This was no secret to the EIC, which began training its own armies and expanding its influence by taking sides. Matters changed after 1707, when the last competent ruler died and the empire dissolved into chaos and war between ambitious men and principalities. The EIC established thriving trading settlements along the coast and respected Mughal authority. Consequently, Britons turned their attention to India, then an open market mostly ruled by the Mughal Empire, considered the wealthiest in the world. Ships of the fledgling East India Company made some profitable voyages, but the Dutch defended their territory violently. In 1600, Queen Elizabeth granted envious British merchants a monopoly in the region. Veteran historian Dalrymple ( Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 2013, etc.) reminds readers that the Spice Islands, around what is now Indonesia, were a source of lucrative trade, dominated in the 16th century by the Dutch. The often nasty history of the British company that grew to rule India in the 18th century.
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