Studied by 100 people
European trading powers which approached India
Portuguese
Dutch
French
British
Portuguese
First to discover the sea route to India
Established political power along the West Coast
Trading settlements - Diu, Daman, Goa, Salsette, Santhome, Bassein
Dutch
Established trading factories - Masulipatnam, Surat, Pulicat
Political influence on India
Dutch and Portuguese lost their prominence with time
French and British tried to control markets and increase their political influence on the India trade
Anglo-French Rivalry
Companies from England and France tried to dominate Indian trade with Europe
Carnatic wars
Series of wars between the French and British (lasted 20 years)
British - won
French East Indian Company (EIC)
Formed to compete with the British and Dutch
Established Factories at Pondicherry, Madras and Chandernagore
English EIC
Formed through a charter signed by Queen Elizabeth I as permission to trade with India
Established its trading centers in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras
English EIC trading rights
English settlements and factories - Patna, Dhaka, Kasimbazar, Fort St George, Bombay, Sutanuti, Kolkata, Govindpur
Captain Hawkins
Failed to secure trading rights
Sir Roe
Permitted to establish 1st factory in Surat
Farmans
Decrees or orders issued by Mughal or British rulers.
British received 2 privileges in the form of farmans.
Aurangzeb’s Farman
Farman of 1691 granted by Aurangzeb, exempting the British company from paying customs duties in Bengal
Lord Farukhsiyar’s Farman
Farman of 1717 granted by the emperor Farukhsiyar exempting the British from paying custom duties to Gujarat and Deccan
Nawab
Title given to provincial rulers under Mughal and British.
Bengal
Split into 3 provinces
Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha/Orissa
Nawab - Siraj-Ud-Daula
Local revolt
The Farman (1st one, by Aurangzeb) granted caused the locals to revolt as they were losing huge sums of revenue.
Dastak
Pass or permit for tax exemption in colonial India.
Allowed British to misuse their rights.
Siraj-Ud-Daula
Attacked the English factory in Kasimbazar, captured Fort William
Robert Clive (British officer)
Responded by capturing Kolkata
Accused the Nawab of Bengal of conspiring with the French against the British
Battles of Plassey
War between EIC and Siraj-Ud-Daula
Siraj-Ud-Daula was defeated and killed
Major cause for loss - Mir Jafar
Mir Jafar
Former commander in chief of Bengal
Switched sides after making negotiations with the British who agreed to make him nawab in exchange for money
One of many puppet rulers
Puppet rulers
Rulers/Nawabs who were forced to listen to the British
Consequences of the battle of plassey
The EIC got free trading rights in the Bengal province
Zamindari of the 24 parganas were now under the British
British army and military power and equipment grew
Parganas
Medieval Indian administrative unit under local landlords, comprising villages.
Zamindari
Feudal land ownership, landlords collect taxes from peasants.
Mir Qasim
Son of Mir Jafar
Qasim assigned the jagir of Burdwan, Midnapur and Chittagaon along with presents to the EIC.
Qasim grew tired of being a puppet making the British angry
Battle of Buxar
Qasim was defeated after which he fled to Awadh and formed an alliance with Nawab of Awadh( Shuja-ud-daulah) and Mughal emperor Shah Alam II
They were all later defeated by Hector Munro, English commander, in The battle of Buxar
Diwani
British East India Company's land revenue collection authority.
Consequences of the Battle of Buxar
Nawab of Awadh lost the districts of Kota and Allahabad
Mughal emperor - Pensioner of British
British got the right of Diwani in Bengal
Mughal emperor gave Jagir of Northern Circar
Both Nawabs depended on the British
Nizamat
British East India Company's civil and criminal administration. The person in charge was known as Nazim.
System of Dual governance
British right to collect revenue
Mohammad Reza Khan - appointed by EIC to exercise diwani functions
Loophole in Dual governance
The Nawab was forced to appoint Reza to look after nizamat functions
Due to this both Diwani and Nizamat were under the British
Ending of Dual governance
Dual government came to an end under General Warren Hastings.
Calcutta was declared the capital of British India until Delhi was declared as the capital of India
Warren Hastings
First Governor-General of India
Conquest of Mysore
Ruler - Hyder Ali
Was against trade with the British, had an alliance with the French
After him his son - Tipu Sultan
He was also against trade with the British
Anglo-Mysore wars
Disagreements made way for 4 Anglo-Mysore wars
British captured Srirangapatam
Tipu Sultan was defeated and killed
War against Marathas
Major obstacle for the British - Marathas
Death of Peshwa Madhav Rao - Weak point in Maratha history
Anglo-Maratha wars
3 Anglo-Maratha wars before the British emerged victorious
Claims of Raghunath Rao against Peshwa Madhav Rao II - Supported by British
Peshwa Madhav Rao II
Infant son of the deceased Peshwa
Raghunath Rao’s Claims
Claimed his son wasn’t fit to rule
Raghunath Rao wanted to rule the Peshwas
His claims led to the first war
Nana Phadnavis
Led the first battle against the British
After his death there were internal conflicts
British took advantage of this and conquered the Marathas
Instruments of British expansion
Direct and indirect annexation
Punjab, Sindh - Direct annexation
Subsidiary alliance - more beneficial
Doctrine of Lapse - Lord Dalhousie
Direct Annexation
Annexation by waging war and emerging victorious
Indirect Annexation
Manipulating Indian rulers, ministers, or advisors
Subsidiary Alliance (Most Beneficial)
Doctrine of Lapse (Lord Dalhousie)
Subsidiary Alliance
Lord Wellesley
Indian rulers felt unsafe around other rulers
They lost their independence without realising
British maintained large forces
Places which were victims of this method
Hyderabad, Tanjore, Awadh, Gwalior, Indore, Udaipur, Jaipur and Jodhpur
Provisions of this system
The British agreed to maintain a fixed and permanent force within the territory of their ally
In return, they didn’t take money but took a part of the ally’s territory
A British ruler called resident was placed at the court of the ruler
The ally could not maintain a relationship with any other ruler without the approval of the British
Doctrine of Lapse
Led by Dalhousie
Dalhousie - came to India as a governor-general
Sanctioned by religion and society
Indian rule/provision
Every Hindu had the right to adopt a male child as a heir if there was an absence of a natural heir
British rule
Dalhousie decided that rulers of the dependent states must seek permission from the British to adopt an heir
Incase of refusal, said state would be annexed
Victims of this policy
Satara, Jaitpur, Sambhalpur, Udaipur, Jhansi and Nagpur
Conquest of Sind
Annexed because the British wanted a coveted trading post
Ranjit Singh
Maintained a good strong army in Punjab
However Punjab was annexed after 2 battles with the Sikhs
Annexation of Awadh
Dalhousie annexed Awadh and deposed the Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah
Dalhousie claimed misgovernment as the reason for annexation
Indian revolt
His claim caused the Indian soldiers and the public to revolt against the British
This was the major start of Indian revolts and protests
Purpose of British arrival
Main purpose was to benefit from trade and increase profit through it
British administration
Strict policies - ensured their control over India
They never cared about the country or the people’s welfare
Territories
Territories —> 3 Presidencies —> Bengal, Bombay and Madras
Each Presidency was administered by a governor
4 Agencies
Civil service, The army, The police and The judiciary
British objective at first
To trade with India
Lured in by other prospects they colonised India and became one of the most powerful empires in the 19th century
Note
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