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Class 8 Social Science Book: Our Pasts III (Part I)

Chapter 2- From Trade to Territory The Company Establishes Power

General Instructions

1. Question-answers are to be written in Social Science notebook. 2. YouTube link is for the explanation of the chapter. Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7IXBEUo8oM

Introduction By the second half of the eighteenth century, the British was emerging as a new power on the political horizon. The British originally came as a small trading company and were reluctant to acquire territories. In this chapter we will see how did they become the masters of a vast empire.

Explanation Mosques during

Aurangzeb was the last of the powerful Mughal rulers. He established control over a very large part of the territory that is now known as . After his death in1707, many Mughal and began asserting their authority. Bahadur Zafar’s wife

A massive rebellion against British rule broke out in 1857.

Bahadur Shah Zafar and his sons were arrested by Captain Hodson.

He was forced to leave the kingdom, and his sons were shot in cold blood.

Mindmap

The Company Establishes • Many small kingdoms emerged all over India after the death of Aurangazeb. Power

• In the second half of the , the British became India in the 18th Century increasingly powerful in many parts of India. Company Comes East Routes to India in the 18 th Century

In 1600, the acquired a charter from the ruler of . Queen , granting it the sole right to trade with the East. This meant that no other trading group in England could compete with the East India Company. The , however, could not prevent other European powers from entering the Eastern markets. By the time the first English ships sailed down the west coast of Africa, round the Cape of Good Hope, and crossed the Indian , the Portuguese had established their base in .

Mindmap

East India Company Comes East

In 1600, the East India Company acquired a charter from the ruler of England, Queen Elizabeth I. With more business came more conflicts with Indian rulers, and it became difficult for the European traders to keep their business separate from Indian politics.

East India Company Begins Trade in ❖ The first English was set up on the banks of the river Hugli in 1651. ❖ Company traders known as ‘factors’ operated from there. ❖ Factory had a warehouse where goods for export were stored and also had where Company officials sat. ❖ Company asked merchants and traders to settle near the factories. By 1696- Fort was built around the settlement. ❖ Aurangzeb issued a ‘farman’ granting the Company the right to trade duty free. ❖ The Company refused to pay duty- this led to loss in revenue.

Mindmap

East India Company Begins Trade in Bengal

The first English factory was set up It also convinced the Mughal emperor on the banks of the river Hugli in Aurangzeb to issue a farman, an official order, granting the Company the right to trade duty- Bengal 1651. free.

The employees of the Company also carried But they refused, which angered the of on their private trades, and so were expected Bengal, , and led to fierce to pay duty. battles.

From Trade To Battle

Murshid Quli Khan

Sirajuddaulah

❖ Through the early eighteenth century the conflict between the Company and the of Bengal intensified. ❖ The Nawab of Bengal, Murshid Quli Khan, Alivardi Khan and then Sirajuddaulah refused to grant the Company concessions, demanded large tributes for the Company’s right to trade, denied right to mint and denied it from extending its fortifications. The

❖ After Alivardi Khan died in 1756, Sirajuddaulah became the Nawab of Bengal. ❖ Company wanted a puppet ruler and his rivals as nawab. Sirajuddaulah asked the Company not to interfere in political dominion and pay revenue. ❖ He marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at Kassimbazar, captured the Company officials, locked the warehouse, disarmed all Englishmen and blockaded English ships. ❖ On hearing the news of the fall of Calcutta, Company officials sent forces under the command of Clive.

In 1757, led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey. Sirajuddaulah lost as the troops under never fought, as he was promised by Clive to become the nawab Battle was the first major victory of the Company in India. After the defeat at Plassey, Sirajuddaulah was assassinated and Mir Jafar was made the nawab. The Company wanted a role in administration for expansion of trade. Sometimes puppet nawabs were not giving all rights to maintain their dignity. When Mir Jafar protested, the Company deposed him and installed in his place. When Mir Qasim complained, he was defeated in a battle fought at and Mir Jafar was reinstalled. After the death of Mir Jafar in 1765, Clive ordered that they must become nawabs themselves. The Mughal emperor appointed the Company as the Diwan of the provinces of Bengal. Robert Clive amassed a fortune in India. He was cross-examined in 1772 by the British Parliament which was suspicious of his vast wealth.

Mind map -The Battle of Plassey

In 1757, Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey.

The main reason for the defeat of the Nawab was that the forces led by Mir Jafar, one of his commanders, never fought the battle.

The Battle of Plassey became famous because it was the first major victory the Company won in India.

Company Rule Expands--- How did the Company's expansion policy work? The Company was very clear about its policy. It rarely launched a direct military attack on an unknown territory. It used a variety of political, economic and diplomatic methods to extend its influence before annexing an Indian kingdom. After the , the Company appointed Residents in Indian states. They were political or commercial agents and their job was to serve and further the interests of the Company. The Residents, the Company officials began interfering in the internal affairs of the Indian states. They tried to decide who was to be the successor to the throne and who was to be appointed in administrative posts. So they started with a policy of . According to the terms of this alliance, Indian rulers were not allowed to have their independent armed forces. They were to be protected by the Company, but had to pay for the ‘subsidiary forces’. If the Indian rulers failed to make the payment, then part of their territory was taken away as penalty.

Mindmap

After the Battle of Buxar, the Company appointed Resident Officers in Indian states.

They were political or commercial agents, and their job was to serve and further the interests of the Company.

Indian rulers were not allowed to have their independent armed forces, but were to be protected by the Company.

The local rulers also had to pay for the subsidiary forces that the Company promised to maintain for the purpose of their "protection".

If the Indian rulers failed to make the payment, then part of their territory was taken away.

Residencies of British India

Richard Wellesley

When Richard Wellesley was -General (1798-1805), the Nawab of was forced to give half of his territory to the Company in1801 when he failed to pay for the ‘subsidiary forces’. was also forced to cede territories on similar grounds.

However, this was not accepted by some of the brave rulers like .

Tipu Sultan –The Tiger of Mysore

Let us understand why was he known as The Tiger of Mysore. The legend of Tipu

Once Tipu Sultan went hunting in the forest with a French friend . Suddenly came face to face with a tiger. His gun did not work and his dagger fell off. He battled with the tiger unarmed until he managed to pick up the dagger. Finally, he killed the tiger. He had the image of tiger on his flag. Mysore

Mysore had grown in strength under the powerful rulers like Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. Mysore controlled the profitable trade of the . In 1785 Tipu Sultan stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper and cardamom through the ports of his kingdom. Tipu Sultan established good relationship with the French in India and modernised his army with their help. Four wars were fought with Mysore. It was only in the last battle that Tipu Sultan was killed defending his capital . Mysore was placed under the former ruling dynasty of the Wodeyars and a subsidiary alliance was imposed on the state.

Tipu’s Toy Tiger Victoria and Albert Museum

Tipu Sultan possessed a big mechanical toy. When its handle was turned the toy tiger roared and the European soldier shrieked and that was the kind of bravery he used to depict in his toys.

This toy is now preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in .

Mindmap - Tipu Sultan – The “Tiger of Mysore”

Mysore had become powerful under rulers like Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan’

Tipu Sultan, in 1785, stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper, and cardamom through the ports of his kingdom, and disallowed local merchants from trading with the Company

This angered the company very much.

In the Battle of Seringapatam, the company won and Tipu Sultan was killed War with the Marathas

The Company also sought to curb and eventually destroy power.

➢ The Marathas were subdued in a series of wars. ➢ In the first war that ended in 1782 with the treaty of Salbai, there was no clear victor. ➢ The Second Anglo-Maratha War was fought on different fronts.The British gained Orissa and the territories north of the Yamuna river including and . ➢ Finally, in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, Marathas were totally crushed. ➢ The Company had complete control over the territories south of the Vindhyas.

The Claim to Paramountcy

➢ From the early nineteenth century the Company pursued an aggressive policy of territorial expansion. Under Lord Hastings, a new policy of ‘paramountcy’ was initiated.

➢ The Company claimed that its authority was paramount or supreme. ➢ However, there were some exceptions. Kitoor area of Karnataka was under Rani Channamma. ➢ She was a very brave leader and led an anti-British resistance movement. She was arrested in 1824 and died in prison in the year 1829. ➢ Rayanna, a poor chowkidar of Sangoli in Kitoor carried on the resistance. ➢ He destroyed many British camps and records. He was caught and hanged by the British in 1830.

➢ In the late the East India Company became worried about . ➢ It thought that Russia might expand across Asia and enter India from the north-west. ➢ They fought a prolonged war with and established indirect Company rule over there. ➢ Sind was taken over in1843. ➢ Next was . ➢ The presence of Maharaja held back the Company. ➢ After his death in 1839, two prolonged wars were fought and Punjab was annexed.

Mindmap Wars With the Marathas

*The company also subdued the Marathas in a series of wars. *Mahadji Sindia and Nana Phadnis were two famous Maratha soldiers and statesmen of the late 18th century. *When the First Anglo-Maratha War ended in 1782 with the Treaty of Salbai, there was no clear victor. * The Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817 to 1819 finally crushed Maratha power.

The Claim to Paramountcy

Under Lord Hastings, Governor General from 1813 to 1823, a new policy of “paramountcy” was initiated, which simply meant that the authority and position of the Company was supreme and it had the right to take away anything it wanted to from any Indian ruler.

Sind was taken over in 1843, and Punjab was next. The presence of Maharaja Ranjit Singh there held back the Company, but after his death in 1839, two prolonged wars were fought and Punjab was annexed in 1849

The

➢ Lord Dalhousie 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’. ➢ It would become the part of Company territory. ➢ By applying this doctrine they annexed Satara, Sambalpur, Udaipur, and Jhasi. ➢ In 1856, the Company took over Awadh.The Nawab was deposed, the people of Awadh joined the great revolt that broke out in1857.

Setting up a New Administration

Warren Hastings

➢ He played a significant role in the expansion of Company power in Bengal, Bombay and . ➢ British territories were broadly divided into three administrative units called Presidencies. ➢ The supreme head of the administration was the Governor-General. , the first Governor-General introduced several administrative reforms, notably in the sphere of justice. ➢ From 1772 a new system of justice was established. Each district was to have two courts- a criminal court and a civil court. ➢ The criminal courts were under a qazi and a mufti but under the supervision of the collectors. ➢ Now different people from different religions came up with different laws. ➢ Brahaman pandits gave different interpretations of local laws based on different schools of dharamashastra. ➢ To bring about uniformity in 1775 eleven pandits were asked to compile a digest of Hindu laws. N.B. Halhed translated this into English. ➢ By 1778 a code of Muslim laws was also compiled for the benefit of European judges. ➢ Under the Regulating Act of 1773, a new Supreme Court was established and a court of appeal-the Sadar Nizamat Adalat was set up at Calcutta. The Company Army

➢ The Mughal army was mainly composed of . They were given training in archery and the use of sword. ➢ The cavalry dominated the army and the Mughal state did not feel the need to have a large professionally trained . ➢ The rural areas had a large number of armed peasants and the local zamindars often supplied with soldiers. ➢ As warfare technology changed from the , the cavalry requirements of the Company’s army declined. ➢ In Burma, Afghanistan and Egypt the soldiers were armed with muskets and matchlocks. ➢ In the early nineteenth century the British began to develop uniform military culture. ➢ Soldiers were subjected to European-style training, drill and discipline that regulated their life.

Mindmap

The Collector was the Warren Hastings, Governor- principal figure, and his General of India -introduced Setting Up a New main job was to collect several administrative Administration revenue and taxes and to reforms maintain law and order in his district.

Under the Regulating Act of 1773, a new Supreme Court British territories were was established, and a court broadly divided into for appeals – the Sadar administrative units called Nizamat Adalat – was also Presidencies set up at Calcutta

Company's Army

By the end of the The Company's , the In the early 1800s, soldiers, many of British East India the British began whom were Company in India to develop a Indians, were was transformed uniform military increasingly from a trading culture for its subjected to company to a forces in India. European-style territorial colonial training power and ruler.

The arrival of new steam technology aided in transforming a trading company to a territorial colonial power. Steamships reduced the journey time to three weeks enabling more Britishers and their families to come to India.

The East India Company had virtually the whole of India under its control. Question-Answers

Q1. What attracted European trading companies to India? Ans. 1) The fine qualities of and produced in India had a big market in Europe. 2) like pepper, , cardamom and attracted these European trading companies. Q2. Why was the Battle of Plassey fought? Ans. 1) After the death of Alivardi Khan in 1756, Sirajuddaulah became the nawab of Bengal. 2) He asked the Company to stop meddling in the political affairs of his domain, stop fortification and pay the revenues. 3) After negotiations failed, the nawab marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at Kassimbazar. Then he marched to Calcutta to establish control over the Company’s fort there. 4) Finally in 1757, Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey in which Sirajuddaulah was defeated. 5) The Battle of Plassey became famous because it was the first major victory that the Company won in India. Q3. Why was the Battle of Buxar fought?

Ans. 1) After the defeat at Plassey, Sirajuddaulah was assassinated and Mir Jafar was made the nawab of Bengal. 2) Soon the Company discovered that the puppet nawabs were not always as helpful as the Company wanted them to be. 3) After all the nawabs had to maintain their dignity and sovereignty, if they wanted respect from their subjects. 4) When Mir Jafar protested, the Company deposed him and installed Mir Qasim in his place. 5) When Mir Qasim complained, he was defeated in a battle fought at Buxar in 1764, driven out of Bengal and Mir Jafar was re-installed.

Q4. What led to Anglo-Mysore wars? Ans 1) Mysore grew in strength under its ruler Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. 2) Mysore controlled profitable trade of the Malabar coast where the Company 3) Tipu Sultan stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper and cardamom through the ports of his kingdom and disallowed local merchants from trading with the Company. 4) He grew closer to the French in India and modernised his army with their help. 5) The British saw Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan as ambitious, arrogant and dangerous who had to be controlled and crushed.

Q5. What do you understand by ‘paramountcy’?

Ans. 1) An aggressive policy of territorial expansion followed by Lord Hastings. 2) The Company claimed that its authority was paramount or supreme and its power greater than that of Indian states. 3) Justified annexing and threatening to annex any Indian kingdom to protect its interests. Q6. In what way the administration of the Company was different than that of Indian states? Ans. 1) General Administration

• After the Company acquired power in Bengal, Bombay and Madras the British territories were broadly divided into administrative units called Presidencies. • Each was ruled by Governor, the supreme head of the administration was the Governor-General. • Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General introduced several administrative reforms in the sphere of justice. 2) Judicial Administration

• Each district was to have two courts – Criminal court (faujdari adalat) and Civil court (diwani adalat). • Maulvis and Hindu pandits interpreted Indian laws for the European district collector who presided over Civil courts. • The criminal court was still under a qazi and a mufti but under the supervision of collector.