Before the Mughal Empire went into diminution the Europeans were projecting funny eyes on India’s wealth: The Portuguese had established a base in Goa ( 1560 ) but it was the British how were most determined to set up trading bases in India. In 1600 Queen Elizabeth I granted permission to put up the East India Company. The British authorities did non direct out its ain expedition to transport out its ain trading alternatively it gave permission to groups of persons to make so. The Government did nevertheless do certain that this group operated in a manner that was acceptable to the authorities. The EIC was given the Monopoly to merchandise between Britain and new countries E of Africa: that meant that no other British Company could merchandise in that country. The merchandisers were trusting to interrupt into the spice trade in the East Indies ( Indonesia ) . but the Dutch had already won control of the spice trade and would non allow any other European power portion it. So the EIC turned to India as an option. They foremost landed in Surat ( 1608 ) and it was in 1612 that they were allowed to get down merchandising when Shah Jehan ( Governor of Gujarat ) granted permission to merchandise. after Jahangir’s decease.
EIC Influence grows: The British influence in India grew easy. At first the EIC had merely a few bases on the Indian seashore but by the latter half of the 17th century hah established their central offices in Bombay ( 1662 ) and a trading station in Calcutta ( 1690 ) . The EIC even had the audaciousness to travel to war with Aurengzeb in 1686. Who defeated the EIC‘s forces and made them pay a heavy mulct. But the EIC were more successful in contending other European states who wanted the chance to portion in the extremely profitable Indian trade. During the seventeenth century both the Portuguese and the Dutch were defeated. but the chief competition came from the Gallic. They had set up their trading company in 1664 and shortly came in struggle with the EIC but the military accomplishments of Robert Clive enabled the EIC to get the better of the Gallic and took advantage of India’s unsettled conditions to increase and act upon. EIC began to spread out its forces to do local Indian princes accept authorization and in parts of India set up its ain authoritiess. British Gains Control 1. The Battle of Plessey In 1756 the Gallic encouraged the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-daula to assail the EIC base at Calcutta.
He captured the metropolis. but was unable to maintain control of it. In 1757 Clive arrived with EIC soldiers and defeated Siraj-udd-daula’s military personnels in the Battle of Plassey. Clive’s triumph had been made easy by the perfidy of Siraj-udd-daula’s general Mir Jafar. The EIC rewarded him by doing him the Nawab of Bengal. Thus one of the India’s richest states fell under British control. Mir Jafar was forced to give the company gifts of land and money to do some of the EIC functionaries really rich. 2. Battle of Buxar In 1764 Mir Jafar’s boy Mir Qasim joined forces with the Nawab of Oudh and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II to drive the EIC out of Bengal. They were unsuccessful and after their licking in the Battle of Buxar the British influence really increased. The EIC now took control of the gross aggregation in Bengal. Bihar and Orissa and besides extended its influence into Oudh. 3. Bengal Exploited The EIC had been established to derive as much net income as possible. but its greed after Buxar embarrassed the British authorities.
The company made immense net income from trade in Bengal and the company merchants became accustomed to have ‘gifts’ which increased their wealth. While they made immense net incomes. the local people were exploited and many died in a serious dearth which hit Bengal. The British Government Interferes The British authorities was forced to move to seek to halt this misrule. ( I ) In 1773 passed an act of Parliament which required the eic to supply good authorities to halt this lawlessness. ( two ) In 1784 the British authorities passed the India Act and took direct control of the three presidential terms ( Bombay. Madras and Calcutta ) . There would besides hold provincial governors and a commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The EIC continued to merchandise. but lost most of its administrative powers. ( three ) To farther better efficiency a constabulary force and a legal system were set up on British lines.
A professional civil service was besides introduced but the local people were non given occupations in it. 4. Expansion of British control ( I ) In 1787 the first governor general Warren Hastings signed a pact stoping the 1st M Maratha war. giving the British the chance to widen their influence elsewhere ( two ) In 1779 the Governor-General Wellesley invaded Mysore and killed Tipu the Sultan of Mysore and took control of his lands. The Nawabs of Oudh were defeated and were forced to allow larger countries of their district to the British ( three ) In 1803 the British entered Delhi coercing the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam to accept that he was governing under ‘British Protection’ ( four ) In 1818 the Marathas were defeated by the British forces and eventually forced to accept British control
5. Ranjit Singh By the early nineteenth century the British were concerned about Russian enlargement because they wanted to do certain that Afghanistan did non fall into the custodies of the Russian Empire and R5njit Singh ( the swayer of Punjab ) agreed that Afghanistan should stay independent. They hoped that Ranjit Singh would assist them put in a pro-British swayer in Kabul but he did non back up them so the British went in front on their ain. However. a rebellion in Afghanistan ( 1841 ) led to all British military personnels being killed. 6. Annexation of Sindh The British felt that their pride has been hurt by their loss in Afghanistan and decided to turn on Sindh ruled by a aggregation of Amirs who had signed a pact of friendly relationship with Britain. But the British wanted to recover their prestigiousness and besides wanted to do certain that Sindh could non be a mark for Sikh enlargement ( Ranjit Singh has been following a policy of widening his land and this had worried the British ) . The British general sir Charles Napier provoked the Amirs so much that they attacked the British residence ( 1843 ) .
The Amirs were defeated and Sindh was annexed. 7. Annexation of Punjab and NWFP Ranjit Singh had signed a pact of friendly relationship with the British but after his decease challenger chiefs argued amongst themselves over who should be king. The Sikhs attacked British ownerships South of river Sutlej and provoked the British to occupy Punjab. Following the pact of Lahore the Sikhs paid a immense insurance and Gulab Singh Dogra. a Hindu head who had helped the British was given Kashmir as a wages. In 1849 after a rebellion against the British. the Punjab and NWFP were annexed and became portion of the British Empire. 8. Other Areas In Hyderabad. Deccan and Oudh the local Nawabs had been forced to subscribe pacts with the EIC which allowed so swayers to remain on the throne and to govern their topics but gave British control of external personal businesss. So Indian swayers could non follow a foreign policy with which the British disagreed. 9. The Doctrine of Lapse In 1848 the governor general Dalhousie extended British command even further by using the philosophy of oversight when a swayer died without a natural inheritor the British would annex his lands. e. g. Satara. Nagpur Jhansi fell into British custodies. It caused great bitterness when it was used to take land. When the Nawab of Oudh died although he had several legal inheritors. Dalhousie declared that the Nawab had governed his people severely and took Oudh under British control. Britain was now dominant in India. WHY WERE THE BRITISH ABLE TO CONQUER INDIA?
1. The failing of India The Mughal Empire was already in diminution when the British began to widen its influence in India. At that clip there was no strong uniting force in India. It was a aggregation of disconnected districts with a assortment of different faiths and civilizations. They fought with each other and saw British as possible Alliess in their statements instead than possible enemies. Many swayers were feudal Godheads populating on their past history and leting their provinces to worsen through disregard instead taking to reform them. 2. The Strength of the British British had superior arms. agencies of communicating. They considered themselves superior to the Indians and felt it was their right to distribute their superior civilization because they saw India as a state of stagnancy and diminution. There were chances for profitable trade and for enforcing British administrative systems. Their political beliefs was that advancement was inevitable a belief that they were destined to govern big parts of the universe.
BRITISH RULE Although the British had to fault for much of the warfare that occurred in India in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century they were determined to seek to make something about the impact of all those wars. ( a ) Law and order had broken down in many topographic points and there was a frequent dearth amongst the people. War had damaged many of the great memorials of the past and had besides disrupted trade and agribusiness ( B ) Some countries of India such as Bengal had great wealth but small of it was shared with the ordinary people. Alternatively it went into the pockets of the Indian aristocracy or the British swayers. ( degree Celsius ) In 1833 the British authoritiess tried to give Indians a more of import portion in governing India. The charter said that Indians could be portion of the Indian Civil Service administering India. But the Indian Civil Service employed thousand decision makers. They were chosen by unfastened public test taken in England. in English. Wages of the British group of functionaries were paid to them by the local people. ( vitamin D ) Revenue aggregation was collected from the local people to purchase goods that were shipped out from India to England. British began to enforce revenue enhancement on goods being imported from India. At first the Indian fabrics were exported in big measures but to protect their ain fabric industries by taxing those imports. Besides inexpensive British fabrics were being exported to India and many Indian weavers lost their occupations.
Mid nineteenth Century By the mid 19th century the British were steadfastly established in India. The British were careful non to do offense by seeking to alter the spiritual and cultural patterns of the Indians. If the upper categories wanted to win they had to go ‘Anglicized’ ( a ) In 1834 England replaced Persian as the official linguistic communication of the disposal ( B ) In 1835 it was decided that instruction should be in English linguistic communication. British began to present more reforms into India so resistance grew e. g. they did non like Christian missionaries and were discerning about the new technological thoughts such as railroads.
