Question

Which among the following cities in which British company agents settled in first India?

Answer 1

Vasco da Gama lands in India. The first Portuguese encounter with the subcontinent was on 20 May 1498 when Vasco da Gamareached Calicut on Malabar Coast. Anchored off the coast of Calicut, the Portuguese invited native fishermen on board and immediately bought some Indian items.

Answer 2

The records suggest that the first British companies came to India in the 17th century although they were just there for trade. The British controlled trade in Calicut and Surat and was entangled in a fierce competition with the Portuguese over the monopoly of the Asian spice market.

However, if you want to know when the East India Company first started operating as a governing body and in which state, that would be in 1757 when Mir Jafar, the commander-in-chief of the army of the Nawab of Bengal, went to the British to conspire to overthrow the Nawab in exchange of trade permits and the British realized the immense potential of wealth that lay in front of them if they could manage to control small provinces within the subcontinent.