From Trade To Territory

What will I learn in this lesson?
Overview:
 The control of India, by the 18th century, had passed from the
hands of the Mughals to the British Raj.
 After defeating the last major Indian rulers like Tipu Sultan, the
Marathas, and Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, the
British started spreading their courts and military.
 They easily won small battles because of internal rivalries
among the local rulers.
 The East India Company, with support from the government of
Britain, started expanding its business and area in India in the
17th century.
Objective:
 Show how the consolidation of British power was linked to the

formation of colonial armies and administrative structures.
 Unravel the story of a trading company becoming a political

power.
The Company Establishes Power


 Many small kingdoms emerged all over India after the death of
Aurangazeb, the last powerful Mughal ruler, in 1707. But in the
second half of the 18th century (after 1750), the British became
increasingly powerful in many parts of India.
East India Company Comes East
 In 1600, the East India Company acquired a charter from the

ruler of England, Queen Elizabeth I, granting it the sole right to
trade with the East, without competition from other British
traders.
 But that royal charter could not stop other European powers
such as the Portuguese, Dutch, and French. And all those
European companies wanted to buy the same things from India -
fine qualities of cloth and spices.
 As competition grew, profits fell, and the European trading
companies started building forts and fighting each other.
 With more business came more conflicts with Indian rulers, and
it became difficult for the European traders to keep their
business separate form Indian politics.
East India Company Begins Trade in Bengal
 The first English factory was set up on the banks of the river
Hugli in Bengal 1651. As their expanded, the East India Company
convinced merchants and traders to come and settle near the
factory.
 By 1696, the Company began building a fort around the Hugli
settlement. It also bribed Mughal officials into giving the
Company Zamindari rights over three villages, one of which was
Calcutta.
 It also convinced the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to issue
a farman, an official order, granting the Company the right to
trade duty-free.
 The employees of the Company also carried on their private
trades, and so were expected to pay duty. But they refused,
which angered the Nawab of Bengal, Murshid Quli Khan, and led
to fierce battles.
How Trade Led to Battles
 After the death of Aurangzeb, the Nawabs of Bengal, Murshid

Quli Khan, Alivardi Khan, and Siraj Ud Daulah, one after another,
refused to grant concessions to the Company.
The 1757 Battle of Plassey
 In 1757, Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Siraj Ud

Daulah at Plassey. THe COmpany won, and the main reason for
the defeat of the Nawab was that the forces led by Mir Jafar, one
of his commanders, never fought the battle.
 Clive had managed to secure the support of Mir Jafar by
promising to make him nawab after crushing Siraj Ud Daulah.
The battle of Plassey become famous because it was the first
major victory the Company won in India.
 But when Mir Jafar also could not prove himself a meek puppet
ruler controlled by the British, the Company deposed him and
installed Mir Qasim in his place.
 And when Mir Qasim also complained, he was defeated in the
Battle of Buxar in 1764, driven out of Bengal, and Mir Jafar was
re-installed. But when Mir Jafar died the next year, in 1765, the
Mughal emperor appointed the Company as the Diwan of the
provinces of Bengal, and the Company now began to exploit the
vast revenue resources of Bengal.
Company Officials Become “Naboobs”
 After the Battle of Plassey, the original nawabs of Bengal were

forced to give land and vast sums of money as personal gifts to
Company officials.
 This new money and power corrupted the Company's officials
and servants, and they too began dreaming of living like nawabs;
Britain was a poor country in those days, constantly fighting
with its European neighbours, and most of the East India
Company's staff came from very poor English homes.
 So 'nabob' became an Anglo-Indian term for East India Company
servants who became very rich through corrupt trade and other
practices.
Company Rule Expands
 After the Battle of Buxar, the Company appointed Resident

Officers in Indian states. They were political or commercial
agents, and their job was to serve and further the interests of the
Company.
 Soon, the Company began forcing the Indian states into joining a
subsidiary alliance (a partnership between a ruling country and
a country that is being ruled). According to the terms of this
agreement, Indian rulers were not allowed to have their
independent armed forces, but were to be protected by the
Company.
 The local rulers also had to pay for the subsidiary forces that the
Company promised to maintain for the purpose of their
"protection".
 And if the Indian rulers failed to make the payment, then part of
their territory was taken away. The kingdoms of Awadh and
Hyderabad, for example, were forced to cede territories on this
ground.
Tipu Sultan – The “Tiger of Mysore”
 When the company saw a threat to its political or economic

interests, it resorted to direct military confrontation, as
happened in Mysore and many other kingdoms.
 Mysore had become powerful under rulers like Haider Ali and
his son Tipu Sultan, and it controlled the profitable trade of the
Malabar coast where the Company purchased pepper and
cardamom.
 Tipu Sultan, in 1785, stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper,
and cardamom through the ports of his kingdom, and disallowed
local merchants from trading with the Company. This angered
the company very much.
 The Company lost four wars to Mysore, but in the last one, the
Battle of Seringapatam, the company won and Tipu Sultan was
killed.
Wars With the Marathas

The company also subdued the Marathas in a series of wars:
 Mahadji Sindhia and Nana Phadnis were two famous Maratha

soldiers and statesmen of the late 18th century, and when the
First Anglo-Maratha War ended in 1782 with the Treaty of
Salbai, there was no clear victor.
 The Second Anglo-Maratha War, from 1803 to 1805, was fought
on different fronts, and resulted in the British gaining Orissa and
territories north of the Yamuna river, including Agra and Delhi.
 The Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817 to 1819 finally crushed
Maratha power.
The Claim to Paramountcy
From the start of the 19th century, the Company pursued an
aggressive policy of territorial expansion. Under Lord Hastings,
Governor General from 1813 to 1823, a new policy of “paramountcy”
was initiated, which simply meant that the authority and position of
the Company was supreme (the highest and the greatest) in India, and
it had the right to take away anything it wants to from any Indian
ruler.
 Rani Channamma took to arms and led an anti-British resistance

movement, but she was arrested in 1824 and died in prison in
1829.
 Rayanna, a poor chowkidar of Sangolli in Kitoor, carried on the
resistance. He destroyed many British camps and records, but he
was caught and hanged by the British in 1830.
 Late in the 1830s, the East India Company became worried
about Russia. The British, who wanted to secure their control
over the north-west, fought a prolonged war with Afghanistan
between 1838 and 1842 and established indirect Company rule
there.
 Sind was taken over in 1843, and Punjab next. The presence of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh there held back the Company, but after his
death in 1839, two prolonged wars were fought and Punjab was
annexed in 1849.
The Doctrine of Lapse
 Lord Dalhousie devised a policy that come to be known as the

Doctrine of Lapse, a policy that declared that if an Indian ruler
died without a male heir (official child), his kingdom would
become the part of Company's territory.
 Satara in 1848, Sambalpur in 1850, Udaipur in 1852, Nagpur in
1853, and Jhansi in 1854 were annexed under this doctrine.
 In 1856, the Company also took over Awadh, and the people of
Awadh joined the great revolt that broke out in 1857.
Setting Up a New Administration

 Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India from 1773 to 1785,
introduced several administrative reforms, most famous of
which were in the areas of justice. He also played a major role in
the expansion of Company power, and by the end of his time, the
Company had acquired power in Bengal, Bombay, and Madras.
British territories were broadly divided into administrative units
called Presidencies.
 A new system of justice was established in 1772; each district
was to have two courts - a criminal court - faujdari adalat, and a
civil court - diwani adalat. Maulvis and Hindu pandits
interpreted Indian laws for the European district collectors who
presided over civil courts. The criminal courts were still under
a qazi and a mufti, but under the supervision of the collectors.
 In 1775, eleven pandits were asked to compile a digest of Hindu
laws based on dharmashastra, and N.B. Halhed translated this
digest into English. By 1778, a code of Muslim laws was also
compiled for the benefit of European judges.
 Under the Regulating Act of 1773, a new Supreme Court was
established, and a court for appeals – the Sadar Nizamat Adalat –
was also set up at Calcutta.
 The Collector was the principal figure, and his main job was to
collect revenue and taxes and to maintain law and order in his
district with the help of judges, police officers, and darogas. His
office, called the Collectorate, became the new centre of power
and patronage.
The Company's Army
 In the early 1800s, the British began to develop a uniform

military culture for its forces in India. The Company's soldiers,
many of whom were Indians, were increasingly subjected to
European-style training, drill, and discipline that regulated and
changed their lives far more than before.
Conclusion
 By the end of the 19th century, the British East India Company in
India was transformed from a trading company to a territorial
colonial power and ruler.

From Trade To Territory

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From Trade To Territory

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What will I learn in this lesson?

 Show how the consolidation of British power was linked to the

 Unravel the story of a trading company becoming a political

The Company Establishes Power

East India Company Comes East

 In 1600, the East India Company acquired a charter from the

East India Company Begins Trade in Bengal

How Trade Led to Battles

 After the death of Aurangzeb, the Nawabs of Bengal, Murshid

The 1757 Battle of Plassey

 In 1757, Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Siraj Ud

Company Officials Become “Naboobs”

 After the Battle of Plassey, the original nawabs of Bengal were

Company Rule Expands

 After the Battle of Buxar, the Company appointed Resident

Tipu Sultan – The “Tiger of Mysore”

 When the company saw a threat to its political or economic

Wars With the Marathas

 Mahadji Sindhia and Nana Phadnis were two famous Maratha

 Rani Channamma took to arms and led an anti-British resistance

The Doctrine of Lapse

 Lord Dalhousie devised a policy that come to be known as the

Setting Up a New Administration

The Company's Army

 In the early 1800s, the British began to develop a uniform

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