The Establishment of Company Power - History PDF

The Establishment 2 of Company Power Re3soning, Awareness (Global awareness): 21C Critical thinking, Logical...

The Establishment 2 of Company Power Re3soning, Awareness (Global awareness): 21C Critical thinking, Logical (Democratlc outlook and commitment to liberty and LEAD IN> IL Democratic values treedom, Equality, Justice and fairness, Humaneness and fraternal spirit) a country used to In the last chapter, you learnt of some of the reasons why, in earlier times, colonise another. colonise another country." Do you No matter what the reasons might be, a country should never under which such agree with this statement? Or do you think that there are certain circumstances an action would be justified? Give reasons for your answer. British defeat British the French in the defeat the Annexation British East Carnatic Wars Marathas ofAwadh India Company Aurangzeb dies 1818 856 1707 1763 is established 1600 1700 1800 1s00 1849 1764 1615 British 1498 Conquest of Jahangir grants defeat Vasco da Gama Bengal lands at Calicut. Britain permission complete the Sikhs to set up taE The Portuguese establish trading FretPench First French 1799 Mughal India British centres in India. defeat comes up at Surat Tipu Learning oufcomes THE VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY Between the 7th and the 14th centuries, Arab traders By the end of this lesson, you will dominated the trade between the East and the West. They took spices, textiles, sugar, indigo and saltpetre be able to: " assess the importance of the by voyages of discovery (used for making gunpowder) from India/Bharat Red Sea. describe the growth of sea to ports on the Persian Gulf and the European trading centres The goods were then carried over land to Europe. in India In 1453, Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine explain how the East India Arabs could no Company used different Empire, fell to the Turks, and the methods to transform longer take goods safely over land to Europe. So, for a direct themselves from traders to the Europeans, it became essential to find rulers in lIndia sea route to the East. For this purpose, a series of explorers, analyse the reasons behind voyages were undertaken by the EuropeanSpain and the success of the Company in sponsored by the monarchs of Portugal, establishing their rule in India Britain.  The first European to discover a direct sea route to India was Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer. He landed in Kozhikode (Calicut) on the western coast of India in 1498. As a result of the voyages of discovery, direct trade routes were established between the West and the East. The Arab domination of the Indian Ocean was replaced by that of the Portuguese, the first Europeans to Vasco da Gama's meeting with the establish a trading base in India. Soon, the Dutch, ruler of Calicut (called the Zamorin) the British and the French followed. Do and learn 21C: Critical thinking, Collaboration, Communication, MI (Visual-Spatial); IL: Epistemic values (0bservation skills); Discovery-based learning Find out more about the achievements ofexplorers such as Christopher Columbus, Magellan, Vasco da Gama and Bartolomeu Dias. Work in groups Ferdinand in the form of a flip book or a digital presentation, and present your findings Mark the routes taken by each of the explorers on separate maps. THE FORMATION OF EUROPEAN TRADING COMPANIES IN INDIA The rival European countries soon realised the enormous potential for wealth that lay in trade with India. Individual traders in each of these countries came together to form trading companies, which were supported by their respective governments. Thus, were born the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British and the French trading companies. They established trading stations in various places along the eastern and western coasts of India, and were soon battling each The Dutch capture of Cochin from the Portuguese, 1656 other for control over the lucrative trade with India. The Portuguese were unable to retain most of their possessions in India conquered Portugal in 1580. The Dutch decided to focus their attention after Spain on their possessions in the East Indies (present-day Indonesia). That left the as the main competitors in India. In Europe, Britain and France wereBritish and the French conflict in Europe fuelled their efforts to gain supremacy in India. already rivals. Their FROM TRADERS TO RULERS-THE BRITISH CONQUEST OF INDIA The English East India Company (EEIC) was founded in London, in the year 1600, by a group of traders with the specific purpose of trading with granted the Company the sole right to trade with India, in returnIndia. for Queen Elizabeth I a This meant that no other trader or trading company in England share of its profits. the East lndia Company for trade with India. But it did face could compete with companies established by other European countries which it competition from trading tried to eliminate as the establishment of a monopoly was one of the main aims of countries that followed the 10 policy of mercantilism. It allowed them to buy goods for cheap and sell them at exorbitant prices to make profits. In 1615, King James Iof England sent Sir Thomas Roe as ambassador to the court ofJahangir, seeking a trade agreement. His efforts laid the ground for a relationship between the English East India Company and the Mughals that lasted centuries. As British trade with India increased, so did their power. They set up several large trading posts (centres of trade) in India, some of which even had fortified settlements around them. The British soon became more ambitious. They were no longer content with being just traders; they now wanted to gain political control over India. They used different methods Sir Thomas Roe standing to do this. before Emperor Jahangir 21C: Creativity, Critical thinking, Communication, Do and learn Logical Reasoning, MI (Verbal-Linguistic) Imagine you are Sir Thomas Roe. You are standing before one of the wealthiest and most powerful monarchs in the world. You are trying to get him to sign a trade deal with your country. How would you sell the concept to him? What does your country have to offer in return? Discuss the imagined conversation you would have with the emperor and role play it with the help of a partner in class. STRATEGIES USED BY THE BRITISH The main strategies used by the British to establish their rule in India include warfare, the System of Subsidiary Alliance and annexations. Let us look at each of them in turn. Wars Wars were one of the main tools used by the British to IDIA establish their rule in India. The British first fought the French in order to become the main European power in India. They then targeted the Indian rulers and captured their kingdoms through direct warfare. The Conquest of the Carnatic (The Trade Wars) The conflict between the French and the British was focussed around the Carnatic region (the south-eastern part of the Indian Peninsula). At this time, the three states of this region Hyderabad, Carnatic and Mysore-were in constant conflict with each other. The French and the British took advantage of the rivalry between the Indian rulers. They allied themselves with rival groups and The Carnatic region in 1765 fought three wars between 1746 and 1763, which came to be the British called the Trade Wars or the Carnatic Wars. Over the course of these three wars, defeated the French comprehensively to become the main European power in India. Having gained a foothold in south India, the British turned their attention towards Bengal.  The Conquest of Bengal The province of Bengal included present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. It was one of the richest provinces of the subcontinent, known for its textles and handicrafts. The East India Company obtained from the Mughal emperor, the right to conduct trade in Bengal without having to pay any customs duties. This also gave them the right to issue dastaks or trade permits. The officials of the Company started misusing the dastaks to amass huge personal fortunes, causing great loss of revenue for the rulers of Bengal. They also started fortifying their factory at Fort William in Calcutta. Unsettled by these developments, Sirajuddaulah, the Nawab of Bengal, attacked and occupied Fort William in 1756. Robert Clive, the commander of the British troops in India, reached Calcutta from his recent victories in the Carnatic Robert Clive and retook Fort William in 1757. He then declared war on Sirajuddaulah. The Battle of Plassey (757) To make his position stronger, Clive conspired with Mir Jafar, the commander-in-chief of the Nawab's army. Clive promised to make Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal ifhe helped him defeat Sirajuddaulah. The armies of Sirajuddaulah and the British met at Plassey in 1757. Finding that Mir Jafar had turned traitor, Sirajuddaulah fled the battlefield. Clive won the battle and Mir Jafar was made Nawab of Bengal. However, when Mir Jafar tried to control the corrupt trading practices of the British, he was replaced by his son-in-law, Mir Qasim, in 1760. Mir Qasim granted Surrender of Sirajuddaulah to Clive the British the right to collect revenues from Burdwan, after the Battle of Plassey Midnapur and Chittagong districts of Bengal. The British were not just traders any more. They now controlled the Nawab of Bengal, and through him one of the largest and wealthiest provinces of India. The Battle of Plassey, thus, paved the way for British rule in India. The Battle of Buxar Mir Qasim soon grew tired of British control and set about consolidating his power position. and He entered into an alliance with the Nawab of Awadh, Shujauddaula,, and emperor Shah Alam ll, who was in Awadh as a refugee after the Third BattletheofMughal In 1764, their combined forces fought the British at the Battle of Panipat. the battle. Buxar. The British won Mir Qasim fled, while the others signed the Treaty of Allahabad with the British. Under the terms of this Treaty, the emperor granted the diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa (Odisha) to the British. This gave the British the right to collect revenue and administer justice in this region. System of Dual Governance Mir Jafar was brought back as Nawab of Bengal. Though the Nawab continued to be responsible for the administration of the province, the revenue from the land now went to the British. This was called the System of Dual Government. This system ruined Bengal, because the Nawab who had the administrative power to make improvements in Bengal, did not have the resources to do so, while the British, who had the resources, used it for their personal gain and not for the betterment of Bengal. This system The Mughal emperor Shah Alam hands over continued till 1772, when Warren Hastings the Treaty of Allahabad to Robert Clive became the governor of Bengal and abolished it. With the conquest of Bengal ended the first phase of British conquest of India. They were now virtual rulers of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. The nawabs of Awadh and Carnatic were their dependents. The Mughal Emperor was their pensioner. The British now turned their attention to Mysore. The Conquest of Mysore--the Anglo Mysore Wars (1766-1799) One of the stiffest oppositions to British power in south India came from the state of Mysore. In 1761, Hyder Ali, a soldier in the army of the kingdom of Mysore, seized power from its ruler, Chikka Krishna Raj. Under Hyder Ali and his son, Tipu Sultan, Mysore was transformed into a powerful kingdom. When the British started taking an interest in the Carnatic, they came face to face with the rising power of Hyder Ali. Four battles were fought between the British and the Kingdom ofMysore from 1766 to 1799. They came to be known as the Anglo-Mysore Wars. In the Third Anglo-Mysore War, the British forces Tipu Sultan during the under Lord Cornwallis, the governor-general at attack on Seringapatam that time, defeated Tipu Sultan, and two of his sons were taken hostage. This painting shows Cornwallis receiving Tipu's sons as hostages. 13 In 1799, after putting upa brave fight for several years, Tipu was defeated by the British at Seringapatam in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Tipu died fighting, The British annexed half his kingdom and gave the rest of Mysore back to the royal family, thereby ensuring their loyalty. The Anglo-Maratha Wars (1775-1818) The British were keen on INDIA/BHARAT IN 180s subjugating the Marathas. The Marathas, as we have already ubul KASWMIR learnt, had become one of the Pehaa AFGHANS most powerful forces in India by the middle of the 18th century. Under the dynamic leadership of Chhattrapati Shivaji, and Deth later the Peshwas, the Marathas RAJPUTS aip challenged the might of the SIND Alabahd enares Mughals. Their ambitions of MARATHAS 6ENGAL building an empire covering the Bhangoe Calcuta, whole of India, however, received Surale agpu Porguese Baele a setback when they were Ananapr Cotack 0AY defeated by the Afghan ruler Pswa HYDERABAD OF Ahmad Shah Abdali in the Third BENGAL Battle of Panipat in 1761. ARABIAN Gee apuese) At this time, four centres of MYsoAE Maratha power emerged under Mde different chiefs--the Gaekwads Maratha Territorv ANDAMAN Other Teritories who ruled from Baroda, the LCCADNE SUNOS TAAVANCORE Bhonsles who ruled from Nagpur, the Holkars who ruled from Indore, and the Scindias (Sindhias) INDIAN 0CEA N who ruled from Gwalior. The Marathas took on the rising power of the British in a series of encounters which came to be called the Anglo-Maratha Wars (1775-1818). The British took advantage of infighting among the Maratha chiefs and comprehensively defeated the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-1819). The post of the Peshwa was abolished, and large parts of the Maratha kingdom were annexed by the British. This marked the virtual end of Maratha rule in India. The Conquest of Punjab-the Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845-1849) Taking advantage of the declining power of the Mughal Empire, the Sikhs established a powerful empire in the 18th Peshwa Madhav Rao ll with Nana Fadnavis century under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh maintained a friendly relationship with the British. After his death in 1839, the Khalsa (a community of Sikh warriors) became powerful. The Khalsa distrusted the British. Between 1845 and 1846, the First Anglo-Sikh War was fought. The Sikhs were defeated and the land between the rivers Beas and Sutlej was annexed by the British. Lingering anger against the British led to the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-1849). After the war, Punjab became a dependent state of the British, and its ruler Duleep Singh was pensioned off. Maharaja Ranjit Singh The System of Subsidiary Alliances Lord Wellesley, the governor-general of India from 1798 to 1805, was an ambitious man. He wanted to make Britain the most important power in India. For this, apart from waging wars, another strategy he used was to enter into subsidiary alliances with the rulers of various states. " As per the System of Subsidiary Alliance, Indian rulers who entered into this arrangement with the British had to maintain British troops in their state, either by providing land or by paying for the maintenance of the troops.. This system allowed the British to maintain a large army at the expense of local rulers. It also gave them great control over the rulers. The Indian ruler could not fight or sign treaties with any other power without the approval of the British. " The rulers who joined this system, like the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Nawab of Awadh, got security but lost their independence. Others who joined the system included the Marathas after the Third Maratha War, the princely state of Travancore and most of the Rajput states. Annexations Annexation means to take control of a state or territory, usually with the use of force. The British annexed several states on the basis of two claims: " the Doctrine of Lapse " misrule of the state by the Indian rulers On the basis of the Doctrine of Lapse One of the most controversial policies adopted by the British to expand the empire in India was the Doctrine of Lapse. This policy was devised by Governor-General Dalhousie.. Traditionally in India, if aruler did not have a child, it was an accepted practice to adopt one, and recognise the child as the natural heir to the throne. " But, as per the provisions of the Doctrine of Lapse, the British refused to recognise such adoptions.. So, when the ruler ofa subsidiary or protected state died without a natural heir, the state was annexed by the British. " Many states, such as Satara (1848), Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1 849), Jhansi (1853) and Nagpur (1854), fell prey to this policy. 15 Under the pretext of misrule " Many states that joined the System of Subsidiary Alliance were annexed later by the British. This happened in stages. First, under the pretext of protecting the Indian ruler, the British took virtual control over the security of the state by stationing British troops in that state. To pay for the maintenance of British troops deployed in their states, the rulers started collecting more taxes, Burdened by increasing taxes, the people of the state became angry, and the law and order situation deteriorated. The British then annexed the state on grounds of misrule. The states Wajid Ali Shah of Surat, Carnatic and Awadh were annexed using this policy. The Nawab of Awadh, as we saw, had already joined the System of Subsidiary Alliance with the British and was a dependent of the British. Despite this, in 1856, the British deposed Wajid Ali Khan, the Nawab of Awadh, and annexed the state of Awadh under the pretext of internal misrule. This act of the British was universally condemned and became one of the main causes behind the Revolt of 1857. Thus, by 1856, with the annexation of Awadh, the whole of India was under British rule. 21C: Critical thinking, Creativity, Communication, MI(Visual Do and learn: Create avisual narative (comic strip) Spatial), EL, Discovery-based learning; ILL Art, Epistemic Create a visual narrative, using illustrations or photographs, to values (Research skills) trace the growth of the British in India from traders to rulers. Begin from the time the British formed the East India Company. Show the various battles that were fought and their outcome. Show how the policies of subsidiary alliance and annexation were used by the British to makece tthemselves the rulers of the subcontinent. REASONS FOR THESUCCESS OF THE BRITISH Absence of a strong central leadership in India-with the decline of the Mughals, there was no strong central leadership in India to check the activities of the British.. Lack of unity among the Indian states-the Indian states were unable to form a united front against the British. The British took advantage of their rivalries to play one ruler against the other while strengthening their own base in India. The compliance of the Indian rulers-many rulers chose to enter into a Subsidiary Alliance with the British rather than fight them. They wanted to protect their comfortable lifestyBes. They showed litle regard for the poor and carried out few reforms for the benefit of the people. Britain's superior army and navy-the British soldiers had better firearms than the Indian soldiers. They were also often better disciplined and better trained than their Indian counterparts. All these factors contributed to the success of the British in India. Within a span of around 100 years (1757-1857), the British in India transformed themselves from traders to the builders of the most powerful empire of the 19th century.