Early British colonialism in India

The first European to reach India was the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who
reached Calicut in 1498 in search of spice. Just over a century later, the Dutch and English
established trading outposts on the Indian subcontinent, with the first English trading post set up
at Surat in 1613.
Over the next two centuries, the British defeated the Portuguese and Dutch but remained in
conflict with the French. The decline of the Mughal Empire in the first half of the eighteenth
century allowed the British to establish a foothold in Indian politics. During the Battle of Plassey,
the East India Company's Army defeated Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, and the
company established itself as a major player in Indian affairs. After the Battle of Buxar of 1764,
it gained administrative rights over Bengal, Bihar and the Midnapur part of Odisha.
After the defeat of Tipu Sultan, most of southern India came either under the company's direct
rule, or under its indirect political control in a subsidiary alliance. The Company subsequently
seized control of regions ruled by the Maratha Empire, after defeating them in a series of wars.
Much of Punjab was annexed in 1849, after the defeat of Sikh armies in the First (1845–46)
and Second (1848–49) Anglo-Sikh Wars