Sensing a great business opportunity and seizing on that opportunity is what contributed to the success of the Honorable East India Company as a true multinational corporation.
Prior to the 16th century, for about 400 years, the European busi nessmen had no clue about the produce of spices though they had an idea that Venice had controlled their supply. Stories of that time also suggested that overland camel trains used to arrive at the great international trading post of Constantinople and later from there the spices were shipped to Venice. Spices had gained a lot of importance and demand by the end of the 16th century and businessmen had spotted a tiny group of islands which were known for their exotic and precious spices. These were called the Spice Islands.
The Spice Islands (now a part of the eastern province of Indonesia), also known as Moluccas, were endowed with flavoured spices which were used for food preservation and medicinal purposes. The doctors during those days claimed that these spices were very effective in curing dreadful diseases of those times, such as dysentery and plague. This had spurred their demand across Europe. With the intensifying spice race, sailors from various countries tried to reach these islands though they had no idea about the route. This led to bitter rivalry among countries like Portugal, Spain, Holland and England as each one of them was trying to reach the Spice Islands to gain control over the trade routes. As their rivalry intensified this resulted into saga of war, plunder, and exploitation. |
