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The EIC received a charter from Queen Elizabeth I granting it the sole right to trade in the East.
With this charter
the Company could venture
across the oceans, looking
for lands where Mercantile trade could be used. Trading in India was beneficial because products like cotton, silk and spices were abundant , however, were demanded in England and were of great economic value. -
Base of the first English factory on the banks of the river Hugli.
This factory was the base from which the Company's traders operated. It also had a warehouse where exportable goods were stored and offices where Company officials sat. As trade expanded, EIC was able to persuade other merchants and traders to come and settle near the factory. -
First ever fortification by the EIC in India
The EIC began building a fort near the settlements. The Fort William, was built in the year 1696 by the East India Company under Sir John Goldsborough and took a several years to complete. -
The east india company recieving the Zamindari rights in 3 villages of Bengal.
The Company bribed the Mughal Rulers for giving them Zamindari rights over three resourceful villages; One of them was Kalikata, now Calcutta or Bengal. They also persuaded Aurangzeb into giving then a Farman for duty-free trade. -
The famous Battle of Plassey: Section 1
After Alivardi Khan's death in 1756, the EIC was wanting on having a puppet ruler who would easily grant them concessions. However, they realized that Siraj-ud-Daulah wasn't a puppet ruler, he was indeed very strong. The EIC went to his enemy to help him become the Nawab of Bengal. When Siraj-ud-Daulah came to know of these affairs, he was infuriated and told the company to stop interfering in political matters immediately. -
The famous Battle of Plassey: Section 2
After negotiations failed, Siraj-ud-Daulah marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at Kassimbazar, captured the officials,
locked the warehouse, disarmed all Englishmen, and blockaded English ships. Then he marched down to Calcutta to control the Company’s fort. -
The famous Battle of Plassey: Section 3
On hearing the news of Calcutta, Company officials in Madras sent forces under the command of Robert Clive, reinforced by naval fleets. Prolonged negotiations with the Nawab followed. Finally, in 1757, Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey. Bibliography: Book + Comic -
The famous Battle of Plassey: Section 4
One of the main reasons in the defeat of the Nawab was because of the forces led by Mir Jafar, one of Sirajuddaulah’s commanders, who never fought the battle. Clive had managed to secure his support by promising to make Mir Jafar the nawab after crushing Sirajuddaulah. -
How was the battle a turning point in history
The Battle of Plassey became famous because it was the first
major victory the Company won in India. Not only that, it was the beginning of corruption and of the colonial rule in India as the British believed that they are capable of ruling in India . -
Mir Jafar: The new nawab of Bengal and the death of a great ruler.
After the defeat of the Nawabs of Bengal at Plassey, Siraj-ud-Daulah was
assassinated on 2nd July, 1757 and Mir Jafar the commander was made the puppet nawab on the 3rd. -
The protest of Mir Jafar and the arrise of a new puppet ruler named: Mir Qasim
When Mir Jafar protested, the East India Company deposed him and recruited Mir Qasim in his place. When Mir Qasim complained, he in turn was defeated in a battle fought at Buxar (1764), and Mir Jafar was reinstated. -
The great Battle of Buxar
The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764, between the forces of the British East India Company, led by Hector Munro, and the armies of Mir Qasim, Nawab of Bengal till 1763,the Nawab of Awadh and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. The battle was fought at Buxar, a "small fortified town" within the territory of Bihar, located on the banks of the Ganga river about 130 kilometres west of Patna; it was another victory for the East India Company. -
Annexation of India
After the Battle of Buxar ,the EIC employed Indian 'Residents' in different states. These residents were commercial agents and helped to further the interests of the company. Occasionally, they also were intermediaries for the EIC to interfere in political affairs of Bengal and other states as well. -
The Subsidiary Alliance at Awadh.
the Company forced the states into a “subsidiary alliance”. This meant Indian rulers were not allowed to have their independent armed forces. They were to be protected by the Company, but were obliged 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. source: book -
The EIC become self employed nabobs: Section 1
The puppet Nawab had to pay Rs 5,00,000 every month. The
Company wanted more money to finance its wars, and to
meet the demands of trade and other expenses. It also
wanted more territories and revenue. By the time
Mir Jafar died in 1765 the idea of the company had
changed. Having failed to work with puppet nawabs, Robert Clive
declared: “We must become nawabs ourselves.” source: book -
The EIC become self employed nabobs: Section 2
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. Now revenues from India could finance Company expenses. These revenues could be used to purchase cotton and silk in India, maintain Company troops, and meet the cost of building the forts and offices at Calcutta. For a vast conclusion we can say that it was a huge benefit for the company. -
The unexpected suicide by Robert Clive
Robert Clive owned a fortune in India. He had come to Madras from England in 1743 at the age of 18. When in 1767 he left India,his fortune was worth £401,102. Interestingly, when he was appointed Governor of Bengal in 1764, he was asked to
remove corruption in Company's administration but he
was cross-examined in 1772 by the British
Parliament which was suspicious of his vast wealth.
He committed suicide in 1774 which was a problem for the EIC. -
Annexation of India by the marathas.
From the late eighteenth century the Company also
sought to destroy Maratha power. They were divided into many states under different sardars belonging to dynasties such as Sindhia, Gaikwad and Bhonsle. These chiefs were held together in a confederacy under a Peshwa who became its effective military and administrative head based in Pune. as studied in grade 7. -
Military Confrantation ( Annexation fo India) Section 2
the company saw a direct threat to its economic and political interests, it resorted to military confrontation. Mysore had grown stronger under leaders Haidar Ali and his son, Tipu Sultan. Mysore controlled the profitable trade of the Malabar coast where the Company purchased pepper and cardamom. In 1785 Tipu Sultan stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper and cardamom through the ports of his kingdom, and forbade merchants from trading with the EIC. source: book -
Military Confrantation ( Annexation of India) Section 3
They saw Haidar and Tipu
as ambitious and dangerous rulers who had
to be crushed. Four wars were fought
with Mysore (1767-69, 1780-84, 1790-92 and 1799).
Only the last Battle of Seringapatam – did the
Company ultimately win. Tipu Sultan was
killed defending Seringapatam, Mysore was
placed under the former ruling dynasty of the Wodeyars
and a subsidiary alliance was imposed on the state. His Tiger statue was also taken. -
Wars with the Marathas.
The Marathas were subdued in a series of wars.
1) this ended in 1782 with the Treaty of Salbai, there was no clear victory.
2) This 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.
3) War of 1817-19 crushed Maratha power. The Peshwa was removed and sent away to Bithur near Kanpur with a pension. The Company now had complete control over the territories south of the Vindhyas. -
Paramountcy
Under Lord Hastings (Governor from 1813 to 1823) a new policy of “paramountcy” was released.Now the Company claimed that its authority was supreme, hence its power was greater than that of the
Indian states. In order to protect its interests
it was justified in threatening to annex any Indian kingdom. -
Annextaion of India ( Punjab)
In late 1830s the EIC became worried about Russia. It thought that Russia might expand across Asia and enter India. The British now wanted to secure their control over the area. They fought a war with Afghanistan and established Company rule there. Sind was taken over in 1843. But the presence of Maharaja Ranjit Singh held back the Company. After his death in 1839, 2 wars were fought with the Sikhs.
In 1849, Punjab was annexed. -
The Doctrine of Lapse
The final annexations occurred under Lord Dalhousie who was the Governor-General from 1848 to 1856. He 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, automatically be considered as Company territory. Some example according to this doctrine were: Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1850), Udaipur (1852), Nagpur (1853) and Jhansi (1854). source : book -
Reformation of the Military.
In the early nineteenth century the British began
to develop a military culture. Soldiers were
increasingly subjected to European-style training, drill
and discipline that regulated their life more than
before. -
Annextation of Awadh
In 1856, the British took over Awadh. They claimed that they were 'obliged by duty' to do so to free the people from 'misgovernment'. The people were enraged due to the humiliation and in the way their Nawab was deposed and joined the great revolt also known as the 'Sepoy Mutiny' that broke out in 1857. -
New administeration in the country
Under the Regulating Act of 1773, a new Supreme Court was
established, while a court of appeal was also set up at kolkata. The principal figure in an Indian district was the Collector. As the title suggests, his main job was to collect revenue and taxes and maintain law and order in his district with the help of judges, police officers. His office ,the Collectorate – became the new centre of power that steadily was replaced previous holders of authority. -
Military reform
As warfare technology changed, the
requirements of the Company’s army declined.
This is because the British empire was fighting in
Burma, Afghanistan where soldiers were
armed with muskets and matchlocks. The soldiers of
the Company’s army had to keep pace with changing
military requirements and its regiments
became important. -
Military reform
Colonial rule in India brought in new ideas of administration and reform but its power rested on its military strength. A change occurred in the eighteenth century when Mughal successor states like Awadh and Benaras started recruiting peasants into their armies and trained them as professional soldiers. The East India Company adopted the same method when it began recruitment for its own army, which came to be known as the sepoy army in the battle of Saragirhi -
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