2 The expansion of British Power ou have read in previous classes that Y since ancient times India was an important trading centre. Merchants and traders from Europe and Asia came to India regularly. The frequency of trade increased in the medieval period. The Indian rulers also supported this trade as it was very profitable for them. Trade, till the early seventeenth century, companies from Portugal, Holland, England, was carried on by individual merchants and France and Denmark began to set up their traders as they did not always have the base in India. They established their trading backing of their respective countries. In course centres in different parts of the country, of time, this changed. The European countries especially in the coastal areas. These centres began to form trading companies to trade with were called ‘factories’, not because anything the east. One of them was the English East was manufactured there but because the India Company. It was started by a group of officials of the companies were called ‘factors’. merchants. In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I gave it These factories consisted of offices and a charter which granted the Company the godowns. Most of them also had the houses of exclusive right to trade with the east. This the officials and residential quarters for the meant that no other trading group from merchants and traders who came for trade. England could compete with the Company. Over time, some factories were fortified. Think and answer Why did the companies Arrival of trading companies prefer the coast to set up their trading centres? From the seventeenth century onwards, See the map on page 11 and name the places trading where the English, French, Portuguese, Dutch and the Danes set up their factories. Trade rivalry The presence of numerous trading companies vying for goods such as spices (pepper, clove, cardamom, cinnamon), cotton, silk, indigo, Fort William, Calcutta – it was a base of the English East India Company. saltpetre, and so on, led to intense rivalry among them. All of them wanted to buy these goods at low prices in India and sell them at very high prices elsewhere, particularly in Europe. Since profits from trade were huge, each European country vied for a greater share of this trade. However, the quantum of trade was not sufficient to sustain all the companies. Little by little, the profits earned by them began to shrink. The only way to increase profits was by eliminating competitors and ensuring a trade monopoly. The companies trade. The English and the French became the which had the support of their respective key players, dominating trade between India governments set out to do just that. They built and Europe. their own armies and were not averse to using force to achieve their goals. Anglo-French rivalry The presence of two In course of time, the Portuguese, the Dutch traditional rivals and a clash of trade interests and the Danes were ousted from the Indian between the two, led to a series of wars. These wars are commonly known as the Carnatic The Company shall not extend its Wars since most battles were fought in the fortifications. region within the present state of Tamil Nadu. The Company, however, had by this time The English and the French clashed thrice become very strong. After the military in the Carnatic. The wars lasted for nearly 20 successes against the French, both in Europe years (1744–1763). After this, the French and in India, it was feeling even more ceased to be a strong political force in India. confident. To expand trade and secure The way was clear for the establishment of markets, it now decided to annex territories in British power in India. India. Matters came to a boil in 1756 when Siraj-ud-Daulah became the nawab of Bengal. The BrITISh In BengAL He asked the Company to remove all its In the early seventeenth century, the English fortifications in Calcutta (now Kolkata). The East India Company was merely a trading Company refused to do so. So the nawab sent body. It sent requests to the Mughal emperors his troops and occupied the Company’s for trade concessions and privileges. After the factories in Calcutta. The British officials were death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire alarmed at this development. They decided to became weak. Taking advantage of this, the depose Siraj-ud-Daulah and install a puppet officials of the Company began to intensify nawab in his place. This led to a war. their operations in Bengal, the richest of the Indian provinces. In 1717, they succeeded in Battle of Plassey (1757) obtaining the right to import and export goods On 23 June 1757, the armies of Siraj-ud- without paying customs duty. However, Daulah and the English East India Company some officials of the Company were also met at Plassey (Palasi). The British forces were engaged in private trade. The concession led by granted was only for the Company. But these Robert Clive. Mir Jafar, the Commander- officials also stopped paying duty on their inChief of the Nawab and a large section of the private trade, resulting in an enormous loss of Nawab’s army loyal to Mir Jafar did not take revenue to Bengal. part in the battle. Jagat Seth, the richest banker The conflict between the nawabs of Bengal of Bengal, also refused to help the Nawab. and the Company intensified in the first half Siraj-ud-Daulah was defeated, imprisoned of the eighteenth century. Bengal at this time and later killed. The British made Mir Jafar the was ruled by Murshid Quli Khan, Shuja- nawab of Bengal. udDin and then Alivardi Khan. They tried to The Battle of Plassey is an important keep the officials of the Company in check. landmark in the history of India. It marked the Alivardi Khan laid two conditions which the first step in the transformation of a small Company had to obey or lose its right to trade trading company into the supreme political in Bengal. These conditions were as follows. power. The British got a foothold from where The officials of the Company engaged in they were to eventually conquer the whole of private trade shall pay customs duty or the India. privilege of not paying the duty will be withdrawn altogether. Bengal after Plassey Mir Jafar was a puppet in the hands of the English East India Company. Total financial British. They constantly demanded money control over the rich eastern provinces gave from him. The Company’s officials used him, the British enormous resources for the next ‘as a golden sack into which they could dip round of expansion. their hands at pleasure.’ When he could pay no more, he was replaced by Mir Qasim. The Bengal after Buxar new nawab rewarded the Company by After victories at Plassey and Buxar, the granting it the right to collect revenue of the English East India Company became the real districts of Burdwan, Midnapore and Chittagong. After being in the shadow of the British for some years, Mir Qasim tried to free himself from their control. He dismissed the court officials who favoured the British. He hired European experts to train his army. He also abolished all duties on internal trade so that both Indian and British merchants could trade on equal terms. This was unacceptable to the British merchants as it ended their trade Lord Clive meeting Mir Jafar after the monopoly and hence adversely affected their Battle of Plassey, a painting by Francis Hayman ruler profits. The British now decided to depose Mir of Bengal. The military came under its control. Qasim. Revenue began to be collected directly by the officials of the Company. A small amount of Battle of Buxar (1764) revenue was given to the nawab to run the The British defeated Mir Qasim in a series of administration. So, the British had all power battles. Mir Qasim fled to Awadh. He formed and income but no responsibility. On the other an alliance with Shuja-ud-Daulah, the Nawab hand, the nawab had all responsibility but no of Awadh and Shah Alam II, the Mughal power and no stable source of income. This Emperor. The combined armies met the unique arrangement is generally known as the British forces at Buxar on 22 October 1764. The Dual or Double Government. The people of Indian army was defeated. A treaty was Bengal suffered immensely under this system. signed and Shah Alam II granted the Even during the famine which struck Bengal Company the ‘Diwani’ of Bengal, Bihar and in 1770, neither the Company nor the nawab Orissa (now Odisha). Shuja-ud-Daulah was provided any relief to the people. made to pay 50 lakh rupees as war damages. The Dual system of governance in Bengal Mir Qasim was deposed and Mir Jafar was ended in 1772. Bengal was brought under the made the nawab. direct control of the Company. The new The Battle of Buxar was a decisive battle in Governor-General, Warren Hastings (1772– Indian history. The weakness of the Indian 1785), embarked on a further expansion of armies was thoroughly exposed. The nawabs British influence in India. of Awadh and Bengal, and the Mughal Emperor now became dependent on the groWTh oF BrITISh InFLuence The kingdom of Mysore and the Marathas were the strongest rivals of the British during the second half of the eighteenth century. The British launched wars against both. Wars with Mysore Haider Ali (1761–1782) and Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan Warren Hastings The Peshwa was the head of the Maratha confederacy. The British and the Marathas fought three wars.