Company rule in India (sometimes,
Company Raj, "
raj," lit. "rule" in
Hindi) refers to the rule or dominion of the British
East India Company on the
Indian subcontinent. This is variously taken to have commenced in 1757, after the
Battle of Plassey, when the
Nawab of Bengal Sirajuddaulah surrendered his dominions to the Company, in 1765, when the Company was granted the
diwani, or the right to collect revenue, in
Bengal and
Bihar, or in 1773, when the Company established a capital in
Calcutta, appointed its first
Governor-General,
Warren Hastings, and became directly involved in governance. Further, the end of the
Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818 marked the era of British paramountcy over India.