The East India Company, represented by merchants, business men with some stakes of the British Crown, was incorporated on December 31, 1600 in U.K. The company established trade relations with Indian rulers in Masulipatam on the East coast, in 1611 and Surat on the west coast, in 1612. They initially traded in cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea and Opium.The Company rented a trading outpost in Madras in 1639. They obtained permission from the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to trade with Bengal & established its first factory in 1640 at Hoogly. Almost a half-century later, Emperor Aurengzeb forced the Company out of Hooghly.
Bombay was ceded to the British Crown by Portugal as part of the wedding dowry of Catherine of Braganza in 1661, was in turn granted to the East India Company to be held in trust for the Crown. Madras Presidency was established in 1640, Calcutta was founded by Job Charnock in 1686 & the company headquarters moved from Surat to Bombay Presidency in 1687. Bengal Presidency was established in 1690. Therefore by the mid 18th century ,the three principal trading settlements, called the Madras Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort St. George), the Bombay Presidency, and the Bengal Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort William) were established & administered by a Governor.