Rise of British Power & Methods of Colonisation in India

European Presence in India

• Multiple European powers—Portuguese, Dutch, French, Danish, and British—established coastal settlements between $1498$ (Calicut by the Portuguese) and $1725$ (Mahé by the French).
• Key port‐factory towns (with year of European arrival in brackets):
– $\text{Calicut }(1498)$, $\text{Cochin }(1500)$, $\text{Cannanore }(1501)$
– $\text{Ceylon ports: Colombo }(1505),\; \text{Galle }(1507)$
– $\text{Diu }(1535),\; \text{Bassein }(1533),\; \text{Goa }(1610)$
– $\text{Surat }(1612),\; \text{Bombay }(1669)$
– $\text{Madras }(1639),\; \text{Tranquebar }(1620)$
– $\text{Pondicherry }(1674),\; \text{Nagapattinam }(1658)$
• Map (not to scale) in the transcript visually places these settlements on the Arabian Sea/Bay of Bengal littoral.

Reasons for Coming to India

• Industrial Revolution (England, mid-$18^{\text{th}}$ century) created:
– Technological advances (steam, textile machinery, iron, coal).
– A "thirst" for raw materials (cotton, indigo, spices) and overseas markets for finished goods.
• Discovery of sea routes around the Cape & improvements in navigation lowered cost/risk of maritime trade.
• Relative weakness of fragmented Indian polities made trade concessions easier to secure.

Early Methods of Colonisation

• Step 1 – Trading Factory: establish fortified warehouse (called a “factory”) after securing farmans from local rulers.
• Step 2 – Military Protection: hire/build a private army to protect trade and coerce rivals.
• Step 3 – Political Interference: take sides in succession wars, act as king-makers, extract revenue rights.

Anglo-French Rivalry (Carnatic Wars, $1746–1763$)

• Three Carnatic wars fought largely in South India; left French power "much weakened" and removed the main European check on British ambitions.
• Consequence: British East India Company became dominant European political force after $1763$.

India on the Eve of British Ascendancy

• 19th-century (actually late $18^{\text{th}}$) India consisted of numerous big & small states—linguistically, culturally, economically diverse, and frequently at war.
• Mughal decline after Aurangzeb (d. $1707$) produced weak emperors unable to discipline provincial nawabs.

Battle of Plassey ($1757$)

• Actors:
– Siraj-ud-Daulah (Nawab of Bengal).
– British led by Robert Clive.
– Conspirators: Mir Jafar, wealthy banker Jagat Seth & others.
• British victory due to treachery; Mir Jafar installed as puppet Nawab.
• Significance: start of "Company Rule"; gave Company diwani (revenue) rights of rich Bengal.

Battle of Buxar ($1764$)

• Combatants: British vs. combined forces of Mir Qasim (deposed Bengal Nawab), Shuja-ud-Daulah (Awadh), Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.
• Result: decisive British victory → Treaty of Allahabad ($1765$) granting East India Company the $\textit{diwani}$ of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa.

Dual Administration in Bengal ($1765–1772$)

• System: Company collected revenue (had $\textit{diwani}$) while Nawab retained responsibility for administration & justice—$\textbf{all income without responsibility for Company; all responsibility without power for Nawab}$.
• Consequences: mis‐governance, unchecked revenue extraction.
• Great Bengal Famine $1770$: estimated $10\,\text{million}$ deaths (≈ $\frac{1}{3}$ population). Neither Company nor Nawab provided relief.
• Abolished by Warren Hastings (first Governor-General) in $1772$; Company assumed direct administrative control.

Modes of British Expansion after $1765$

1. Subsidiary Alliance (formalised by Lord Wellesley)

• Terms for an Indian ruler:
– Accept permanent British troops "subsidiary force" stationed inside territory.
– Pay for their upkeep or cede part of territory.
– No alliance/war with other powers without Company consent (loss of external sovereignty).
– Accept a British Resident controlling foreign affairs; ruler handles "internal" affairs subject to British veto.
• Effect: financial burden, erosion of independence; failure to pay → annexation.

2. Doctrine of Lapse (Lord Dalhousie)

• If a protected princely ruler died without a natural male heir, adoption valid only with prior Company sanction; otherwise state "lapsed" to British.
• Annexed states & years:
– Satara ($1848$)
– Sambalpur ($1850$)
– Udaipur/Mewar ($1852$)
– Jhansi ($1853$)
– Nagpur ($1854$)

3. Direct War & Conquest

• Punjab: Second Anglo-Sikh War ($1848–1849$); decisive battle at Gujrat on River Chenab ($1849$).
– Sikh chiefs surrendered; annexation by Dalhousie.
– Maharaja Dalip Singh exiled/pensioned in England.
• Sind annexed $1843$ (Charles Napier).
• Assam, Arakan, NE tracts & parts of Burma seized $1818–1826$.
• Maratha Confederacy fatally weakened after Third Battle of Panipat ($1761$) → successive Anglo-Maratha wars led to British domination of Deccan.

Infrastructure, Communication & Administrative Reforms

• Railways: first line Red Hill Railroad (Madras, $1837$; carried granite).
– First passenger train: Bombay → Thane ($34\;\text{km},\;1853$).
• Telegraph: Dalhousie opened first line Calcutta ↔ Agra ($1853$).
• Postal System: modern postal services introduced the same year.
• Indian Civil Service (ICS):
– Competitive exam held in London; language = English.
– Practical barrier for Indians (travel cost + alien medium).
• Indian Law Commission $1835$ chaired by Thomas Babington Macaulay; codified laws & promoted English-based education (Minute on Education, $1835$ → "Downward Filtration" theory).

Military & Police Establishment

• East India Company’s sepoy armies defended existing possessions, conquered new ones, and suppressed domestic revolts.
• Also protected trading interests (ports, warehouses, caravans).
• Police/Kotwali system modernised: district‐level $\textit{thanedars}$ under magistrates.

Socio-Economic Impact of British Policies

• Aristocracy (chieftains, nobles, zamindars) lost patronage; artisans & craftsmen faced de-industrialisation as machine-made British goods flooded markets.
• Traditional intelligentsia (scholars, priests) impoverished when courtly support dried up.
• No single Indian power capable of united resistance by mid-$19^{\text{th}}$ century, easing British supremacy.

Brain Tickler from Text

• Question: “Why did the Mughals allow the British to set up factories in India?”
– Implied Answer (contextual): Mughals sought customs revenue, naval protection against Portuguese, & viewed British primarily as harmless merchants during empire’s zenith.

Timeline Snapshot (Key Dates)

• $1498$ Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut.
• $1746–1763$ Carnatic Wars (Anglo-French rivalry).
• $1757$ Plassey; $1764$ Buxar; $1765$ Diwani of Bengal.
• $1765–1772$ Dual Administration; $1770$ Bengal Famine.
• $1835$ Macaulay’s Minute; $1837$ first freight railway.
• $1843$ Sind; $1848–1849$ Punjab; $1853$ first passenger rail & telegraph.
• $1854$ last major lapse annexation (Nagpur).

Ethical & Historical Significance

• Dual administration illustrates exploitation without accountability—prototype of colonial extractive governance.
• Famine of $1770$ demonstrates humanitarian cost of revenue-maximising policies; estimated death toll $\approx10\,000,000$.
• Doctrine of Lapse & Subsidiary Alliance legally codified imperial expansion while maintaining façade of “protectorate.”
• Infrastructure improvements (rail, telegraph) primarily served strategic & commercial interests—yet laid foundation of modern Indian network system.