The British East India Company played a key role in one of the most successful periods in British history. The East India Company was responsible for the invasion of the Indian subcontinent, which became one of the empire's major providers of profits. The East India Company was responsible for the overthrow of Hong Kong and other Asian countries; he was responsible for the creation of Britain's Asian empire. The British East India Company began as a joint-stock company of traders and investors who were granted a royal charter by Queen Elizabeth I to trade with the East. The original name of the company when first incorporated was Governor and Company of London Merchants Trading in the East Indies (Landow). They banded together to generate money by importing spices from South Asia. James Lancaster headed the company's first voyage in 1601 which sailed along the coast of South Africa and across the Indian Ocean, returning to London in 1603 with ships full of pepper. In the 1600s, pepper accounted for the most significant part of the British East India Company's trade. The group established its first Asian factory in Bantam and "it was here that the British were able to expand into other parts of Asia" (The [British East India] Company History). The Bantam market was multicultural because other merchants from Arab, Turkish, Iranian and Chinese countries traded products from their own nations. The company sold woolen and silver fabrics, but Asian traders preferred good-quality Indian fabrics; therefore, he had to discover ways to obtain fabrics from India. In 1611, after failed attempts to make an agreement with the Mughal emperor, Jahangir, the British East India Company asked King James 1 to send a representative. The ambassador… at the center of the card… eventually “disappeared in 1873” (Landow). Over the course of its supremacy, the British East India Company created trade throughout the Middle East and Asia. It regulated its own regions and played a role in influencing the American Revolution. The company's products were the source of the Boston Tea Party in colonial America. Works Cited “The [British East India] Company Story.” History. Places of exchange. The British Library Board, n.d. Web, June 3, 2011. “The Boston Tea Party, 1773.” Eyewitness to history. Ibis Communications, Inc., 2002. Web. June 3, 2011. Landow, George P. “The British East India Company: The Company That Owned a Nation (Or Two).” George P. Landow, professor of English and art history, Brown University. Victorian Web. George P. Landow, professor of English and art history, Brown University, April 6, 2010. Web. June 3 2011.