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Portrait of Begam Samru - Public domain print
Summary
This Company painting is by Jiwan Das of Delhi and is a portrait of Begam Samru, a remarkable Kashmiri woman who started out as a dancing-girl. She originally married the adventurer Walter Reinhardt, who sailed to India in 1745, jumped ship and enlisted with the French. He was later recruited by the Mughal Governor in Bengal. He led an army which defeated the Honourable East India Company’s army and was ultimately given the fiefdom of Sardhana. Following his death, Begam Samru inherited his army of six well-trained and disciplined infantry battalions, and she even led her troops into battle in person. She became extremely rich, and in her old age she converted to Christianity and built a fine church at Sardhana. This portrait dates from about 1830, when she was nearly 80.
'Company paintings' were produced by Indian artists for Europeans living and working in the Indian subcontinent, especially British employees of the East India Company. They represent a fusion of traditional Indian artistic styles with conventions and technical features borrowed from western art. Some Company paintings were specially commissioned, while others were virtually mass-produced and could be purchased in bazaars.
हिन्दी: दिल्ली के कलाकार जीवन दास द्वारा 1830 में बनाया गया बेग़म समरू का चित्र। चित्र बनाते समय बेग़म समरू लगभग अस्सी साल की थीं।
The British East India Company was the first joint-stock corporation to be formed in England, and it eventually became one of the most powerful trading companies in the world, with a virtual monopoly on trade in India and the East Indies. The East India Company or the British East India Company and informally as John Company was an English and later British joint-stock company, which was formed to pursue trade with the East Indies but ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and Qing China. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean. Permission was granted, and on 10 April 1591 three ships sailed from Torbay around the Cape of Good Hope to the Arabian Sea. On 31 December 1600, the Queen granted a Royal Charter to "George, Earl of Cumberland, and 215 Knights, Aldermen, and Burgesses" under the name, Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading with the East Indies. The governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or "committees", who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, which appointed them. Ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was initially transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolph's church in Bishopsgate, before moving to India House in Leadenhall Street. The company played a key role in the spread of British influence in India and the development of the British Empire. However, it also became involved in corruption and exploitation, and it was eventually dissolved in 1858, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
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