(n) an English company formed in 1600 to develop trade with the new British colonies in India and southeastern Asia; in the 18th century it assumed administrative control of Bengal and held it until the British army took over in 1858 after the Indian Mutiny
(n) a republic in southeastern Asia on an archipelago including more than 13, 000 islands; achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1945; the principal oil producer in the Far East and Pacific regions, Syn. Republic of Indonesia, Dutch East Indies