Question

What did the Europeans want from India

Answer 1

India has had ancient trade networks with Europe that goes earlier than the Greek and Roman civilizations. Europeans have been visiting India for thousands of years and Indians have been doing the opposite trip.

While many Indians know that Europeans came to India, they don't know that the opposite happened too. There is the interesting story a Sramana philosopher sent by the Pandyan Kingdom of Tamil Nadu - who immolated himself in Athens 2000 years ago to prove his conviction to his philosophy. His tomb is still there in Greece. He and other philosophers brought Indian ideas to the West. This was instrumental in the development of Christianity

Answer 2

The Europeans wanted to concentrate on India in terms of trade of spices because India was known for spices and spices had a great demand in Europe. The Europeans had to preserve meat for long and severe winters which was possible by adding spices to the same. Besides India at that time was known as golden sparrow and Indian luxury goods had a great demand in European markets.