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THE EAST INDIA COMPANY
Acquired a Charter from the Ruler of England Queen Elizabeth I , Granting The Sole Right To Trade With The East -
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CONFLICTS WITH THE EUROPEANS
Both Of Them sank Each Other's Ship ,Blockade Routes And Prevented Rival Ships From Moving With Supplies Of Goods -
THE FIRST ENGLISH FACTORY
Near The Banks Of River Hugli -
FARMAN FROM AURANGZEB
The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Issued A Farman Granting The Company To Trade Duty-Free -
PROBLEMS THROUGH THE EARLY 18th CENTURY
Due To This FARMAN There Was A Enormous Loss Of Revenue For Bengal -
AURANGZEB DIED
After The Death Of Aurangzeb , The Bengal Nawabs Asserted Their Power And Autonomy.(KILLED BY SHIVAJI) -
TRADE LED TO BATTLES
Nawabs refused to grant the Company concessions, demanded large tributes for the Company’s right to trade, denied it any right to mint coins, and stopped it from extending its fortifications.The Company on its part declared that the unjust demands of the local officials were ruining the trade of the Company . THESE CONFLICTS LED TO BATTLES -
SIRAJUDDAULAH AND THE BATTLES
When Alivardi Khan died in 1756, Sirajuddaulah became the nawab of Bengal . The Nawab marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at Kassimbazar, captured the Company officials,locked the warehouse, disarmed all Englishmen, and blockaded English ships. -
BATTLE OF PLASSEY
Finally, in 1757,Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey. One of the main reasons for the defeat of the Nawab was that the forces ledby Mir Jafar, one of Sirajuddaulah’s commanders, never fought the battle. Clive had managed to secure his support by promising to make him nawab after crushing Sirajuddaulah.The Battle of Plassey became famous because it was the first major victory the Company won in India -
MIR JAFAR TO MIR QASIM
After the defeat at Plassey, Sirajuddaulah was assassinated and Mir Jafar made the nawab. The Company was still unwilling to take over the responsibility of administration When Mir Jafar protested, the Company deposed him and installed Mir Qasim in his place. -
BATTLE OF BUXAR
When Mir Qasim complained, he in turn was defeated in a battle fought at Buxar (1764),driven out of Bengal, and Mir Jafar was reinstalled. -
THE TRADE EXPANDED
Finally, in 1765 the Mughal emperor appointed the Company as the Diwan of the provinces of Bengal. The Diwani allowed the Company to use the vast revenue resources of Bengal. This solved a major problem that the Company had earlier faced. From the early eighteenth century its trade with India had expanded -
MIR JAFAR DIED
Mir Jafar died in 1765 the mood of the Company had changed. Having failed to work with puppet nawabs, Clive declared:“We must indeed become nawabs ourselves.” -
BRITISHERS MOVING INTO THE ADMINISTRATION
After the Battle of Plassey the actual nawabs of Bengal were forced to give land and vast sums of money as personal gifts to Company officials. Robert Clive himself amassed a fortune in India -
SUDDEN DEATH
Interestingly, when Robert Clive was appointed Governor of Bengal in 1764, he was asked to remove corruption in Company administration but he was himself cross-examined in 1772 by the British Parliament which was suspicious of his vast wealth. Although he was acquitted, he committed suicide in 1774 -
COMPANY RULE EXPANDS
After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the Company appointed Residents in Indian states. They were political or commercial agents and their job was to serve and further the interests of the Company. Through the Residents, the Company officials began interfering in the internal affairs of Indian states. They tried to decide who was to be the successor to the throne, and who was to be appointed in administrative posts. -
THREAT TO COMPANY S POLITICAL AND ECONOMICAL INTERESTS
In 1785 Tipu Sultan stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper and cardamom through the ports of his kingdom, and disallowed local merchants from trading with the Company. He also established a close relationship with the French in India, and modernised his army with their help. -
"SUBSIDIARY ALLIANCE" AND THE PENALTIES
Sometimes the Company forced the states into a “subsidiary alliance”. According to the terms of this alliance, Indian rulers were not allowed to have their independent armed forces. They were to be protected by the Company, but had to pay for the “subsidiary forces” that the Company was supposed to maintain for the purpose of this protection. If the Indian rulers failed to make the payment, then part of their territory was taken away as penalty. -
BATTLE OF SERINGAPATAM
The Siege of Seringapatam (5 April – 4 May 1799) was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore.The company had ultimately win the victory. Tipu Sultan, Mysore's ruler, was killed in the action -
MOVING TOWARDS THE SOUTH
From the late eighteenth century the Company also sought to curb and eventually destroy Maratha power..The Marathas were subdued in a series of wars. In the first war that ended in 1782 with the Treaty of Salbai, there was no clear victor. The Second Anglo- Maratha War was fought on different fronts , resulting in the British gaining Orissa and the territories north of the Yamuna river including Agra and Delhi. Finally, the Third Anglo-Maratha War crushed Maratha power -
FEAR WITH THE RUSSIANS
In the late 1830s the East India Company became worried about Russia.It imagined that Russia might expand across Asia and enter India from the north-west. Driven by this fear, the British now wanted to secure their control over the north-west. They fought a prolonged war with Afghanistan between 1838 and 1842 and established indirect Company rule there. Sind was taken over in 1843. -
TIME FOR PUNJAB NOW
Next in line was Punjab. But the presence of Maharaja Ranjit Singh held back the Company. After his death in 1839, two prolonged wars were fought with the Sikh kingdom. Ultimately, in 1849, Punjab was annexed. -
The Doctrine of Lapse
Lord Dalhousie who was the Governor-General from 1848 to 1856 devised a policy that came to be known as the Doctrine of Lapse. The doctrine declared that if an Indian ruler died without a male heir his kingdom would “lapse”, that is, become part of Company territory. One kingdom after another was annexed simply by applying this doctrine: Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1850), Udaipur (1852), Nagpur (1853)and Jhansi (1854) -
THE DOCTRINE OF LAPSE
Lord Dalhousie who was the Governor-General from 1848 to 1856 devised a policy that came to be known as the Doctrine of Lapse. The doctrine declared that if an Indian ruler died without a male heir his kingdom would “lapse”, that is, become part of Company territory. One kingdom after another was annexed simply by applying this doctrine: Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1850), Udaipur (1852), Nagpur (1853)and Jhansi (1854) -
FINALLY AWADH
Finally, in 1856, the Company also took over Awadh.The people of Awadh joined the great revolt that broke out in 1857.
