Page:The Story of India (1897).djvu/115



ALTHOUGH the decline of the East India Company is generally dated from the expedition into Afghanistan, and may to some extent have been hastened by the untoward incidents of that campaign, the evidence of military power continued to be displayed up to the very hour of the Mutiny in such a manner as seemed to dispel all idea of danger or decay. Before briefly describing the salient features of the first Afghan War, it will be useful to note some changes of importance that had been made in the constitution of the Company, and in its prerogatives. Originally the Company had been independent of all control and possessed a monopoly of the trade with India and China. The servants of the Company were allowed to trade on their own account and to take presents from the native chiefs. When Clive