Editing Monopoly (section)

=== Foreign trade ===
[[Dutch East India Company]] was created as a legal trading monopoly in 1602. The ''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'' enjoyed huge profits from its spice monopoly through most of the 17th century.<ref>{{cite web |last=Van Boven |first=M. W. |title=Towards A New Age of Partnership (TANAP): An Ambitious World Heritage Project (UNESCO Memory of the World – reg.form, 2002) |work=VOC Archives Appendix 2, p.14 |url=http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/files/22635/11546101681netherlands_voc_archives.doc/netherlands%2Bvoc%2Barchives.doc }}</ref>

The British [[East India Company]] was created as a legal trading monopoly in 1600. The East India Company was formed for pursuing trade with the [[Indies|East Indies]] but ended up trading mainly with the [[Indian subcontinent]], [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–55)|North-West Frontier Province]], and [[Balochistan]]. The Company traded in basic commodities, which included [[cotton]], [[silk]], [[indigo dye]], [[salt]], [[Potassium nitrate|saltpetre]], [[tea]] and [[opium]].