Dutch Power 1. The real founder of Dutch power in India was Jan Linschoten and the Dutch company is sometimes called Jan Van Company. Their Indian headquarters were @ Pulicat which they got from Raja of Chandragiri (successor of Vijaynagar empire). 2. Their 1st factory in India was @ Masaulipatnam (famous for Muslin cloth) and they got a farmaan from ruler of Golconda. 3. They were defeated by £ in Battle of Bedara (1756) and Battle of Chinsura which ended their power in India. Debate #1 Was £ Conquest Planned or an Accident? Colonial Interpretation 1. £ were busy in commercial activities. Circumstances evolved such that £ found themselves masters of India. Marshall has argued that until 1784, there was no conscious or consistent policy for the political conquest of India. The foundation and the growth of the empire was the initiative of the company officials i.e. a case of subordinate colonialism. The opportunity for such an initiative were provided by the political feud following the decline of the Mughals in India and thus the reasons for the establishment of £ empire in India need to be traced in India and not in £. 2. In the beginning the difficulties of communication with £ gave the company's officials in India virtually a free hand here to behave like their own masters. There was misinformation and lack of interest about Indian affairs in £. Thus the £ empire was a result of sub imperialism only and not any conscious policy from the metropole. 3. Their dominant objective and preoccupation was trade. True, they sought to gain more trade concessions from the native rulers and didn't hesitate in using bribery, diplomacy and sometimes military to achieve it, but their concern was not political dominance, only trade. It didn't concern itself with the political battles of the age. They fought and defeated Portuguese @ Battle of Swally Hole / Surat in 1612 and used the goodwill created to open a factory @ Surat. Then it got further privileges from Jahangir in exchange for protecting Mughal ships form Portuguese. They were never in favor of free trade anyways and used these concessions / monopolies to get an advantage over others. They opened up multiple factories for carrying out their trading operations. Their activities revolved around their settlements / factories which became the nuclei of flourishing trade activities. Nationalist Interpretation 1. This was planned. What £ did in India was not unique to India. They had done this worldwide. To go as traders and then to conquer it when the native powers decline. Phase I (1600-1749) Nature & Character of £ Strategy 1. But it is also not possible to decline the role of the metropole in this expansion. The connection between trade and the use of arms is only too obvious as a policy of the £. Also despite the apparent separation between the company and the state, the two were intimately linked in promoting England's diplomatic goals as the company owed its privileges (and the very existence) to a charter granted by the king. In the beginning, to secure wealth and independence for the crown, the Stuart kings followed an aggressive commercial policy in the Indian ocean and coast with the use of navy. There were also clear instructions on how to divide the booty between the government and the company in case of any joint campaign. 2. The island of Bombay was gifted by the crown to the company for a toke sum and it may be noted that the Portuguese gave the island of Bombay to the crown on the condition that it would be used to protect the Portuguese settlements in India. When the crown handed it over to the company, this obligation was transfered as well. 3. The company's directors in London time and again gave directives to India to follow an aggressive policy backed by military power as is evident from their letters. The company tried to do so although it is another matter that they were defeated by Aurangzeb but this can't hide the fact that it was a part of their policy. By 1750s, the company had gained decisive technological and military edge and converted its defeat into victory. If later the London authorities became averse to wars (1784 - 1813) then it was only because of the rising costs of wars and not any other reasons. 4. Then the relationship between the company and the crown was always mutually beneficial. The company used to pay gifts / tributes / loans to the crown time and again. Then again in 1698 the £ authorized the foundation of a rival company when it offered a loan of £2 mm to the crown as against the old company which was prepared to offer a loan of £700 K only. This proved that the trading rights with India were a marketable commodity which could be used by the crown. The 2 companies were merged in 1709 again and the crucial role of the company in furthering £ financial interests was recognized . In 1770s, the company agreed to pay the crown £400 K annually in return for confirming its territorial possessions in India. "Now the company was looked upon as a powerful engine in the hands of the government for the purposes of drawing from a distant country the largest revenue it is capable of yielding". The charters were now seen as providing "delegated sovereignty" while the monopoly of trade and territorial possessions were considered to be returns on the public funds invested. The regulating act of 1773 further subjected the company to crown control. Indian resources came to be seen as an important source to finance £ capitalist industrial revolution. It is thus clear that the crown wanted a share in the Indian exploits as much as the company officials. 5. Thus the search for revenue, quest for trading privileges and the imperatives of military exigencies all took the driving seat to accelerate the process of territorial conquest and erect in India the most magnificent empire that £ ever had. Evolution 1. First English factory was opened in Masaulipatnam in 1611, then in Surat in 1612. In 1639, they got Madras on lease from the local raja and the right to fortify it. This was called Fort St. George. 2. In 1633, factories were opened in Odisha (Hariharpur and Balasor) and in 1651, the factory @ Hooghly came up. In 1634, the company got the right to carry out sea trade in Bengal. 3. In 1668, the EEIC got Bombay from the £ government and immediately fortified it. It was easy to defend against Marathas, hence the centre of operations in the west shifted from Surat to Bombay. 4. Jahangir gave them right to setup trading posts anywhere in the Mughal empire. In 1651, the governor of Bengal gave them right to carry on duty free trade in Bengal in return of a lump sum payment of Rs. 3,000. These concessions were further extended by the governor of Bengal in 1698. In 1717, they got an imperial farmaan from Farukh Siyar to carry out duty free trade and other concessions. This brought them in increasing conflict with the Nawabs. 5. In 1698, the EEIC got the zamindari rights of 3 villages - Kalikata, Sutanati and Govindpur. These became Calcutta and Fort St. Williams. Fort Williams was built and fortified to counter the rebellion by a zamindar Shobha Singh. Phase II (1749-1813) Nature & Character of £ Strategy - Colonial Interpretation 1. A number of wars and battles were fought in this period by the £. Yet the element of planning and deliberate strategy was missing earlier on and evolved only slowly. Still the focus was not as much on extending direct territorial control over India as on preserving their commercial interests and political influence. For this, £ followed a strategy of using the struggles of native powers to their advantage and then to reduce them to subordinate status. 2. The £ were forced into the Carnatic wars as a result of the actions of the French. Once the French had emerged victorious in round 1, they had to fight them out even to maintain their foothold. 3. That BoP was largely due to the actions of an individual, Clive, can't be denied but at the same time, the conflicts before that which led to Siraj sacking Calcutta and subsequent £ action of recovering it shows that £ were determined to defy Indian political powers to protect their legitimate and illegitimate commercial interests. Still that the official policy was only to restore £ rule in Calcutta shows that the policy of political expansion had not been formulated yet. 4. It was after BoP that £ found themselves in possession of valuable influence in Bengal that they began to develop a policy to protect that. Though they didn't interfere in day-to-day affairs of Nawab, they retained the power to remove him or to influence major policy decisions. This led to further conflicts and BoB even though none of the warring parties wanted it. Evolution of £ strategy 1. In the post enlightenment intellectual environment, the £ also started defining themselves as a modern civilization vis a vis the orientals and this rationalized their imperial vision. The resulting £ patriotism reveled in the glory of the imperial empire. They began to look upon their imperialistic