NOTES-FromTrade To Territory

G.D.
GOENKA PUBLIC SCHOOL SEC-48, GURUGRAM
SUBJECT –Social Science
Class VIII
Ch-2 FROM TRADE TO TERRITORY
Fine quality of cotton and silk Indian spices such as pepper, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon
attracted European trading companies to India.
East India Company comes East:

1. In 1600 royal charter granted to East India Company granting the sole right to trade
with the East.
2. East India Company bought goods at a cheaper price in India and sold them at higher
price in Europe.
Trade war with other European countries:
1. East India Company had taken solo right to trade to have monopoly over the European
trade with India.
2. But English east India company had to compete with other European companies such as
French, Dutch, and the Portuguese which pushed up the prices at which these goods could
be purchased, and this reduced the profits that could be earned.
3. The urge to secure markets therefore led to fierce battles between the trading companies.
4. Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they regularly sank each other’s ships,
blockaded routes, and prevented rival ships from moving with supplies of goods. Trade was
carried on with arms and trading posts were protected through fortification.
East India Company begins trade in Bengal:
The first English factory was set up on the banks of the river Hugli in 1651.
By 1696 it began building a fort around the settlement.
Two years later it bribed Mughal officials into giving the Company zamindari rights over three
villages.
It also persuaded the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to issue a farman granting the Company
the right to trade duty free.
How trade led to battles:
After the death of Aurangzeb, the Bengal nawabs asserted their power and autonomy.
Murshid Quli Khan was followed by Alivardi Khan and then Sirajuddaulah as the Nawab of
Bengal.
They refused to grant the Company concessions, demanded large tributes for the Company’s
right to trade, denied it any right to mint coins, and stopped it from extending its fortifications.
They accused the Company for refusing to pay taxes, writing disrespectful letters, and trying
to humiliate the nawab and his officials.
Reasons for the Battle of Plassey:
1. After the death of Aliverdi Khan in 1756, Sirajuddaulah became the nawab of Bengal.
2. The Company was worried about his power and wanted a puppet ruler who would easily
give them the trade concessions and other privileges.
3. An infuriated Sirajuddaulah asked the Company to stop meddling in the political affairs of
his dominion, stop fortification, and pay the revenues.
4. After negotiations failed, the Nawab marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at
Kassim Bazar.
5. Captured the Company officials, locked the warehouse, disarmed all Englishmen, and
blockaded English ships.
6. He marched to Calcutta to establish control over the Company’s fort there.
7. On hearing the news of the fall of Calcutta, Company officials in Madras sent forces under
the command of Robert Clive, reinforced by naval fleets.
8. Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey.
9. Mir Jafar, one of Sirajuddaulah’s commanders, never fought the battle. Clive had managed
to secure his support by promising to make him nawab after crushing Sirajuddaulah.
Battle of Buxar:
1. At Plassey, Sirajuddaulah was assassinated and Mir Jafar made the nawab.
2. The puppet nawabs were not always as helpful as the Company wanted them to be.
3. When Mir Jafar protested, the Company deposed him and installed Mir Qasim in his place.
4. When Mir Qasim complained, he in turn was defeated in a battle fought at Buxar (1764),
driven out of Bengal, and Mir Jafar was reinstalled.
Effect of the Battle of Buxar:
1. The Nawab had to pay Rs 500,000 every month to the company.
2. The Company wanted more money to finance its wars, and meet the demands of trade and
its other expenses.
3. It wanted more territories and more revenue.
4. By the time Mir Jafar died in 1765 the mood of the Company had changed.
5. Having failed to work with puppet nawabs, Clive declared: “We must indeed become
nawabs ourselves.”
6. Finally, in 1765 the Mughal emperor appointed the Company as the Diwan of the provinces
of Bengal. The Diwani allowed the Company to use the vast revenue resources of Bengal.
Company Rule Expands
 The Company rarely launched a direct military attack on an unknown territory.
 Instead it used a variety of political, economic and diplomatic methods to extend its
influence before annexing an Indian kingdom.
Residents:
They were political or commercial agents and their job was to serve and further the interests
of the Company in Indian states.
Subsidiary Alliance: According to the terms of this alliance, Indian rulers were not allowed to
have their independent armed forces.
For the protection they had to keep company's army and for that the Indian rulers had to pay a
maintenance.
If the Indian rulers failed to make the payment, then part of their territory was taken away as
penalty.
Kings who lost their territory after failing to pay subsidiary maintenance.
Nawab of Awadh (1801)
Rulers of Hyderabad
Tipu Sultan – The “Tiger of Mysore”:
Tipu Sultan was the son of Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore. He became the ruler of Mysore in
1782.
The British were not happy with him due to the following reasons which led to four wars
between Tipu and the British (1767-69, 1780-84, 1790-92 and 1799), these wars are known
as Anglo-Mysore wars.
1. Mysore controlled the profitable trade of the Malabar coast where the Company purchased
pepper and cardamom.
2. He stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper and cardamom through the ports of his
kingdom, and disallowed local merchants from trading with the Company.
3. He also established a close relationship with the French in India, and modernised his army
with their help.
Anglo-Maratha wars:
Marathas were divided into many states under different chiefs (sardars) belonging to
dynasties such as Sindhia, Holkar, Gaikwad and Bhonsle.
These chiefs were held together in a confederacy under a Peshwa (Principal Minister) who
became its effective military and administrative head based in Pune.
First Anglo Maratha War: The war ended in 1782 with the Treaty of Salbai, there was no
clear victor.
Second Anglo Maratha War (1803-05): The war was fought on different fronts, resulting in
the British gaining Orissa and the territories north of the Yamuna river including Agra and
Delhi.
Third Anglo Maratha War (1817-19): The war crushed Maratha power. The Peshwa was
removed and sent away to Bithur near Kanpur with a pension.
The claim to paramountcy:
Under Lord Hastings (Governor General from 1813 to 1823) a new policy of “paramountcy”
was initiated. Now the Company claimed that its authority was paramount or supreme, hence
its power was greater than that of Indian states. In order to protect its interests it was justified
in annexing or threatening to annex any Indian kingdom.
The Doctrine of Lapse: Lord Dalhousie who was the Governor-General from 1848 to 1856.
He devised a policy that came to be known as the Doctrine of Lapse. The doctrine declared
that if an Indian ruler died without a male heir his kingdom would “lapse”, that is, become part
of Company territory.
A New Administration:
Warren Hastings (Governor-General from 1773 to 1785) played a significant role in the
expansion of Company power.
British territories were broadly divided into administrative units called Presidencies. There
were three Presidencies: Bengal, Madras and Bombay.
Each was ruled by a Governor. The supreme head of the administration was the Governor-
General.
New Judicial System: Each district was to have two courts – a criminal court (faujdari adalat)
and a civil court (diwani adalat).
The European district collectors 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.
By 1778 a code of Muslim laws was also compiled.
Under the Regulating Act of 1773, a new Supreme Court was established.
District Collector:
The principal figure in an Indian district was the Collector. His main job was to collect revenue
and taxes and maintain law and order in his district with the help of judges, police officers and
Darogas.
His office was known as Collectorate.

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G.D.

GOENKA PUBLIC SCHOOL SEC-48, GURUGRAM

SUBJECT –Social Science

Ch-2 FROM TRADE TO TERRITORY

East India Company comes East:

The claim to paramountcy:

The European district collectors presided over civil courts.

In 1775 eleven pandits were asked to compile a digest of Hindu laws.

By 1778 a code of Muslim laws was also compiled.

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