UNIT 8 THE BRITISH.IW EASTERN INDIA UP TO BUXAR

Structure Objectives Introduction Bengal Before the British Conquest The British Conquest of Bengal. 1757-65 8.3.1 Siraj-uddaula and the British 8.3.2 Mir Jafar and the British 8.3.3 Mir Kasim and the British 8.3.4 After Mir Kasim Explanation for the Political Transformation Significance of British Success Let Us Sum Up Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises.

8.0 OBJECTIVES

The history of British domination in India started with the subjugation of Bengal to the British imperialist system. After reading this Unit you will be able to :

understand the baclcground of the British conquest of Bengal, - .learn about the transformation of power from the Bengal Nawabs to the British authority, and explain the factors that led to this transformation of power and its significance.

8.1 INTRODUCTION

This Unit introduces you to the gradual transfer of power from the Nawabs to the British in Bengal during the period 1757 to 1765. You have got some idea about the subjugation of Bengal to the British imperial system in Unit 2 of Block 1. In this Unit an attempt has been made to show that it was mainly the commercial rivalry between the British and the Bengal Nawabs which largely decided the course of events in the 1750s. The personal failure of any Yawab was not an important decisive factor for this development, as some historians have tried to establish. However, the degeneration in the administration that started in the 18th century had PO doubt contributed to the final collapse of the independent Bengal polity. Here we p;tve first discussed the background of the British conquest of Bengal and the political developments from 1757 to 1765. Then we focus on the explanation for this transformation and the significance of the battle of Plassey and Buxar which were Landmarks in the process of British imperialist expansion in India.

B.2 BENCAL BEFORE THE BRITISH CONQUEST

Vou have read in Block 2 that the changes in European economy i,e. from feudalism Fo capitalism and then from mercantile capitalism.to industrial capitalism led to fierce competition among various European powers to establish colonial empire. In this process of imperialist expansion Bengal became since the 17th century, the bunting ground of the Dutch, the French and the English companies. It was mainly the rich resources and good prospects of trade in Bengal which attracted the various foreign companies. Referring to Bengal Francois Bernier, a traveller who visited India during Aurangzeb's reign wrote : British Conquet dnd Comolidatkn "The rich exuberance of the country ... has given rise to a proverb in common use among the Portuguese, English and Dutch that the kingdom of Bengal has a hundred gates open for entrance, but not one for departure". In the 18th century exports from Bengal to Europe consisted of raw products, such as, saltpetre, rice, indigo, pepper, sugar, etc. and silk, cotton textiles, handicrafts etc. Bengal goods comprised nearly 60 per cent of British imports from Asia in the early 1 18th century. Commercial potentiality of Bengal was naturally the chief cause of the interest of the English in this province. Regular contact of the English with Bengal started in the 1630s. First English bompany in the east was set up at Balasore in Orissa in 1633, then at Hugli, Psimbazar, Patna and Dacca. By 1690s the acqdsition of the Zamindari rights of the three villages of Sutnati, Calcutta and Govindpur and the foundation of blcutta by the Company, completed this process of English commercial settlement in Bengal. The annual investment of the Company in Bengal turned to £ 150,000 in 1680. ince the 17th century the English East India Company was allowed to trade freely in kngal, in return the Company had to pay annually Rs.3,000 (£350) to the kughal emperor. When the Company paid the Mughar.%emperorannually (£350) fo free trade in Bengal that time Company's exports from Bengal were worth more than E 50,000 a year. The provincial governors were not in favour of such a privilege for the Company because this meant a heavy loss to their exchequer. So there was always pressure from the provincial administration to compel the English Company to pay more for , jts trade in the province. The English on their p;-t tried to establish its complete costrol over the trade through various means. Murshid Kuli Khan, who established his independent authority over Bengal, was not in favour of the special privileges enjoyed by the Company*becaustof the loss that resulted to the treasury. S6 the tussle between theEnglish commercial interest and the local government in Bengal was already marked before the mid 18th century.

I While the rising commercial interest of the English was becoming a serious threat for the Bengal polity, the provincial administration in Bengal itself had\certain weaknesses. You have read in Unit 2 of Block I how an independent political . authority emerged in Bengal, following the disintegration of the hugha1 empire.

The stability of this regional power was dependent on certain conditions : Nawab's rule depended on the support ,of powerful faction of the local aristocracy. He needed the support of Hindu Mutaseddis who were in control of the financial administration. The support of the big Zamindars was also very essential because they not only supplied revenues to the treasuary but also helped the Nawabs with their own militia in times of need and by maintaining law and order in their areas. The co-operation and support of the bankers and business houses, particularly the house of the Jagat Seths, the largest financial house in Bengal was also needed. All these different groups had different interests and expectations from the Nawab. The stability of Nawab's regime depended on maintaining proper balance among these various interest groups. The common people had na place in this power equation between the ruler and the interest groups. They were the victims of the swing demands of the Zamindars but there was no protection from the ~dministration.There was no initiative on the part of the rulers to involve the jpeople in the anti-im~erialiststruggle.

.18.3 THE BRITISH CONQUEST OF BENGAL, 1757-65 The history of Bengal from 1757 to 1765 is the history of gradual transfer of power . frbm the Nawabs to the ~ritis'h.Durine this short mriod of eieht vears three Nawabs, Siraj-ud-daula, Mar Jafar and Mir Kasim ruled over Bengal. But they The Brltbb la Emtern lndlr failed to uphold the sovereignty of the Nawab and ultimately the rein qf control up to Buxu passed into the hands of the Britah. We will now discuss the develobents in pengal from 1757 to 1765 and see how the British ultimately got control over Bengal.

Siraj-ud-daula succeeded Alivardi Khan as Nawab of Rengal in 1756. The succession d Siraj was opposed by his aunt Ghasiti Begurn and his cousin Shaukat Jang who was the governor of Purnea. There was a dominant group in the Nawab's court comprising Jagat Seth, Umichand, Raj Ballabh, Rai Durlabh, Mir Jafar and others who were also opposed to Siraj. Besides this internal dissension within the Nawab's court, another serious threat to Nawab's position was the growing commercial activity of the English Company. The conflict between the Nawab and the English

I Company over trade privileges was nothing new. But during Siraj-uddaula's reign 1 certain other factors further strained the relations between the two. They are:

@ The fortification around Calcutta by the English Company without the permission of the Nawab.

@ The misuse of the Company's trade privilege by its officials for their pri~atetrade. * ?he English Company at Calcutta had given shelter to Krishna Das, son of Raj Ballabh, who bad fled with immense treasures against the Nawab's will.

Siraj-uddaula was rurhappy with the Company for these reasons. The Company on its part becarrie wor,ried about Siraj because the Company officials suspected that Siraj would cut down the privilege of the C:ompany in alliance with the French in Bengal. Siraj-uddaula's attack on the English fort at Calcutta precipitated an open

The arrival of a strong English force under the command of Robert Clive at Calcutta from Madras strengthened the British position in Bengal. The secret alliance of the Company with the conspirators of the Nawab's camp further strengthened the position of the British. So English victory in the battle field of Plassey, (June, 1757) was decided before the battlq was fought. It was not the superiority oi the military power but the conspiracy of the Nawab's officials that helped the English in winning the battle. It is very difficult to ascertain why Shiraj failed to take appropriate action. He could not save himself ultimately and was murdered by the order of hllir Jafar's son Miran. Brithh Conquat mnd Consolidatkm 83.2 Mir Jafar and the British Mir Jafar was promised the Nawabship by Clive before the battle of Plassey This was his reward for his support to the British against Siraj. fie British now became the kingmakers of Bengal. Mir Jafar was made to pay a heavy price to his English friends for their favour. But the treasury of Murshidabad did not have enough resources to satisfy the demands of Clive and his fellow countrymen. Mir Jafar paid out about Rs. 1,750,000 in Dresents and compensation to the British. Immediately after his accession Mir Jafar faced some serious internal problems. They were : Some of the Zamindals like Raja Ram Sinha of Midnapore, Hizir Ali Khan of Purnea refused to accept him as their ruler. Mir Jafar's soldiers who were not getting salary regularly were in a rebellious mood. He had doubts about the loyalty of some of his officials, specially of Rai Durlabh. He believed that Rai Durlabh had instigated the rebellion of Zamindar ' against him. But Rai Durlabh was under the shelter of Clive so he cduld not 1 touch him. a There was an attempt by the Mughal Emperor's son who later on became Shah Alam to capture the throne of Bengal. e The financial position of the Nawab was also weak, mainly because of the demands of the Company and mismanagement of resources. All these made Mir Jafar more dependent on the English Company. But the Company was unhappy with the Nawab for some reasons.

W The English Company was under the impression that Mir Jafar, in collaboratior with the Dutch company was trying to curb the growing influence of the Englisk in Bengal. 4 Mir Jafar also failed to respond to the ever increasing demands of the English. Meanwhile the death of Miran, son of Mir Jafar, again created a conflict over the question of succession. The fight was between Miran's son and Mir Kasim, the son in-law of Mir Jafar. Vansittart who came as Governor of Calcutta took the side of Mir Kasim. Mir Kasim in a secret agreement with Vansittart agreed to pay the necessary funds to the Company if they support his claim to the Nawabship of %ngai. Mir Jafar had already lost the confidence of the English. The rebellion of Mir Jafar's army for their due salary made it easier for the British to force Mir Jafar to step down.

8.3.3 Mir Kasim and the British Mir Kasim's accession to the throne of Bengal followed the same way, the way through which Mir Jafar had come to power. Like his predecessor, Mir Kasim alsc. I had to pay large amounts of money to the English. Besides this he had given three districts of Burdwan, Midnapore and Chittagong to the English Company. After h Bssumption of power the two most important things that Mir Kasim did were:

I shifting the capital from Murshidabad to Monghyr in Bihar in order to keep a ufe dutana from the Company at Cali?utta, aad re-organuing the bureaucracy by the men of his own choice and remodelling thc army to enhance its skill and efficiency. . The fuat few months of Mir Kasim's reign went very well. But grad,ually the lrtlationship with the British became embittered. Reasons for this were: r Ram Narayan, the Deputy governor of Bihar, was not responding to the repeat{ requests by Nawab to submit his accounts. But Ram Narayan was supported by the English officials of Patna who never concealed their anti-nawab feelings. The misuse of the Company's Dustak or trade permit by Company bflicials for their vrtvate trade generated tension between the British and the Nawab. The Company re~antawwe not paying any duty on their goods. Whenap local merchants had to pay duty. While the Nawab lost tax muebecause of the nonpayment of duty by the Company officials the local merchants faced umquq comktition with the Company merchants. Moreover, the Campany officiiols were completely ignoring the offidah of the Nawab. They were forciqg the local people to sell their goods at low prices. Mir Kasim complained against these practices to Oovernor Vansittart, but this had no effect. i

As it happened in the c&c of Mu Jafar, in the case of Mu Kaeim also when the British found that Mu Kasim fiad failed to fulfii their expectation they started searching for a suitable replacement of Mir Kasim. But Mu Kasim was not ready to surrender so easily, unlike bi8 predecessor. He tried to put up a unitad resistance against the British with the help OF the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam and Shuja-ud- daub of Awadh. However, Mir Kasim ultimately failed to protect his throne and the battle of Buxar 1 (1764) completed the victory and the domination of the British in eastern India. I 83.4, After Mir Kasim I Mir Jafar was brought back to the throne of Bengal. He agreed to hand over three I districts-Midnapore, Burdwan and Chittagong to the English for the maintenance . iof their army and to permit duty free trade in Bngal (except a duty of 2% on at). / . but Mir Jafar was in bad health and he died shortly afterethis. His minor son fiajim-ud-daula was appointed Nawab. The real administration was carried on by a haib-~ubadar,.who would be appointed or dismissed by the English. 1 In the summer of 1765 Clive came back as the Governor of Bengal. Clive now engaged himself in completing his unfinished task, i.e. to make the British the Bupreme political authority in Bengal. He approached the Mughal emperor Shah Alam who was practically a ptisoner of Shuja-uddaula, the Nawab of Awadh, since - 1761 for an agreement. The emperor responded positively to Clive's proposal. An agreement was signed between Shah Alam and Clive on August 1765. By this agreement Shah Alam was given Allahabad and the adjoining territories, while the emperor granted by ajirmmr, the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orisea to the East India Company. The right of Diwani gave the British complete control over the Bengal revenues or financial administration. The responsibility for defence, law and order and the administration of justice remained in the hands of the Nawiibs. But the Nawabs had virtually lost their plilitary power after the battle of Buxar. So after the grant of Diwani the Nawabs were in reality red xed to a cipher. lie above discussion shows how the political events from 1757 to 65 gradually led o the transfer of power from the Bengal Nawabs to the British East India mpany. In the following section we will try to understand the factors that led to this cha Check Your Progress I I) What was the nature of Rengal polity? Write your answer in 100 words.

2) Why did the relationship become strained between the British and the Rengal Nawabs? Write your answer in 100 words.

3) Read the following statements and marR.fight (J ) or wrong (X). i) Thc Rengal Nawabs did not obje~,L., .jle free trade of the English - \ Company in neigal. ii) Thc growing tmde of 'the Company in Bt-rigdi augmented the financial resources of the Bengal rulsrs. iii) Slraj-ud-daula objected to the mlsusr of trade pllr?leges In Bengal by the Company of'Clcials. iv) hlir Jafar's army rebelled against him bucau5e tle fillled to pay their salar) V) Tl~eBritish became crltlcal of Mir Kasin~becau5e-kLe u:~nted to establish his independent authority. vi) The rlght of Lh~an~gave the British complete control uvcr LIL c~lluncial and administrative affairs of Bengal,

8.4 EXPLANATION.FOR THE .POLITICAL ...; TRANSFORMATI'ON.1. --,'. - --I -. 8 .. iwabove narrative of the $olit*al eventstfrom 1757 to 1.765 shows, hew the ~nih . gadually subdued the Nawab's authority'ahd established their &mplete pontrol ovel kengal. Wpat happened in Bengal in this peiiod has beeh termed by many historians as a "political revolution". On the question, What were the causes of this revolution, . historians opinions are divided.. The attempt by some historians to fd the cause of the revolution in the persor~a!&~!qes of the Nawabs is not tenable. The arrogance of Siraj or &he treachery of, Mi4 dafd; 0t.k idividgl li6itations of Mir Kasirn.-.. by itself cannot account for the transformation of Bengal's power structure. The issues Thc britbh in Latun 1-8 involved in the conflict between the British and the Nawabs were some thing more I) k) I)ulll significant.

.h is argued by some historians that private interests of the East lndia Company officials provokecl the conflicts with the Nawabs. Expectations of more trade privileges and rewards and attempt to make their own fortunes made the individual Englishmen defy the authority of the Nawabs. The misuse of trading privilege by the Company officials for their private trade became the bone of contention between the JJawabs and the East lndia Company. The firman or the imperial grant given by the Mughal emperor Farukshiyar in 1717 gave duty free concession only to the Company's imports and exports and not to the Company servants' private trade. The

' misuse of this trade privilege by the Company officials for private trade meant a heavy loss to the Nawabs treasury. Both Siraj-uddaula and Mir Kasim complained ! to tl;e Company against this misuse of trade privilege, but there was no change in the situation. .If the private interest of the individual Englishmen was responsible for the conflict I with the Nawabs, the Company was also equally responsible for it. The Company was pressurising the Nawabs for greater trading privileges. The British wanted to establish their monopoly control over Bengal trade by driving out the French and the Dutch companies from Bengal. The English Company began to increase its military strength and fortified Calcutta against the wish of the Nawab. This was a direct challenge to the authority of the Nawab. After Plassey, company's pressure for larger subsidies increased and it demanded some Zamindaris from the Nawab to meet the expenses of the Company's troops. More alarming was the Company's involvement in the court polities of Nawab and interference in Nawab's choice of ,high officials. Thus, the growing authority of the Company and its dabbling in local politids seriously challenged the independent position of the Nawabs.

It is not difficult to see that the Company and its officials played a significant role 'i in shaping the events in Bengal betwecn 175745. However, no less significant was the role of some of the local merchants, officials and Zamindars in the establishment of the British political supremacy in Bengal. The house of the Jagat Seths, the largest banking house in Bengal, and the wealthy merchants like Umichand were not happy with the accession of Siraj-ud-daula. The Seths were the custodian of the Nawab's treasury and they had a significant control over Nawab's administration. Besides the Seths and other merchants, there was landed and military aristocracy who were a dominant group in the Nawab's court. This group became apprehensive of losing their special privileges which they were enjoying from the earlier Nawabs. Siraj-ud-daula's reorganisation of civilian and military administration by replacing old office holders gave ground for their apprehension. The Nawab's patronage to a new elite group represented by Mohanlal, Mir Madan and Khawaja Abdul Hadi Khah alienated the old officials from the Nawab. 'This alienation and the expectation df a better bargain by replacing ~iraj-uddaulawith their own man brought the ruling clique into a conspiracy against Siraj-ud-daula. The British who were in search of an ally for their own ends, found allies in this group. The British wanted to gain more trade privileges and to extract more ' resources from Bengal, while their Indian collaborators had the desire to establish their own political power in Bengal. Their common objective was to replace the present Nawab by a man of their common choice. Hence the consipiracy made the task easier for the British to establish their control over the Bengal Nawab. . To sum up. the economic interests of the Company and its officials and the growth . of factions in the court at M urshidabad and the conflict of intereslts among different groups in the court were some of the factors which brought about the political " '.' . . transformation of Bengal between 1757 to 1765.

8.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF BRITISH SUCCESS

We have seen in the earlier sections that how decisively the British established their political supremacy in Bengal by winning two battles, one at Plassey (1757) and the , I 'other at Buxar (1764). Apart from the overall significance of the British victory the two battles liad certain specific significance of their own.

The success of the British in the battle of Plassey had a significant impact in the history of Bengal. The victory of the British, whether by treachery or any means, undermined the position of the Nawab in Bengal. Apparently there was not much change in the government and the Nawab still remained the supreme authority. But in practice the Nawab became dependent on the Company's authority and the Company began to interfere in the appointment of Nawab's officials. lnternal rivalry within the Nawab's administration' was exposed and the conspiracy of the rivals with the British ultimately weakened the strength d the administration.

@ Besides the financial gain, the English East India Company was also successful in establishing their monopoly over Bengal trade by marginalising the French'and the Dutch companies. The battle of Buxar gave them the complete political control over Bengal. Actually, the process of transition started with the battle of Plassey and culminated in the battle of Buxar. The battle of Buxar sealed the fate of the Bengal Nawabs and the British emerged as the ruling power in Bengal. Mir Kasim was successful in forming a confederacy with the Emperor Shah Alam 11 and Nawab Shuja-uddaula of Awadh against the British. This confederacy failed before the British force. The victory of the British in this battle proved the superiority of the British force and strengthened their confidence. This was a victory not against Mir Kasim alone but against the Mughal Emperor and the Nawab of Awadh also. The silccess of the British in this battle gave a clear indication that the establishment of the British rule in other parts of India was not very far off. I

Check Yuslr Progrers 2 . I) Lac; ICPU 111ink that the persnnal failunes r~fthe Nawabs led tc the political transformairon in BLr~c~i? Give your asgrument in 100 words.

......

2) Write in 60 words about the significance of the battle of Buxar, The B*Lb in Eutan Id& 8.6 LET US SUM' UP up to krrr

'We have traced in this Unit the process of political, developments that took plaa in Bengal between 1757 to 1765. We hope you have understood that the primary interest of the British at the initial stage was to tap the resouras of Bengal and to monopolize the commercial potentiality of Bengal in the Asian trade. It was this growing commerfial interest of the English East India Company and its officials which brought them in direct confrontation with the Bengal Nawabs. The weaknesses in tht prevailing Bengal polity helped the British to win the battle against the Nawabs and the alienation of different groups from the rukrs made the system vulnerable to external forces.,

8.7 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS EXERCISES

Check Your Prbgress 1 1) Your answer should focus on the dependability of Nawabs on various factiqns and its limitations, lack of cohesion in the administration etc. See Sec. 8.2.

2) ' Your answer should iqclude the clash of interest between the Nawabs and the ' B 'tish, the growing interference of the British in the internal affairs of Bengal p d:lity, etc. See Sec. 8.3.

Check your Progress 2 1) Write your answer in the light of interpretations given in Sec. 8.4. 2) ?our answer should include the impact of the battle in Bengal and other parts of India, specially how it helped the process of British conquest in India. See , Sec. 8.5. CONFLICT AND EXPANSION : SOUTH INDIA

Structure , 9.0 ~bjebives' 9.1 lntroduction 9.2 The English and the French in India- Their strengths and Weaknesses 9.3 The First Carnatic War (1 740-48) 9.3.1 The role of the Nawab of Carnatic 9.3.2 Defiance of Dupleix by the French Admiral 9.3.3 Superiority of French in First Carnatic War .9.4 The Second Carnatic War (1 75 1-55) 9.4.1 Success~onRivalry in Carnatic and Hydaabad 9.4.2 Oupleix's Intervention 9.4.3 Entry of the British 9.4.4 Recall of Dupleix . . 9.4.5 French Influence Restricted to Hyderabad 9.5 The Third Carnatic War (1758-63) 9.5.1 French Offensives in Carnat~c ' 9.5.2 Problems of the French Army 9.5.3 The Naval Debacle . 9.5.4 Battle of Wand~wash . 9.6 Causes bf French Failure 9.7 The,kfkrmath . 9.8 .Let 11s Sum Up 9.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

-9.0 OBJECTIVES After reading this Unit, you will learn the following points: d the two major foreign trading companies that existed in South lndia in the 18th century i.e. the Engllsh and the .French; their relative strengths, and weaknesses,

. , 0 the extent to whicli Indian powers were able to withstand foreign interference in their affairs as well as aggression against them, the nature of the conflict between the English and French companies as it unfolded from 1740 onward, and

' @ the economic, political and military factors which were to determine tlie outcome of this conflict. -.

9.1 INTRODUCTION I

nis Block focuses q the process ol' British consolidation. through conquests and 'dliminalion of rivals In various parts of the sub-continent. In this [!nit you would be reading about Soutn India. The xpansion of the British in South lndia was basically the outcome of the hosri5 ides between the English and thc French F~st indla Companies. South India was the main arena for French activities. Not only 1 . was Pondichcrry their capital, but in the ne~gbbzluringprincely states like Myderabad and Mysore, they wielded great influente. In order to make rnaxiinum I profits it was necessary for a trading company to eliminate all co~npetirionand I . establish its monopoly. Hence it had become very essential for the British to 1 eliminate the hold of the French from this region. By 1761 @srask had been achieved and the following narrative will outline the stages of this process. I 9.2 THE ENGI.1SH AND THE FRENCH IN 1N.DIA: THEIR-- STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES / Both the French and the English East India Companies were the products of the rise . of mercantile capitalism in Europe. This phase of capitalism is regarded as a preparatory phase when trade with Asiat~cand Latin American countries was cayied on to help in thc process of @at accumulat~on.Trade was carried on in goods which were manufactured in lndia and for which there was a heavy demand 4rEurope.

However. the way in which the two Companies took advantage of trade with the East differed greatly. While the English Company had a vastly superior infrastructure with much larger fleets, the FGnch were deficient even in their knowledge of commerce. The English Company was,the wealthier body and conducted more frequent voyages. In comparison with the French Company it had a I more continuous history of trading with the East. To appreciate the qualitative I difference in the two Companies we must take into account the nature of thcir origins. While the French Company was the offspring of state patronage whose I revenues were largely drawn from monopoly of the tobacco trade. tile English EIC was a great private corporation, founded and maintained by individual enterprise--- not dependent in any way on the state. In fact the slate was in its debt. The impact of these differences was very great, as will be seen later in the course of events.

,The French EIC was formed in 1664 whereas the EnglishCompany had been formed I in 1600 and had begun trade in cloth and calicoes with lndia in 1613 by an Imperial firmarl receivd from Emperor Jahangir. However, they had obtained the right to qrade only on the Western coast---at Surat, Ahmedabad, Cambay and Goa. The ". French Company also established their first factory at Surat in 1668. But this did j not pose a senous threat to the English Company* slnce they failed to "buy cheap & sell dear" and all they succeeded in doing was tcr reduce the price of European goods 1 and increase that of indian goods. ! The factory at Surat was succeeded by one at Masulipatam in 1669. Then in 1674 d Fra'ncois Martin founded Pondicherry, which was to become the future capital of the French in India. It was a rival to Madras. It grew in size and strength and '1 \ I became as impressive as the English settlement at Madras-but it could not match the latter in the extent and varlety of its commerce. Between 1690 and 1692 a factory was set up a1 Cllandernagore in the East. It proved no challenge to the Bgiish settlement in Calcutta. -

I Fortunes of thc French East lndia Company declined in the beginn~ngof the 18Lh I century and the factories at Surat, Bantam and Masulipatam had to be abandoned. 4 However, that was only a temporary setback and by the 1720~~the French Comp-v had staged a co~nebackwith the revival of interest on'the part of the French 1 mercantile bourgeoisie in thecompany: The Company was reconstituteii, it adopted a new name and was now known as 'Perpetual Company of the Indies'. French naval power was greatly improved -a base being established at Mauriti . It was also reported tha~10 to 12 ships were being built in England for the 7rench Company. In 1725 the French est?blished thqmselves at Mahe on the Malabar Coast and in 1739 at Karaikal on'the East Cuast.

9.3-- TffE-T CARNATIC WAR (1740-48)

The scene was thus set for a confrontation between the two forces. The opportunity was provided by the outbreak of the war of Austrian Succession in Europe in which the English and the French were in opposite camps. There was the possibility of an outbreak of hostilities between the British and the French in lndia but it was the French who hesitated. Perhaps conscious of their relatively weaker position in India, they tried hard to prevent an extension of hostilities to India. The English did not share this sentiment. however, and in a deliberately provocative manner, seized some French ships off the so"th-eastern coast of India. The French, having no fleet in India, had to wait until the arrival of the fleet from Mauritius. Immediately on its arrival, the French launched an attack on the English by both land and sea, within a week Madras had surrendered to the French and the first Carnatic war had begun.

9.3.1 Role of the Nawab of Carnatic The English appealed to Anwar-uddin the Nawab of Carnatic, for protection and assistance and the latter requested Dupleix, the French Governor to raise the seige of Madras. But the French were in no mood to accede to his request, just as the English had ignored him in the past. Since the Nawab had no naval fleet, he was not in a position to intervene effectively. Yet he felt that he could teach the French a lesson on land and therefore sent an army against the French troops beseiging Madras. Despite its impressive size his troops suffered an ignominous defeat at the hands of the French. This was an eye-opener for the Europeans in India; it revealed that even a small disciplined European force could easily defeat a much larger Indian army. This knowledge was invaluable to them in future dealings with Indian princes.

9.3,2 Defiance.of Dupleix by the French Admiral The initial seizure of Madras had been possible because of'the arrival of Admiral La Bourdaunairs' fleet from Mauritius. But the latter refused to cowperate with Dupleix since he felt that he held independent charge and took orders only from the French Government. Much to the chargin of Dupleix, the French Governor- General, he struck a deal with the English. Madras would be returned to them on the payment of a ransom amount of £400,000. The .French Governor-General was not even consulted on the matter. If he had his way, Madras would not have been returned to the English at any price. La Bourdaunairs returned to Mauritius after the completion of his mission in India. Dupleix was now free to assume the initiative vis-o-vis the English. He made a fresh attack on Madras in September 1746, which surrendered as easily as in the first instance. The English prisoners were marched to Pondicherry and quartered there. The French followed up this military success with an attack on Fort St. David, a minor English possession.to the south of Pondicherry. But this time the English were better prepared to defend their settlement. They had stationed their fleet off the coast of Pondicherry and were able to withstand the French attack effectively. The seige of Fort St. David lasted for 18 months. The French did not withdraw the siege either and it was only after the conclusion of hostilities in Europe with the signing of the treaty of Aix-La-Chappelle in 1848 that the English possessions were restored to them. The French possessions in North America were also returned to them.

9.3.3 Superiority of French in First Carnatic War Degpite their naval weakness, it was obvious that the French, had performed better in the first Carnatic War. Had it not been for the quarrel between Dupleix and L.ZI Bourdaunairs, the English would have faced total ruin in India. P.E. Roberts, the British official historian for India feels that this is an exaggeration. He argues that the war on the Coromandel coast affected only a single English Presidency and that too the weakest.

French military superiority was obvious not only to the English but also to the Indian powers. Since the latter did not possess navies, they could not have a. say at all in European conflicts in India. Even their land armies. though impressive in nuhbers, were no match for European armies. In the heyday of the Mughal Empire, Indian princes could expect assistance from the centre but with the disintegration of the Mughal Empire that source of help was no longer available.

Dupleix had learnt his lessons well from the first Carnatic War: he was convinced that, in any quarrel between the lndian princes, his disciplined army would be very useful. And in those days of pol~t~calunrest, there was no dearth of lndian princes whh urnlitti invit~nllnl~ix'~ awictanr-r I<> tilt-n the kcale, in their favour. Check Your Progress 1 I) What were the advantages that the British EIC had over their French counter parts? Write in ten lines......

Read the following \tatenlent\ and rnark right (J)or wrong (X). i) The English EIC was founded in 1664. ii) The first French factory was established at Surat. iii) Fortunes of the French Company declined in the first decade of the 18th century. iv) The English East India Company had a monopoly over the tobacco trade. v) The French were more successful than the British in buying cheap and selling dear. vi) The British launched the first offensive in the first Carnatic War. vii) Fort St. David was a minor French possession in the south of Pondicherry. 3) Desc ibe in five lines {he significance of the Nawah of ~arnatic';partrcipation in the first Carnatic War.

9.4 THE SECOND CARNATIC WAR

Unlike the first Carnatic war, there was no ~"ro~eanwar to provide a pretext for the outbreak of hostilities between the English and the French in the second instance. Rivalry in India provided the context, but it became a life and death struggle for the survival of the English and French EIC in India.

9.4.1 Succession Rivalry in Carnatic and Hyderabad Carnatic was a province lkder the subadar of Deccan, i.e., the Nizam of Hyderabad and was ruled by a governbkthe Nawab. with his headquarters at Arcot. Since the suhac/ar of the Lkccan was usuallybusy with his own affairs-at this time tackling the Marathas and other forces in Northern India, the Nawab practically enjoyed indcpc~~dcntpower. .!. ,

In 1740, i.e. before the first Carnatic War, the Marathas had invaded the Carnatic and killed the Nawab---llost Ali. They also took his son-in-law Chanda Sahib as prisoner to Satara. The prevailing conditions of stability prompted tbe Nizam to come to the Carnatic in 1743 and to appoint Anwar-ud-din Khan as tile Nawab of Carnatic. But this appointment only worsened the situation especially after 1748 when C'handa Sahib was set free by the rnarathas after seven years of captivity. In the same year j.e. in 1748 Asaf-Jan-Nizam ul Mulk, the Hyderabad Nawab, passed away. He was sueeededoby his son, Nasir JA~But his grandson, Muzaffar Jang Iiid clqim to.rhi throne on the ground that the Mughal Emperot had appointed him a;-the Gover.'no.r of "fhe Carmitic: Muiaffar Jang. found an allay in Chanda Sahib to " fight tagether tci gaill their respective seats in Hyderabad and the Carnatic.

" 9,t2 Dupleix's. Inf ervention 'This w& a wonderful opportunity for the,foreign merchhnt companies to pursuc 'tlwir'own ends. 7be French took the initiative and Dupleix con'cluded secret treatlcs wit11 i'handn' Sahib and Muzaffar Jang with a view to.placing them on the thrones of the Garnat~cand the Becan.

In gust 0~?49the three qliies amhushed 'and killed Anwar-ud-din at the battle of Ahliur. located soimth-iabt of Vellcwe. His son, Muhammad Ali, fled to Trieh~nopoly arui klranda Sahib became Nawab of Carnatic.

- 9.4.3 Pnky *~fBritish 'l'he" E.nglish fett.ihat tt& itiitiiP'tive, &as Slipping.out of their hands. '~ericethey now es.tahliskd'.friesrd~hi.~"kitaiNasir ~akg,the Nizarn of Hyderabad, and persuaded him . . to8'cornearid ,crush &is enemies in the Carnatic hnd send Some help to .~uhammad Ali in i'richin.op01.~. But Nitsir ~i~g's.attt?m~tsto cru!h his enemies only resulted in l~j$.own death in - 1,750..Muzaffit3- Jang was -reteased from prison and proclaimed

' Suhdar of the Dec~an.

As a token d hi; kra~itudethe new subadar amply rewarded the French. Dupleix was appointed Governor of all the Mughal Domidons south of the river Krishna. lerritcwb near Porutichery were ceded to the Fmnch as also some areas on the (.Y.IIL~ coast, including the famous market-town ~f Masulrpatnln. In return, at Muratfar Jany's request. Dupleix phced at his disposal the wrvices of his best oflicer Bussy, w~tha French army. He knew that this was the best way of: ensuring Eivnch interests in the Hyderabad court and thereby its influence in the whole of rhe Decciln.

It seemed as if the British position in Madras would be lost irrevocably. However, the appointment of Saunders, a more dynamic Madras Governor in September 1750, changed the s~tuatioli.He decided to go to the assistance of Muhammad Ali in 1751. In ahe meantline the k IVIIL.~.having realised that their seige of Trichy was not pr;o\lng succeslrtul, cliangcd ~IIVII I'IC~IC~and were trying to woo Muhammad AIi. Tlae tatter wavered, was cvcn nillrng to give up his claims to the Nawabship of the Cwrnatic, provided the Frcnch pe,ersu.aded the Nizarn of Hyderabad to obtain a new appointment for him in any other part of the Deccan. But the British proved ts be bePter masters 1n the art ol the diplomacy and persuaded Muhammad All not to give up his claim, but Instead to Hide hi4 time. But he was further advised that the preteklec of negotiet~unswith the French be kept up, so hat ~ilclatter may be footed effectively. When the English had prepared a full-scalc oftcn\~\~.,tt~cy sent a deeachrnerrt to 'rrichy in May 1751. The idea Was to help Mull,~lir~t~;idAli against the French. Cater in the same year, the rulers of Mysore, i anlot alrd the Maratha chief, Morari Rao, also gave help to Muhammad Ali and the English. In the meantime Clive prapc+sed an exped~tisnag~inst krcot as the best means ot preventing the fall of rrichinopoly. Chanda Sakib would have to divert an effective part of his army fot the protact~onof' the capitaL Arcot was successfully occupied by Clive with the help of a small Britis!~torcr-consisting of 200 European and 300 Indian soldiers. The h'awab had to send relieving forces from Trichy and it was only after battling for 53 days .that he managed to win back Arcot. The seizure of Arcot demorahsed thFrench so greatly that the French general Jacquec-fcaneois Law, in charge of tklr siege of Trichy, abandoned h~spost and fled to Srirangam. The British pursued 1111~ad Law finally surrendered on 9 June 1752. Shortly thereafter a dispirited C'handa.Sahb also surrendered. to the English. He was &headed an the oiders of t lie rar~joregenerals.

The Engliah prestige was greatly enhanced bythis incident and the French were tn r sorry plight. But they were not willing to,give up that easily and Dupleix was devising a fresh strategy. He won over Morari Rao, the-Maratha chief and the ruler ' of Mysore and secured the neutrality of the Raja sf Tacjore, the seige of Trichmupoly was renewed in December I752 and continued far more than one year.' both sides were successful alternatively.

Dupleix's valiant efforts to relieve the F~nchpos~tion.~e not much app;urt;rwcl ~y the French authorit.ies. They were greatly annoyed at the heavy fi~l~l~\c~;tt.Iosse$ that Dupleix's policy involqed and dixided to recall him. On 1 August 1754 Godeheu succeeded Dupleix as Governor-Gene~alin India. In. a complete reversal of Dupleix's poficy, he reopened negstiations with the British ancl corrc4.ude.d a Erealy. The English and the French both agreed not to interfere in th~quarrels of natk princes and each pariy was left in possession of the territorn that it actually . occupied at the time of the treaty. Now did =the tide turn against Dupleix? Displeasure with hms policies in 'In& was only a part af the reawn. It must be recalled that the French East Idia e6rnflany was &rectly eont~bnedby the Frenth Government which had to consder the Paf$er 1 political lssues confiofiting the state. It was the fear of serious repwelsssim ia Arperica that prompted the Freneh to suspend hostilities in Mia. ,

When the English reabwd that Dupleix was to be withdrawn and that they had scdrcd a point, they decided to press their advantee furtheh While! the npg~tiBtir#~ were proceeding, they fanned the growing senf~rnent6in F'ranceagaiast Rupleix.aad' maintained that Dupkix's "ambitioq and artifie" were sure to shbaa~ea*y .

negot~atious.They insisted that he be replaced by a more pliable ~egotiartw.Tbs. , the British too had a hand in the dawnfall'of DupIelx and tbis was of decisive- importance tb them in their engagements with the Frenoh.

9.4.5 French lnhuemce Restrieteb to flyderabad The. work of ~upleixwas [email protected] undone. The only place wkehis po1iq continued. fo have some hipact was at Hyderabad, where Ru&y still &aituc+ned his,

I influence. de3pitc the opposition of the nubility, whi~hwas more. hvsuiaWy dispodd-towards t.he English. Bussyeven ir@uced tht ~izmttG,~rdnt;hirfl.fk"e~... : Northern Ssrkars consisting ,of tkdistricts of his* biusrafhn-t, Ellore. ' . 1i . Rajahmundry and Chicaeob. These districts with an ahnuakreN~hu~.dmore-thqn, 30 lakhs of .rupees, were to help meel the expenses of. ~intairiiirgthe 'Fiencharmy. in.HyQerabaJ: For the .time being, at le*t, Bussy%,pssiijon ih Hyde$&ad lkrsls i, . . 'I. . secure. He had succeeded in maintaining. ~krtchmilitary.p&senck ig Hydehbad .l"n 1 spite of the beat efforts of the nobility to cixpel the .Fs.encb troops'from the Niza@s ' ) territory. (They had even succeeded in doing% ,&&fly in 17561. There is no denymg the fact that the prestige 6f.the 6mhin kndia Had Been 'gre%tlFenhanced by the daagerou, exploits .of Dupkix in the s&qnd. Qhl;;tt$. Wa?. i Ifid indeed ironik that the F~nchGover-nment..j.n the idteresti of securing "the: , ,: gains of commerce'' which collhl oql$ accrlse in.pracetimeydr& to- reverse all, ; . . ~u~lelx~,positions and recall himi in cti;g:.rac~.'l3uplsix,'b t6 reckbn witht$e : ' , *.hopitess in~o-tence of the .Fn?tctl gc'ncrals.The indwisian, 4ck ~fmergye&d ' . 1 cowardice d Caw and his c.olk"dg!r~*~WAS in, s.harg contrast torthb't;r.ilil@~1s,ni,wi . . I a,qd hold dash of Clive. . . . - . . Check Your Progress 2 I) Match the following i) A Chanda Sahib a) Hyderabad ii) B Muzaffar Jang b) Madras iii) C Moha,mmad Ali C) Carnatic iv) D Saunders d) Trichinopoly 2) How did the British gain an upper hand over the French in the second Carnatic War? Answer in 100 sords. British Conquest and Consolidation

.5 THIRD CARNATIC WAR

Clive's masterly abilities in building the English fortunes in India had begun revealing themselves. The heyday was the 1750s and the arena Bengal. It was not a mere coincidence then that at the outbreak of the Seven Years' War between the English and the French in Europe in 1756 the English captured Chandernagore in India. Siraj-uddaula the Nawab of Bengal was enraged at this behaviour of the Company especially since he had warned the English that he would not tolerate such behaviour on the part of either of the European powers. When Chandernagore was beseiged, the Nawab, gallantly enough, gave shelter to the French captives in his court and refused to drive them away even when the English offered military help in exchange against an impending attack on Bengal by the Mughal heir-apparent. This refusal of the Nawab to hand over the French became one of the reasons for war between him and the British.

In south India, however, neither the French nor the British were in a position to indulge in war immediately. Both were handicapped by lack of resources. The major part of the Madras military and naval forces of the British had been sent to recover Calcutta, which had been seized by the Nawab of Bengal. The French Government had plans to strike a severe blow against the English this time and had made preparations. An impressive French army under Count de Lally had set sail for lndia but it encountered several difficulties on the way. Hence the reinforcements for the French did not reach India until the second quarter of 1758, just in time to protect the French interests in south India as the English fleet had returned from Bengal, victorious and ready to take on the French. They brought enough reinforcements of men and money.

9.5.1 French Offensives in the Carnatic The stage was thus set for the third Carnatic War. This time the French were on the offensive. They were successful in taking fort St. David in a swift operation. Meanwh~leBussy from Hyderabad had been attacking tne English possessions in the Northern areas. He managed to take over all of them including the fort at Vizianagaram on 24 June 1758.

The English were quite justifiably alarmed at their reverses. They even feared a possible expulsion from India. According to James Mill "had Dupleix been still the guide and condpctor of the enemy's affairs, it is more than probable that their mosl gloomy apprehensions would have been realised." 9.5.2 Problems of the French Army But the French were unable to sustain their valiant military effort. Problems of varying nature began to surface on the horizon. First, there were the financial difficulties of the Company which would henceforth come in the way of preparations for every fresh military offensive. There were no funds to pay the troops. Already handicapped thus, the French general added to his troops' woes by indulging in rude and haughty bchaviour towards them. He refused to listen to their advide and thus alienated them. Lally's supposedly wise decision to "strike at the toot of British power in the Carnatic by reducing Madras" backfired when he failed -

to get naval co-operation. I he French naval forces were commanded by Admiral and Eypansion- d'Ache who had already suffered defeat at the hands of the English in April 1758. Swth India He refused to set sail for Madras. Consequently Lally had to postpone his plans for i a seizure of Madras. He thus lost a valuable opportunity-the like of which would , never offer itself in the future. Lally thought he would solve the financial problems of the French company by forcing the Raja of Tanjore to pay an outstanding amount of 70 lakhs of rupees owing to the Company since the time of Dupleix. Tanjore was beseiged on !8 July 1758 and though the Raja was hardly in a position to offer any resistance, the Ftench could not press their advantage. Problems within the French army once again surfaced-there was a shortage of ammunition; both Lally and his soldiers distrusted each other'; the French troops were badly demoralised. 9.5.3 The Naval Debacle

Meanwhile the English fleet had inflicted heavy losses on the French fleet in August * 1758. A dispjrited d'Ache resolved to abandon the French naval effort and left the Indian seas in the same month. This compelled Lally to withdraw from Tanjore, thereby inflicting a heavy blow to his reputation as well as that of the French.

However, Lally continued to challenge the British by conquering minor English settlements on the Coromandel coast, so that, at one stage, the English were left only with Madras, Trichy and Chingleput in the Carnatic. By December 1758 with the onset of the monsoon English fleet had to leave the harbourless Madras coast, and this gave Lally an opportunity to embark on a fresh siege of Madras. But the problems of the French army had not been effectively tackled and the siege of ~adrascontinued for three months. It had to be finally withdrawn when the English fleet returned in February 1759.

From this point onwards the fortunes of the French in India went into a decline that could not be reversed. In the next twelve months the debacle was completed. Miscalculations and wrong decisions in the Deccan cost them dearly. Lally unwisely prevailed upon Bussy to leave Hyderabad, leaving the French forces there under incompetent commanders. His repeated requests to be allowed to return to Hyderabad fell on deaf ears. Having assessed the situation, the English sent an army from Bengal to the Northern Sarkars. They occupied Rajamundry and Masulipatam and in 1759 concluded a favourable treaty with Nizam Salabat Jang. French influence in the Deccan had thus been irretrievably lost. What was worse from the French point of view, was that, they were replaced by the English at the court of Hyderabad. 9.5.4 Battle of Wandiwash . The decisive battle of the third Carnatic War was fought at Wandiwash on 22 January 1760. General Eyre Coote's army totally routed the French army under Lally. In the next three months all the minor French possessions in the Carnatic had been effectively reduced by Coote's efforts. The French were left with no possessions in the Carnatic except Jinje and Pondicherry. Finally, in May 1760, the English laid siege to Pondicherry.

At this juncture Lally tried to retrieve the situation with a lastditch attempt at alliance with Nawab Haidar Ali of Mysore. The latter even sent a contingent to the aid of the French. But the French and Haidar Ali's contingent were unable to decide on a concerted plan of action and Haidar's contingent ultimately returned to Mysore without fighting a single battle.

After more than six months of encrrclement, the French capital of Pondicherry unconditionally surrendered on 16 January, 1761. The city was completely destroyed by the victors and its fortifications reduced to mere rubble. A contemporary account states that "in a few months not a roof was left standing in this once fair and flourishing city". Sh,ortly thereafter Jinje and Mahe, the two French settlements on the Malabar coast also surrendered to the English leaving the French without even a toehold in India. More distressing was the fate of the French general Count de tally. After being detained as an English prisoner of war for two years, he was anowed to return to Fmxe at the end of the Seven Years War, But far from &ilmh C0-t reqivhg ki,ndl> treatment; he was ivprimned in the Bastille for more than tGo and ton@dJIbn ykaH and ;rfte~wirrdbexecuted.

, ' Thl" Price of Paris did restore the Fce'nch hctorks in 1-ndia to the French cowpan) . . but; ihc French East lndig Cbmpariy form.aily ended its career in. 1769. Thereafter . . ' tRe! Fwnch Cr~wm.rnaintainddthe French factories. in Ind!a for the benefit of p.rivate traders. It was a feeble effbrt and the Erencii, iike their Portuguese and Dutch cmnteqarts in inilia, confined tfiemsekes to "count& trade". The$ dependence on thi cngtish-ws ceveiled'by the fact that'both in Eurcrpr and in India their business .,~I'~Rs~cI$~sWere in cbHab&atioii either with thc E,nglish Company directly or with .it%:afficials.orprivaie E.nglisli iraders.restding 111 lrld~a.'

T@whai do we ascribe tfie final Eren~hfailure in.In&a? Was it a mistake dfi the part of the French ~overdmentto recall Dugleix?.Indeed. the Fre?cb reverses began to occur aftcr'Wupleixas humiliating exit from India. 8rwas the French"~nfefib.rity aD.sqa .the' main reason? She fac\'.that the Fench hgd.no permanent nahal presence 'iri-tndia was a di~Mipgf&or vis-b-vis the British, who had a.f$r&daple naval pfosence; what we5 more prob1ematjc"~asthat, on the occasions whcn the hnkh n&y frpm Mauritius did. come to the assistance of their Indian counierparts, it creetd fresh prolslqs Zor the French Company in India. However, these were secondary factors. What redly turned the tide jn -Britain's fbvdur was its recent access to the rich resources of hgal. From this secure base tbey could send a constant supply of men admmey to Mqdras and distract-the Rttrfch by 1aunchingdiversPonar.y attacks against the French.a6 they did in the Northern Sarkars.

'In ehs srfrerpath of the third Gata~\sltac.War, tau EnglLh reigned suprame over bdia 'their European rivals had bqeu rlin,tu.\~rdl hi11 the task of \-lbjugarisg Lndlan rulers still femairaed. In south lnd~aM~\CIIC w;c\ a mdcu force to reckon wit% and so were the Manithas. Battles wlth rhc\t iw4, ht.tte* were to become a mqjor preowngation with fie East India Cbmpa~ty111 the .third-and' last quarters of.the 'iteegrth ceittury. By the second dec&-le of thc ~inaeenthceotury, however, thy had secured their position in zsuthern India rather firmly. They were now concernad with f~rtiPymgthe frrar,inrs of india, esqgcially the !and-frontie~to the North-West I 6 the face of *" dussiap threai to RritrsR. nossessions in the East. Check Your Progress 3 1) Kead the following statements and mark right (d)or wrong (X ). i) The third Carnatic War began with the English capture of Poridicherry in Indla. ii) ' The French nava! forces were led by Admiral &'Arche in the third Carnatic b'itr. iii) In this \'at, the Eiiglish launched an attack on Tanjorc. iv) At the end of the War, the French retained their influence in Hyderabad. 2) Trace the reasons for the Flrench failure in the third Carnatic War. Write in five lines.

------9.8 LET US SUM up

After rqadiag this'Uhit pumust have kame$ that the" ~ni~o-~r~nchrivfll~y, thKiag the form of' three hrnatie Wars.cotistituteel ledmarks +'.

:hrck 1 our. Progress I I) Sec Sec. 9.2 24 See Sub-ser. 9.7 1 7) i) X ii) v1 \ w) X v) X vl) V' vii) yi .

c heck Year Prbgrew 2 1) 1) A-c ii) B-a, it^) C-d,. iv) D-b 2) See Shibsec 9.4.3

c'L~your Progress 3 I I) 11) J iii) 4 iv). Y 2) You should refer to the lhsonce of a ptvmanent naval base, and morc t~ndncldi resowws for the British See Sec..9.6. UNIT 10 ANGLO-MARATHA AND MYSORE WARS

9-e 10.0 ,Objdves 10. I Introduction 10.2 Stnrggle for Supremacy : Indian States and the Brit&h 10.3 Mpre Wars 10.4 Maratha wars 10.5 Indian States : Reasons for Failure' 10.6 Let Us Sum Up 10.7 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

1U.6 OBJECTIVES

This Unit introduces you to the expalulion of the British rule in Mysore and the Maratha state. After reading this Unit you will be able,to : understand the nature of struggle for power in Mysore and Maratha state, learn about the process of subjugation of Mysore and the Maratha state to the British imperial system, and identify the factors responsible for the failure of the Indian states against the Britah.

16.1 INTRODUCTION

In Block 1 you have dabout the emergence of Mpre and the Maratha state system following the disintegration of the Mughal empire in the course of the ei8hteenth century. The same period also witnessed the gradual penetration of the European colonial powers into the Indian sub-continent. This resulted in growing struggle between two forces, the Indian regional states and the colonial power, in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century India for possession of political ' supremacy. In this Unit we will try to make a critical appraisal of the struggle ktween the British and Mysore and the Maratha state.

- 1.2 STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY :INDIAN STATES AND THE BRITISH

In eighteenth century India we find the development of an intricate power struggle between various groups of powers. It was not only a struggle between the colonial power and the Indian states but also there was struggle among the Indian powers themselves to establish political supremacy. Here we focus on the issues that involved these different powers into a fierce struggle. The most common cause for conflict among the Indian powers was the urge for territorial expansion. The traditional approach to explain this expansionist policy it tehns of personal desire of the rulers or their insatiable thirst for temtory or their religious zeal seems an oversimplif~cationof the whole historical context. Territorial aquisition was mainly a response to the need for further resources. When internally a limit had already been reached to extract fresh revenue, the main way of tapping new resources was the acquisition of fmh temtories. A prominant example : the Marath relied mostly on the Chaurh and the Sar&shmukhi, collected from their spheres df influence. This need for territorial expansion for the enlargement of their :\n~lo-5luruIha lrnd resources brought the different neighbouring states into conflict with each othcr. \I>*t~re\$ ar, Besides this, in the case of Mysore we find that the peculiar situation of Mysore uosed a great threat to the Marathas, the Nawab of Carnatic qnd the Nizam of Hyderabad. The rise of Mysore was viewed with great alarm by the neighbouring states. Each of these states was in the process of consolidation and expansion of its territorial boundary. In this process the emergence of Mysore naturally caused uneasiness to its neighbours. The Marathas and the Nizam formed an alliance against Mysore and also co-operated with the British to curb the power of Mysore. But the Nizam was equally apprehensive of the Maratha expansion in the South, and therefore co-operated with the British against the Marathas. Each one ivas trying to establish its supremacy over the other. Thus a major feature of the contemporary political developments was that the Indian states were ermgagcd in fighting with each other to pursue their aggressive expansionist policy. This mutual dissension and enmity among tk'country powers' ultimately helped the British to intervene effectively in their internal polity. The reasons for British initmention in Mysore and the Maratha states were primarily commercial. Haidar and Tipu's control over the rid trade of the Mabbar coast was seen as a threat to the British trade in pepper and cardamom. Mysore was also a threat to the British control over Madras, In case of Western India the sudden glr)wth incompany's cotton trade after 1784 to China from Gujarat through Bombay motivated the British authorities to plajr a more inrerventionisl role in the region. The British auttio'rities want& to move the intervention of the ~ara€has from the way of their lucrative trade. Moreover, the development in inla~tr?and gunnery in both these states caused great aneasiness for the Campan\'> 'ttinr. So* other development also accounted for a mqce interventionist role by tht. Hl.itish - authorities in these two states. Particularly the French alliance with thc Mysore ' rulers was seen as a threat to the.British dominame in this region. The Britlah home government Was in need of fmance for the growing expenditure for Napoleonic wart; in Europe and the attitude of theCompany merchants, in favour of direct pohtical intervention to protect their commercial interest, .'.. voured a moreaggressive expansionist polity in this region. The argument (>,at forward by the British. colod~listsin support of their military actions in India, was that "...most contempowry Indian rulers qetyrannical usurpers oE previous dynasties and rights, and could therefoe W@ispensed with at will SO that (th~sancient, and highly cultivated people) could be 're$lored to the full enjoyment of rh&r religious and civil rights'." For example, in case of Mysore it was argwd tb! the $askt objective of British policy was to restore the Hindu. Wodeyar house which was overt hruwn by . Haidar Ali, The developbart df this kind of argument was bay out not'only of obvious pofitic+ec6ru?mic f&ors But also was rooted in the shared preption of a group of western t~~ket:p,,~~~~agfninistratorsnias who wanted to legitirnise their political action. . i,

As was seaabove, the expnsiqnist poIicy of differ&: Inen states and their drive for poiithi >sup&macyled to conflict and canfusiw in Indian polity. This provided a gqod graw&fcsr tk.$ridsH intetvention in @e Indian politiorf arena in order to , extend their ate;a'&dtr$l and to rnaimise the& pMt. &-the f~llowi~gsection'~ . will brieflp ~i%us~~~~'4"a~sbety& the Btikish, Mysofe and the Maratha state to , show how thi: B&&. ek.@wttt@ th&;country powm' b$ &$ng onk a@m the other. I*,".

10.3 MYSORE WARS ..

Haidar Afi and Tipu suitap fought far wars against the fit;& bafsre the frnhl of MFM~to the British duthrrrity. The %sic eaux of the% remained . Ihe same, V~Z,\.he ~bjectof 'the' Bk'ih to. undermine the independent authority of the Mysore rulers. The'Marathas, the Namb of Qrnatic and the Nizam of Hykrabad from time to time aligned with the British to subdue heMysore ruler. into an alliance with the British a@inst The Niram and Maratb Mysore in 1766. But. -. Hdar Ali skitfully . wainst ~liand the Marathas . . ., . 112. :. 1. 35 khkb Conquest Thus tw tafmched an attack against the British and reached upto the gates of macowomah Madras. ye forced t~e'hfadrascouncil to sign @ace on his terms in 1769. This was ' a defeinsivk alliantk and both the powers a&d to help the other in case of an attack by (B thifd dany.

this alliance. When thc M.JI:IIha\ rn\dltlcd did not come to his hc4, $I. tulu II M ,I\ the second round of war betwcr-tl ! Ir? I~Iit isti .I 1ii1 I~C

b+fpo~state. The Bdisfi capture of &tie, a French settlernerl~M II ~IIIII I:~I,I.I I '\ ju~fs6Jicti\i prd~iiie";t;tthe immediate preiext for the second Myhocc v.rt l llc t{llttsh aeu

Kpu, soh and successor of Baidar, continued ;he war against the British. However, lack of resources, 'im~etfaintyof the Ma~thaattitude, ;he presence of French fleet on ~or6mandclcoast and some other conside~arionschanged the attitude of the

?' I

, D . . i. - . TIm was not a permanent sotur~onto tpe qystion of political supremacy in the Qecun: 'It was a-feinporaly;c;pttc fiefbre,h'6~1sh"d.~(i'wiY~~RedwQf of JYB~ was liet-itable. chid CO&~* wh6 be&e thi pov~rnok%e'"nerfiot inpi?&,

tbroii'gii4dip!oni& *&a'li'&iri:ra brou&t tb2 @idiths Bnd1tpir Hiiam fo the gritish' 6de: ~i"pd's%@aoi?@a"'ir'i&d'if< &illly .*f t&'Fgniii$-mi;ade the war ~ikh!hi 'dish &aid riikVitablk'thi ??&idkt&ldn i@i &adit whtinb;d fbr t$oau&ais. Tipu kflerieh -iid~&'iif"rjii:it fa i$fi $i,'4.r , @$ore wai'dn'b ~@&weijiniii8tiue'forfjeade~ f he treaty of seri&:pait'a&' &$ ~ipj!~$$~?q'hbq Ti'bb%&$ to surteMer hak Lf his te;fitor3'to thk $$tid'atS4 tl&i-iiqi'&-$iPu was hit r&af 29 in ilk 0kcLak". ax v I The arrival of Lord ~&hw&y as ~ovtnmr~ralof I+ in 1798 ClpW fr~h and^-Munbo 4, nph ~S~WCW~II vigour to thc.~ritil~exp.ni&t pcfliicy. WcUcs*y d&W Mpkan any 1 of his grand 'substdiary rllina*system. But Tib.4 no btldtfbh d uurcadm his independent authority to the British idlpc&d~ry@hi.~Odyemm-Genciaf At

the British form against Mytom I& WW~d &@f* &' 8. 9ds *. b" ba& WW h

1799. Tipu died in the course of war in the 7wf1I? . . Seringapatam wr, plundered and h@f @ np~ld~ndg~~sr @f&bf'yw@n the . British an4 theik ally, the FIbtxn. M mid d( nfl) .qea'@ L!Bd%fid ibc Wodeyars frob abom Haid.t +lih.d mt Wt4!.-2@9kdib .thec.W!e kingdom. Mysac vIrt'Ually bc- ib de#q . . a( QIwb.

5. Tbt assad and 6kbgof . -=- . < -+I -,f

I Check Your Progress 1 t 1) .Explain in 100 words the reasons for conflict between the Indian state and the I British. Rriti\lt ( onquest , 21 Kcad the following sentences and mark the correct one. nntl ( ~~n%rblidntion i) 'There was rivalry among various Indian states because : a) the rulers had different religious beliefs. b) the rulers did not belong to the same caste. cj the rulers pursued the policy of territorial expansion. ii) 'Subsidiary Alliance' system was introduced in India by: a) Lord Cornwallis. b) Lord Wellesley. C) Lord Mastixigs. iii) After the death of Tipu Sultan in 1.799, the British: a) Restored Mysore to Tipu's successors. I b) Annexed Mysore to the British territory.

I c) A small Mysore kingdom d out of Tipu's territory and was

:-:TJ-J to the Wodeyars. --

10,4- ,MARATIiA WARS.. I.

...... - c ,. . . ;.~.< ,. , . I' ...... IG.hse th! ~arat,hst&Tu~t @fit& i,n€~&i&n w+ at& ti&' of dispute over Of . .. - suk&s&& t.b the ~ehwashipaftkithe deathof"~&~rnR~Q. .Raghwath Rae or . . R.&ghaba-wtantd:'fh ysk the'.. ., ~e~h&&.ip.,.wh&~'a strong &.P.~~w.wNa& I,. .Fadka~i~-~ppge$~:~~%~ag'f.ikd,b:'bi&.bid.to ixplllri :power, R.gbunath Rho . .:,

afip$iedrto..iB~E:rii* for b.e!p. Th& ,the.iril-iztk backgiq.wd of the~ir; . ' '

dos sib hi (k7?&l$2]:. ;Ma&dsji Sin& ,~hbhd ,ah qye.'on:the f&&&ip .of the.' . ' . . ~atacb~~confcd~,~noi~i~t.c~nf~~nt~tio~~htheBritkh *hich thBdtirh alse~ldnoipakt a.tthi$ stage.: ~s:ar&ult $he :Qa$+ of:Saibpi.. vssriglKd in 1782

which -Nin.a'Fadna*,-r:atified after a :y@f:Thk Briti~h.~osfessi'onof Salseite was . . cdnflrrned and M.a$hav .Rao.Narayan ,wasrecognjs@'as therightful Peshwa.

The peace thus established with. the British continued for she coming 20 years. This gave the British needed time to conoentratf; .an other fronts specially against Mysore. The Margtha state was in a very bad shape during these yean. The Maratha chiefs I were trying to curb their independent principalities. Gaikwad at Baroda, Bhonsle at Nagpur, Holkar at lndore and Sindia at Gwalior. There was also dissension regarding the succession to the Peshwaship and Nana Fadnavis was in complete control of the Maratha affairs at the centre. During this time Lord Wellesley in order to establish complete control of the British over the Marathas invited them to enter into the 'Subsidiary Alliance' system. The Marathas rejected this British .gesture of 'friendship', actually a ploy for their subjugation. . The death of Nana Fadnavis at this juncture gave the British an added advantage. Jaswant Rao Holkar, a powerful Maratha chief, defeated the combined armies of Sindia and the Peshwa at Poona in 1800 and captured the city. The Peshwa approaclsd Wellesley for help. This provided Welksley an ideal opportunity to intervene 141 the Maratha affairs. Thus the Second Maratha Wqr started (180385). The Peshwa, Baji Rao 11, accepted the subsidiary alliance and signcd.the Treaty of Bassein in 1802. The Peshwa lost his independent authority in handling relations with other powers without the British consent and had to pay a large. annual subsidy. An attempt was made by Sindia and Bhonsle ta save Maratha independence. But they could not stand before the well prepared and organised British force. The British army defeated the forces of Bho~leand Sindia and at the end both of them concluded separate treaties with the English. Yashwant Rao Holkar who so far remined aloof in the British attacks against Sindia and Bhonsle made an attempt in 1804 to form a coalition of Indian rubs to fight against the British. But he was not successful in his venture. The recall of.Lord Wellesley from 1ndia brought temporary peace in the region. There was however not much development in the internal affairs.of the Maratly confederacy. The strength and resources were greatly exhausted by now. Disorder and weakness prevailed in all the principalities of the Maratha chiefs. However, Peshwa Baji Rao 11 made a last bid to rally together the Maratha chiefs against th~ British in course of the third Maratha War (1817-1819). The British were not ready to allow the Peshwa to exert his authority again on the Mara!ha cddcracis. The battles that followed decisively undermined the power and prestige of the Peshwa. li The Maratha confederacy was dissolved and the Peshwaship whabolished. The British took complete control of the Peshwa Baji Rao's.dominions and k became a British retainer. Dominions of Bhonsle north of Narmada were ako-annexed by the British while he was allowed to keep the rest as a subsidiary prim.'Holkar tilrewise ceded some territory to the British and becamea subordinate chief. Pratap Singh, a lineal descendant of Shivaji, was made ruler of a small principality, Soltara, which was formed out of Peshwa's dominions.

10.5 INDIAN STATE: REASONS FOR FAILURE

There were differences in nature, orpnisatioa and f&ioning of Mysori and the Maratha states (see Units 4.3). However, we find cenain cowon weakmrseo in both the states which were in fact characteristic of eighteenth century Indian polity. These weaknesses made the Indian states vulnerable to imperialist aggression. The major weakness in eighteenth century Indian polity was the conatant intrigue and warfare amonp the various states. The frequent warfans and growing rivalry among the 'country powen' weakened the internal stability of the state and made it an easy prey to imperialist intervention. As we have seen in the case of Mysore and the Marathas that disputes bttween these two states helped the British to use one against the other to esUIbCsh British hegemony over both the states. / Second important factor was the lack of co-ordination and growing f&ti&alism in the administration. Administration based on personal favour and loyalty and along the line of caste and other social divisions gave birth to different factions and interest groups in administration who were oppostd to each other. This proved fatal in a situation when there was possibility of attack from outside. In the case of the Marathas, since 1780s there was significant change in the Maratha polity. The Mrrrrrths rhiefc in rlifferrnt rrmnnc like CinAim Rhnnslr GaiCwnrl Unlkrrr vprr 1 - British Conwest tryi~gto kablish their inde&ndcat~uthority with ~crrniwtiallegiance t* the and ons solid hi on hshwa, This develop-t of locaI,ocntp of power certainly weakened the central 'Faratha aujbo$ty. Another probkq was euccession-which in most of the cases was hitjhgtd by different @pupe. All thcse cawed politicdl instability wkich the British . Fully exptoited in their favour.

, ...I aibe d res&ce al~b1isationwas another importal;. .factor for the faifure'of the st$eg. TM &xetbaestate &s primarily dependent an resources from outside like. chauph-t+nd%$er&ahng$lei becaub intenidly they were not in position to tap new ZlloUgh Mys& was~mpmatiwlybetter managed under Haidar and ipu, the Yyem jot was Q@ much sycc~~~fulin tapping the resources from the wuntrysi#a. lack qf qwkc& pm a major constraint for the Indian states to fiat. tbg .pdM who \lucre &e&y ia cdntrd of one of the most productivc Part of ihe country, &en$, adbed the backia~of their home Government. r - 'i Tbwe hi~tp~pt. by h9iori.h tp ex&n the failure of the Indian states in t~n.119 of incapa,ciiy of id.&id@der and the lack of proper military orpanisaiian. I 4s&in @id &at "h(ysorn wa~too depmdenf or? Hindu warriors and on Tamil, It'rihmin r~mie*ji$w-ipd in swh r situation Tipub policy of ryking Mysore an 'yiic ytafv dt@dy-brickf'qkl.. @.A. ,I&&: The New Cambridge History of Indk, YO].. n.1) T$@ @$$,,of u@me$ ag~mto hc mbregresentatio@of the situatihp. As we &;e, akeady,pcc:n that the feasons for the failure of the Indian sht& were &&et"hhg el&, not the rlI@ous or caste $hhences of the rulers and the yled. Too much ernphosb on the indpkity d JndGn military organis'ation is also n$!!.pgP.k*gy&+lly HllOQ w4 f& @S $he Myoore Ners tried to modernise the aqmy g?,Eqrom.n model. The l~'h&iatks also developed ~uropeanstyle infantry and artillery wings.

I 1

Wr have discussed in this Unit the process of conquest and consolidation of the Bdtish rule in Myqore and the Maratha state. It was primarily the commercial ihgerests of the British which brought them in this region. Then the existing rivalry anforig,tl$ local powers and the volatile political situation in the region provided a fayburabk ground fqr political intervention by the British. It took man! ~I.,II\ to get caplplep control over the re%on and the British fought a number of W,II\ \clhdue t@ b.wl ~krs.Internal weaknesses of the Indian states decided the fin1 c;utccrrne of this,stfugBle.for power. The defeat of Mysore and the ~ar~thasproved lalal for the lnd$n powers and laid the foundation of British rule in India......

Check Your ~rdg;&s 2 ' . ". ' . e 1) Read the lollowing statements and mark right (t/ ) or H long ( X) i) The treaty of Salbai confirmed the'~ritishpossession of Salsette. ii) The Peshwa did not accept the 'Subsidiary Alliance' system. I iii] The various Maratha chiefs were trying to establish their independent authority. I I ivj The lndian states failed mainly because of their internal weaknesses. 2) How do you explain the success of the British against the Indibn states? Give -your answer in 100 words. Cheek Your Progress 1 1) Your answer should focus on the commercial interest of the British, Mefoq territorial expansion and political supremacy etc. See Sec. 10.2. 2) i) c ii) b iii) c

Check Yo& Proeress 2 I) i)J ii)X -iii) iv) v' 2) Your answer should refer to the lack of co-ordination kmasb the lndiitn rulers, administrative w&hs of the lird&n stat&, && of r&o\ir& &0611i&ion; eic. See Sec. 10.5. UNIT 11 BRITISH EXPANSION IN NORTH INDIA

Objectives Introduction Deciine of the Mughal Empire and the Rise of the Successor States in North India Awadh : From Subsidiary Alliance to Annexation The Benefits of Subsidiary Alliance to the East India Company Encroachments by the Company and Res.istance by the Awadh Regime: 1765-1775 1 1.5.1 Weakening of Awadh's Defen~s:1775-1801 11.5.2 The Treaty of 1801 11.5.3 Decline and Fall of the Awadh Dynasty: 1801-1856 Expansion in Other Parts of North India 11.6.1 The British Interest in Punjab 11.6.2 The Mode of Conquest of Punjab Let Us Sum Up Answers to Check Your Progress exercises

11.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this Unit you will get to know:

0 about the way North India, especially Awadh and Punjab came under the British rule, about the shifting policies of British in their strategy of conquest, and about the circumstances which aided the British to spread their rule over Northern India.

11.1 INTRODUCTION C . Br'itish expansion in North India, particularly in the kingdom of Awadn, was a prbcess of building an alternative hegemony by the British in opposition to the Mughal and the Awadh rulers' authority. The use of force in the battle field on the part of the East India Company, remained minimal after the Battle of Buxar in 1764, and no major confrontation took place until Awadh was fully annexed and made a part of Company's domination in 1856.

11.2 DECLINE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE AND THE RISE OF THE SUCCESSOR STATES IN NORTH INDIA

AS you have already read in the earlier Units, the process of Mughal decline stapsd in the beginning of the 18th cenrurv and the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739 sealed the fate of Mughal rule.

Thking advantage of this weakness of the central authority a large number of inidependent and semi-independent states arose all over India-some as a result of thk assertion of autonomy by governors of h4ughal provinces and others as the product ot rebellion against Mughal authority. In North India, Awadh, Rohillas, ' BritiPh Expansion- Jats and Sikhs were the prominent examples. These powers competed and North India sometimes collaborated w~theach other and with the British in order to consolidate and expand their dominions. Even though the actual power and author~tyof the Mughal house over its subordinate ruling grouvs declined, Mughal sovereignty was still universally recognized. All powers seeking to establish their rule in the 18th century India needed to acquire imperial titles and rights. Reasons for this were more material than simply a belief in the divine major tradition for the incumbent regional ruler trying to be king to imitate. Secondly, the Mughal rule had trained'executive and financial.officials whiob the re$onal ~lersmuld n& do. Thirdly, and tHis was more important in the statcs like Awadh, the local rule was initially established in the name of the Mughals and any formal repudiation of Mughal authority would have incited the taluqdars to assert their independence.

1 1.AWADH: FROM SUBSIDIARY ALLIANCE TO ANNEXATION

The Company's fortunes improved dramatically when Clive in collaboration with the idluential Indian merchants and nobels, defeated the nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-Daula in 1757 at Plassey and installed a puppet nawab, Mir Jabar, in his place. bngal, one of the weakhiest provinces of India, proved an extraordinary advantage to the British. The massive Rs. 30 million land revenues, secured by good natural irrigation, were deployed not only to support the poorer presidencies of Bombay and Madras but also to recruit more army and enrich its servants. The results were obvious when the Company's armies defeated a combined force of Mir Kasim, Shuja-ud-Daula (the nawab of Ayadh), and the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam El. From that time the company became most dominant power in the subsontinent. By securing from the Emperor the grant of Diwani or the right to collect ~evenueof Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and by forcing a subsidiary alliance on the Awadh Nawab, the Company at once legitimised its position in india and created a buffer between its tertitoties and the more turbulent regions of Western India.

The army which fought the British in Buxar in October 1764 was basically an Awadh army composed of the Mughal, Durrani and local AwadM troops. Lacking in a centralized command and prone to mercenary activities like the looting of both the Company's and NawabS baggage trains right id the midst of the battle, this army symbolised the awadhi society as a whole. The Awadh elites consisted of three basic strata, each different from the other in tradition and culture-, i! The Awadh dynasty and many of its highest officials were Shia Muslims who were an insignificant part of the population and considered themselves as part of the Mughal imperial service elite; ii) . the castes of scribes Kayasthas and ~ha'ttris.who predomhated in the Awadh administration. . i iii) the Raiput and Brahmin landholders who were dohinants as 4041 zamindars though. they ha& very limited place in the provincial administration.

It is not only the tengons between the central and local power, but also the assertion of independence, particularly by the zamindars, which tended to weaken the regime. About eighty percent of all the zamindars, both Hindus and Muslims, asserted that they. had been established in their estates prior to the arrival of Saadat Khan, the founder of the Awadh dynaaty. Thus, the vast majority of the landholders saw themselves as prior to, and largely independent'of, the provincial rulers of Awadh.

In this situation, it was not surprising;hat %adat Khan, upon his appointment as subedar af Awadh, aMed always in the name of the Mughal Emperor and began his *a..- .-.f ..fC..- ..,:*l. .. -.. ..:*:..- -..- -GI.:" -..--. :-..- -* .I... L--2 -4- - -:I:* ..--. . " British Conqunt exped~llctla 11111 III, %I I I I,,I( IIVC.~its [egitirnacy from titr \I 8, 11.11..III~ c,tttrlcrd and Consolidation it locally tlilo11p11,11(1\t I,! \II~.II~I~I.Whpg.they wese dekalcd .I~I.I.~~~I~IIII,LI~I by the British after 1704 alld wllci~tl~cy rept&ated the Mughal autlltlt~t~III IXlY, the Awadh rulers were left with little else to generate Loyalty among tlbcir subjects. Even when they assumed the leadership of the revolt against the British in 1857 in Awadh. they had to act in the name of the Mughals.

1 I

1.4 THE ~E~YEFITSQP SU~SID~ARYALLIANCE I ~d.Td&&AST 1~4ibl;iklj&p~~jl

I Although Shuja-ud-Daula was restored to Awadh, he was firmly bound to the 4 Company by a treaty which provided for mutual defcnrc (IXII~for by the nawab), trade free of duty for the company in his territory, and I\I\ ~,.~vrnentof Rs.5,000,000 1 as war debts. The ramifmtions of this treaty proved ~II~BIII~I~~ISfor the history of not only the parties involved but of all of north India. 1 Under the subsidiary alliance, the Nakab agreed to the permanent stationing of a contingent of British force in his territory and paid Rs. 210,000 per month per brigadc. Ilv illso agreed to the posting at his COIJJ? of a Brithh Resident and gave assuralltc 111.11 he would not employ any European in his service without the consent of the 111111\11

The S~,I~III Residency proved very crucial in the yea; to &me. By the elitension of extl-:~ct.~111orial pro~cc~ion. by the administration of guaranteed pensions and by the provlslon of ho11oul.h ;lnd preferpent, the Resideqt attracted a circle of important dcpendcn1.r ;III~sh made himself a new power centre at the ~wdh Capital.

Extraterritoriality, co~~pledwith the resour& of hiinpower and money mobilised in Awadh proved cr11c.1.1tIII r-e.clrawingthe politid map of ldi.The armies,recnrited from Awad h ;I 11c1 Iill~.;r, .1111\\~~pported by the money exacted fkm the people of Bengal and rulc-Is 4 $1 t+.1tl11 11~1~~1the Company in winning epeated victories over the Marathas altd I llc 51h11.r a ntl led to its emtrgmm as the paramount power in , India. It also liclpcd tllc Company to keep Awadh in check by providing extraterritorial protecrion to the dissidents from the jurisdiction of the Awadh ntlers thereby creating a constituency loyal to the Company. The Company, through the Resident starionad at the Awadh capital, ha-wi~gly mcroached upon tllc powers of the ~b60 much 80 that by the beginning of the ninetesnth cenrcll\ III.II~V of the hi* official.% cou$crs a@ tbe htgc laodh$d~of the province tct~,r#-~~I,, ~cptrse their faith in the Cbmp%$ adconsi&d'jf as tQt real source (11 pt B u r I t .vcn -rcig& of tlL Nawabi family,, &&i~.d-~d:$& Saadat Ali Khitt~.lclled on Compqnf'~intcnyntion for securing: thc $wition of nawabi. The Company, therefore, tiY, ei&h&n and show form, had ircq~ited . of . so much authority that 'the annexitic;h of Awadh in 1856 became a logical conclusion. .,

1- 11.5 @NCRE)ACH~&N~.SBY T& COMPANY AND RESISTANCE BY %'HE AWADH REGIME : 1765- 1775

Inspite of their subordinate status within the subsidiary Ahnce system, the Awadh rulers asserted their independenbe in many rps~.~~~~pd-DaulaIIdespite company's protests, managtd tq,rake an m-d L@,ODO, all uB;fB;fornreb_an(ttrain& in Buropean fashion. He also di6ii thc FnnCh'&ffii,nwhbr@ 430 and , - wntrolling an advanced anikry Mi. Wqed~,&.a .-aaY.$-kclp. Rohitkhand and Etswa in 1774. Hi6 most impOrt+h€ ?a sfnsbtwm, howeta.Was in restri~tingthe trade by tb Compsdy adothcr Europtsny~in Awdh tenim. Evcn when the Treaty of ~llahabad.btwekn the Btithh and thc Nawab was drawn up in 1765, Shuja had objected strongly to Article 8, which allowed duty-l~c.~.11.1t1c. by English merchants and their agents in his territory. But he was persuaded to allow merchants and their agents who held ~om~an~dastaks, or permits, to enter and set up business. This soon led to abuses which Shuja had feared. These traders, although exempted from tariffs as such, increasingly refusid to pay any transit and Sales duties, interfered with indigenous ma~ketsand acted generally as if they were free from the nawabi & of law. baced with Nawab7s strenuous protests, the Company banned all its own traders and agents and withdrew all protection from free merchants in Awadh and .Benaras in May 1768.

The profits from this trade were so good for the British merchants that \omr 01 them went back to England to agitate against the ban. Their prcssurc lo~ct-cl1111. East Indis Cornpap8 Court of Directors in Loqdon to lift thc ban in 1 77 1 SIIIIJJ again objected and threatened to withdraw from the Alliance. The new (;o\c~nor- General, Warren Hastings, had no option but to promise that "no Englisli gentleman should reside in his country and thit I would never interfere in illlv flisputes between the English gumashtas and his peoplew. The importance of this meeting between Warrtn Hastings and Shuja-ud-Daula in i 1773 in Benaras was that it erected a trade barrier that closed Awadh to the commercial penetration of the East India Company until 1801.

11.5.1 Wakening of Anadhb ~efenees:1775-1M)l After the death bf ~hiija-ud-hulaia 1775, his son hx;t titl-I >ilula tried to gain control of Awadh. Since the Mughal practice denied an) cly~lasticcontinuity at the provincial level, A*f-gd-Daula had to vie with other aspirants for the same p~sition.In this struggle he struck a compromise with the East India Company which, while securing the Nawabi for him, proved to be very hannful fop the state. . . in the new treaty, ~saf-~d-~iula,in order to save his $haky position, made a number of concessions to the Company. He added to it the Benaras re4ion. agreed )o pay an increase of 50,000 rupees, nearly a quarter more than the previous sum, hch month as subsidy for the Company's brigade in Awadh. He also agreed to the bismissal and expulsion of all Europeans in his service or living in Awadh, unless bllowed by the Company. He had to place his relationship with the Company above ws ties to the Mughal Emperor. Thus from the beginning of his reign, Asaf-ud- pula had to adniit and adjust himself to 'defacfo dependence on the East India Company. .

pus, the Company took advantage of the dissension in the ruling clan to further consolidate,its position in Awadh. Soon, its demands rose to such heights that the Awadh ruler could not satisfy them. Now the Company demanded tankhwahs, or assignments of revenues from specifiled lands,_so that thc officials who, collected the land revenues for those territories would transfer them directly to the Company, thus bypassing the Awadh regime. This drew the Company deeply into the ,Awadh administration. The Company specified the districts it wished to be assignd, involved itself i'n the appointment of revenue agents in those:districts, tried to pversee their activities and account books, and frequently e-dorced their demands through the use of the Company's troops. Company's interference in the affairi of state became even more marked gfter Ads death in 1797. Wazir Ali, Asaf-ud-Daula.5 son and proclaimed heir,s$f$ not suit the Company because of his anti-Company views. He was deposed in hdry1798 by the Company and a group of nobles in the Awadh court. .%adat Ali Khan, the installed Nawab, thus became the second Nawab after AsliCud-DauIa to assume power with the assistance of the Company. But his pcrsrtlon was even more dependent. He initially agreed to cede vast territorier; ((I the Company. But latqr on the Company preferred cash to land. The annual subsrdy 10the Company's troops stationed in Awadh was iwreased by 20 lakh rupees bringiqg the annual payments to a minimum of 7,600,000 rupees. Further, the new Nawab was obliged to pay 1,2W),000 rupees to the Company for the costs qf its exertions in pating him in his -nrha...'n rl-rrn C:rnll., *ha Wa...aL nrr,-.n-+arl *LI* all a---am-m..~n-% l.n+.,,nn- *ha > ," . British Conquest and Consolidation Nawab Saadat n and any foreign power of state. shall be carried on with the knowledge and concurrence of the Cop~pany."Thus, the new Awadh ruler was reduced financially and isolated diplomatically. -1145.2 The Treaty of 1801 Not satisfied with this. the new Governor-General, Lord Wellesley. forced the Naivab to sign a new treaty in 1801, according to which he had to cede the Doab, Gorkhpur and Rohilkhand to the Company.

Besides territorially isolating him. the new treaty had three important provisions which worked towards the final elimination of the Awadh regime: i) The Awadh army was drastically reduced to less than one-tenth of its previous size. 4 ii) The Company took responsibility for defending the Awadh territories "against all foreign and domestic enemies." jii) The Awadh ruler was required to "establish in his reserved dominions such a 4 system of administration, to be carried, into effect by his own officers, as shall be conducive to secure the lives and property of the inhabitants; and His Excellency will always advise with and act in confromity to the council of the officers of the said Honourable Company."

This third*provision was subject to various interpretations and formed the primary I bash for annexation of Awadh in 1856. 1 11.5.3 Decline and Fall of the Awadh Dynasty: 1881-1856 'Besides slowly annexing territories from the Awadh rulers the Company was also suc~ssfullybuilding an alternative source of authority inside Awadh. Through the, right of extending extraterritorial protection, the successive Residents tried to build a substantial constituency for the Company which extended from bottom to the top. The sepoys from Awadh, enlisted in or retired from the Company's armies, reprqsented the lowest rung of it. The Taluqdars who were displaced by the action of tHe Nawabs and who successfully appealed to the Company for the restoration of I their lands formed the middle of the ladder. The friends and relatives of the deposed or u~successfulwere the highest in order to whom Company's protection extended. British legitimacy had become so convincingly established by the turn of the 19th century that as high a person as Bahu Begum mother of Asaf-ud-Daula, appealed to it and made a will in Company's name to the effect that all her property would go to the Company after her death, minus selected endowments for a tomb, dependents and the obligatory gift to the holy Shrine at Karbala. When the Nawab, Saadat Ali, objeqted to this indiscrimate use of protection. the Resident declared "that your Excellency's denial of my title to intercede... is, in my judgement, totally inadibissible."

Thus/ by creating an alternative and superior political position for itself in Awadh, the qompany undermined the legitimacy of the Awadh rulers. It further sought to denigrate the Mughal status by urging the ernpim's constituent pans, the various '~giooalrulers. to assert their juridical as well as actual independence from him.

~lthdu~hAwadh had now become virtually dependent on the Company, the latter still n~ecdeda show of independence on the pan of its rulers for its own larger desigfis. The Company official encouraged Ghazi-ud-Din Haider to declare his iodepndence and repudiate ?he sovereignty of the Mughal Emperor in ib19. By decla~ingformal independence the Nawab set an example. He unwittingly cleared the coast for the British who were in a position to emerge as an alternativeall-lndia sourct of authority replacing the Mughals. Now all that remained for the Company was to down-grade and humiliate the Nawabemperor to prove its superiority. The imperial pretensions of the Awadh rulers were only in name, but-they were forced to retract even in these matters. While Ghazi-ud-Din Haider had used the title,Pbdshah-i-Ghazi (Emperor of the Warriors for Faith) and Shah-i-Zarnan (Lord of the!Age), his son and successor Nmir-&-Din Haider was forced by the Company to change these to the more circumscribed Padshah-i-Awadh (Emperor of Awadh) and Sbh-i-Jahan (Lord of the World). The latter titk was abo objected to and the ruler was allowed lo use il only in domestic correspondrnces. This way the I British Expnnsion- Company kept on encroaching on the material and rnoral domains of the Awadh North Indir rulers so much so that tlie annexation of 1856 became a logical conclusion. As we have seen earlier (See Section 11.5) the Resident took over administration of Awadli as- tlie Chief Cotnmissioncr.

Check Your Progress 1 '1 1) What were the sourcrs of weakness of the Awadh regime'? (10 lines)......

...... 2) The vast majority of landholders in Awadh: a) worked towards integration of the kingdonn of Awadh. b) woiked towards stability of Awadh. c) wanted to unitedly defeat the Company forces. d) saw themselves as prior to and ,largely independent of the provincial rulers of Awadh. 3) Why did the East India Company thrust on the Awadh Nawab subsidiary Alliance?

,-. 11.6. EXPANSION IN OTHER PARTS OF NORTH *INDIA

After the conquest of Etawah and Rohilkhand by Shuja-ud-Dwla in 1774 and the incorporation of Rohilkhand in the Company's territory in 180 . only the Punjab, besides Awadh, was left as the major power in north India. a, After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in June 1839, the Punjab was beset by political instability and rapid changes in the government, Kharak'Singh, Nav Nihal Singh, Chand Kaur, Sher Singh and finally Dalip Singh were bropght to the throne in quick succession. Conspiracy and intrigues were widespread and the ariny played a major role in all these changes in the government. Prolonged and bldody battles were generally fought to bring the claimant to the throne or to dislodge the incumbent. British Conquest I I .().I The British Interest in Punjab and Consolidation t: fir111~~lcc the lS30s the British were interested in the Punjab. When Sir Henry

1 111, 1111 ( 'tb~ll~iiandar-in-Chiefof the British I'orces was invited to attend the

a Ir I I.I~.(cIclllony of Ranjit Singh's grandson, hp used this occasion to make an

I 3 ,II.~I(-01 tllc lorces necessary to overcome the Punjabi army, Ay.1111I IIT possibility

$11 .I r~~~l~taryoccupation of the Punjab was discussed by the Gobc~rltll ( I(-~lcral Ellenborougll with the Home Government in October 1843. RIII 1:' . I fllc

tkeak'state of the British Indian army after 5 years' war in Algl1.1111.I I* 111\ lliilitary action against the powerful Punjab army was considered inadv~\.~l)lc 11.6.2 The Mode of Conquest of Punjab The Briti'sh, however, found their opportunity soon as the repeated changes in the bovefnment of the Punjab, thbcorruption among the ofl'icials, general indiscipline in the army and the disenchantmeht of the mercantile class and Lahore'\ pop111;111on lbwefed the morals of the rulers and ruled alike. Moreover, they fot~lldIIIIOOI Iilllt allies in the higher rungs of the Punjab government, e.g., Prime MIIII\I(.II~;II;I I.al S~ngh,the Commander-in-Chief Misar Tej Singh, a leading Sardar 01 IIIC I ;~llorc ~IIIIh;ir Dogra Raja Gulab Singh etc.

I Ill., i~lllilncewith the high-placed men in ttw ;IIIII\ ,~ndthe governnicllc N;I\ lo

111 t,\r b~ucialfor the British, when the fi~\tW;II 1)ctween the Comp.~ll\.111tl [lie I'1111ldhwas declared on 13 December 1845 I hv ('ompany's army \\.I\ .11111ohl routeb, but for the supineness of La1 Singh. I;II Sltlgh, wrote CUIIIIIII~~I;IIII,lailed. tbe ~/kharmy at a critical moment. "When the artillery am mu nit lo^^ ol ~hcEnglish dad fhiled, when a portion of their forces was retiring upon ~ero~eiur,and when no exertion could have prevented the invaders-from retreating likewise, if the Sikhs had boldly pressed forward." *

yecause of such failure of leadership, the formidable Punjab army W;I\ tlclcated in a series'of encounters and was forced to sign the humiliating treaty (11 I .llio~eon 8 harcb,'1846. The British annexed the Jalandhar Doab and handed (#\(.I1.1mmu and Kashinir to Raja Gulab Singh for a cash payment of five million rupccs. l'he Punjab drmy was reduced to 20,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry and a strong British force was stationeq at Lahore. Later, another treaty was signed on 16 December 1846 which gave the British Resident at Lahore extensive authority (thrbugh a council of ~cgthc~)over all matters in every department of the state; the British stationed their [roops in Punjab, and the expenses were to be paid by the Lahore government. 1 All these, however, did not satisfy the Brit~\l~I'licir ultimate aim was direct rule over unjab. So, when the Diwan of hlu11,11110\1. In revoIt (1848) against the LaboP e Darbar, which was then uhder tllc (11,~I ~onof the British, the latter gave ~t etrery'opportunity to spread. And when I( tl~tf\pcc.rd and others joined in, they * welcomed it. The Governq-General Lord I);~Il~rr\~sic,wrote to the Home Govebment, "The rebellion of Raja She1 SII,~~,lollowed by his army, the rebellit. df Satdar Chattar Singh with the Darbar ;ltnl\ under his command, the state of the trooph arid of the Sikh population everyw11clr;have brought matters to that crisis I fiave ar months been looking for; and we are now not on the eve, but in the midst . of warf. w~th the Sikh nation and the kingdm of the Punjab." In the campaign of 1849 the Sikh f~rceswere decisively defeated an4 Punjab we f anneked. hs the British swallourk$ up the v&y kingdom they'dre sup$ogprr : pfotett.

...... : . . . . ., Check Your Progess 2 . ~ 1) Write a brief note on rankhrvah or assignments. >...... , $%'hatwere the means by kl~icl;the East 1ndl.l :asit 1. , .,p~:ica! c )r;tic,l rn .4wadh?

) What \\ere the factors wlii-h i~elpedthe Ei glish tc. \u!-jt~g,~c PunJ& s.'

( We have studied in this vnit the reasons why the Englisfi @st India t~llrpitnywas ' I able to subjugate tbb m6,trr re&onat principlities i;-iiort$ Ihdia, Aw;~tlh:tnd Punjab. Wh& tb ruirr~cl.powers in'&adh i.ap'if;ilakd~ftzadi~yt~'Bnttalr prssures,

and thou6 AM& bas annexed in 1856 by the Bitish, it.was nbt so easy L6 pacify , the people who k&e in revolt in 1897. The dkplacernept which t$e stow penkfraiioh of the Cbmpany bad mused all over the hovince and the shock the

an&xafiofi administered made large sections of Awadh pop&tion including theem tatldho~ders,'peslsantsafd sepoys extremery resentful to the Compahy's rule: " %* - 3 .

Cwck Your progrew 1 .' 1) 'See Sec. 11 .*"' 2) d; 1) ,see Sec. 11.4

1 ZJ See Sec. 1 I$. You would trace the role eyq '& f~rce.diplomacy and anempp *h, . . ; 'L 8 . 'a. i(. -: I%.. '..A a " 1 i - Pa, ' *+82 ;. ~keSu&s&.!~.$;i. .

I British Conquest and Consolidation

I

Map2 The Sequence of Territorial Acquisition In Indla by the Brifbb UNIT 12 BRITISH EXPANSION BEYOND INDIAN FRONTIERS

Structure 12.0 Objectives 12.1 Introduction 12.2 East India Company's Trade 12.2.1 Tradc with India 12.2.2 Tradc with China 12.2.3 General Causes of Expansion 12.3 Straits Settlements L 12.3.1 Penang 12.3.2 Sumatra 12.3.3 Singapore 12.3.4 Straits Settlements-Cmwn colony 12.4 Burma 12.4.1 Anglo-Burmese War-I 12.4.2 Anglo-Burmese War-ll 12.5 Lesser Settlements : 12.5.1 Borneo and Phillipincs 12.5.2 Andaman and Nicobar 12.5.3 Sri Lanka 12.5.4 Mauritius 12.6 Nepal 12.7 Afghanistan 12.8 Let Us Sum Up 12.9 Key Words 12.10 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

12.0 OBJECTIVES

his Unit aims to acquaint you with the story of English colonial expansion outside India. It involves a brief description of colonising efforts and an explanation as to how and why this happened. After you have read this Unit you would: learn the general causes of the English trade and expansion outside India discover how and where the East lndia Company expanded thew influence, and understand how in the areas they did not directly capture, they still wielded considerable influence.

12.1 INTRODUCTION

In earlier Units you have already read about the nature of imperialism. You have also read about the manner in which the resources of Bengal were used to conquer the rest of lndia and enrich the owners of the East lndia Company. This Unit hopes to make you more familiar with the constant expansion that characterises colonialism, and the use of the wealth of one colony to'expand and consolidate control over another.

The East India Company used the resources of India to consolidate its position over the lands of South and South-East Asia. Using India as a base, English control during the period 1757-1857, was established from Sri Lanka in the South, ~auritiusin the South-West, Afghanistan in the North-West, Nepal in the North, to .Andaman and Nicobar, Burma, Malaya, and Phillipines in the South-East. Only mainland Asia-China, Siam, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam-was left relatively untouched. But there too, as in the case of China, the English wielded considerable influence after 1842. The $tory 01 this expansion is closely linked with the fortuncs ;tnd ;t.\l)~r;~tlonsof the ~n~lishEast lndia Company in India and in China. It might tl~rreforebe useful to recount in brief the relevant portions of the history of thv ('o~lrpany.

12.2 EAST INDIA COMPANY'S TRAIII;.

Maintaining active trade with India and China at the salrw I~IIIV.\CI LC~ a very useful

purpose for the Company. They could use the Indian produc I:. 1111 ~ltcChinese market and thereby maximise their profits. But there were o111cl tlulltrll.tnt hchefits also. Let us look at the details of the trade. 12.2.1 Trade with India You have already read how, through the battles of Plassey (1757) and Buxar (17649 the East India Company had acquired the de jure control of the province of Bengal which became the first substantial area in the Asian mainland to pass under direct British control.

By the 1770s, Bengal had been milked dry, its economy was in shambles. Consequently the profits of the East India Company declined and the Company started reporting massive losses. Such losses were doubly troublesome because not only did they hurt the dividends of the powerful shareholders of the Company in ,England but also jeopardised the extremely lucrative trade with China. Chinese tea, silks, and nankeens sold at a high profit in Europe and the Company had the Engllsh monopoly over tius trade; but the Chinese at this time sold their goods only in dschange of silver; and the \ilver had been provided mostly by Bengal. The. Comipany therefore had to request a loan IIOIII the Englihh parliametlt to overcome these losses. In return the parliament insisted on having some say in the running of the Company, and forced it to accept the Regulating Act of 1772.

In the meanwhile, in England, the industrial revolution wb gaining strength and indu?strial interests were 'demanding the revocation of the trade monopoly over the Ea\r which the Company enjoyed. Minimally, they insisted, that they togbe given a shurt: of the markets that the Company exploited. In Indie, at the same tiine,*the Conlpany was increasingly ~ttinginvolved in costly armed conflicts wi~hIndian statas over the control of land, and its financial base waq gradually shifting from trade and eommerke to land revenue, from the business of hets the businks of govqmment.

- 123.i 'Trade. . with China . , ~hile.t.he:~om~&n~was establishing itself m.India it had a.growingtrade'with China. 9s in India, su in China-the Company had tfie monopoly over. tr'ade. 8. . The ikomAny*sfirst trade contact witi-china yi established, in 170 1. In !he next flftr ykirs'it had greown intg g: profitable trade in silks, nankecna and tei. But from the ~orn~~ni'spoint of'view {hire .ere- two ke); prdble;s fiicetl-by t5is [!adti: 1. : e 7har the chines contio~ledit c1isely by.re.ricting!t to the port city .' .dt'$n~Gn: uua

t~t?Chinose traded mostly jn eidhanie of sitvet, and prdfirred thq.Spanish silver dbliar &de-&f silver. . . aver the treap&$of~rf&l.in4k7had.pr6$&d.a suhsiantial soluhoh to the kc04broblem. B& .by 1769, tbe kealth of Reqg&i wa.sev"erriY dcp16ted In lhf foll?~in~'~ear~the ~/mPa"y. sought' tb pa" for the China ir-itdc-Hy * replaci$g&ttver qith the -~piumgown in ttie: Malya region of Centr+l lridia; and

by obtaiqing-high-priced spices from South-East Asia for sale 111 China and Europe. The latter impelled the Company fo expand itself into South-East Asia. Bfitish Expansion Beyond 12.2.3 General Causes for Eirpansion Indian Fruntim English-inteiest inaexpansion~utside India, it ~aybe said, was inf3uenctd by two majbr factors : Markets and supplies: tkneed to find hew markets for goods procured in India, for supp13s to be exchangd in trade with.China, and for material that would come in;handy for equipping and feediqg the English military in South and South-East Asia;

, Strat%ic: the need- to safeguard.fhe Indian empire. and the trade .rou@s to 'China and India. To, this cquldobt! added two minor'facto~s:one, the compulsions oi British fdreign pdicy in Europg: and'two, the9irherests and po~ieiksof thc burtbucracy in India. Of chrse, the !elhive importing? of these fa.cttor vallt.al fro111 \~luationto situation as will be evidknt from the discussion in this; 111111

Check Your Proghss 1 1) Why did the East India Company need to expand outside India? Answer in fifty words.

...... i......

...... 2) Why was Bengal important in the China trade? Answer in fifty words.

The first EngKsh settlements oursldt Iridt;i.nere In t\ic qrra~tsof .valacca. I'hese, 11; the nineteenth centuty, came to.be krlown as the ,Str;uts Settletnent$. 12.3:l Benang

Ip, 15!32,t&. first ~~li+-ship~the 'Edw&d Bonqemlup-, reached the isin; of .e Penang in the Stpits of Matacsa: qy 1,6bO,'t~leEntst lncl ip c:orii;a nyotla< zstgtdbhgd .twelve factories in the Mala'y archipelago. .But b; 1625: It. Iilt ;hat-'tht. ~lrilnyilsp16~s did not.~pr~;idt-of the Company's trade with China inc'rcasingly the need wbs Tell tcs.fin%a spfe porr nfcall.i5.tKeieqstern seas I+!t4ie,&it~ lll~li:i~~~ltl~';htbqi.r j.~>umcy~rn end Anrn Chink. ?he decision, t< seribuslt. >expandlo;t;ir95 Ilre $aq c

Thus in 1784, Fracla Pjihl, ng~iqon beipli ~d the East'indla C'nlnganl. argnrtt an agreement withthcLSultan of Le~l;ihp?!~lulng all 1-n{ltsl4 xvllalnm~or~dlic [\land ol Penam& ~h"eGll\l, in rstuln yrtrnwed to ht.lp rb:o'Sul*a"dn :1~111tar14!in ca\g 01 aftacks from his nei~hhau~~

megovernment of Madrat, ho~t~tir~clmed 10 rdtlr\ iht~dp1c5'n,cnl L171 JL=~I it121 I! would involve the company in unnccc.gsar\ udrs w~ll)~~nlRlldigjn~ in .~&~]u,ilc:.L!iTl\ At this the Sultan of Kedph trl-cd to retake Pi!~nt~g~h\!Il!rt.o 14,s ,.I?II~L~~, HL~HCLOI, Britbh Conqueel Were defeated by Fracia Light. In the subsequent treaty, signed in 1791, Penang was and Consolidation handed over to the English in return of an annual payment to the Sultan. The. bnglish were given control over a small strip of land on the Malayan mainland bpposite Penang. The Englislt were thus able to establish a major naval station on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal. The added advantage was that the trade in Sumatran pepper, about 60% of world produce in pepper, passed through Penang.

In 1805, penang was made into a presidency like Bombay and Madras, administered by a Governor. Bengal paid for the maintenance of the Settlement at Penang. Its over 50 British officers drew their salary from the Bengal-treasury and the average deficit of Penang during these years was paid by Bengal. 12.3.2 Sumatra In the meanwhile, in 1783, the British had also established contact with the Rugi rulers at Riau in Sumatra. The Company's governmcnt in Rengal felt that a settlement at Riau would safeguard the trade routes to China and make Riau an entrepot of archipelagic trade. But a Dutch attack on the Bugis in 1784, forced the East India Company to shelve its plans. , At this point events from Europe intervened. In 1787. in Europe, joint intervention by the English and Prussians ovethrew'the governmeot in blolland. The English asked the new government for the grant of control over 'l'rinconial~in Sri lanka and Riau-ail in return for certain commercial concessions In India and an understanding prohibiting British navigation east of Sumatra. The Dutch, I~owever, did not agree. In the meanwhile the F~enchrevolution took place and the armies of the Flrnch revolution, in 1794. werran Holland. The new Dutch government was hostile to the English. The English on their part retaliated by conquering the Dutch possessions in India, Sri Lanka, west coast of Sumatra, Molucca, 'Menado in Sulawesi, Malacca, and Riau. No action was taken against the Dutch possession of Java because by the second half of the 1790s the Governor-General in India, Wellesley, had involved the Company in costly wars within India and the French seemed to threaten India I'roni Egypt in the West. However, when the Dutch in Europe allied once again with Napoleon then the Board of Control, in Auguqt 1810, instructed the Governor- General Minto, to expel the Dutch from Java in order to prevent the Frenchpm having another base in South-East Asia. Over a hundred ships and 12,000 men from India were used to establish English co~itroiover Java. The restoration of peace and friendly relatidns with the Dutch in ~hro~eafter 1813, made for a reordering of the conquests in South-East Asia. The English retairred Sri Lanka and Penang for strategic reasons. But by now the co~nmercialimportance of the archipelago had come down because clove and nutmeg, the two important spices of the archipelagic trade were now cultivated outside the Moluccas too. Moreover, the opium grown in Malwa was fast replacing all othcr goods in the China trade. The Dutch then were given back thcir colonies in the Straits. 12.3.3 Singapore Stamford Raffles, who had been the II,ieutenant Governor of Java during the period of English occupation, however, voiced tlw fear that if South-East was left to the Dutch they may wholly exclude English trade from the region. Hastings, the Governor-General in India agreed, and allowed Raffles to look for a suilable settlement in the Malayan archipelago. On intervening in the compl~catedinternal politics of the empire of Johore, Raffles was able to obtain permission from the Sultan ih February 1819, to.establish a garrison of the British ~nd~a~iarmy,and open English factories on the ~slandof Singapore.

The Dutch abjeitted severely to the English penetration of Singapore and threatened war. The DitpctOrs of the Company too thought that Raffles had done wrong in garrisoning'it, bvt nevertheless they waited for Hastings to explain his support for Rafflles. The explanation, however, carne from the profits that the settlement made and by I825 it ie~ularly~accountedfor almost two-thirds-of the trade passing through the Straits. -By 1824, then the British government persuaded the Dutch to allow the Sultan of Johore (who currently was under Dutch control) to cede the entire island to Great Britain. 12.3.4 Straits Settlements- Crown Colony Finally, in 1867, the th& major pbits constituting the Straits Settlements-Penang, Malacca, Singapore-were separated from the Indian administration and brought under the direct control of Britain. Expansion into the Straits then had been influenced by a mixture of strategic and commercial reasons. India provided the men and money for expansion. She also, as in the case of Penang, bore the financial burden of maladministration; but profits to the Company, such as they were made in Singapore, were not brought to India but instead went to England.

12.4 B'URMA

Thy case of Burma involved the interplay of a different set of comkrcial and . strategic reasons. Burma exported some costly items like tin, pepper, and ivory. More importantly it was a major supplier of timber for the small but important ship-building and repair industry based in Calcutta. Also, towards the end of the eighteenth century the deltas of the Irrawady river became important suppliers of rice to the growing settlements in the South-East a;ld to Bengal.

Early on, in 1753, the East India Company had tried to establish a settlement at Negrais on the coast of lower Burma. In 1758-59, the Burmese king Alaungpaya, ' with some justification, accused the English of helping Burmese rebels, and in 1759, had all the English at Negrais killed. The Company's Directors, on their side did not react to the situation because they had decided that Negrais was after all not worth its cost. After that the Company kept clear of Burma for about twenty years. There was very little contact between the English and the Burmese. Towards its Asiin neighbours, however, Burma continued to be very aggressive. In 1823-24, the Burmese military, pursuing rebels, entered and occupied Assam and Manipur and prepared to attack Chittagong. These territories of Assam. Manipur, and Chittagong, however, were claimed by the English in India. The resultant attack by British Indian army on Burma has come to be known as the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26).

12.4.1 Anglo-Burmese War-I In 1824, the English attacked Burma, three regiments of the Bengal army, however, mutineed when they were asked to march across Chittagong into the neighbouring Arakan region of Burma. The main attack there was led from the sea. The,Burmese forces were easily defeated. The king was forced to accept a peace treaty (Treaty of Yandabo, 24 February 1826) which gave the English control over Assam, Manipur,' Arakan, Tavoy, and Mergui. Thus the'king lost most of his coast and was left with upper and central Burma, Pegu, and the mouths of the Irrawady. He was forced to ayept a British Resident at his capital and pay an indemnity of & 1,000,000. The war had involved 40,000 men of the British Indian army of which 15,000 died. The expenses of the invasion were also very high. 112.4.2 Anglo-Burmese War-I1 'The Resident, however, claimed that the Burmese did not treat him with dignity and left in 1839. In the meanwhile the China trade had expanded, English settlements'in South-East Asia too had enlarged considerably, and therefore the English needed easier access to Burmese timber to repair ships and to the Irrawady rice bowl to feed settlers. In 1852, then, t e Governor-General Dalhousie decided to attack Burma on the pretext of restoring 9.the dignity of the English. The Second Anglo-Burmese War started in 1852, and by 1853 the English had annexed Pegu and the region up to Toungoo. The Burmese king ~hdonMin was forced to shift his capital to Mandalay. The English had thus gained control over the entire coast of the Bay of Bengal. Later in the century, in 1885, the English fina1.l~annexed the whole of British. Conquest Burma on the pretext that kiqg Thibaw Min was a tyrant and intriguing with the and Conscrltdati~n French inaVietnam'to Weaken English control over Asia. Bbrma was made into a 1) province of British Jndirp.

- r 1 ck Your Progress 2 Write five lines on the two Anglo-Burmese Wars.

Read the following statements and mark right (d)or wrong (X). i) By the treaty of 1791, the British paid 6000 a year to the Sultan of Kedah. ii) British wanted a settlement in Sumatra to safeguard their trade routes to China. iii) The British wanted to control the Straits Settlement, mainly to teaoh a lesson to the Dutch.

Lkder &ttle?ent~ or satlements 06 cdajively-mirier sttategjc impottan~eintruded tk'neigh-bduri'ng ar^eas of Borneo andAPHiUip.$es,.hda'mman.afldflicubar.i&and, Sri Lafiks and Nfaurif'lus. Thsst! sett1krnent;"half ~ttsacfdthe artention of otHer colonlal po~ers'ab~-~ikeHdlladd, Spain, '~ianceand ~e~lnia;k.Let us look at tbe British efforts ih these areas. .-. . . - 12.5.1 Borneo and Philtipihes In fXU, tolie.English East India Company established a fortified factory at @trljerma$n on the'solth coast of Borneo primr~rilyto trdde'in kPwr.Rut their intdderenee iR.lo$aI affairs soon made them iinp6pular a$'in 1707, they were driwen.out. English sKips.mai~rtaineda desultbry corit'act with Borneo.tiLI 1356, when t'k Dutch mknagad to rstabl~bha m,\nopsly over pepper exports. Afttr tha: the pext hgl~shattempt to-settle in Bo~noo.crimein 1762. dunnk 'the &!en Ye;rtsqWar in Europe Whrn Sem d24a"rei war on. Ehj$a.nd, In 1762 an ' Engli>h.expedittrv was s&t. lrom*Bengttl the Sy+nisli calony of ~h~tl[~inksIt caprured Manild 1" October .l%2., In M>& the fingiish treed the Sultan of Sulu whq was being kept a'prison'er b> tk~panb\b, In gritrtude.~heSultar~ ceded the isla~dof Balanibang~n~towards the nor.tt1 of Borneo to .t he F~iglish.Man1l.d bas resto~edto the Sp .n~.i.hin 1964, .by the Tlaat.) oT F~LS(dgd in 1763) which concluded the ?+\ton Ycals'War, on condftion that Ihf Rnyal Phllliptnes Conapany would purchase Indian lextdes exclusiwely trota EngJlsh werchants A fort 613i!t k\ Baiambahgan was attacked and dp$troyedbq the locals ID1775 Subsequently the Company deeided that Borneo and the Phillipnes bere simply not worth the effort of keepingathem and ddd not try to rekettle there. It-rncefo~thit cunflned nlost of ~ts trade and colonizing eflorms an she Sbrdltd Settlements. 12.5.2 Andman and Nicbbap Isknch ,6 OtHer Minor Settlements of the Company .in tile Indian Ocean ~ncludedthe . ~ndamanand Nicobar Isl;\nds, Sri La*, and Mauritius.

Both the Anciamanoand Ncobar Islands an4Sri Lanka.owned their importance to their strategic location dong the trade coutes to China. In 1789, the English established a settlemcrit ,at Port Blair at the'~ndarnanand0~icobar Islands t~ service the ships on the China route. But when the "Company acquired Yenang and . Triacomali, it abondoned Port Blair in 1796. Thereaft ,r the Cornpan\ rrwttleci Port , BrHiah Expansion Bey& Blair in 1857 as a penal colony. In the meanwhile Denmark had annoxctf Nicobar Wan Fronth Island in 1750, and established a small colony trading in coconul, hr.t~.lnlrl. and birds' not I IIC English removed the Danes in 1809, while acquir~~~r;III orllcr Danish- factoric.4 III I~ltl~a.

12.5.3 Sri Lanka The Dutch East India company had initially, in the seventee~ltl~cc~iiul-y, planned to have Colombo as the Dutch centre of power in the East. But by the cightcenth century the Dutch had established themselves in Java and Sri Lanka became of only local importance. The E~iglishtoo, then, let Sri Lanka be.

The Sri Lankan port of Trincomali had devcl?pt+ ;.- g' :eighteenth century, as an Indian Ocean roadstead involving coastal sh~pp~t~p:* :g rlce from Bengal, cowries from the Maldives, arecanut from Malabs.r@~ the spices, cardamom, and pepper over which the Dutch had a monopoly.

But when during the European wars of the 17905 [ l~cDutch government allied with the French, the English forced the Sri Lanki~~~I )111cl1 to leave. In February 1796, Sri Lanka passed from the hands of the Dutch ti) rl~c. I,r~glish,and in 1798, Sri Lanka was declared a crown colony-i.e. a colony adr~~ll~~\tcrcddirectly by the government in England, and not by the East India Comp;~l\vIrl Illdin. 12.5.4 Mauritius Like Sri Lanka, Mauritius, to the South-West ol I11d1;r in the Indian Ocean, was a colony with relatively minor economic importance. 111 172 1, the French East lndia Company occupied Mauritius and renamed it the Ilc dc France. It was developed as a naval station to attack ships of the English East India Company. During the second and third AnglobFrench wars Frcncl~Ships from Mauritius came to launch unsbcce&ifut attacks on the English at Madras and off the Cbromandel coast-. .

In 18 10, Mlnto the Governor-General, .drganized an exdediiiqn to' remove. the a French from..~utitius~..Aheickpture .t& +le de .Erance.was reyerkd back to,its earlier Dutch name-Ikiauritius; .and the:nam&,ofthe:neigl~bouring..lle dc'Bourbon Gas. changd to 'pepn&n. Ifowkvpr, the Comp'any did ,notVtakeIjp. the e~po$sibiiify of goverging the islaqds; thky were'handed ,over to'the British governmelrk~and' became a crone calony.

12.6 NEPAL

<-

On rnaialand South Asia English expansion outside 1tul1.1.c41rr111g our pqiod, was mainly confined to Nepal .and Afghanistan.

The fist intermti- of the East India Cmfpng in Negal came in 1767, when the Counoii in Calcutta ~r&Tedan attack from ~atnainto the.Nspa1 Valley. The-hills, 501. sometime past, had been qisturbed. The Gorkha chief Raja Paitbvi Narayan Shah had attacked the Nepal valley with the aim uf ~qyingthe kingship df Nepal. This had disrupted the wade between Nepd and Patna and tkrefore the Company asked Captain Kinloch of Patna to attack P~itit#ti~arayan Shah. The Gorkhas repulsed the attack.

In the fsllawing years the Gorkhas were able to Qef~the Malb rulers of Wepal and Prithvi Nafayan Shah kamethe king of Nepal. His successors signed an infroctuous ccsmmrreial Pmaty in 1792, with the East hdja Campany's representhlve at Patna.

By rhe end of the century-the English had kci,me a ro be reckoned wirh.m South Asia. Governor-General Wellesky had begun putsuing his scheme af. Sub&diaryAIliancein order to expend and consolidate the Cogpang's territ~riesA India. It was at this time, in 1801, rhgt the English sought to ob&n a treaty from Nepal (signed in October 1801) in which the Nepalese agreed to allow an English Resident at Kathmandu. The Resident wao under order io investigite the economy of Nepal, especially the supposed in-flow of gold from Tibet, and the rich timber and pine forests. But due to the hostility of the Nepalese government the Resident had to withdraw to India in March 1803. In the following decade the English and the Nepalese had numerous problems over the possession of border villages along the 1,100 kilometers long border that they shared.

In October 1814, then, Governor-General Hastings started the Nepal War. The Company's army led by Generals Marley, Ochterlony, and Wood and Colonel Nicolls, had -organized a concerted attack, hoping to engage the Nepalese all along the border. But they had underestimated the fighting process of the hill people. It took over a year for Nepako be defeated and agree, in the Treaty of Sagauli (December 1815), to leave the entire area of the Sutlej hills, Garhwal, and Kumaon in the hands of the English, and accept a Resident at Kathmandu once again. Having obtained the rich forests of the Terai region the bnglish decided that Nepal did not serve any further economic or strategic purpose. Henceforth they retained little interest in Nepal affairs.

12.7 AFGHANISTAN

Through the 1830% the officers of the Company insisted that Afghanistan was important as a buffer against Napoleonic France and Tsarist Russia. In 1836, Dost Muhammad, the then ruler of Afghanistan offered his friendship to the English in return for English help in re-possessing the Peshawar valley which Ranjit Singh, the Sikh ruler of Punjab had taken away from the Afghans. Governor-General Auckland, however, refused to intercede with Ranjit Singh and instead proposed that the Afghans promise not to ally with any other country like Russia, France, or Turkey. Dost Muhammad responded by showing signs of friendship towards Russia.

At this Aucldand planned to depose Dost by force. The Court of Directors concurred. The plan was put into action by Tripartite Treaty signed on 26 June 1838 between Shah Shuja an ex-ruler of Afghanistan, Ranjit Singh and the English. Fsllowing this treaty a force comprising the armies of the Company, Ranjit Singh and Shah Shuja was assembled to attack Kabul, depose, Dost Muhammad, and establish Shah Shuia on the throne.

The "Army of the lndus" as it was called captured Kandhar in April 1839, and Ghazni in July. Dost Muhammad was so disheartened by these defeats that he gave up the fight and fled to Bemian, a town to the North-West of Kabul. Shah Shuja was made the ruler of Afghanistan. British troops, however, instead of withdrawing to India began to garrison Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandhar, and Ghazni.

In the meanwhile, in September 1840, Dost Muhammad was able to get military help from the Wali of Kholoom. He attacked the English in September but failed. He was forced to surrender in November and was sent'to Calcutta as a prisoner.

In the spring of 1841, however, popular unrest against the Engllsh started. Open rebellion broke out at many points in September 1841. The English in Kabul town were killed and their cantonment beseiged. The same happened at Ghazni, Jalalabad, and Kandhar; and the entire Cdrkha batallion at Kohistan was done to death. In December finally, the English were forced to accept the humiliating condition of evacuating Afghanistan within three days. The retreating forces were in turn attacked on the snow covered passes and substantially annihilated. By May 1842, however, the Engllsh forces were able to regroup and re-establish . control over Jalalabad and Kandhar. Then with the help of reinforcements from India Kabul was re-taken in September. The costs of this victory were, however, too high. Quite apart from the cost in men and money, the Afghan War proved that the British lndian armies were not invincible and could be defeated with suitatjle tactics 8s those used by the hill tribes of Afghanistan. Henceforth the English dec~ded. cmfine themselves within the North-West Frontier and not venture into Afphan:. tan militarily. Check Your Progress 3 dlgrnsf~n Beyond 1) Why were the English interested in Burma? Answer in fifty words. Indian Frontla-

2) How did the officers of the Company justify the Afghan War? Answer in five lines. lines.

3) Why did the English lose interest in Nepal? Answer in five lines.

Map3 The Brlluh Indim Empire and the neighbourinp countria $2.8 LET US SUM UP - J '

In this Unit we saw that the English got interested in territories outside India to facilitate their trade by establishing control over lands as distant as the Phillipiner. Control over some places like '~auritiusand Sri Lank enabled them to further safeguard their 1ndian empire and its trade routes. And on occasions, as in the clw of Afghanistan and Nepal, the +Englishindulged themselves in adventures of didlomacy and war. The high CQS~of all these activities was borne by the Indian 'treasury and the Indian sepoy provided the necessary cannon fodder. It was mainly at the cost of India that England became the dominant power in the whole of South Asia and the Asian lands on the Indian ocean.

12.9 KEY WORDS ktIndiamen :The larg~armed cargo ships of the East India Company. Eatrepot :Starehouse, mart, commercial centre for the export, import, collection and distribution of goods. Fnnch revolotiomry wus : For two and a half decades starting c. 1790 the grmies of France wep involved in warfare all over Europe. Holland was one of the first cobntries to be conquered, the ruling regime was overthrown and p republican gmemment tpok over. This government co-operated with the French war effort till the final defebt of Napoleon in 1815. Indemnity : Qterally it means compensation for damages. In our context it refers to the damages claimed by the East India Company from a country defeated In war. Ninkan : Kitid of cotton cloth originally made in Nanking. the chief city of the province of Kiangu, in China. Nanking literally means 'southern capital" just as B&ijing (Peking) means "northern capitalw. apium and tbe China trade : In the late eighteenth antury -tern "countryw merchants (i.e. merchants. English and Non-English) who traded along the coasts of Asia but did not owe any formal allegiance to any of the ~Cornpanies)discowred a dpidly expanding illegal market for opium in China. In 1820 over 60,000 kilograms of opium was saluggled in. By 1830 the figure had crossed 2,000,000 kilograms per year and the Chinese had started paying for it in the Spanish sitver dollar. In 1835- 36. for example. China paid 4,500,000 dollar for this drug.

12.10 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS EXERCISES

cbeck Your Program 1 1) See Sub-sec. 12.2.3. 2) See Sub-sec. 12.2.1. Cbcek Your Frogram 2 1) See Sub-sec. 12..4.1 and 12.4.2. 2) i) ii) iii) X Cbedc your PIogen 3 1) See Sec. 12.4. 2) !&e Sec. 12.7. 3) See Stc. 12.6. UNIT 13 IMPERIAL IDEOLOGY : ORIENTALIST CONSTRUCTION OF INDIA AND THE UTILITARIANS

Structure 13.0 Objectives 13.1 Introduction 13.2 The Earlv Images 13.3 Warren Hastings and the British Image of Indla 13.3.1 William Jones 13.3.2 Hastings in Practise 13.4 Institutionalization 13.'~ Evangelicalism and Other New Trends 13.5.1 The Battle for Improvement 13.5.2 Preservation and Munro 13.6 The Utilitarians 13.6.1 The Question of Law 13.6.2 The Question of Land Revenue 13.6.3 The Emerdng Vision of the Empire 13.7 Let Us Sum Up 13.8 Key Words 13.9 Answers To Check Your Progress Exercises

, In this Unit you will get to know about : the ways in which the British perception of India was being shaped, .. how the British perception about India changed over the years, and some reasons as to why the British perception about India changed over the years.

13.1 INTRODUCTION

So far you have had a look at the forniation of new states after the Mughal decline and then the rise and penetration of British imperialism in India. At this point we will examine the images and ideas of the British as they confronted the Indian scene. We will also try to see whether these images and ideas about India went through any change as the needs of the British in India changed.

13.2. THE EARLY IMAGES

The very early images of India in the British mind were in terms of their own Western experience and their travels in the great voyages of discovery. The early travellers to India, Edward Terry and John Ovington described, the Mughal rule in 1689 'yet another example of Muslim despotism'. The early British, who had read about the Ottoman and Persian empires in the great traveller Bernier's writings, seem to have felt that a closer study of the Mughals would tell them very little that they did not know. It was believed by people like Sir William Temple in the classical age, that Lycurgus and Pythogaras had been taught by the Indians. British conquest However, :he genera! impression was that in 17th century India tradition of learning , Consolidation noxlor,ger remained. Terry argued that the Brahmins who were the ancient ' repositories oi learning had degenerated.

Other signs of this degeneration were detected by the British in their contact with the communit~esof the West coast of India. It was argued that they were 'indpstrious. submjss:ve, frugal and cowardly people' who had rigid habits of mind. The caste systen; was ftecluently cited as an example of their rigid mind.

By and large these images were to persist. However, with the establishment of more permanent stations. the British had io contend with further Indian realities.

13.3 \VARREN HASTINGS AND THE BRITISH IMAGE OH; INDIA

The prevalent impression that the Indians had degenerated tended to be reinforced by British experielxce In 18th century India. At the same time the early administratals were keenly aware of India's past giory. To administer this country properly a thorough knowledge of India and its pasi was needed.

7. Warren Hastfnsg in India

Warren Hastings took this mission rather seriously. To fulfil this mission he was aware that he required a band of dedicated administrators, who would rise above the opportufiistic fortune hunters who came from Britain to India. For this purpose, 52 he made strenuous efforts to 'work towards institutions of learning which would first acquire the knowledge of the golden past of India and then, perhaps, convey it to Imperial Ideology : Oriental& those who could be i.nvolved in the project of administering India. ' Construction of India and the Utilitarians This. vision, which has sometimes been called the Orientalist vision, was not confined to Warren Hastings alone.

133.1 William Jones William Jones, an English Jurist, was to commit himself to rediscovering India precisely for this reason, identifying with the Whig tradition of British politics, Jones set himself the task of making India more intelligible to the British. Jones on coming to India realized that to understand India, individual initiative would not be enough. He gradually came around to the view that it would have to be an organized effort to combine scientific study with the labour and knowledge of a group of dedicated individuals. It was thus that the famous Asiatic Society was formed. The Society was to cover the task of unearthing knowledge about Asia both within and outside Asia.

It is here that Jones' efforts and Warren Hastings' vision were to coincide. The Society received full blessings of the Governor-General and an era of studying India from within close quarters of its social, religious, linguistic and political aspects began. This in itself was a departure from the early travellers who would normally record impressions and go away.

The Asiatic Society contributed in a major way by trans!ating from Persian and Sanskrit works of Grammar, Puranas and the writings Bf Kalidasa. Secondly, the members of the Asiatic Society researched and published a large number of articles on Indian society and religion. As a result, Jones' contribution through the society was to 'infectiously spread the romantic fascination of India and her culture throughout Europe.'

C 133.2 Hastings in Practise Hastiqgs on the other hand had more practical reasons for promoting the Asiatic Society. By this time he had decided that the 'dual Government' establishfAI by Clive shoulq go and the East India Company should take up the responsibility of Bengal. But he/ was not in favour of introducing English laws and English ways in India. His main iflea was to rule the 'conquered in their own way'. He felt that the rapid gowtq of the British rule had excited various prejuiiices. These, he felt, needed to be stilled. Secondly, he wanted to reconcile British rule with the Indian institutions. This inevitably meant more intensive investigation into the 'manners and customs' of thekountry and an indepth analysis of the literature and taws of the Indians. It is for this purpose that Halhed, one of Hastings' lieutenants, drew up a list of religious and customary laws called the 'Gent'oo Laws' which would help in understanding the process of furthering 'the conciliation of natives or ensure stability to the . acquisitions'. This, Halhed maintained, would help further in enhancing the prospects of commerce and territorial establishment.

63:4 INSTITUTIONALIZATION

The early quests of rediscovering the rich Indian past then were slowly being su bsumcd to the practical needs of the British rule. To enable the practical task of training and the orienting future administrators to the goals of this task, in the tradition of Wwren Hastings, Wellesley established the Fort William College at Calcutta in 1500.

The Fort William College basically impressed upon its students to study the Indian language so that the future administrator could take on the tiijk of familiarising themselves with the 'vernacular' of the people and with India's'past in a more concrete fashion. For example, studying Persian served very practical ends. Most of the Indian states used Persian as the language for maintaining official record and running the day to day business. Thus the vision of learning about India's past glory and the practical needs of the British administration were neatly dovetailed.

8. Estabbhlpg a rapport Englishman with a Hookah One should be careful in not reducing the steps taken to train the future administrators to the visions of the Indian past held by the administrators of the time. The Indian Residents who were posted at the courts of various submissive Iridian rolers, combined both the knowledge and usage of Persian with the cultural life style$ of the ,court. To establish an identity with the Indian courtiers, the British Residentloften donned the Indian dresses and maintained huge establishments like the court nobility. He would often adopt the manners and etiquettes of the court, while having a major say in the decisions of the ruler. The Indian rulers then maintained some kind of cultural independence inspite of being politically subservie~tto the British. With the consolidation of the conquests and the need to create a more integrated administ~tive,structure, the British had to step in to realms of Indian institutions like law and landed property. In the meanwhile, the industrial revolution in Britain had forced the need bf ,market and raw materials outside Britain for the industrialist on the minds of the policy makers in Britain. Imperial Ideology :OlkntdM Conatdn of lndia and the Utilitariurr

9. Cd. Pdkr In 1ndl.n drew watching a Nautch

The new needs of the British necessarily meant that the idea of retaining lndian institutions and laws had to be reviewed. If new products were to enter the market there was a need to create a taste for.them. This meant the infusion of a new way of life and culture, at least in the top crust of society. In the early period of establislling institutions which discoveted India's past, a neat compromise, of Ilearning and the needs of the Company commerce and administration had been made. That is. 'learn about the lndian society but do not disturb it*. That this coqpromise was resented, is shown id the struggle ofthe S eerampore missionaries, who wanted to get on with the task of 'reforming' the c 1rrent degeneration of the Indian society. While thd Sreerampore missionaries were to do this task quietly, respecting the Indian traditions, the later mjs 'onaries like C arles Grant were to be openly hostile to 'Indian barbarism*. This Y4ostility, a hall- m1 rk of evangelicalism, was combined with the desire to 'civilize' India. Bringing a Ch istian zeal into his mission, Grant was to propagate the policy of assimilation of Ind\ ,a into the great civilizing mission of Britain.

This attitude was to go hand in hand with the expression ofl~ritishliberalism, as for , example in Macaulay, the liberal British administrator's task was to 'civilize' rather than subdue. The merchant community supported this;firstly, because since they would benefit from the civilizing mission's laws to acquire property etc. in India, anh then, under "free trade' they could work out the ~roble'mof creating a market for British goods amongst the Indians. Charles Grant saw a complementarity between the civilizing\process and material prosperity. It was thus that another liberal C.E. Trevelyan, in 1838, was to outline his vision of India as 'the proudest monument- of British beneyolence'. - B 'tish Conquest Check Your Progress 1 conoiidation 1) How did William Jones differ from !he early travellers who wrote about fndia?

...... 2) Why did Warren Hastings want to study India's past?

3) Did the Sreera~nporeMissionaries and Charles Grant agree with Warren Hastings way of deaJing with India?

...... 136.1 The Battle for Improvement The Ydea of improvement*was to take shape in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as a part of. the vision of Britain as a promoter of prosperity and civilization. It was thus, that Cornwallis agmd to settling the revenue permanently on the landed class (Zamindars) in Bengal. Cornwallis's assumption was that since the main source of wealth was agiculture, the 'magic touch of property*will create capital and market in land. A more prosperous landed class with fixed obligation to the state and an English rule of law would create new men of enterprise in land who, would also take trade forward. John Shore, who had seen the idea of Permanent Settlement grow and had more experience of the countryside, while agreeing with Comwallis*~vision of improvement, suggested that the improvement should be broyght about by slow degrees by experimentally introducing innovations.

13.5.2 Preservation and Munro Among the critics of Cornwallis were ~unroin the Soutb along with his famous colleagues like Malcolm and Metcalfe. They found the Cbrnwallis System as having no regard for Indian history or experience. They opposed the very idea that a political society could be built on principles derived from an alien Enghsh tradition. It was for this reason that they opposed Cornwallis's import of the English rule of law with its strict division of judiciary and executive powers of the government. Imperial Ideology : Orienta!ist Construction of India and the Utilitarians

10. Imphatiom of History from the statu of Edmund Burkq the Philomopha

-1.0 ~unro,politics was both experimental : , d pragmatic. The brief period the British had spent in lndia, he thought, was .ar too short for any permanent . solutions. It was thus he argue ! periodic revision of the rate of ryotwari (see Block IV). He t hrrefore argued that the basis of India's stable heritage, the village communities sllould be conserved. And any law and order problem should be lnct with a system where the judiciary and executive were fused together. '['his he felt would enab'e the preservation of justice to the peasantry as well as tl~caims ~f the British rule. I11 line with this idea bf preserving the varying heritage of India, Munro and his colleagues opposed a centrally imposed rute in lndia and 'favoured diversity in the Indian government'.

The taskbf transforming the Indian mind was then to become more complex. The task of education in the process was mooted by the liberal Macaulay as a prime responsibility of the British in India. But in the context of both tht; % resistance of Orientalists, and pragmatic Anglo-Indians like Munro whb'.&nted to preserve the Indian institutions and culture the role of a western or an Anglicist education became a subject of immense controversy in the middle of the 19th century. British Conquest and Consolidation 13.6 THE UTILITARIANS

The Utilitarians were not to take the liberal detour to education for the task of 'civilizing' and 'improving' India. They went back to the basic question of reform of law and landed property to create conditions where the market could flourish. They believed, under the guidance of Jereiny Ekntham, that, a scientific and logical approach to these two problems of law and landed property could create reforms which would satisfy the principle of 'the greatest good of the greatest number'. 13.6.1 The Question of Law The utilitarian ideas were to have a fundamental influence in moulding the British attitudes towards India. The question of law as an instrument uf change was mooted under Bentinck. It was possible, he believed, for judiciary or law to be the instrument of changing Indian practices like Sati and female infanticide.

Bcntinck'~reply lo ihe petition on saG

1 122. Bentiruk'r rrpb to the petition on sati I 14 July 1830 The governor-general has read with attention the petition which has been presented to him: and has some satisfaction in observing that the opinions of the pandits consulted by the petitioners confirm the sup- position that widows are not, by the religious writings of the Hindus, commanded to destroy themselves; but that, upon the death of their husbands the choice of a life of strict and severe morality is evewhere expressly offered: that in the books usually considered of the highest authority it is commanded above every other course; and is stated to be adapted to a better state of society; such as, by the Hindus, is believed to have subsisted in former times. Thus, none of the Hindus are placed in the dirtressing situation of having to disobey either the ordinances of the government or those of their religion. By a virtuous life a Hindu wjdow not only compllies at once with the laws of the government and with the purest precepts of her own religion, but affords an example to the existing ge~~erationof that good conduct which is supposttd to have distinguished the earlier and better times of the Hindu people. The petitioners cannot require the assurance that the British gokern- ment will continue to allow the most complete toleration in matteis of religious belief; and that to the full extent of what it is pscitlle to reconcile with reason and with natural justice they will be undisturbed in the observance of their established usages. But, some of thcse, which the governor-general is unwilling to recall into notice, his prrc?acc-qsors in council, for the security of human life, and the prpservation of scxial order, have, at different times, found it necessary to prohibit. If there is any one which the common voice of all mankind would exccpt from indulgence it is surely that by which the hand of a son is ~n::riethe instrument of a temble death to the mother who has borne Flirn, and from whose heart he has drawn the sustenance of his help!c

11. Bentinck on Sati With the coming of James Mill to the East India Company's London office, a 1rnper:al Ideobgy : Orimtalist systematic utilitarian attempt was made to combat the Orientalist, Cornwallis and Construction of India and the IJtilitarians the Munro heritage. A total vision of political reform on the philosophical premises of' utilitarianism was sought to be given a concrete shape. We see a series of laws and penal codes enacted under the Benthamite principle of a centrally logically and coherently evolved system which would go down to the grassroots. In the process it would give the direction to the Indian government to function 'with a united purpose.' 13.6.2 The Question of Land Revenue Mill also supported a restructuring of the land revenue policy in a manner that would be consistent with utilitarian economics. While, on the one hand this meant a direct contact with the mass of cultivators as in Munro's ryotwari settlement (see Block IV), on the other hand this meant taxing the landlord along Ricardo's philosophy. This taxation would be in such a manner that the landlord would not enjoy undue benefit at the cost of manufacture and trade just by virtue of ownership of land. This meant that landholder would give to the state as tax on land revenue a certain proportion of the net produce (i.e. the gross produce -nini!c :ost of ~ultivation).

This doctrine of rent was sought to be put into practice by officers like Pringle in Bombay. Elaborate survey methods were used to calculate the 'net produce' from land. Then tax rates were assessed. However, in practise the revenue demand often went very high, sometimes as much as fifty to sixty percent of the produce. This led gradually to the abandonment of complex calculations based on the rent doctrine. From 1840s purely pragmatic and empirical methods derived from the tradition of taxation in respective areas were beginning to be adopted.

But, the rent doctrine of the, utilitarian philosophy was not given up in theory. Inspite of the purely pragmatic and empirical calculation of rent, the justification of rent theory for the calculation was still given. The justification of the theory though did have practical reasons as over the next decades the idea of defining rights and obligations of the tax paying cultivators permanently was relegated to the background. But then the scientific calculations of the utilitarianism were again paradoxically submitted to Munro like consideration of Indian heritage and traditions. 13.6.3. The Emerging Vision of The Empire There was a streak of authoritarianism in English utilitarian thought which developed abroad into fullfledged despotism. Utilitarianism in India despite being born in the tradition of liberalism could never accept a democratic government in I India. James Mill consistently opposed any form of representative go'vernment in WLb Conquat st ' The consolidation or the empire under Dalhousie was to take the paradoxes of the md Widation various kinds of perceptions of British India still more forward. Dalhousie took forward Mill's vision of belligerent advancement of Britain's mission, in his policy towards the native Indian States. Again, in the true Benthamite tradition he created 'rill India' departments with9single heads for Post and Telegraph Services, the Public Works Department, etc. He was thus to give fruition to the idea of efficient administration within the framework of a unitary all India empire. This latter was in direct contrast to Munro's vision of India as loose federation of regional entities. At the same time Dalhousie was prepared to take a liberal stance in some respects. For example, he was to encourage the development of his legislative council into a forym for the pepresentation of non-official opinion. He also provided it with elaborate rules of procedure taken from the English Parliament. He even favoured the admission of Indian members into the legislative council. He agreed with the Macaulay's view of diffusion of English education and along with his colleague Thomason encouraged a system of vernacular education at mass level. However this impulse to link the,task of changing the Indian society to the tasks of law, landed property or education gradually declined. With the consolidation of law codes, revenue administration and education and the all India empire, the focus shifted to efficiency of governance. Pragmatism with rationality and efficiency now dominated the British administration. Utilitarian arguments were st/ll used for glovernance, for example in the change of law codes under Macaulay. But the overall spirit of reform declined. The later British administrators of our period were to emphasise that the British rule had always been governed by law. However, it was argued then. for efficient administration force had to be used and there was no need to justify it by cansideration of political change or reform. The utilitarian task of transforming India then was subsumed under the principle of an efficient and good government held up by the 'steel frame'of British administration.

...... 2) How did Henlinck war;t to bring ahout a social change in ladiii'l

1) L'V:~.,.l;~rnec Mill In fci,\\)ur of a derlloc~acyIn im~dla?

4 HUWdid t3r IJtilitarians trv to solve theprobierxi of land revc:l~!i-'l i ! ...... :...... Imperial.Ideology :Orientalkt Comtrudion of lndia ...... and the Ulilitariadi t

13.7 LET US SUM UP

Each regime needs a rationale. We saw in this Unit that, in the era of her expansion in India Britain found hers in a 'civilizing mission'. On the one hand, it served to glorify a rather sordid history of greed and aggression and plunder. On the other hand, it instilled in all manner of men a greater sense of purpose. This purpose was not the same to all men. As we have seen, Orientalists like.William Jones, Evangelists like Charles Grant, .Utilitarians like James Mill, and again a Munro or a Dalhousie had quite different purposes in mind. There were also substantial differences between the modes of thinking in the Orientalist construction of India. or the Evangelical drive to save 'native' souls, or the Utilitarian calculus of the 'greatest goods' in terms of moral and material improvement. Yet, in this diversity of ideas an over-arching conception of Britain's 'mission' in lndia provided unity in action. Objectively these ideas and men all served to build the British empire in India.

13.8 KEY WORDS

Evrmgelicnlism: A Protestant Christian movement in England of 18th century, which . I in contrs3ttothe orthodox church emphasized on personal experiences, individual 1 reading of gospel rather than the traditions of established church. 1 I F Paradox: Self contradictory statement, belief etc.

13.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS I EXERCISES

Check Your Progress 1 2) See Sub-sec. 13.3.1. 2) See Sec. 13.3., Sub-sec. 13.3.2. 3) See Sec. 13.5.

Check Your Progress 2 I) See Sub-sec. 13.5.2. 2) See Sub-sec. 13.6;l. 71 See Sub-sec. 13.6.3. British Conquest 4) gee Sub-sec. 13.6.2. and Consolidation 5) See Sub-sec, 13.6.3.

SOME USEFUL BOOKS FOR THIS BLOCK

C.A. Bayly : The New Cambridge History of India, Vol. 11.1, Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire. P.J. Marshal : The New Cambridge History of India, Vol.II.2, Bengal, The British Bridgehead, Eastern India, 1740-1827. R.C. Majumdar (ed.) : British Paramountcy and Indian Renaissance, Vol.IX, Part-I, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Publication) N.K, Sinha (4.) : Economic History of Bengal, Vol. 3 Michael H. Fisher : A Claslz of Cultures: Awadh, The British and The Mughals. Richard B. Barnett : North India Between Empires: Awadh, The Mughals and @e British. S.N. Sen : Anglo-Maratha Relations, 1785-1796. bric Stokes : English Utilitarians and India.