EIC as a Big Pharma Company

The East India Company was a group of merchants who came to the East (India and Southeast Asia) to trade and eventually colonised certain areas. When they came, the Black Plague was plaguing Europe and it was said that the cure was cloves and its price in weight was more than gold.

Cloves were not used in European cooking, it was used as herbal medicine. Cloves were used to cure the black plague and toothaches.