Europeans in India

THE EUROPEANS IN INDIA
1. THE PORTUGUESE:-
• Vasco de Gama landed in 1498
• Portuguese soon had monopoly of profitable eastern trade
• Under Viceroyalty of captain general Alfonso de Albuquerque, a series of forts were established
• Main trading settlements were Cochin; Goa; Daman & Diu


2. THE DUTCH:-
• Holland sent first fleet to east  in 1595, established themselves in Jakarta
• In 1602, Dutch East India Company was formed & the Dutch Parliament gave it a character empowering it to make war, conclude treaties etc.


3. THE ENGLISH:-
• East India Company was formed in 1600
• Set up factory at Surat in 1608 & sent captain Hawkins to Jahangir’s court
• In 1615 Sir Thomas Roe was successful in getting imperial Farman to trade & establish factories in all parts of Mughal Empire
• In 1612-14, at Swally of Surat, English defeated the Portuguese & then at Ormuz in Persian Gulf in 1614
• By 1623, English company had established companies at Broach, Ahmedabad, Agra  & Masulipatanam (1611)
• In Eastern India, English opened first factory in Orissa in 1633, Hugli (1651)


BRITISH EXPANSION IN INDIA
• The disintegration of Mughal empire & dispatch of forces to India in 1740s to fight one another (British & French)
• British quickly built up armies capable of not only of defeating French but of coercing Indian rulers hitherto immune to European military pressure
1. CARNATIC WARS:-
• Companies clashed for first time in Mughal Subah of Carnatic which had become nearly independent
• French opened hostilities under Dupleix by sacking fort St. George & expelling all Englishmen out of Madras (1746) & capturing it
• Nawab of Carnatic sent an army against French, which was however defeated
• In second Carnatic war of 1748-54 when two companies backed rival candidates to the Nawabship
• The French were beaten & their candidate Chanda Sahib beheaded. Dupleix was recalled to France in 1754
• English soon established their hegemony over rich provinces of Bengal, Bihar & Orissa & made full use of new resources & French were decisively defeated
• Formally the war ended with Treaty of Paris in 1763. French were given trading rights & was restored at Pondicherry


2. BRITISH CONQUEST OF BENGAL:-
• Company enjoyed great privileges in Bengal on the basis of Farman (1717) granted by Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar
• It enabled them to import & export goods without paying any taxes & exercise the right to issue passes (Dastaks) for movement of such goods
• The Farman was a perpetual source of tensions between company & Nawab of Bengal because it meant loss of revenue to Bengal government
• Power to rescue dastaks were misused by servants of company to evade taxes on their own private trade
• Company also started levying large duties on goods coming in to Calcutta
• The Nawabs of Bengal – Murshid Quli Khan, Sarfaraz Khan & Alivardi Khan – objected to the misuse of Farman & suppressed misuse of dastaks as well
• The matters however came to ahead under Siraj-ud-daula. The company, besides openly abusing & trading rights granted to them involved itself in court intrigues against the Nawab
• French & British started to fortify their trading stations. The Nawab rightly interpreted this as a challenge to his sovereignty
• He ordered both of them to demolish their fortification. While French agreed British refused to do so
• Nawab attacked & took Calcutta in 1756 without much difficulty & 146 British prisoners were thrown in to a tiny room (later known as Black room tragedy). All but 20 died of suffocation
• A force under Robert Clive was immediately sent to Bengal
• Clive captured Chandernagar & by January 1757, Calcutta was back in British hands. Clive was now out to depose Nawab
• A plot was hatched between Indian bankers & British. Mir Zafar was chosen as puppet to replace Nawab
• The Nawab’s forces were defeated at Plassey (1757) & Nawab Siraj-ud-daula was put to death
• Successive Nawabs Mir Zafar & Mir Qasim were exposed to a series of demands which destroyed their authority within 10 years
• Mir Qasim was defeated in 1763
• The three Mir Qasim, Nawab of Avadh Shuja-ud-daula & Mughal badshah Shah Alam II formed an alliance against British & were thoroughly defeated at Buxar on October 22, 1764   


3. EXTENSION OF BRITISH INFLUENCE (1765-1792):-
• After acquiring the ‘diwani’ (revenue collection) of Bengal, Bihar & Orissa the British settled down to consolidated their gains
• WAR WITH MARATHAS: - Old Maratha Confederacy controlled by Peshwa had given way to five virtually independent states. Peshwa at Pune; Gaikwad at Baroda; Bhonsale at Nagpur; Holkar at Indore & Scindia at Gwalior
• From 1775-85, British waged war against Marathas. The war erupted during governorship of Warren Hastings when the British supported Raghunath Rao’s claim to the title of Peshwa
• Most of Maratha chiefs at this time, including Mahadji Schindia were united behind infant Peshwa & his chief minister
• The war was indecisive between British and Marathas which resulted in Treaty of Salbai in 1782
• THE MYSORE WAR: - in 1769, first Anglo-Mysore war ended with defeat of British. In 1781, British army defeated Haider Ali at port novo & saved Madras
• After death of Haider Ali in December 1782, the war was carried on by his son Tipu Sultan, Peace was signed in March 1784
• In 1789 war started again & ended with Tipu’s defeat in 1792 
  
4. BRITISH EXPANSION FROM 1798-1809:-
• Lord Wellesley came to India in 1798 as Governor General
• To achieve his political aim, Wellesley relied on the system of subsidiary alliance
• First subsidiary alliance was signed with Nizam of Hyderabad followed with Nawab of Avadh
• The Raja whose dynasty Haider Ali had overthrown was reinstated to the throne of Mysore & subsidiary alliance was imposed on him
• Carnatic, Tanjore & Surat were taken over
• In 1802, Holkar defeated combined armies of Peshwa & Scindia. The young Peshwa Baji Rao II sought protection of British & signed Treaty of Bassein in 1803 & entered in to subsidiary alliance


CONSOLIDATION OF BRITISH POWER (1818-57)
• Lord Hastings defeated Nepal in 1814
• In 1818, third Anglo-Maratha war ended in their ignominious defeat


1. BURMA:-
• In 1824-26, the first Burmese war ended with Burma relinquishing her influence over Assam & opening herself to British trade & admitting British Resident


2. AFGHANISTAN:-
• Only area which British attacked but failed to conquer was Afghanistan


3. SINDH:-
• Entered in to subsidiary alliance with Amirs of Sindh in 1839
• Soon however the British conquered & annexed Sindh to their empire (1843)


4. PUNJAB:-
• Ranjit Singh made himself the master of Punjab. He brought the Sikh Misls, west of river Sutlej, under his control
• In 1809, at Amritsar, Ranjit Singh was forced to sign a treaty of perpetual friendship with British
• He gave shelter to Afghan king, Shah Shuja, who had been pushed out of his own country
• It was at this time when he acquired Kohinoor diamond from him
• In first Anglo-Sikh war (1845), Punjab army was defeated by Treaty of Lahore (1846) & state was placed under British protection
• In 1848, second Anglo-Sikh war followed defeat of Sikhs leading to annexation of Punjab under Lord Dalhousie the Governor General


5. DALHOUSIE & POLICY OF ANNEXATION (1848-56):-
• Determined to extend direct British control over large areas, Dalhousie came up with Doctrine of Lapse.
• Under this, if ruler of protected state died without natural heir, his state would be annexed unless adoption had been clearly approved by British authorities
• Many states, Satara (1848), Nagpur & Jhansi (1854) were annexed
• Titles of many ex-rulers like Nawab of Carnatic, Surat & Raja of Tanjore were ended
• Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Avadh was deposed & exiled to Calcutta on the grounds of misgovernment &  Avadh was annexed in 1856