sixteenth century. Soon after the Spanish Armada 's defeat in 1588, the captured Spanish and Portuguese ships and cargoes enabled English voyagers to travel the globe in search of riches. London merchants presented

340-616: A metallic chik-chik-chik call. Displaying males croak and produce a deep humming sound. The only bird even remotely similar to adult males of the Bengal florican is the lesser florican ( Sypheotides indica ). This is a smaller, slimmer-necked bustard overall, and its males have cheek-tufts of plumes with pennant -like tips rather than the crest, and a white band between neck and back. The females are similar, and young Bengal floricans can be easily mistaken for female lesser floricans. The latter has almost white wing coverts however, resembling

425-682: A petition to Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean. The aim was to deliver a decisive blow to the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of far-eastern trade. Elizabeth granted her permission and in 1591, James Lancaster in the Bonaventure with two other ships, financed by the Levant Company , sailed from England around the Cape of Good Hope to the Arabian Sea , becoming

510-568: A private fleet of 200 ships. It specialised in the spice trade and gave its shareholders 40% annual dividend. The British East India Company was fiercely competitive with the Dutch and French throughout the 17th and 18th centuries over spices from the Spice Islands . Some spices, at the time, could only be found on these islands, such as nutmeg and cloves; and they could bring profits as high as 400 per cent from one voyage. The tension

595-719: A relative of the Grand Mughal , though there is no evidence to suggest that it was his daughter and her retinue. The loot from the Ganj-i-Sawai had a total value between £325,000 and £600,000, including 500,000 gold and silver pieces, and has become known as the richest ship ever taken by pirates. When the news arrived in England it caused an outcry. To appease Aurangzeb, the East India Company promised to pay all financial reparations, while Parliament declared

680-584: A young Mughal Prince as Emperor with the Company as the de jure protectors of the Empire from their position of direct control in Bengal. This relationship was repeatedly strained as the Company continued its expansion and exploitation, however it lasted in some form until 1858 when the last Mughal Emperor was exiled as the Company was disbanded and its assets were taken over by the British Crown. In 1634,

765-407: Is buff with fine black vermiculations and black arrowhead markings, and there is a conspicuous large white patch from the wing coverts to the remiges . In flight, the male's wings appear entirely white except for the dark primary remiges. The feet and legs are yellow, the bill and irides are dark. The female is buff-brown similar to the males' back with a dark brown crown and narrow dark streaks down

850-697: The Fancy , reached the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb , where he teamed up with five other pirate captains to make an attack on the Indian fleet returning from the annual pilgrimage to Mecca . The Mughal convoy included the treasure-laden Ganj-i-Sawai , reported to be the greatest in the Mughal fleet and the largest ship operational in the Indian Ocean, and its escort, the Fateh Muhammed . They were spotted passing

935-793: The Golden Hind he achieved this, and then sailed across the Pacific Ocean in 1579, known then only to the Spanish and Portuguese. Drake eventually sailed into the East Indies and came across the Moluccas , also known as the Spice Islands, and met Sultan Babullah . In exchange for linen, gold, and silver, the English obtained a large haul of exotic spices, including cloves and nutmeg. Drake returned to England in 1580 and became

SECTION 10

#1732766237702

1020-570: The China , India, and Japan trade routes. In 1596, three more English ships sailed east but all were lost at sea. A year later however saw the arrival of Ralph Fitch , an adventurer merchant who, with his companions, had made a remarkable nine year overland journey to Mesopotamia , the Persian Gulf , the Indian Ocean, India and Southeast Asia. Fitch was consulted on Indian affairs and gave even more valuable information to Lancaster. In 1599,

1105-601: The English Company Trading to the East Indies ) was floated under a state-backed indemnity of £2 million. The powerful stockholders of the old company quickly subscribed a sum of £315,000 in the new concern, and dominated the new body. The two companies wrestled with each other for some time, both in England and in India, for a dominant share of the trade. It quickly became evident that, in practice,

1190-682: The First Opium War in 1839, which involved a succession of British naval attacks along the Chinese coast over the course of several months. As part of the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, the Qing were forced to give British merchants special treatment and the right to sell opium. The Chinese also ceded territory to the British, including the island of Hong Kong . The prosperity that the officers of

1275-542: The Indian subcontinent , Cambodia , and Vietnam . It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List because fewer than 1,000 individuals were estimated to be alive as of 2017. It is the only member of the genus Houbaropsis . The male Bengal florican has a black plumage from the head and neck to underparts. Its head carries a long lanky crest, and the neck has elongated display plumes. The upperside

1360-501: The Koshi River in the spring of 2011. The courtship display of males has been discussed by many naturalists travelling British India , and in the modern era attracts tourists who provide revenue to locals. Studies indicate that the Bengal florican is not a particularly shy or hemerophobic species, its apparent intolerance of human settlements being chiefly due to its intolerance of land clearance for agriculture. Pastures and

1445-712: The Straits of Malacca by ousting the Portuguese in 1640–1641. With reduced Portuguese and Spanish influence in the region, the EIC and VOC entered a period of intense competition, resulting in the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th and 18th centuries. The British were also interested in trans-Himalayan trade routes, as they would create access to untapped markets for British manufactured goods in Tibet and China. This economic interest

1530-441: The 1770s in exchange for goods like porcelain and tea , causing a series of opioid addiction outbreaks across China in 1820. The ruling Qing dynasty outlawed the opium trade in 1796 and 1800, but British merchants continued illegally nonetheless. The Qing took measures to prevent the East India Company from selling opium, and destroyed tens of thousands of chests of opium already in the country. This series of events led to

1615-740: The Babai Valley, the naturally regenerated vegetation makes the area a prime habitat for wildlife. About 70% of the park is covered with forest, with the balance a mixture of grassland, savannah and riverine forest . The flora recorded in the park comprises 839 species, including 173 vascular plant species comprising 140 dicots , 26 monocots , six ferns , and one gymnosperm species. The wide range of vegetation types in forests and grasslands provides excellent habitat for 642 faunal species. The Karnali-Babai river system, its small tributaries, and myriad oxbow lakes are habitats for 125 recorded species of fish. A small population of gharials inhabits

1700-775: The Bengal florican is the world's rarest bustard . It is known to have become increasingly threatened by land conversion for intensive agriculture, particularly for dry season rice production. Poaching continues to be a problem in Southeast Asia, while the South Asian population is down to less than 350 adult birds, about 85% of which are found in India. Though more threatened, birds in Southeast Asia may number as many as in South Asia but more probably closer to or even less than 1,000 adults. The population has decreased dramatically in past decades. It may be that in India

1785-717: The British state and the Royal Navy in the form of the West Africa Squadron , which discovered various ships had contained evidence of the illegal trade. In 1613, during the rule of Tokugawa Hidetada of the Tokugawa shogunate , the British ship Clove , under the command of Captain John Saris , was the first English ship to call on Japan. Saris was the chief factor of the EIC's trading post in Java, and with

SECTION 20

#1732766237702

1870-865: The Chitwan population has declined. In 2001, 20–28 birds were estimated in Shuklaphanta, 6–10 birds in Bardia, and 6–22 birds in Chitwan. It has been absent from Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve , since 1990, and has not been sighted around the Koshi Barrage since the 1980s. In spring 2007, 8–9 males were recorded in Sukla Phanta and 16–18 birds estimated; one male was sighted in Bardia and 2–4 estimated; five males were sighted in Chitwan and 10–14 estimated. The overall Nepalese population declined by 30% between 2001 and 2007. 17 individuals were recorded along

1955-477: The Dutch. This compelled the company to formally abandon their efforts in the Spice Islands, and turn their attention to Bengal where, by this time, they were making steady, if less exciting, profits. After gaining the indifferent patronage of the Mughal Empire , whose cities were 'the megacities of their time' and whose wealth was unrivaled outside of Asia in the 17th Century, the Company's first century in

2040-539: The EIC surrendered in 1690, and the company sent envoys to Aurangzeb 's camp to plead for a pardon. The company's envoys had to prostrate themselves before the emperor, pay a large indemnity, and promise better behaviour in the future. The emperor withdrew his troops, and the company subsequently re-established itself in Bombay and set up a new base in Calcutta. The East India Company's archives suggest its involvement in

2125-556: The East Indies . For a period of fifteen years, the charter awarded the company a monopoly on English trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan . Any traders there without a licence from the company were liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo (half of which would go to the Crown and half to the company), as well as imprisonment at the "royal pleasure." The charter named Thomas Smythe as

2210-587: The Indian Ocean. The company achieved a major victory over the Portuguese in the Battle of Swally in 1612, at Suvali in Surat . The company decided to explore the feasibility of a foothold in mainland India, with official sanction from both Britain and the Mughal Empire , and requested that the Crown launch a diplomatic mission. Company ships docked at Surat in Gujarat in 1608. The company's first Indian factory

2295-552: The Karnali floodplain and the Babai Valley. Current checklists include 407 bird species, among them the Bengal florican , white-rumped vulture , peafowl , and bar-headed geese , which are symbolic of the park. Lesser florican and sarus crane are present; grey-crowned prinia , jungle prinia , pale-footed bush warbler , aberrant bush warbler , striated grassbird , golden-headed cisticola and chestnut-capped babbler occur in

2380-488: The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan extended his hospitality to the English traders to the richest region of the Mutual Empire Bengal , and in 1717 customs duties were completely waived for the English in Bengal. The company's mainstay businesses were by then cotton, silk, opium, indigo dye , saltpetre , and tea. The Dutch were aggressive competitors and had meanwhile expanded their monopoly of the spice trade in

2465-863: The Mughal-ruled areas was spent cultivating their relationship with the Mughal Dynasty, and conducting peaceful trade at great profit. At first it should be said the EIC was drawn into the Mughal system, acting as a kind of vassal to Mughal authority in present-day Bangladesh: from this position that the EIC would ultimately outplay and outmaneuver everyone else in the region, to eventually use that same system to hold power. What started as trading posts on undesirable land were developed into sprawling factory complexes with hundreds of workers sending exotic goods to England and managing protected points to export English finished goods to local merchants. The Company's initial rise in Bengal and successes generally came at

2550-717: The Royal Hunting Reserve in 1969 and gazetted as the Royal Karnali Wildlife Reserve in 1976. In 1982, it was proclaimed as the Royal Bardia Wildlife Reserve and extended to include the Babai River Valley in 1984. Finally in 1988, the protected area was gazetted as a national park. The approximately 1500 people who used to live in this valley have been resettled elsewhere. Since farming has ceased in

2635-544: The Treasury, in return for exclusive privileges for the next three years, after which the situation was to be reviewed. The amalgamated company became the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies . Bengal florican Eupodotis bengalensis (Gmelin, 1789) The Bengal florican ( Houbaropsis bengalensis ), also called the Bengal bustard , is a bustard species native to

Bardiya National Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

2720-1096: The assistance of William Adams , an English sailor who had arrived in Japan in 1600, he was able to gain permission from the ruler to establish a commercial house in Hirado on the Japanese island of Kyushu : We give free license to the subjects of the King of Great Britaine, Sir Thomas Smythe, Governor and Company of the East Indian Merchants and Adventurers forever safely come into any of our ports of our Empire of Japan with their shippes and merchandise, without any hindrance to them or their goods, and to abide, buy, sell and barter according to their own manner with all nations, to tarry here as long as they think good, and to depart at their pleasure. Unable to obtain Japanese raw silk for export to China, and with their trading area reduced to Hirado and Nagasaki from 1616 onwards,

2805-540: The chaos widened and the stakes were raised. Ultimately, the company won out, generally through as much diplomacy and state-craft(fraud and deception). The gradual rise of the EIC within the Mughal network culminated in the Second Anglo-Maratha War , in which the Company successfully ousted the Empire's official protectors in the Maratha, the Maratha high water point in their rise to power, and installed

2890-580: The coast of China that helped secure EIC ports in China, independently attacking the Portuguese in the Persian Gulf Residencies primarily for political reasons. The company established trading posts in Surat (1619) and Madras (1639). By 1647, the company had 23 factories and settlements in India, and 90 employees. Many of the major factories became some of the most populated and commercially influential cities in Bengal, including

2975-611: The company closed its factory in 1623. The first of the Anglo-Indian wars occurred in 1686 when the company conducted naval operations against Shaista Khan , the governor of Mughal Bengal . This led to the siege of Bombay and the subsequent intervention of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb . Subsequently, the English company was defeated and fined. In September 1695, Captain Henry Every , an English pirate on board

3060-574: The company enjoyed allowed them to return to Britain and establish sprawling estates and businesses, and to obtain political power, such as seats in the House of Commons. Ship captains sold their appointments to successors for up to £500. As recruits aimed to return to Britain wealthy by securing Indian money, their loyalties to their homeland increased. The company developed a lobby in the English parliament. Pressure from ambitious tradesmen and former company associates (pejoratively termed Interlopers by

3145-542: The company was the largest corporation in the world by various measures and had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three presidency armies , totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British Army at certain times. Originally chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies," the company rose to account for half of the world's trade during

3230-555: The company's factories in India and imprison their officers, who were almost lynched by a mob of angry Mughals , blaming them for their countryman's depredations, and threatened to put an end to all English trading in India. To appease Emperor Aurangzeb and particularly his Grand Vizier Asad Khan , Parliament exempted Every from all of the Acts of Grace (pardons) and amnesties it would subsequently issue to other pirates. The East India Company started selling opium to Chinese merchants in

3315-518: The company), who wanted to establish private trading firms in India, led to the passing of the deregulating act in 1694. This act allowed any English firm to trade with India, unless specifically prohibited by act of parliament, thereby annulling the charter that had been in force for almost 100 years. When the East India Company Act 1697 ( 9 Will. 3 . c. 44) was passed in 1697, a new "parallel" East India Company (officially titled

3400-400: The continent as they individually contended with others, steadily amassing more land and power in India to themselves. In the 18th Century, the primary source of the Company's profits in Bengal became taxation in conquered and controlled provinces, as the factories became fortresses and administrative hubs for networks of tax collectors that expanded into enormous cities. The Mughal Empire was

3485-546: The decline is coming to a halt and that stocks in Dibru-Saikhowa and Kaziranga National Parks and Dudhwa Tiger Reserve are safe at very low levels. Still, its global status is precarious and it was consequently uplisted from Endangered to Critically Endangered in the 2007 IUCN Red List . In Cambodia , it is mostly found in Kampong Thom Province ; lesser numbers are found in Siem Reap Province and remnants might persist in Banteay Meanchey , Battambang and Pursat Provinces . Its rate of decline there has accelerated in

Bardiya National Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

3570-420: The early 21st century. The government of Cambodia has taken a significant step towards protecting important habitat for the Bengal florican. Along with 350 square kilometres being designated as "Integrated Farming and Biodiversity Areas", where land-use practices are adapted to also benefit the Bengal florican, a public education program to inform schoolchildren about the bird has also been undertaken. At present,

3655-466: The early mornings and evenings and are most easily spotted in the breeding season from March to August, which is when most censuses of the population are conducted. Particular between March and May, when they give their stunning courtship display , males are far more conspicuous than the cryptically -coloured females, which moreover prefer high grassland rich in sugarcane. Restricted to tiny fragments of grassland scattered across South and Southeast Asia,

3740-425: The expense of competing European powers through the art of currying favors and well-placed bribes, as the company was matched at every step with French expansion in the region (whose equivalent company carried substantial royal support). See French East India Company . Throughout the entire century the company only resorted to force against the Mughals once, with terrible consequences. The Anglo-Mughal war (1686–1690)

3825-514: The females. Raja Gaj stood 3.4 m (11.3 ft) tall at the shoulder and had a massive body weight. His appearance has been compared to that of a mammoth due to his high bi-domed shaped head. His forehead and domes were more prominent than in other Asian bull elephants. In 1993, five elephants were seen entering the park, and one year later another 16 individuals arrived. A population count in summer 1997 revealed 41 resident individuals. In 2002, more than 60 individuals were estimated to reside in

3910-466: The first East India Company voyage in 1601 aboard Red Dragon . The following year, whilst sailing in the Malacca Straits , Lancaster took the rich 1,200 ton Portuguese carrack Sao Thome carrying pepper and spices. The booty enabled the voyagers to set up two " factories " (trading posts) – one at Bantam on Java and another in the Moluccas (Spice Islands) before leaving. On return to England in 1603, they learned of Elizabeth's death, but Lancaster

3995-432: The first English expedition to reach India that way. Having sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula , they preyed on Spanish and Portuguese ships there before returning to England in 1594. The biggest prize that galvanised English trade was the seizure of a large Portuguese carrack , the Madre de Deus , by Walter Raleigh and the Earl of Cumberland at the Battle of Flores on 13 August 1592. When she

4080-470: The first governor of the company, and 24 directors (including James Lancaster) or "committees", who made up a Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to a Court of Proprietors, who appointed them. Ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. By tradition, business was initially transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolph's church in Bishopsgate , before moving to East India House in Leadenhall Street . Sir James Lancaster commanded

4165-435: The floodplain grassland, riverine forest and wetlands. In March 2008, only 22 rhinos were counted, and two of them were poached after the count. By 2015, the rhino population had risen to 29 individuals, mainly because of increased security measures. In 1985, two large elephant bulls were spotted for the first time in the park, and named Raja Gaj and Kanchha . They roamed the park area together and made occasional visits to

4250-541: The florican's habitat in Nepal, and its decline in Bardia National Park is probably chiefly due to insufficient use of trees that overgrow grassland. A sustainable land management technique that will bolster Bengal florican stocks consists of harvesting grass and particularly wood from changing tracts of land, leaving some areas unharvested each year and setting aside a few additional ones as reserve land, where grasses can grow tall for years until they are harvested. Controlled burning may be necessary when woodland encroachment

4335-458: The group stated their intention "to venture in the pretended voyage to the East Indies (the which it may please the Lord to prosper)" and to themselves invest £30,133 (over £4,000,000 in today's money). Two days later, the "Adventurers" reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project. Although their first attempt had not been completely successful, they sought the Queen's unofficial approval to continue. They bought ships for

SECTION 50

#1732766237702

4420-448: The imperial patronage, soon expanded its commercial trading operations. It eclipsed the Portuguese Estado da Índia , which had established bases in Goa , Chittagong , and Bombay ; Portugal later ceded Bombay to England as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II . The East India Company also launched a joint attack with the Dutch United East India Company (VOC) on Portuguese and Spanish ships off

4505-662: The lake to breed, and move away from the water in the wet season when the breeding grounds are flooded. Similarly, the Terai population seems to move to warmer lowland locations in winter. Migrations are not long-distance, however, and probably are restricted to a few dozen kilometers. Bengal floricans live in open tall grassland habitats with scattered bushes. The most important grass species are satintails Imperata , in particular Cogongrass I. cylindrica ), sugarcane ( Saccharum , in particular Kans Grass S. spontaneum ), munj grass ( Tripidium bengalense ), as well as Desmostachya bipinnata . The birds are usually encountered in

4590-408: The males' wing patch. The Bengal florican has two disjunct populations. One occurs from Uttar Pradesh through the Terai of Nepal to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in India, and historically to Bangladesh . The other occurs in Cambodia and perhaps adjacent southern Vietnam . It is mostly resident on its breeding grounds; around Tonlé Sap in Cambodia however, the birds use grasslands near

4675-435: The mid-1700s and early 1800s, particularly in basic commodities including cotton , silk , indigo dye , sugar , salt , spices , saltpetre , tea , and later, opium . The company also initiated the beginnings of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent . The company eventually came to rule large areas of the Indian subcontinent, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. Company-ruled areas in

4760-402: The original company faced scarcely any measurable competition. The companies merged in 1708, by a tripartite indenture involving both companies and the state, with the charter and agreement for the new United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies being awarded by Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin . Under this arrangement, the merged company lent a sum of £3,200,000 to

4845-445: The park's grasslands. East India Company The East India Company ( EIC ) (1600–1874) 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 (South Asia and Southeast Asia), and later with East Asia. The company gained control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent and Hong Kong . At its peak,

4930-537: The park, most of them resident in the Babai Valley. In May 2006, a reconnaissance survey was carried out in the Babai River floodplain, which revealed an alarming decline in the rhino population. Poaching was suspected to be the main cause of this decline. Subsequent surveys in 2007 and 2008 confirmed the complete disappearance of rhinos from Babai Valley. In different habitats of the Karnali floodplain, 25 rhinos were recorded based on direct observation and indirect signs of rhino dung and tracks. They were mostly congregated in

5015-476: The pirates hostis humani generis ("the enemy of humanity"). In mid-1696 the government issued a £500 bounty on Every's head and offered a free pardon to any informer who disclosed his whereabouts. The first worldwide manhunt in recorded history was underway. The plunder of Aurangzeb's treasure ship had serious consequences for the English East India Company. The furious Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ordered Sidi Yaqub and Nawab Daud Khan to attack and close four of

5100-409: The power of the EIC, King Charles II granted the EIC (in a series of five acts around 1670) the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas. In 1689, a Mughal fleet commanded by Sidi Yaqub attacked Bombay. After a year of resistance

5185-445: The pre-1707 Mughal fiefs and holdings, with their capital Delhi routinely under the control of Maratha, Afghan, or usurper generals' armies. The EIC was able to take advantage of this chaos, slowly assuming direct control of the province of Bengal , and fighting numerous wars against the French for control of the east coast. The Company's position in the Mughal court as it fell apart made it possible to sponsor various powerful people on

SECTION 60

#1732766237702

5270-562: The region gradually expanded after the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and by 1858 most of modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was either ruled by the company or princely states closely tied to it by treaty. Following the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 , the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown assuming direct control of present-day Bangladesh, Pakistan and India in the form of the new British Indian Empire . The company subsequently experienced recurring problems with its finances, despite frequent government intervention. The company

5355-456: The region's battlefields for a thousand years, with cannon so well integrated that the Mughals fought with cannon mounted on elephants; all were no match to line infantry with decent discipline supported with field cannon. Repeatedly, a few thousand company sepoys fought vastly larger Mughal forces numerically and came out victorious. Afghan, Mughal, and Maratha factions started creating their own European-style forces, often with French equipment, as

5440-490: The rescue facility in Bardia National Park. They had broken canine teeth, possibly due to fighting between males. One of the tigers escaped from the cage and moved to the forest in Banke district . One was transferred to the Central Zoo in Kathmandu. The translocation of rhinos from Chitwan to Bardia National Park commenced in 1986, with 58 individuals relocated until 2000. From 1994 to 2000, hunters were unsuccessful at poaching rhinos. In April 2000, there were 67 rhinos in

5525-407: The richest in the world in 1700, and the East India Company tried to strip it bare for a century thereafter. Dalrymple calls it "the single largest transfer of wealth until the Nazis." What was in the 17th century the production capital of the world for textiles was forced to become a market for British-made textiles. Statues, jewels, and various other valuables were moved from the palaces of Bengal to

5610-569: The rivers. Apart from the mugger crocodiles , 23 reptile and amphibian species have been recorded. The Bardiya National Park is home to at least 53 mammals including Indian rhinoceros , Indian elephant , Bengal tiger , barasingha , and Gangetic dolphin . A rusty-spotted cat was sighted for the time in summer 2012. A fishing cat was recorded in Babai River valley in winter 2017. In 2021, four tigers killed ten people and injured several others in Bardiya National Park; three were captured and transferred to rescue centers, two were housed at

5695-478: The side of the neck. Her wing coverts are lighter than the remiges and covered in fine dark barring. Immature Bengal floricans look like a female. Adult Bengal floricans range from 66–68 cm (26–27 in) in length and stand around 55 cm (22 in) tall. The female is larger than the male and weighs around 1.7–1.9 kg (3.7–4.2 lb) against a weight of 1.2–1.5 kg (2.6–3.3 lb) in males. They are normally silent but, when disturbed, utter

5780-405: The slave trade began in 1684, when a Captain Robert Knox was ordered to buy and transport 250 slaves from Madagascar to St. Helena . The East India Company began using and transporting slaves in Asia and the Atlantic in the early 1620s, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, or in 1621, according to Richard Allen. Eventually, the company ended the trade in 1834 after numerous legal threats from

5865-415: The species may persist in the Ang Trapaing Thmor Crane Sanctuary and perhaps Vietnam 's Tràm Chim National Park , but the South Asian population is not known with certainty from any protected areas . In Nepal , it is essentially restricted to protected areas, namely Shuklaphanta , Bardia and Chitwan National Parks . Since 1982, the Shuklaphanta and Bardia populations appear to have been stable, but

5950-408: The straits en route to Surat . The pirates gave chase and caught up with the Fateh Muhammed some days later, and meeting little resistance, took some £40,000 of silver. Every continued in pursuit and managed to overhaul Ganj-i-Sawai , which resisted strongly before eventually striking . Ganj-i-Sawai carried enormous wealth and, according to contemporary East India Company sources, was carrying

6035-424: The townhouses of the English countryside. Bengal in particular suffered the worst of Company tax farming, highlighted by the Great Bengal famine of 1770 . The primary tool of expansion for the company was the Sepoy. The Sepoys were locally raised, mostly Muslim, soldiers with European training and equipment, who changed warfare in present-day South Asia. Mounted forces and their superior mobility had been king on

6120-410: The traditional use of common land for villagers' tall-grass harvest (for construction and handicraft) actually seem to be tolerated quite well by the birds. If firewood and timber is collected from grassland rather than from forests, human land use will even benefit the species. In particular, sal ( Shorea robusta ) and saj ( Terminalia elliptica ) have been identified as trees that encroach upon

6205-540: The upper hand by establishing a stronghold in the spice islands (now Indonesia), enforcing a near-monopoly through aggressive policies that eventually drove the EIC to seek trade opportunities in India instead. The English company opened a factory (trading post) in Bantam on Java on its first voyage, and imports of pepper from Java remained an important part of the company's trade for twenty years. English traders frequently fought their Dutch and Portuguese counterparts in

6290-615: The venture and increased their investment to £68,373. They convened again a year later, on 31 December 1600, and this time they succeeded; the Queen responded favourably to a petition by George, Earl of Cumberland and 218 others, including James Lancaster, Sir John Harte , Sir John Spencer (both of whom had been Lord Mayor of London ), the adventurer Edward Michelborne , the nobleman William Cavendish and other aldermen and citizens. She granted her charter to their corporation named Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into

6375-575: The walled forts of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St George in Madras, and Bombay Castle . The first century of the Company, despite its original profits coming primarily from piracy in the Spice Islands between competing European powers and their companies, saw the East India Company change focus after suffering a major setback in 1623 when their factory in Amboyna in the Moluccas was attacked by

6460-565: Was a complete defeat, ending when the EIC effectively swore fealty to the Mughals to get their factories back. The East India Company's fortunes changed for the better in 1707 when Bengal and other regions under Mughal rule fell into anarchy after the death of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb . A series of large-scale rebellions, and the collapse of the Mughal taxation system led to the effective independence of virtually all of

6545-411: Was brought in to Dartmouth she was the largest vessel ever seen in England and she carried chests of jewels, pearls, gold, silver coins, ambergris , cloth, tapestries, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, benjamin (a highly aromatic balsamic resin used for perfumes and medicines), red dye, cochineal and ebony. Equally valuable was the ship's rutter (mariner's handbook) containing vital information on

6630-764: Was dissolved in 1874 under the terms of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act enacted one year earlier, as the Government of India Act had by then rendered it vestigial, powerless, and obsolete. The official government machinery of the British Empire had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. In 1577, Francis Drake set out on an expedition from England to plunder Spanish settlements in South America in search of gold and silver. Sailing in

6715-541: Was established in 1611 at Masulipatnam on the Andhra Coast of the Bay of Bengal , and its second in 1615 at Surat. The high profits reported by the company after landing in India initially prompted James I to grant subsidiary licences to other trading companies in England. However, in 1609, he renewed the East India Company's charter for an indefinite period, with the proviso that its privileges would be annulled if trade

6800-1113: Was highly successful, and Jahangir sent a letter to James through Sir Thomas Roe: Upon which assurance of your royal love I have given my general command to all the kingdoms and ports of my dominions to receive all the merchants of the English nation as the subjects of my friend; that in what place soever they choose to live, they may have free liberty without any restraint; and at what port soever they shall arrive, that neither Portugal nor any other shall dare to molest their quiet; and in what city soever they shall have residence, I have commanded all my governors and captains to give them freedom answerable to their own desires; to sell, buy, and to transport into their country at their pleasure. For confirmation of our love and friendship, I desire your Majesty to command your merchants to bring in their ships of all sorts of rarities and rich goods fit for my palace; and that you be pleased to send me your royal letters by every opportunity, that I may rejoice in your health and prosperous affairs; that our friendship may be interchanged and eternal. The company, which benefited from

6885-769: Was knighted by the new king, James I , on account of the voyage's success. By this time, the war with Spain had ended but the company had profitably breached the Spanish-Portuguese duopoly; new horizons opened for the English. In March 1604, Sir Henry Middleton commanded the company's second voyage . General William Keeling , a captain during the second voyage, led the third voyage aboard Red Dragon from 1607 to 1610 along with Hector under Captain William Hawkins and Consent under Captain David Middleton . Early in 1608, Alexander Sharpeigh

6970-577: Was made captain of the company's Ascension , and general or commander of the fourth voyage. Thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union (captained by Richard Rowles), sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1608. This expedition was lost. Initially, the company struggled in the spice trade because of competition from the well-established Dutch East India Company . This rivalry led to military skirmishes, with each company establishing fortified trading posts, fleets, and alliances with local rulers. The Dutch, better financed and supported by their government, gained

7055-603: Was showcased by the Anglo-Nepalese war (1814–1816). The Draft History of the Qing records the Chinese Qing dynasty as formally commencing trade with the British in 1698. Within the first two decades of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie , (VOC) was the wealthiest commercial operation in the world with 50,000 employees worldwide and

7140-527: Was so high between the Dutch and the British East Indies Trading Companies that it escalated into at least four Anglo-Dutch wars: 1652–1654, 1665–1667, 1672–1674 and 1780–1784. Competition arose in 1635 when Charles I granted a trading licence to Sir William Courteen , which permitted the rival Courteen association to trade with the east at any location in which the EIC had no presence. In an act aimed at strengthening

7225-688: Was unprofitable for three consecutive years. In 1615, James I instructed Sir Thomas Roe to visit the Mughal Emperor Nur-ud-din Salim Jahangir (r. 1605–1627) to arrange for a commercial treaty that would give the company exclusive rights to reside and establish factories in Surat and other areas. In return, the company offered to provide the Emperor with goods and rarities from the European market. This mission

#701298