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The first direct sea trade route from Europe to Asia was established in 1498 when Vasco da gama of Portugal reached the port of Calicut on the southwestern coast of India.
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On the very last day of 1600, Queen Anne 1 granted a royal charter to some London merchants to have sole ownership of trade with the East Indies. Around the year 1611, the British East India Company established its first factory post in Masulipatnam on the Andhra Coast of the Bay of Bengal.
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The Sepoy mutiny of 1857 led to the direct control of the territories previously captured by the EIC by the British crown.
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In 1858, the Government of India Act transferred full governing authority from the EIC to the British government. 18 years later in 1876, Queen Victoria of the British Empire was named empress of India.