⚓ European Arrival & Colonial India
How traders became rulers of India.
⚓ Traders Who Became Rulers
Europeans came to India initially for trade — particularly spices (pepper, cloves, cardamom) which were worth their weight in gold in Europe. They ended up staying for 200+ years.
Order of European arrival:
• Portuguese (1498) — Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut (Kerala). First Europeans by sea route.
• Dutch (1605) — Dutch East India Company.
• British (1608) — East India Company founded 1600. First factory at Surat 1613.
• French (1668) — Pondicherry. Ultimately lost to British.
British conquest — step by step:
• 1757 — Battle of Plassey — Robert Clive defeats Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal. British became dominant.
• 1764 — Battle of Buxar — Solidified British control. Got the right to collect revenue from Bengal, Bihar, Orissa (Diwani rights).
• 1799 — Tipu Sultan killed at Seringapatam — Last major Indian resistance in the South.
• 1849 — Punjab annexed after Sikh Wars — last major region.
• 1857 — First War of Independence / Sepoy Mutiny.
Multiple reasons — not just military:
• Indian kingdoms were divided and fought each other (British exploited this brilliantly)
• British had better organized army and discipline
• Doctrine of Lapse (Dalhousie) — if ruler died without male heir, British annexed the state
• Subsidiary Alliance (Wellesley) — Indian rulers accepted British troops, surrendered foreign policy → became dependent
• British had better communication and transport (telegraph, railways)
• Internal corruption and betrayal (e.g., Mir Jafar at Plassey)
• Robert Clive — First governor, after Plassey
• Warren Hastings — First Governor-General of Bengal. Impeached.
• Lord Cornwallis — Permanent Settlement (1793). Civil Services.
• Lord Wellesley — Subsidiary Alliance.
• Lord Dalhousie — Railways, telegraph, Doctrine of Lapse, Post Office
• Lord Canning — First Viceroy after 1857 (Crown Rule replaces Company)
European Powers in India
AnimationBritain won the race — by 1858 they controlled all of India. The key was the Battle of Plassey (1757).
Key Battles of British Conquest
InteractiveStates annexed under this doctrine:
• Satara (1848) — first state annexed
• Jhansi (1853) — Rani Lakshmibai's husband died without heir; she was refused the right to adopt
• Nagpur (1853)
• Awadh (1856) — under a different pretext ("misgovernance")
This policy caused deep resentment among Indian rulers and was a key cause of the 1857 revolt.
• Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal had a much larger army (50,000) vs Robert Clive's 3,000
• Mir Jafar (the Nawab's commander-in-chief) was secretly bribed by Clive — promised the Nawabship
• During the battle, Mir Jafar kept his large division idle — denying the Nawab most of his fighting force
• The Nawab's remaining forces fought briefly but were defeated
• Siraj-ud-Daulah fled and was later captured and killed by Mir Jafar's son
• Mir Jafar became the puppet Nawab; British collected millions in "compensation"
This betrayal gave the British control of Bengal — the richest province — which funded their future conquests.