ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPANY POWER

                                                ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPANY POWER

CHAPTER -2

CLASS 8

Mercantilism and trade war

•  The concept of Mercantilism developed in Europe during the 16th century.

•  the philosophy of introducing imports,  while simultaneously increasing exports.

•  The British East India company which entered India as a Trading Company former got full support from the government which not only supported but encouraged  its activities.

• The practice of setting up trading post lead to a mad scramble to colonize countries and establish control and   supremacy in these regions

•  The race to colonize created tensions and eventually to war among the European powers, known as the trade war.

• The Portuguese, British and French for India as a lucrative trading post.

•  The Portuguese were the first to enter India in 1498, with Vasco da Gama discovery of a new sea route to India.

British East India company

• In 1598 a group of English merchants from the Private Association to trade with the east.

• They received a charter from the queen  to trade with the Eastern part of the world.

•  The Queen's charter provided the East India Company A trade Monopoly of 15 years.  No other Trading Company in Britain could trade with the Eastern countries.

Anglo French rivalry

• In the second half of the eighteenth century there were frequent clashes between the French and the British for colonial  gains.

•  Anglo French rivalry led to three was referred to as the Carnatic wars as it took place in -the Carnatic region of South India,  which was under the authority of the Nizam of Hyderabad.

-The Carnatic wars lasted for 20 years and ended with the British becoming victorious.

The British acquisition of new territories in India

• Conquest of Bengal

•  Battle of Plassey

•  Battle of Buxar

• Dual governance in Bengal

•  Anglo Mysore war

•  The Anglo Maratha Wars

1.  Conquest of Bengal - Bengal included the provinces of Bengal form of Bihar and Orissa (present day Odisha). The British established A trading post at Fort William to gain a stronghold in India.  Mughal Emperor granted the East India Company exemption on taxes for import export duties on trade items. The East India Company   could  now issue  dastaks  for its  goods to become tax free. The Nawab of Bengal,  was able to put an end to the misuse of dastaks  to a certain extent.  The British   retaliated and captured Calcutta  ( present day Kolkata) under the leadership of Robert Clive.

2.  Battle of Plassey-  although Siraj ud-daulah was able to take back  Calcutta from the East India Company,  it was recaptured by  the company in 1757.  This was made possible by Mir Jafar who was one of the generals in siraj-ud-daulah’s  Army. Mirjafar  switched his loyalties and offered his support to the British.  He was a puppet in the hands of the East India Company.  Mir Qasim who try to improve the administration of Bengal and reorganize his Army according to European Army. The East India Company then decided to remove   Mir Qasim from The Throne and reappointment  mirjafar as the Nawab of Bengal.

3.  Battle of Buxar-  After being ousted by the East India Company,   Mir Qasim joined hands with the Nawab of Awadh against the East India Company.  they also gained support from the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. Class with the forces of the East India company at Buxar in 1764,  where they were defeated.  After the Battle of Buxar,  Mir Qasim Fled from the battle scene and spent the rest of his  days  in anonymity.  The Nawab of Awadh was annexed by the East India Company.  to join hands with the British.

4. Dual Governance in Bengal-  after the Battle of Buxar,  a dual government came into existence.  Under the dual form of government,  the British gained the right to collect Diwani( revenue),  The nizamat( civil administration) responsibility of maintaining law and order and protecting the state boundaries remained  with the nawabs.

5.  Anglo Mysore war-  during their Quest to expand their territories,  the East India Company face strong opposition from Mysore that emerged as a powerful state under the leadership of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan.  the Anglo Mysore war took place in the late 18th century lasting over a period of three decades my soul was initially able to protect and maintain its independence against the British but during this what Tipu Sultan was defeated and killed because of that Mysore was annexed by the British the Nizam of Hyderabad and the marathas.

6.  the Anglo Maratha war-  after the decline of the Mughal Empire it was believed that the marathas under the leadership of peshwas would be ruling over India from Delhi.  However,  this dream of ruling India got shattered after the defeat of the marathas in the third battle of Panipat in 1761. Like the rulers of Mysore,  the very powerful and were able to receive the attacks from the East India company for a very long time; it took three wars  for the British to finally defeat the marathas.  The disunity among the Maratha rulers  proved to be advantages for the East India company who was eventually able to defeat them.

Subsidiary Alliance

• The policy of subsidiary Alliance was introduced by Lord Wellesley.

•  under the policy of subsidiary alliance and agreement was made with the rulers where the British  offered them protection in lieu  of payments and certain administrative powers.  the states which agreed to enter into an Alliance with the British were not permitted to maintain their Army.

Doctrine of lapse

• In 1848 Lord Dalhousie came to India as a Governor General.

•  He initiated the doctrine of lapse was an effective tool to expand the territories of the British Empire .

• The doctrine of lapse stated that if a ruler died without a natural heir his state would be annexed by the British government.

•  Many Indian states such as Jhansi, Nagpur and Sitara as through the British policy of doctrine of lapse.