Trade to Territory

LP1- The Coming of the British (READ TB, V IMP)

In 1600, the East India Company received a charter from the ruler of England,
Queen Elizabeth I, for carrying out trade with the East. As per the statutes of the
charter, the company could venture into newer places and purchase goods at a
cheaper price and could sell them in Europe at higher prices. Other European
trading companies also came in search of new lands from which they could buy
goods at a cheap price and carry them back to Europe to sell at higher prices. By
then, the Portuguese had established a strong base at the western coast of India.
Soon enough the Dutch arrived and started exploring the possibilities of trade in the
Indian Ocean, followed by the French.

● The fine qualities of cotton and silk produced in India had great value in
Europe.
● Spices like pepper, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon were also in great
demand and sold at a very high price.
● The British, Dutch, French and Portuguese were interested in cotton, silk,
pepper, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon, which were high in demand.
● These were the reasons that attracted European trading companies to India.
● This led to fierce battles between the trading companies.

Trading companies that emerged in India along with their territories:

Portuguese
The Portuguese were the earliest to come to India and had already established their
presence in Goa on the western coast of India.

British
The British arrived after the Portuguese and set up their trading posts on the coast
called factories. The trading posts of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta became the
main English settlements.

France, Netherlands and Denmark arrived soon after.

Britain and France fought the Carnatic wars for monopoly over trade in India. France
lost, and in course of time the Portuguese, the Dutch and the Danes also lost their
trading rights in India.
LP2- The Battle of Plassey (Read textbook)

CONQUEST OF BENGAL :
Battle of Plassey
The Battle of Plassey was fought between the forces of the Nawab of Bengal
Siraj-ud-Daulah and the English East India Company, led by Robert Clive. It was
fought on 23 June 1757 at Plassey near Murshidabad. A major portion of the 50,000
strong army of the Nawab was controlled by Mir Jafar who was hand in glove with
the British. His men did not join the battle at a crucial time. As a result, the Nawab’s
men suffered heavy casualties and he himself left the battlefield after the death of his
commander Mir Madan. This was a major blow to the Nawab’s army which was, as a
result, easily defeated by the British. Later, the Nawab himself was caught and killed,
and Mir Jafar was instituted as the new Nawab of Bengal.

After being in the shadow of the British for a few years, Mir Qasim tried to free
himself of the company’s control.
- He hired European experts to train his army.
- He also abolished all duties on internal trade. He felt that both Indian and
British merchants should trade on equal terms.
- This meant an end to the British monopoly. The British did not like this and
tried to put pressure on Mir Qasim to reverse this.
- Mir Qasim convinced the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II and Shuja-ud-Daula, the
Nawab of Awadh, to join him in a battle to fight the British forces.
- the Battle of Buxar took place on 22nd Oct 1764.
-however they were defeated as they could not organize themselves.
The Battle of Buxar gave the British total control over the rich provinces of the east,
and absolute power for the next round of territorial expansion.
Effects of the battle of Buxar
1. The British East India Company emerged as the supreme military without any
opposition.
2. With the defeat of Mir Qasim, the era of independent Nawabs finally came to
an end.
3. British East India companies were given the diwani rights of Bengal by
Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. This meant that they would collect revenue
without any hassles of paying someone else.
4. The Battle of Buxar confirmed the decisions of Plassey.
5. Robert Clive signed two treaties at Allahabad known as Treaty of Allahabad
with Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II in 1765. He became the first Governor of
Bengal.

1. According to the treaty- Britishers East India Company would legally control
the administration and economy of Bengal. Diwani of Bihar and Orissa were
also given to Britishers since they had won the war.
2. The victory at Buxar resulted in the stripping of control of the Indian
subcontinent from the hands of Indian Nawabs and Rulers to the Britishers.
3. According to Diwani rights, the British would administer Bengal and manage
revenue of this large area also.
4. In return for this right, Britishers would give Rs.26 lakh to the Mughal Emperor
Shah Alam II.
5. Shuja-ud-daula had to pay Rs. 50 lakh at the spot as the war-fare expenses to
the company and Rs. 25 lakh later in installments.

LP3- Expansion of the Company Rule

Tipu Sultan and the Company

The Company bought cardamom and pepper from the Malabar coast where the ruler
of Mysore controlled the trade. Tipu Sultan, the then ruler of Mysore, stopped the
Company from using his ports to export sandalwood, pepper, and cardamom in
1785. He also stopped the local traders from trading with the Company. He
established close relations with the French traders in India, which helped modernize
his army. This became a threat to the Company and, as a result, the British and Tipu
Sultan engaged in 4 battles. It was in the last battle, the Battle of Seringapatam, that
Tipu Sultan was defeated. The Company then installed the former ruling dynasty of
the Wodeyars in charge of Mysore and imposed the subsidiary alliance on the state.
Marathas and the Company
By the late 18th century CE, the Company had complete control over the territories
south of the Vindhyas. This was possible after a series of wars between them and
the Marathas. The first Anglo-Maratha war ended without a clear winner and it
resulted in the Treaty of Salbai in 1782. The second Anglo-Maratha war ended with
the British gaining Odisha and territories north of the Yamuna like Delhi and Agra.
The third Anglo-Maratha war of 1817-19 established the Company's rule over the
territories south of the Vindhyas. By the 19th century CE, the methods of expansion
of the Company became more aggressive in nature.

Indirect Annexation
We learnt how they occupied Mysore, Punjab and regions under the Marathas by
defeating them in various wars.
However, they adopted certain policies by which they could indirectly annex the
Indian kingdoms.
This happened through the policies of :
1)Subsidiary Alliance
2)Doctrine of Lapse

Subsidiary Alliance
1. Indian rulers had to maintain & pay for the British army,in return the EEIC
would protect them from other rulers.
2. If the ruler failed to pay, part of the kingdom was taken by EEIC.
3. An Indian ruler could take decisions regarding the state in the presence of
British officials called the RESIDENT.
4. The Indian rulers could not maintain relations with anyone without approval of
the British.
5. The ruler would accept the EEIC as the paramount power.

Doctrine of Lapse
1. Under Lord Dalhousie, the Governor General of the Company, a new policy
call the Doctrine of Lapse was introduced
2. According to this doctrine, if an Indian ruler died without a male heir, the
kingdom would be annexed by the Company.
3. Many kingdoms such as Satara, Sambalpur, Udaipur, Nagpur, and Jhansi
were annexed by imposing the Doctrine of Lapse.
4. Awadh was annexed by the pretext of misgovernance by the Nawab of
Awadh.
5. It was for this reason that Awadh joined the Revolt of 1857 to fight against the
British
Claims to Paramountcy
Under Warren Hastings, the Governor General of the Company, the policy of
'paramountcy' was imposed. According to the policy, the British claimed that their
authority was supreme and paramount. They started annexing or threatening to
annex Indian territories, to maintain their supremacy and protect their interest. This
policy was resisted by many native rulers. In the state of Kitoor in present- day
Karnataka, Rani Channamma fought against the British but was killed by them.
The British were able to gain political power due to:

1. Superior arms: The British had better weapons,military tactics and strategy.
2. Military discipline: Having a disciplined army was the biggest reason for
the success of the British.Regular payment of salaries and strict discipline
kept the British troops loyal.
3. Disunity Among Indian Rulers: The EEIC took advantage of this disunity
and made the rulers fight with each other.Unlike Indians EEIC had strong
leaders to lead .
4. Financial Strength: The British always kept a strict check on their trade and
commercial interest from India. They had enough money to finance English
wars.