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I never did. Always restarted around 1680-1690.

You can win by forcing all AI companies out of business, completing all campaign missions or controlling all 12 Indian ports for 10 years.
 
simplest way to win this game is, just killing every companies to force them to out of business. but hey, it's not that simple if you try to do this by declaring war on every single countries at same time! it was actually interesting and hard cuz they wouldn't leave any of my fleets alone.
 
I believe, you only need 10 Indian ports for 10 years.

str_PORTLOAD_TITLE12 = Winning by conquest
str_PORTLOAD_DESC12 = You can win immediately by capturing all 12 Indian ports and holding them for 10 years. Indian ports are those that produce spices, tea, silk and porcelain. Matara is also an Indian port.