Question

Describe the consolidation of british power in india

Answer 1

In 1599, a group of English merchants, known as the ‘Merchant Adventurer’ formed a commercial organization called the East India Company, to trade with the Eastern countries. On December 31, 1600, Elizabeth, the Queen of England, granted to this company the monopoly of trade in the East for fifteen years by a charter. In 1608 the first British ship reached India and sent Captain Hawkins and Sir Thomas Roe to the court of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir to obtain royal favours. Consequently, the Company was given permission to open factories at several places in India. From the very beginning they tried to establish their political control over the territory where their factories were situated.

Conditions in South India were more favourable to the Company, because they did not have to face a strong local government there. The English opened their first factory in the South at Masaulipatam. Then they got Madras on lease from a local ruler. Now they shifted their activities here. The island of Bombay was acquired by the East India Company from Portugal in 1668 as part of the dowry of Catherine of Bragenze who became the Queen of king CharlesII.

In eastern India the East India Company had opened its first (factory) in Orissa in 1633.In 1651 it was given permission to trade at Hugli in Bengal. Now the Company desired an independent settlement in Bengal. So in 1686, the English declared a war on the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb. The English were defeated and were driven out of their factories in Bengal. Their factories at Surat, Masaulipatam and Vishakhapatam were besieged. They now expressed their willingness to trade under the protection of the Indian rulers. The Mughal authority readily agreed.

In 1698, the Company acquired the Zamindari of the three villages Sutanati, Kolkota and Govindapur, where it built Fort William. The villages soon grew into a city, known as Calcutta (Modern Kolkata). In 1717 the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar issued a Farman granting old privileges of carrying on duty free trade in Bengal. Similar permission was also received in Hyderabad and Surat.

During 1740 with the visible decline of the Mughal power the East India Company revived its policy of territorial conquest and political domination. Though they had eliminated the Portuguese and the Dutch from the race, the French had appeared as a new rival. They remained involved in war for twenty years to obtain political supremacy in India. These wars were known as three Carnatic wars since they remained limited to Carnatic in South India.

In 1742, war broke out in Europe between England and France. The war in Europe soon spread to India. In 1748 though the general war between England and France ended, the rivalry in trade and over possessions in India continued. The French Governor-General Dupleix now evolved the strategy of using the well disciplined, modern French army to intervene in the mutual quarrels of the Indian princes and by supporting one against other, securing monetary, commercial or territorial favours from the victor.

In 1748, a situation arose in Carnatic and Hyderabad which gave Dupleix an opportunity to pursue his plan. In Carnatic, Chand Sahib conspired against the Nawab Anwaruddin, while in Hyderabad a succession dispute started between Nasir Jang and Muzaffar Jang. Dupleix seized this opportunity and concluded a series of treaty with Chand Sahib and Muzaffar Jang to help them. In 1749 the three allies defeated and killed Anwaruddin in a battle at Ambur. Chand Sahib was placed on the Carnatic throne and the French got 80 villages around Pondicherry. In Hyderabad too, the French were successful. Nasir Jang was killed and Muzaffar Jang became Nizam. This time, along with other rewards the French got the famous town of Masaulipatam from the Nizam. Dupleix stationed his best officer Bussy at Hyderabad with a French army. In the meantime Muzaffar Jang was killed accidentally and so Bussy raised Salabat Jang to the throne. The new Nizam granted the French the area in Andhra known as the Northern Sarkars.

But the English had not been silent spectators. To reduce French influence and to increase their own, they supported the claim of Muhammad Ali to the throne of Carnatic. By the well laid plan of Robert Clive, a young clerk in the Company’s service, the English were able to overpower the combined force of Chand Sahib and the French. Chand Sahib was killed and Muhammad Ali was installed as Nawab. Dupleix tried to restore the French power, but failed. The French government, being dissatisfied with the huge military expenditures and fearing the loss of its American colonies, recalled Dupleix in 1754.This was a serious blow to the power and prestige of the French in India. On the other hand British influence increased.