From Trade to Territory: The Company Establishes Power

• East India Company Comes East

  • 1600: Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I
  • Early trading post: Surfact (Surat), Masulipatnam, Hooghly
  • Mercantilism: Buying cheap, selling dear for profit
  • Conflicts with local rulers over trade privileges and dastaks (duty-free passes)

• East India Company Begins Trade in Bengal

  • First English factory on banks of river Hugli (1651)
  • Aurangzeb's Farman: Company got right to trade duty-free
  • Misuse of concessions led to heavy loss of revenue for Bengal

• From Trade to Battles

  • Battle of Plassey (1757)
    • Siraj-ud-daulah vs Robert Clive
    • Cause: Misuse of farman, fortification of Calcutta
    • Betrayal by Mir Jafar (commander-in-chief)
    • Result: Siraj-ud-daulah defeated, Mir Jafar made Nawab
  • Battle of Buxar (1764)
    • Combined forces (Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-daulah, Shah Alam II) vs British
    • Result: British victory, turning point in power expansion

• Company Rule Expands

  • Diwani Rights (1765): Granted by Mughal Emperor; Company became Chief Financial Administrator of Bengal
  • Resident System: Political/commercial agents appointed in native states
  • Subsidiary Alliance (Lord Wellesley)
    • Rulers kept no independent armed forces
    • Maintained British troops at own cost
    • Loss of territory for failure to pay (e.g., Awadh)

• The Tiger Comes to Rest (Direct Wars)

  • Mysore Wars (Vs Haider Ali & Tipu Sultan - Tiger of Mysore)
    • Four wars; British victory at Seringapatam (1799)
  • Anglo-Maratha Wars
    • Series of wars; Maratha power crushed by 1818
    • Peshwa removed, ultimate British supremacy
  • Doctrine of Lapse (Lord Dalhousie)
    • If Indian ruler died without male heir, kingdom annexed
    • Annexed territories: Satara, Sambalpur, Udaipur, Nagpur, Jhansi

• Setting Up a New Administration

  • Warren Hastings (Governor-General): Introduced major administrative reforms
  • Judicial System (1772): Two courts per district (Faujdari & Diwani Adalat)
  • The Instruments of Rule:
    • Collector: Main figure; collected revenue, maintained law & order
    • Sepoys: Indian soldiers in Company army (infantry and cavalry regiments)