KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA MADURAI NO.2
CLASS
VIII – SOCIAL SCIENCE
FROM TRADE TO TERRITORY
RATHEESH K K
PGT
ECONOMICS
The British originally came as a small
trading company and they became the masters of our country. This chapter reveals
how East India Company came into power, how they expanded the trade and the
territories of the British through various policies of annexation
Aurangzeb was the
last powerful Mughal ruler. After his death, the later rulers proved to be
inefficient and foreign powers got the opportunity to establish their rule in
India.
East
India Company comes East:
In 1600 royal charter granted to East India Company, granting
the sole right to trade with the East. East India Company bought goods at a
cheap price and sold them at a higher price in Europe. Cotton and silk produced
in India, Pepper, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon had a big market in Europe.
English East India
Company had to compete with other European companies such as French, Dutch, and
Portuguese. Trade was carried on with
arms and trading posts were protected through fortification. Because of the
powerful naval force, the British won over other European powers and became the
champion of the struggle of the monotony of trade.
East
India Company begins Trade in Bengal:
In 1651, the first English factory was set up on the banks
of river Hugli and in
the warehouse of the factory, goods for export were stored. Aurangzeb issued a Farman granting the company the
right to trade duty-free. The Company continuously tried to press for more concessions
and manipulate existing privileges.
How trade led to battles
The conflict
between the Company and the Nawabs of Bengal intensified. The Bengal 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. They also claimed that the Company was depriving
the Bengal government of huge amounts of revenue and undermining the authority
of the Nawabs. The conflicts led to confrontations and finally culminated in
the famous Battle of Plassey.
The
Battle of Plassey:
In 1756, Alivardi
Khan died and Sirajuddaulah became the Nawab of Bengal. Sirajuddaulah asked the
company to stop meddling in their political affairs, stop fortification, and
pay the revenues. In 1756, he established control over the company's forts at
Kassimbazar and Calcutta. On hearing the news, the Company officials in Madras
sent forces under the command of Robert Clive. Prolonged negotiations with the
Nawab failed. Finally, in 1757, Robert Clive led the company to victory.
The main cause of
the defeat of Sirajuddaulah was that the forces led by one of his commanders,
Mir Jafar did not fight at all. This was because Clive had managed to secure
his support by promising to make him the next Nawab after crushing
Sirajuddaulah.
The Battle of
Plassey became famous because it was the first major victory the Company won in
India.
The
Battle of Buxar:
After the defeat at Plassey, Sirajuddaulah was assassinated
and Mir Jafar was made the Nawab. He was just a puppet in the hands of
Britishers. But once he protested the company, he was replaced by Mir Qasim. In
1764, the battle of Buxar was fought between Britishers and Mir Qasim when Mir
Qasim denied the privileges given to Britishers. In this battle British become
victorious and they decided to control the territory by their own.
In 1765, the Mughal emperor appointed the company as the
Diwan of the provinces of Bengal and they also got the Diwani rights of
Bihar and Odisha. Thus the revenues from India could finance the company
expenses.
Company
Officials become ‘Nabobs’:
After the
Battle of Plassey, the Company officials forced the actual Nawabs of Bengal to
give land and vast sums of money as personal gifts. British officials such as
Clive, who managed to return to Britain with wealth lead flashy lives and
flaunted their riches. They were called nabobs. They were seen as upstarts and
were ridiculed in society. ‘Nabobs’-an anglicized version
of the Indian word Nawab as British were leading a lavish life similar to Nawabs.
Company
Rule Expands:
After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the company's rule
expanded rapidly. The company appointed residents in Indian states. The prompt
annexation of Indian states took place between 1757 to 1857.
This
was due to a few of the policies that were adopted by the British—
1.
Subsidiary Alliance
2.
Claim to Paramountcy
3.
Doctrine of Lapse
1.
Subsidiary Alliance
According to the terms of this alliance, Indian rulers were
not allowed to have their independent forces. They were to be protected by the
Company and had to pay for the subsidiary forces.
Under Richard Wellesley as the Governor-General (1798-1805),
the Nawabs of Awadh and Hyderabad were forced to give over parts of their
territory as they had failed to pay for the alliance
Tipu
Sultan-‘The Tiger of Mysore’:
Mysore, under the leadership of powerful rulers like Haidar Ali (ruled from 1761 to 1782) and his
famous son Tipu Sultan (ruled from 1782 to 1799) had grown in strength. Tipu
Sultan, in 1785, stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper, and cardamom to the company
and disallowed local merchants from trading with the company. He got help from
the French to modernize his army. The company fought four wars with Mysore (Anglo – Mysore Wars 1767-69, 1780-84,
1790-92 and 1799). Finally, in 1799, the Britishers won the battle of
Seringapatam against Mysore. Tipu Sultan was killed defending his capital
Seringapatam.
Anglo
– Maratha wars:
The Company
from the late eighteenth century was planning to destroy Maratha power. The
Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, the Marathas were defeated and their dream of
ruling from Delhi was shattered.
Marathas
were indulged in a series of wars. The first war ended in 1782 with the Treaty
of Salbai, there was no clear victor. The Second Anglo- Maratha War (1803-05) 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 of 1817-19 crushed Maratha power
2. Claim to
paramountcy:
Under Lord Hastings
as the Governor-General (1813-1823) a new policy of “Paramountcy” was
initiated. It was an aggressive policy of territorial expansion
It claimed that the company was paramount or supreme. Hence in order to protect its interests, it
was justified in annexing or threatening to annex any kingdom.
Under
it, Kitoor (1830), Sind (1843) and Punjab(1849) were taken over
3. The doctrine of Lapse:
Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General from 1848 to 1856
devised the doctrine of Lapse. It stated that a kingdom could be annexed if the
king died without a male heir.
Many kingdoms were annexed by using this policy—
Satara
(1848), Sambalpur(1850), Udaipur(1852), Nagpur(1853), Jhansi(1854) &
Awadh(1856).
Administration under British:
Warren Hastings
(Governor-General from 1773 to 1785) was the first Governor-General of India. He played a significant role in the expansion
of Company power. During his time,
British territories were broadly divided into Presidencies (administrative
units): Bengal, Madras, and Bombay. Each was ruled by a Governor.
From 1772 a new
system of justice was established. According to the new system, each district
needed to have two courts – a criminal court (faujdari Adalat) and a civil court
(Diwani Adalat). Under the Regulating Act of 1773, a new Supreme Court was
established. The Collector was the principal figure in an Indian district. His
job was to collect revenue and taxes and maintain law and order in his district
Thus the East India Company was transformed from a trading
company to a territorial colonial power.
By 1857 the Company came to exercise direct rule over about
63 percent of the territory and 78 percent of the population of the Indian
subcontinent. Combined with its indirect influence on the remaining territory
and population of the country, the East India Company had virtually the whole
of India under its control.
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