The Establishment of Colonial Rule in India

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, historical figures, dates, treaties, and strategies related to the establishment of European colonial rule in India.

Colonialism

A political-economic system in which one country (the coloniser) claims sovereignty over another territory, establishes settlements, and exploits its resources, labour, and trade for economic and political gain.

Age of Colonialism

The historical period from approximately the 15th to the early 20th centuries during which European powers explored, conquered, and colonised vast regions of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania.

Vasco da Gama

The Portuguese explorer who became the first European to discover a direct sea route to India in 1498, arriving at Kozhikode (Calicut) on the Malabar Coast.

Samoothiri (Zamorin)

The hereditary title of the rulers of Calicut on the Malabar Coast who encountered early Portuguese explorers.

Goa

The main base established by the Portuguese in India in 1510, which served as the capital of Portuguese India until the expulsion of the Portuguese by the Indian Army in 1961.

United East India Company (VOC)

The Dutch trading enterprise chartered in 1602 with authority to conduct trade, erect fortifications, and carry out military operations across Asia.

Intra-Asiatic Trade

A highly profitable system of commerce employed by the Dutch that involved trading goods between different Asian regions rather than solely between Asia and Europe.

French East India Company

A company created by the French government in 1664 and granted a 50-year monopoly on French trade within the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Carnatic Wars

A series of conflicts fought between 1740 and 1763 between Britain and France in south India for control over trade and territory, ending in British victory.

Joseph Francois Dupleix

The French Governor in India who actively formed political and military alliances with local Indian rulers to expand French influence during the 18th century.

English East India Company

A merchant enterprise established by a royal charter from Queen Elizabeth I in December 1600, granted exclusive rights to English trade east of the Cape of Good Hope.

Thomas Roe

An ambassador representing the English East India Company who visited the court of Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1615 and secured permission to establish factories.

Fort William

A fortified settlement built by the English East India Company in Calcutta between 1700 and 1701, named after King William III of England.

Farrukhsiyar's Farmans

Imperial decrees issued by Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1717 that granted the East India Company duty-free trade in Bengal, the right to issue passes (dastaks), and coining privileges.

Dastaks

Trade passes issued by the East India Company that permitted the movement of goods across regions without paying local taxes.

Battle of Plassey

A decisive turning point on 23 June 1757 in which British forces led by Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, marking the Company's transition from traders to political rulers.

Siraj-ud-Daulah

The Nawab of Bengal who captured Calcutta in 1756 and was subsequently defeated at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 following internal betrayal.

Robert Clive

A military officer of the East India Company who orchestrated the defection of Mir Jafar and led Company forces to victory at the Battle of Plassey.

Mir Jafar

The commander-in-chief of the Nawab of Bengal's army who defected during the Battle of Plassey in exchange for being made the new Nawab by the British.

Battle of Buxar

An October 1764 military conflict in which the East India Company defeated the combined forces of Mir Qasim, Shujauddaula (Nawab of Awadh), and Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.

Treaty of Allahabad

A 1765 agreement forced upon Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II that transferred the diwani (tax collection rights) of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha to the East India Company.

Diwani

The administrative right to collect revenue and taxes from a specified territory, granted to the East India Company in 1765.

Dual System of Governance

An administrative arrangement in Bengal between 1765 and 1772 wherein the Nawab retained nominal authority over administration while the East India Company controlled military power and tax revenues.

Divide-and-Rule

A colonial strategy of exploiting existing political, regional, and religious rivalries to turn local rulers against one another and prevent unified resistance.

Subsidiary Alliance System

A treaty framework introduced by Governor-General Lord Wellesley (1798–1805) requiring Indian rulers to station and maintain British troops, surrender independent foreign policy, and host a British Resident.

Resident

A British political official posted at the court of an Indian princely state under a Subsidiary Alliance to supervise governance and direct foreign policy decisions.

Tipu Sultan

The ruler of Mysore who resisted British colonial expansion and was killed in 1799 during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at Srirangapatna.

Doctrine of Lapse

An annexation policy implemented by Governor-General Lord Dalhousie (1848–1856) permitting the East India Company to annex any princely state whose ruler died without a natural male heir.

Sepoy

An Indian soldier recruited, trained, and commanded by the British East India Company.