The founder of the company was William Mackinnon (1823-1893) who, in partnership with William Mackenzie (c 1810-1853) was in business as a general merchant near Calcutta. In the mid-1850s they secured the East India Company's mail contract between Calcutta and Rangoon, for which purpose Mackinnon founded the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company Limited, registered in Glasgow in 1856. Within five years of its founding the company had expanded considerably; from Burma, its ships were serving Penang and Singapore: by coasting from Calcutta to Bombay, dozens of small ports along the Indian coasts were being opened up to large-scale traffic.
In 1861 Mackinnon founded the British India Steam Navigation Company Limited, which superseded the Calcutta and Burmah Company. The mercantile firm of Mackinnon, Mackenzie and Company, Calcutta, became the managing agents, a function which they were to fulfil for well over a hundred years. As, until the opening of the Suez Canal, British India operated exclusively in eastern waters, and thereafter had a large part of its fleet employed in 'foreign-to-foreign' trades, it developed a distinctive organization. The Calcutta office had wide decision-making powers as managing agents, and were the operators of the eastern services. All but the most complicated repairs and overhauls were carried out at the Company's establishments at the Garden Reach workshops at Calcutta or the Mazagon Dock at Bombay. In Britain, the Secretary, based in Glasgow until 1892 and thereafter in London, was the link between Calcutta and the Board of Directors. Entry into the Dutch East Indies internal trade was achieved by the formation in 1865 of a Dutch flag company, the Netherlands India Steam Navigation Company. A connection with China was made in 1868, in conjunction with the Messageries Maritimes of France. There was also westward expansion, British India taking a share of the Moslem pilgrim traffic to Jeddah from 1869, and from 1872 carrying P and O mails, passengers and cargo from Aden to Zanzibar. The first 'Home Line' (in B I terminology a service to and from the United Kingdom) was inaugurated in 1874, as a result of the opening of the Suez Canal. In 1881 a mail contract was arranged with the Queensland government, although it lasted only until 1895. British India ships on the Australian run were grouped under the British India Associated Steamers, to differentiate them from vessels earmarked for the company's main trading routes.
Throughout the period the company had been consolidating its position with the Indian and home governments as a partner in the business of moving troops and military stores by sea. The British India involvement in East Africa was strengthened in 1890 by a regular service from London to Zanzibar via Aden and Mombasa. It was at this point that Mackinnon took part in the formation of the Imperial British East Africa Company, investing a quarter of the capital in it; however, the government was not prepared to back it. Japan was included in the B I itineraries in 1907 and participation in the trade was strengthened in 1912 by the purchase of the Apcar Line, which since 1901, had had a cargo pooling agreement with British India. Another British India service was the transport of Indian workers from the Coromandel Coast to Burma, Malaya, East Africa and Mauritius, 1892 to 1932. Sir William Mackinnon was succeeded by James Macalister Hall (d 1904) in 1893 and Duncan Mackinnon (d 1914). The appointment in 1913 of James Lyle Mackay (later Earl of Inchcape, 1852-1932) as chairman foreshadowed the amalgamation of B I with P and 0 (q.v.) in 1914, of which combination he was to become the chairman. Lord Inchcape was, however, careful to maintain a great degree of autonomy for British India. First World War losses were partially offset by the acquisition in 1917 of the Ham Line and the Nourse Line (q.v.). A massive replacement of tonnage after the war led to B I's becoming in 1922.
