The Establishment of Company Power

Lead In

21C: Critical thinking, Logical Reasoning, Awareness (Global awareness)
IL: Democratic values (Democratic outlook and commitment to liberty and freedom, Equality, Justice and fairness, Humaneness and fraternal spirit)
The chapter discusses reasons why countries colonize others.
Debate: Whether a country should ever colonize another, and if there are justified circumstances.

Timeline of British East India Company

1498: Vasco da Gama lands at Calicut.
1500: The Portuguese establish trading centers in India.
1600: British East India Company is established.
1615: Jahangir grants Britain permission to set up factories in Mughal India.
1668: First French factory comes up at Surat.
1707: Aurangzeb dies.
1763: British defeat the French in the Carnatic Wars.
1764: Conquest of Bengal.
1799: British defeat Tipu.
1818: British defeat the Marathas.
1849: British complete the defeat the Sikhs.
1856: Annexation of Awadh.

Learning Outcomes

Assess the importance of the voyages of discovery.
Describe the growth of European trading centers in India.
Explain how the East India Company transformed from traders to rulers.
Analyze the reasons behind the Company's success in establishing rule.

The Voyages of Discovery

7th-14th centuries: Arab traders dominated trade between East and West.
Goods traded: Spices, textiles, sugar, indigo, saltpetre from India to Persian Gulf and Red Sea ports, then overland to Europe.
1453: Constantinople fell to the Turks, disrupting Arab trade routes to Europe.
Europeans needed to find a direct sea route to the East.
European explorers were sponsored by Portugal, Spain, and Britain.

Vasco da Gama and Direct Sea Routes

Vasco da Gama (Portuguese explorer) landed in Kozhikode (Calicut) in 1498.
Direct trade routes were established between West and East.
Arab domination of Indian Ocean trade was replaced by the Portuguese.
The Dutch, British, and French followed.

Formation of European Trading Companies in India

European countries realized the potential wealth in trade with India.
Individual traders formed trading companies supported by their governments.
Portuguese, Dutch, British, and French trading companies were established.
They set up trading stations along the coasts and battled for control of trade with India.
The Dutch captured Cochin from the Portuguese in 1656.

Competition Between British and French

The Portuguese lost possessions after Spain conquered Portugal in 1580.
The Dutch focused on the East Indies (Indonesia).
The British and French became main competitors in India.
Their rivalry in Europe fueled competition in India.

From Traders to Rulers: The British Conquest of India

The English East India Company (EEIC) founded in London in 1600.
Queen Elizabeth I granted the Company the sole right to trade with India for a share of profits.
No other English trader could compete with the East India Company.
The Company faced competition from other European trading companies.
Mercantilism: buying goods cheap and selling at exorbitant prices for profit.

Sir Thomas Roe and Trade Agreements

1615: King James I sent Sir Thomas Roe as ambassador to Jahangir's court.
Roe sought a trade agreement.
This laid the foundation for a lasting relationship between the EEIC and the Mughals.

Growth of British Power

As British trade increased, so did their power.
They set up large trading posts, some fortified.
The British aimed to gain political control over India, not just trade.

Strategies Used by the British

The main strategies used by the British to establish their rule in India include warfare, the System of Subsidiary Alliance and annexations.

Wars

Wars were a main tool used by the British to establish their rule in India.
The British first fought the French to become the main European power in India.
They then targeted the Indian rulers & captured their kingdoms through direct warfare.

The Conquest of the Carnatic (The Trade Wars)

The conflict between the French and British focused on the Carnatic region.
The states of Hyderabad, Carnatic, and Mysore were in constant conflict.
The French and British allied with rival groups and fought three wars (1746-1763), known as the Trade Wars or Carnatic Wars.
The British defeated the French comprehensively, becoming the main European power in India.
Having gained a foothold in south India, the British turned their attention towards Bengal.

The Conquest of Bengal

Bengal included present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha.
It was one of the richest provinces, known for textiles and handicrafts.
The East India Company obtained the right to trade in Bengal without paying customs duties from Mughal emperor and had the right to issue dastaks or trade permits.
Company officials misused dastaks to amass personal fortunes, causing revenue loss for Bengal rulers.
They also fortified their factory at Fort William in Calcutta.
Unsettled, Sirajuddaulah, the Nawab of Bengal, attacked and occupied Fort William in 1756.

The Battle of Plassey (1757)

Robert Clive retook Fort William in 1757.
Clive conspired with Mir Jafar, the commander-in-chief of the Nawab's army to help defeat Sirajuddaulah by promising to make Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal.
The armies met at Plassey in 1757.
Mir Jafar betrayed Sirajuddaulah who fled the battlefield.
Clive won the battle, and Mir Jafar became Nawab of Bengal.
Mir Jafar was replaced by his son-in-law, Mir Qasim, in 1760 after he tried to control the corrupt British trading practices.
Mir Qasim granted the British the right to collect revenues from Burdwan, Midnapur, and Chittagong districts.
The British controlled the Nawab, and through him, one of the largest and wealthiest provinces of India.
The Battle of Plassey paved the way for British rule in India.

The Battle of Buxar

Mir Qasim consolidated his power.
He allied with the Nawab of Awadh, Shujauddaula, and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II.
In 1764, their combined forces fought the British at the Battle of Buxar.
The British won the battle.
The others signed the Treaty of Allahabad with the British.
The emperor granted the diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa to the British.
This gave the British the right to collect revenue and administer justice in the region.

System of Dual Governance

Mir Jafar was brought back as Nawab of Bengal.
The Nawab was responsible for administration, but revenue went to the British.
This was called the System of Dual Government.
This system ruined Bengal because the Nawab lacked resources, while the British used resources for personal gain & not for the betterment of Bengal.
Warren Hastings abolished it in 1772.
With the conquest of Bengal ended the first phase of British conquest of India.
The British were now virtual rulers of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha.
The nawabs of Awadh and Carnatic were their dependents.
The Mughal Emperor was their pensioner.
The British now turned their attention to Mysore.

The Conquest of Mysore: Anglo Mysore Wars (1766-1799)

The state of Mysore provided stiff opposition to British power in south India.
In 1761, Hyder Ali seized power from its ruler, Chikka Krishna Raj.
Under Hyder Ali and his son, Tipu Sultan, Mysore was transformed into a powerful kingdom.
Four battles were fought between the British and Mysore from 1766 to 1799, known as the Anglo-Mysore Wars.
In the Third Anglo-Mysore War, the British forces under Lord Cornwallis defeated Tipu Sultan, and two of his sons were taken hostage.
In 1799, Tipu was defeated by the British at Seringapatam in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and died fighting.
The British annexed half his kingdom and gave the rest of Mysore back to the royal family.

The Anglo-Maratha Wars (1775-1818)

The British were keen on subjugating the Marathas.
The Marathas had become one of the most powerful forces in India by the middle of the 18th century.
Under Chhattrapati Shivaji, and later the Peshwas, the Marathas challenged the Mughals.
Their ambitions were disrupted when they were defeated by Ahmad Shah Abdali in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.
Four centers of Maratha power emerged:
- The Gaekwads ruled from Baroda
- The Bhonsles ruled from Nagpur
- The Holkars ruled from Indore
- The Scindias (Sindhias) ruled from Gwalior.
The Marathas fought the British in the Anglo-Maratha Wars (1775-1818).
The British took advantage of infighting and comprehensively defeated the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-1819).
The post of the Peshwa was abolished, and large parts of the Maratha kingdom were annexed by the British.
This marked the virtual end of Maratha rule in India.

The Conquest of Punjab: Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845-1849)

The Sikhs established a powerful empire in the 18th century under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Ranjit Singh maintained a friendly relationship with the British.
After his death in 1839, the Khalsa (Sikh warriors) became powerful.
The Khalsa distrusted the British.
The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between 1845 and 1846.
The Sikhs were defeated, and the land between the rivers Beas and Sutlej was annexed by the British.
The Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-1849) occurred due to anger against the British.
Punjab became a dependent state of the British, and its ruler Duleep Singh was pensioned off.

The System of Subsidiary Alliances

Lord Wellesley was the governor-general of India from 1798 to 1805.
He wanted to make Britain the most important power in India.
Apart from waging wars, he used subsidiary alliances.
As per the System of Subsidiary Alliance, Indian rulers had to:
- Maintain British troops in their state, either by providing land or paying for maintenance.
The system allowed the British to maintain a large army at the expense of local rulers and gave them control over the rulers.
The Indian ruler could not fight or sign treaties without British approval.
Rulers like the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Nawab of Awadh, got security but lost independence.
Others included the Marathas, the princely state of Travancore and most of the Rajput states.

Annexations

Annexation means taking control of a state or territory, usually with force.
The British annexed several states:
- Doctrine of Lapse
- Misrule of the state by the Indian rulers

On the Basis of the Doctrine of Lapse

The Doctrine of Lapse was devised by Governor-General Dalhousie.
Traditionally, if a ruler did not have a child, it was accepted to adopt one.
The British refused to recognize such adoptions.
When a ruler died without a natural heir, the state was annexed.
Many states, such as Satara (1848), Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1849), Jhansi (1853), and Nagpur (1854), fell prey to this policy.

Under the Pretext of Misrule

Many states that joined the Subsidiary Alliance were later annexed.
The British took virtual control over security by stationing troops in the state.
To pay for the troops, rulers collected more taxes which created burdened people.
The British then annexed the state on grounds of misrule.
The states of Surat, Carnatic, and Awadh were annexed using this policy.
In 1856, the British deposed Wajid Ali Khan, the Nawab of Awadh, and annexed the state under the pretext of internal misrule which was universally condemned and became one of the main causes behind the Revolt of 1857.
By 1856, with the annexation of Awadh, the whole of India was under British rule.

Reasons for the Success of the British

Absence of a strong central leadership in India-Mughal decline.
Lack of unity among the Indian states-rivalries allowed the British to play rulers against each other.
The compliance of the Indian rulers-chose Subsidiary Alliance over fighting to protect their lifestyles.
Britain's superior army and navy-better firearms, discipline, and training.
These factors contributed to the success of the British in India.
Within around 100 years (1757-1857), the British transformed from traders to builders of the most powerful empire of the 19th century.