East India Trading Company

"*Had a brush with the East India Trading Company, did we, pirate?*"
―James Norrington[src]
As the age of piracy nears its end, a new threat arrives in Port Royal—the **East India Trading Company**. Lord Cutler Beckett is the ruthless guiding hand behind the EITC, intent on wiping out the Pirates of the Caribbean—and beyond. Symbolically speaking, the East India Trading Company is the embodiment of industrialization and imperialism, and serves as one of the antagonistic forces within the *Pirates of the Caribbean* trilogy.

Although it was alluded to in *The Curse of the Black Pearl*, the East India Trading Company makes its first appearance in *Dead Man's Chest*

## Background

When European explorers first sailed to the East Indies, they were hypnotized by the fabulous wealth they found. The gold, silver, ivory, silk, and exotic spices lured traders hungry for a profit. English merchants were particularly successful in sponsoring trading voyages. The East India Trading Company, the company they set up, grew in size and power and controlled much of India's trade. Eager to expand still further, the powerful men at the head of the company now looked to the rich plantation of the Caribbean. It is because the company wants to expand into the Caribbean that Lord Beckett arrives at Port Royal in *Dead Man's Chest*, overseeing the expansion while knowing that he must eradicate piracy before making any progress. This instigates the following chain of events in the *Pirates of the Caribbean* trilogy.

## Appearances

### Dead Man's Chest

The East India Trading Company makes its first appearance in the opening scene to the film. Thunderclaps roar in a dark and cloudy day as the company arrives in Port Royal. The harbor is blocked off by Royal Navy ships as Lord Cutler Beckett sails to shore astride a white horse in a longboat. all while the company's flag waves in the wind and rain; symbolism of his and the company's powerful status. The marines line up ashore while Beckett's horse leaps out of the boat and onto shore, riding alongside. Beckett and the company arrive in time to postpone the wedding of Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner. Beckett carries warrants of arrest for both of them as well as for other characters involved in the events in *The Curse of the Black Pearl*; they helped set pirate Jack Sparrow free from the gallows. Beckett, however, makes a deal with Will; If Will brings back Jack's compass, then Beckett will pardon Will and Elizabeth. Cutler Beckett wants to employ Jack Sparrow as privateer for England with Letters of Marque signed by the king, in exchange for his compass which Beckett needs in order to find the Dead Man's Chest. The chest contains the heart of Davy Jones. Whomsoever acquires the heart may use it to control Jones, thus controlling every aspect of the seas. This would allow Beckett to exterminate piracy from the oceans, something which he desires most over all else.

Beckett is extending the company's monopolistic stranglehold over the entire Caribbean. Honest merchants and traders are forced to pay exorbitant fees and surcharges to ply their goods in EITC-controlled ports, an action amounting to little more than legal piracy. Later on the Pelegosto's Island, Jack Sparrow finds a paprika tin branded with the East India Trading Co. trademark, obviously showing that the company even has presence in a native cannibalistic island. Afterwards, Beckett beckons Governor Weatherby Swann to his office in shackles (he comes from the Port Royal prison, where he was imprisoned for aiding his daughter escape). Beckett tells Swann that he will offer pardon for his daughter if Swann allows Beckett to use his authority as Governor and his influence in London to aid him for the better of the company. By the end of the film, Beckett acquires the heart of Davy Jones from James Norrington.

### At World's End

By this time, Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Company has control of the *Flying Dutchman* and Davy Jones, thereby taking over the seas. In the opening scene, hundreds of people are rounded up and hanged without trial in mass executions, with the charge of having even the remotest association with piracy. While this is happening, an officer reads out that Lord Beckett has suspended legal rights for those convicted. During the hanging, the masses begin to sing *Hoist the Colors*, and the Brethren Court are called, signalling that the state of piracy is in grave danger—Beckett wants to destroy the Brethren in order to eradicate piracy in its entirety. The *Dutchman* now roams the seven seas, unstoppable, destroying pirate ships without mercy, under the command of Admiral Norrington. Davy Jones is ordered to kill his monster, the Kraken, one of the first casualties of Beckett's ruthless campaign against the "uncivilized" seas.

Later, Beckett attempts to acquire the *Black Pearl* for the Company through trickery of Sao Feng, wanting to rid the pirates of the only ship which can out run the *Flying Dutchman*. After Beckett makes a plan with Jack Sparrow to bring out the pirates from Shipwreck Cove, the company arrives with a vast armada of hundreds of ships—with the *Flying Dutchman* at the lead. Later on, after the epic battle between the *Black Pearl* and the *Flying Dutchman* within a maelstrom, Cutler Beckett becomes convinced that his company will triumph; the *Black Pearl* remains by itself with the fleet of the Brethren Court, both against the overpowering force of the *Endeavour* and the armada. The *Flying Dutchman*, however, resurfaces (now captained by Will Turner), and teams up with the *Black Pearl* against the *Endeavour* which had begun to make its way towards the *Pearl*. Both the *Pearl* and the *Dutchman* surround Beckett's flagship and open fire. They then penetrate the ship's powder magazine and blast the *Endeavour* apart. Lord Cutler Beckett's corpse falls onto the burnt, torn, and fallen flag of the East India Trading Company—it has been defeated, piracy has won.

## Attributes

The East India Trading Company flag bears the company's initials, separated by triple crosses. The insignia on the flag is the company's trademark, stamped on all of its cargo. The EITC coat of arms features mythical sea lions supporting a shield adorned with ships and roses, beneath waving pennants. A ribbon proudly displays a Latin motto, *"Deo Ducente Nil Nocet"* or *"Nothing can harm us when God leads us."* The flag is seen constantly throughout the films, stating company presence about. Its burnt and torn state is symbolism of its defeat in the end of *At World's End*.

As its influence grows in the Caribbean, the East India Trading Company employs Royal Navy marines and ships. While Beckett arrives in Port Royal with red-coated British troops in *Dead Man's Chest*, in *At World's End*, all of the soldiers under company command have their own unique uniforms. This includes Murtogg and Mullroy, the two bumbling marines from *The* *Curse of the Black Pearl* who end up guarding the Dead Man's Chest in *At World's End*. This uniform distinguishes the villainous EITC soldiers from the heroic sailors and marines in *The Curse of the Black Pearl*.

## Trivia

* The real British East India Company was a tool of imperialist domination, economically and politically, from 1600 to its dissolution in 1858, essentially ruling India and spreading its tentacles as far as the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia and East Asia. Even the most generous contemporary histories describe the East India Company’s activities as extraordinarily greedy and inhumane.

## External links

* East India Trading Company on the Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki