Trade And Territory

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End of Mughal Empire

Aurangzeb was the last of the powerful Mughal rulers.
In 1707, after his death, many Mughal governors (subadars) and big zamindars established regional kingdoms.

East India Company Comes East

Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, who had discovered this sea route to India in 1498.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans who came to India.
They established their presence in the western coast of India, and had their base in Goa.
In 1600, the East India Company acquired a charter from the ruler of England.
By early seventeenth century, the Dutch and the French also arrived on the scene.
All the companies were interested in buying the same things such as cotton and silk, pepper, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon which created competition and ultimately reduced the profits that could be earned.
To secure markets, therefore, led to fierce battles between the trading companies.

East India Company begins trade in Bengal

The first English factory was set up on the banks of the river Hugli in 1651.
As trade expanded, the Company persuaded merchants and traders to come and settle near the factory.
By 1696 it began building a fort around the settlement.
Two years later, the Company gained zamindari rights over three villages.

→ One of the villages was Kalikata (later came to be known as Kolkata).

How trade led to battles

After the death of Aurangzeb, the Bengal nawabs asserted their power and autonomy.

The Battle of Plassey

In 1756, Sirajuddaulah became the nawab of Bengal after the death of Alivardi Khan.
The Company was keen on a puppet ruler so it help one of Sirajuddaulah’s rivals become the nawab without success.
Angry Sirajuddaulah asked the Company to stop interfering in the political affairs of his dominion, stop fortification, and pay the revenues.
After negotiations failed, the Nawab marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at Kassimbazar, captured the Company officials, locked the warehouse, disarmed all Englishmen, and blockaded English ships.

→ He then marched to Calcutta to establish his control over the Company’s fort.

As the news of the fall of Calcutta reached, Company officials in Madras sent forces under the command of Robert Clive.
In 1757, the Robert Clive-led Company’s army marched against Sirajuddaula at Plassey.
The Nawab was defeated, as the forces led by Mir Jafar, one of Sirajuddaulah’s commanders, never fought the battle.
After the defeat at Plassey, Sirajuddaulah was assassinated and Mir Jafar made the nawab.
Mir Jafar died in 1765 the mood of the Company had changed.
Finally, in 1765 the Mughal emperor appointed the Company as the Diwan of the provinces of Bengal.
The outflow of gold from Britain entirely stopped after the assumption of Diwani as now revenues from India could finance Company expenses.

Company officials become “nabobs”

After the Battle of Plassey the actual nawabs of Bengal were forced to give land and vast sums of money as personal gifts to Company officials.
Many company officials like Clive made vast wealth however, not all Company officials succeeded in making money.
Those who managed to return Britain with wealth led flashy lives and flaunted their riches. They were called “nabobs” – an anglicised version of the Indian word nawab.

Company Rule Expands

After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the Company appointed Residents in Indian states.
Through the Residents, the Company officials began interfering in the internal affairs of Indian states.

→ Sometimes the Company forced the states into a “subsidiary alliance”.

→ According to the terms of this alliance, Indian rulers were not allowed to have their independent armed forces.

→ They were to be protected by the Company though they had to pay huge amounts for this protection.

→ If Indian rulers failed to make these payments, a part of their territory was to be taken away by the Company.

Tipu Sultan – The “Tiger of Mysore”

Mysore had grown in strength under the leadership of powerful rulers like Haidar Ali (ruled from 1761 to 1782) and his famous son Tipu Sultan (ruled from 1782 to 1799).
In 1785 Tipu Sultan stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper and cardamom through the ports of his kingdom, and disallowed local merchants from trading with the Company.
He established close relationship with the French in India, and modernised his army with their help.
Four wars were fought with Mysore (1767-69, 1780-84, 1790-92 and 1799).

→ In the last – the Battle of Seringapatam – did the Company ultimately win a victory.

Tipu Sultan was killed defending his capital Seringapatam, Mysore.

→ The former ruling dynasty of the Wodeyars placed and a subsidiary alliance was imposed on the state.

War with the Marathas

After the defeat in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, they were divided into many states under different chiefs (sardars) belonging to dynasties such as Sindhia, Holkar, Gaikwad and Bhonsle.

→ These chiefs were held together in a confederacy under a Peshwa (Principal Minister).

Anglo-Marathas war were fought between these and the company.

→ The first war that ended in 1782 with the Treaty of Salbai, there was no clear victor.

→ The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05) resulting in the British gaining Orissa and the territories north of the Yamuna river including Agra and Delhi.

→ The Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817-19 crushed Maratha power, the Peshwa was removed and Company now had complete control over the territories south of the Vindhyas.

The Claim to Paramountcy

Under Lord Hastings (Governor- General from 1813 to 1823) a new policy of “paramountcy” was initiated which claimed its power was greater than that of Indian states.

→ In order to protect its interests it was justified in annexing or threatening to annex any Indian kingdom.

In the late 1830s the East India Company became worried about Russia as Russia might expand across Asia and enter India from the north-west.
They fought a prolonged war with Afghanistan between 1838 and 1842 and established indirect Company rule there.
Sind was taken over in 1843.
After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, two prolonged wars were fought with the Sikh kingdom and in 1849, Punjab was annexed.

The Doctrine of Lapse

Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General from 1848 to 1856 devised a policy that came to be known as the Doctrine of Lapse.

→ It declared that if an Indian ruler died without a male heir his kingdom would “lapse”, that is, become part of Company territory.

Many kingdoms were annexed under this rule:

→ Satara in 1848
→ Sambalpur in 1850
→ Udaipur in 1852
→ Nagpur in 1853
→ Jhansi in 1854
→ Awadh in 1856

Setting up a New Administration

Warren Hastings (Governor-General from 1773 to 1785) played a significant role in the expansion of Company power.
British territories were broadly divided into administrative units called Presidencies. There were three Presidencies:

→ Bengal
→ Madras
→ Bombay.

Each was ruled by a Governor and the supreme head of the administration was the Governor-General.
From 1772 a new system of justice was established.
Each district was to have two courts

→ a criminal court (faujdari adalat)
→ a civil court (diwani adalat)

In Civil courts, Maulvis and Hindu pandits interpreted Indian laws for the European district collectors.
The criminal courts were still under a qazi and a mufti but under the supervision of the collectors.
The collector main job was to collect revenue and taxes and maintain law and order in his district with the help of judges, police officers and darogas.

The Company army

From the 1820s, the cavalry requirements of the Company’s army declined because the British empire was fighting in Burma, Afghanistan and Egypt where soldiers were armed with muskets and matchlocks.
In the early nineteenth century, the British began to develop a uniform military culture.
The soldiers were given European-style training and were subjected to drill and discipline.

MCQs

1. Which place/city was given to the British by a local ruler in 1639, which was later fortified as Fort St George?

(a) Delhi

(b) Kolkata

(d) Bombay

► (c) Madras

2. From the years mentioned below, choose the correct date of death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal ruler

(a) On 3rd March 1800

(b) On 3rd March 1707

(d) On 3rd March 1850

► (b) On 3rd March 1707

3. Name the place the British King Charles-II received as a dowry by marrying the Portuguese princess, which later became an important trading centre.

(a) Island of Bombay

(b) Island of Kuchch

(d) Island of Pondicherry

► (a) Island of Bombay

4. Name the movement started in Italy in the 14th century and lasted till 17th century that later provoked the Europeans to come to India and other countries.

(a) Renaissance

(b) Nationalism

(d) Urbanisation

► (a) Renaissance

5. A Farman is best described as an order from a King. Aurangzeb issued a Farman to Robert Clive granting the East India Company

(a) the right to set up factories on the banks of rivers

(b) the right to fortify settlement

(d) the right to fight battles with the other European powers

► (c) the right to trade duty free

6. Where in India did the British establish a fortified factory called Fort William?

(a) Delhi

(b) Bombay

(d) Madras

► (c) Calcutta

7. Three presidencies were established by the British with a Governor General for each. Choose the three presidencies from the given list of options?

(a) Madras, Calcutta, Delhi

(b) Madras, Bombay and Calcutta

(d) Madras, Bombay and Delhi

► (b) Madras, Bombay and Calcutta

8. Choose the event that marked the beginning of the modern age of Indian history:

(a) Birth of Mahatma Gandhi

(b) Indian independence on 15th August 1947

(d) Death of the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb

► (d) Death of the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb

9. Why is it considered that Delhi could no longer function as an effective center after the death of Aurangzeb?

(a) Many regional powerful kingdoms emerged in various parts asserting their authority

(b) Delhi was not considered to be symbolically lucky for the rulers

(d) The trading activities could not function from Delhi

► (a) Many regional powerful kingdoms emerged in various parts asserting their authority

10. According to the historians, by the second half of the 18th century, which new power emerged as powerful in India?

(a) British

(b) Chinese

(d) Dutch

► (a) British

11. Which were the important spices that were in great demand in the European market?

(a) Coriander, Fenugreek

(b) Cumin, Aniseed

(d) Garlic, Ginger, poppy seeds

► (c) Pepper, Cloves, Cardamom, Cinnamon

12. In which year did the East India Company acquire a charter as the sole traders with the East from Queen Elizabeth I?

(a) 1700

(b) 1600

(d) 1800

► (b) 1600

13. In which year was the Dutch East India Company formed?

(a) 1752

(b) 1702

(d) 1602

► (d) 1602

14. When was the French East India Company established?

(a) 1750

(b) 1664

(d) 1700

► (b) 1664

15. Which foreign power was the last European power to enter India?

(a) French

(b) Dutch

(d) Portuguese

► (a) French

16. When was the Battle of Plassey fought between the Nawab of Bengal and the British?

(a) On 23rd Sept 1757

(b) On 23rd December 1757

(d) On 23rd June 1757

► (d) On 23rd June 1757

17. What do you call a business enterprise that makes profit primarily through trade, buying goods cheap and selling them at higher prices?

(a) Exchange

(b) Noncommercial

(d) Barter

► (c) Mercantile

18. Which foreign power had already established contacts with the Western part of India before British ships arrived?

(a) Portuguese

(b) Dutch

(d) French

► (a) Portuguese