History of Modern India - Advent of Europeans and consolidation of British power in India

  

 

Though we talk of ancient, medieval and modern periods in history, history is a continuity. It is not always easy to distinguish clearly when one period ends and another begins. so, if we think of the history of modern India as beginning with the advent of the Europeans, we need to go back to what is generally considered the medieval period, i.e., the fifteenth century itself. Indeed, to a time even before the Mughals came and established their empire.

 

 

The Portuguese in India

The Quest for and Discovery of a Sea Route to India

 

After the decline of the Roman Empire in the seventh century, the Arabs had established their domination in Egypt and Persia. Direct contact between the Europeans and India declined and, with that, the easy accessibility to the Indian commodities like spices, calicoes, silk, and various precious stones that were greatly in demand was affected. In 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, who were on the ascendant. Merchandise from India went to the European markets through Arab Muslim intermediaries. The Red Sea trade route was a state monopoly from which Islamic rulers earned tremendous revenues. The land routes to India were also controlled by the Arabs. In the circumstances, the Europeans were keen to find a direct sea route to India Fifteenth-century Europe was gripped by the spirit of the Renaissance with its call for exploration. At the same time, Europe made great advances in the art of ship-building and navigation. Hence, there was an eagerness all over Europe for adventurous sea voyages to reach the unknown corners of the East.

 

The economic development of many regions of Europe was also progressing rapidly with expansion of land under cultivation, the introduction of an improved plough, scientific crop management such as crop rotation, and increased supply of meat (which called for spices for cooking as well as preservation). Prosperity also grew and with it the demand for oriental luxury goods also increased. Venice and Genoa which had earlier prospered through trade in oriental goods were too small to take on the mighty Ottoman Turks or to take up major exploration on their own. The north Europeans were ready to aid Portugal and Spain with money and men, even as the Genoese were ready to provide ships and technical knowledge. It is also to be noted that Portugal had assumed the leadership in Christendom’s resistance to Islam even as it had taken on itself the spirit of exploration that had characterised the Genoese.

 

Historians have observed that the idea of finding an ocean route to India had become an obsession for Prince Henry of Portugal, who was nicknamed the ‘Navigator’; also, he was keen to find a way to circumvent the Muslim domination of the eastern Mediterranean and all the routes that connected India to Europe. Pope Nicholas V gave Prince Henry a bull in 1454, conferring on him the right to navigate the “sea to the distant shores of the Orient”, more specifically “as far as India” in an attempt to fight Islamic influence and spread the Christian faith. However, Prince Henry died before his dream became a reality.

 

In 1497, under the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), the rulers of Portugal and Spain divided the non-Christian world between them by an imaginary line in the Atlantic, some 1,300 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. Under the treaty, Portugal could claim and occupy everything to the east of the line while Spain could claim everything to the west. The situation was thus prepared for the Portuguese incursions into the waters around India. It was in 1487 that the Portuguese navigator, Bartholomew Dias, rounded the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and sailed up the eastern coast; he was well convinced that the long sought after sea route to India had been found. But it was only ten years later that an expedition of Portuguese ships headed out to India (in 1497) and arrived in India in slightly less than eleven months’ time, in May 1498.

 

From Trading to Ruling

Vasco Da Gama

The arrival of three ships under Vasco Da Gama, led by a Gujarati pilot named Abdul Majid, at Calicut in May 1498 profoundly affected the course of Indian history. The Hindu ruler of Calicut, the Zamorin (Samuthiri), however, had no apprehensions as to the European’s intentions. As the prosperity of his kingdom was due to Calicut’s position as an entrepot, he accorded a friendly reception to Vasco Da Gama. The Arab traders, who had a good business on the Malabar coast were apprehensive and were not keen on the Portuguese getting a hold there. 

For centuries, the trading system in the Indian Ocean had had numerous participants Indians, Arabs, Africans from the east coast, Chinese, Javanese, among others but these participants had acted according to some tacit rules of conduct and none had sought overwhelming dominance though all were in it for profit. The Portuguese changed that: they wanted to monopolise the hugely profitable eastern trade by excluding competitors, especially the Arabs. Vasco da Gama stayed in India for three months. When he returned to Portugal, he carried back with him a rich cargo and sold the merchandise in the European market at a huge profit. The importance of direct access to the pepper trade was made clear by the fact that elsewhere the Europeans, who had to buy through Muslim middlemen, would have had to spend ten times as much for the same amount of pepper. Not surprisingly, other profit-seeking merchants of European nations were tempted to come to India and trade directly. A voyage was undertaken by Pedro Alvarez Cabral to trade for spices, negotiating and establishing a factory at Calicut, where he arrived in September 1500. There was an incident of conflict when the Portuguese factory at Calicut was attacked by the locals, resulting in the death of several Portuguese. In retaliation, Cabral seized a number of Arab merchant ships anchored in the harbour, and killed hundreds of their crew besides confiscating their cargo and burning the ships. Calicut was bombarded by Cabral. Later, Cabral succeeded in making advantageous treaties with the local rulers of Cochin and Cannanore.

 

Vasco da Gama once again came to India in 1501. The Zamorin declined to exclude the Arab merchants in favour of the Portuguese when Vasco Da Gama combined commercial greed with ferocious hostility and wreaked vengeance on Arab shipping wherever he could. His rupture with the Zamorin thus became total and complete. Vasco da Gama set up a trading factory at Cannanore. Gradually, Calicut, Cannanore and Cochin became the important trade centres of the Portuguese. Gradually, under the pretext of protecting the factories and their trading activities, the Portuguese got permission to fortify these centres.

 

Francisco De Almeida

In 1505, the King of Portugal appointed a governor in India for a three-year term and equipped the incumbent with sufficient force to protect the Portuguese interests. Francisco De Almeida, the newly appointed governor, was asked to consolidate the position of the Portuguese in India and to destroy Muslim trade by seizing Aden, Ormuz and Malacca. He was also advised to build fortresses at Anjadiva, Cochin, Cannanore and Kilwa. 

What Almeida, however, encountered along with the opposition of the Zamorin, was a threat from the Mameluke Sultan of Egypt. Encouraged by the merchants of Venice whose lucrative commerce was now at risk due to the Portuguese interference, the Egyptians raised a fleet in the Red Sea to stop the advance of the Portuguese. In 1507, the Portuguese squadron was defeated in a naval battle off Diu by the combined Egyptian and Gujarat navies, and Almeida’s son was killed. Next year, Almeida avenged his defeat by totally crushing the two navies. Almeida’s vision was to make the Portuguese the master of the Indian Ocean. His policy was known as the Blue Water Policy (cartaze system).

 

Alfonso de Albuquerque

Albuquerque, who succeeded Almeida as the Portuguese governor in India, was the real founder of the Portuguese power in the East, a task he completed before his death. He secured for Portugal the strategic control of the Indian Ocean by establishing bases overlooking all the entrances to the sea. There were Portuguese strongholds in East Africa, off the Red Sea, at Ormuz; in Malabar; and at Malacca. The Portuguese, under Albuquerque bolstered their stranglehold by introducing a permit system for other ships and exercising control over the major ship-building centres in the region. The non availability of timber in the Gulf and Red Sea regions for ship-building also helped the Portuguese in their objectives. 

Albuquerque acquired Goa from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510 with ease; the principal port of the Sultan of Bijapur became “the first bit of Indian territory to be under the Europeans since the time of Alexander the Great”. An interesting feature of his rule was the abolition of sati. The Portuguese men who had come on the voyages and stayed back in India were, from Albuquerque’s day, encouraged to take local wives. In Goa and the Province of the North they established themselves as village landlords, often building new roads and irrigation works, introducing new crops like tobacco and cashew nut, or better plantation varieties of coconut besides planting large groves of coconut to meet the need for coir rigging and cordage. In the cities, such as Goa and Cochin, they settled as artisans and master-craftsmen, besides being traders. Most of such Portuguese came to look upon their new settlements, rather than Portugal, as home.

 

Nino da Cunha

Nino da Cunha assumed office of the governor of Portuguese interests in India in November 1529 and almost one year later shifted the headquarters of the Portuguese government in India from Cochin to Goa. Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, during his conflict with the Mughal emperor Humayun, secured help from the Portuguese by ceding to them in 1534 the island of Bassein with its dependencies and revenues. 

He also promised them a base in Diu. However, Bahadur Shah’s relations with the Portuguese became sour when Humayun withdrew from Gujarat in 1536. Since the inhabitants of the town started fighting with the Portuguese, Bahadur Shah wanted to raise a wall of partition. Opposing this, the Portuguese started negotiations, in the course of which the ruler of Gujarat was invited to a Portuguese ship and killed in 1537. Da Cunha also attempted to increase Portuguese influence in Bengal by settling many Portuguese nationals there with Hooghly as their headquarters.

 

Portuguese State

The general tendency is to underestimate the Portuguese hold in India. However, the Estado Português da India (State of the Portuguese India) was in fact a larger element in Indian history than it is given credit for. Many of the coastal parts of India had come under Portuguese power within fifty years of Vasco da Gama’s arrival. The Portuguese had occupied some sixty miles of coast around Goa. On the west coast from Mumbai to Daman and Diu to the approaches to Gujarat, they controlled a narrow tract with four important ports and hundreds of towns and villages. 

In the south, they had under them a chain of seaport fortresses and trading-posts like Mangalore, Cannanore, Cochin, and Calicut. And though their power in Malabar was not consolidated, it was enough to ensure influence or control over the local rulers who held the spice growing land. The Portuguese established further military posts and settlements on the east coast at San Thome (in Chennai) and Nagapatnam (in Andhra). Towards the end of the sixteenth century, a wealthy settlement had grown at Hooghly in West Bengal.

 

Envoys and ambassadors were exchanged between Goa and many of the major kingdoms in India of the time. Treaties were signed between Goa and the Deccan sultans in 1570 which were regularly renewed as long as their kingdoms lasted. The Portuguese always had a role to play in the successive battles for the balance of power between Vijayanagara and the Deccan sultans, between the Deccanis and the Mughals, and between the Mughals and the Marathas. Interestingly, the Portuguese, the first Europeans to come to India, were also the last to leave this land. It was 1961 before the Government of India recaptured Goa, Daman and Diu from them.

 

Portuguese Administration in India

 

The head of the administration was the viceroy who served for three years, with his secretary and, in later years, a council. Next in importance came the Vedor da Fazenda, responsible for revenues and the cargoes and dispatch of fleets. The fortresses, from Africa to China, were under captains, assisted by ‘factors’, whose power was increased by the difficulties of communication and was too often used for personal ends.

 

Religious Policy of the Portuguese

 

The Moors were the bitter enemies of the Portuguese in North Africa. So were the Arabs. Arriving in the East, the Portuguese brought with them the same zeal to promote Christianity and the wish to persecute all Muslims. Intolerant towards the Muslims, the Portuguese were initially quite tolerant towards the Hindus. However, over time, after the introduction of the Inquisition in Goa, there was a change and Hindus were also persecuted. But, in spite of this intolerant behaviour, the Jesuits made a good impression at the court of Akbar, mainly due to the Mughal emperor’s interest in questions of theology. In September 1579, Akbar forwarded a letter to the authorities at Goa requesting them to send two learned priests. The Church authorities in Goa eagerly accepted the invitation, seeing in it a chance to convert the emperor to Christianity, and with him his court and the people. Jesuit fathers, Rodolfo Aquaviva and Antonio Monserrate were selected for the purpose. When they reached Fatehpur Sikri on February 28, 1580, they were received with honour. Aquaviva and Monserrate went back in 1583, belying the hopes the Portuguese entertained of Akbar’s conversion to the Christian faith. The second mission called by Akbar in 1590 also ended on a similar note in 1592. The third mission, again invited by Akbar, arrived in 1595 at Lahore (where the court was then residing) and continued as a sort of permanent institution, thereby extending its influence on secular politics. Fathers Jerome Xavier and Emanuel Pinheiro were the leaders of the mission, and their letters from the court became very widely known for the information they provided on the latter part of Akbar’s reign.

 

Prince Salim, on ascending the throne as Jahangir, assuaged the Muslims by neglecting the Jesuit fathers. Gradually, however, his temporary estrangement from the Jesuits ended, and in 1606 he again renewed his favours to them. The elegant and spacious church at Lahore was allowed to be retained by them along with the collegium or the priests’ residence. In 1608, twenty baptisms were carried out in Agra, the priests publicly acting with as much liberty as in Portugal. Jahangir’s conduct was such that the Jesuit priests became hopeful of bringing him within the Christian fold. However, these hopes were belied. Moreover, arrogant actions on the part of the Portuguese viceroys created a rift with the Mughal emperor.

 

Portuguese Lose Favour with the Mughals

 

In 1608, Captain William Hawkins with his ship Hector reached Surat. He brought with him a letter from James I, King of England, to the Mughal court of Jahangir requesting permission to do business in India. Father Pinheiro and the Portuguese authorities did their best to prevent Hawkins from reaching the Mughal court, but did not succeed. Jahangir accepted the gifts Hawkins brought for him and gave Hawkins a very favourable reception in 1609. As Hawkins knew the Turki language well, he conversed with the emperor in that language without the aid of an interpreter. Pleased with Hawkins, Jahangir appointed him as a mansabdar of 400 at a salary of Rs 30,000 (apparently, he never received it). Hawkins was also married to the daughter of an Armenian Christian named Mubarak Shah (Mubarikesha). 

The grant of trading facilities to the English offended the Portuguese. However, after negotiations, a truce was established between the Portuguese and the Mughal emperor. The Portuguese stopped the English ships from entering the port of Surat. A baffled Hawkins left the Mughal court in 1611, unable to counter the Portuguese intrigues or check the vacillating Mughal policies. However, in November 1612, the English ship Dragon under Captain Best along with a little ship, the Osiander, successfully fought a Portuguese fleet. Jahangir, who had no navy worth its name, learnt of the English success and was greatly impressed.

 

The Portuguese acts of piracy also resulted in conflict with the imperial Mughal government. In 1613, the Portuguese offended Jehangir by capturing Mughal ships, imprisoning many Muslims, and plundering the cargoes. An enraged Jahangir ordered Muqarrab Khan, who was the then in charge of Surat, to obtain compensation. However, it was during the reign of Shah Jahan, that the advantages which the Portuguese enjoyed in the Mughal court were lost forever. Also lost were the hopes of converting the royal family and Mughal India to Christianity, a hope that the Portuguese held because of the welcome accorded to them and their religion by Akbar and Jahangir.

 

Capture of Hooghly

On the basis of an imperial farman circa 1579, the Portuguese had settled down on a river bank which was a short distance from Satgaon in Bengal to carry on their trading activities. Over the years, they strengthened their position by constructing big buildings which led to the migration of the trade from Satgaon to the new port known as Hooghly. They monopolized the manufacture of salt, built a custom house of their own and started enforcing strictly the levy of duty on tobacco, which had become an important article of trade since its introduction at the beginning of the 17th century.

 

The Portuguese not only made money as traders but also started a cruel slave trade by purchasing or seizing Hindu and Muslim children, whom they brought up as Christians. In the course of their nefarious activities, they seized two slave girls of Mumtaz Mahal. On June 24, 1632, the siege of Hooghly began, ending in its capture three months later. Shah Jahan ordered the Bengal governor Qasim Khan to take action against the Portuguese. A siege of Hooghly finally led to the Portuguese fleeing. The Mughals suffered a loss of 1,000 men, but also took 400 prisoners to Agra. The prisoners were offered the option to convert to Islam or become slaves. The persecution of Christians continued for some time after which it died down gradually.

 

Significance of the Portuguese

Most historians have observed that the coming of the Portuguese not only initiated what might be called the European era, it marked the emergence of naval power. The Cholas, among others, had been a naval power, but it was now for the first time a foreign power had come to India by way of the sea. The Portuguese ships carried cannon, and this was the first step in gaining monopoly over trade with the threat or actual use of force. The Portuguese declared their intention to abide by no rules except their own, and they were intent on getting a decisive advantage over the Indians and over the Indian Ocean trading system.

 

In the Malabar of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese showed military innovation in their use of body armour, matchlock men, and guns landed from the ships. The Portuguese may have contributed by example to the Mughal use of field guns, and the ‘artillery of the stirrup’. However, an important military contribution made by the Portuguese onshore was the system of drilling groups of infantry, on the Spanish model, introduced in the 1630s as a counter to Dutch pressure. The practice was adopted first by the French and English, and later taken up by the Marathas and Sikhs, and such armies of sepoys became new tools of empire in India. The Portuguese were masters of improved techniques at sea.

 

Their multi-decked ships were heavily constructed, designed as they were to ride out Atlantic gales rather than run before the regular monsoons; this permitted them to carry a heavier armament. Their use of castled prow and stern was a noteworthy method by which to repel or launch boarding parties. Indian builders adapted both to their own use. However, the Portuguese skill at organization as in the creation of royal arsenals and dockyards and the maintenance of a regular system of pilots and mapping and pitting state forces against private merchant shipping was even more noteworthy. The Mughals and Marathas may certainly have learnt from the Portuguese but the more certain heirs of this knowledge were other Europeans, especially the Dutch and English, in Asia.

 

In India, the memory of religious persecution and cruelty detracts from the other contributions made by the Portuguese in the cultural field. However, it cannot be forgotten that the missionaries and the Church were also teachers and patrons in India of the arts of the painter, carver, and sculptor. As in music, they were the interpreters, not just of Portuguese, but of European art to India. The art of the silversmith and goldsmith flourished at Goa, and the place became a centre of elaborate filigree work, fretted foliage work and metal work embedding jewels. However, though the interior of churches built under the Portuguese have plenty of woodwork and sculpture and sometimes painted ceilings, they are generally simple in their architectural plan.

 

The Dutch

Commercial enterprise led the Dutch to undertake voyages to the East. Cornelis de Houtman was the first Dutchman to reach Sumatra and Bantam in 1596. In 1602, the States General of the Netherlands amalgamated many trading companies into the East India Company of the Netherlands. This company was also empowered to carry on war, to conclude treaties, to take possession of territory and to erect fortresses.

 

Anglo-Dutch Rivalry

The English were also at this time rising to prominence in the Eastern trade, and this posed a serious challenge to the commercial interests of the Dutch. Commercial rivalry soon turned into bloody warfare. The climax of the enmity between the Dutch and the English in the East was reached at Amboyna (a place in present-day Indonesia, which the Dutch had captured from the Portuguese in 1605) where they massacred ten Englishmen and nine Japanese in 1623. This incident further intensified the rivalry between the two European companies. After prolonged warfare, both the parties came to a compromise in 1667 by which the British agreed to withdraw all their claims on Indonesia, and the Dutch retired from India to concentrate on their more profitable trade in Indonesia. They monopolised the trade in black pepper and spices. The most important Indian commodities the Dutch traded in were silk, cotton, indigo, rice and opium.

 

Decline of the Dutch in India

The Dutch got drawn into the trade of the Malay Archipelago. Further, in the third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-74), communications between Surat and the new English settlement of Bombay got cut due to which three homebound English ships were captured in the Bay of Bengal by the Dutch forces. The retaliation by the English resulted in the defeat of the Dutch, in the battle of Hooghly (November 1759), which dealt a crushing blow to Dutch ambitions in India. The Dutch were not much interested in empire building in India; their concerns were trade. In any case, their main commercial interest lay in the Spice Islands of Indonesia from where they earned a huge profit through business.

 

Charter of Queen Elizabeth

Francis Drake’s voyage around the world in 1580 and the English victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588 generated a new sense of enterprise in the British, encouraging sailors to venture out to the East. As the knowledge grew of the high profits earned by the Portuguese in Eastern trade, English traders too wanted a share. So in 1599, a group of English merchants calling themselves the ‘Merchant Adventurers’ formed a company. On December 31, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter with rights of exclusive trading to the company named the ‘Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies’. Initially, a monopoly of fifteen years was granted, which in May 1609 was extended indefinitely by a fresh charter. As the Dutch were already concentrating more on the East Indies, the English turned to India in search of textiles and other commodities of trade.

 

Progress of the English Company

Foothold in West and South

Captain Hawkins arrived in the court of Jahangir in April 1609 itself. But the mission to establish a factory at Surat didn’t succeed due to opposition from the Portuguese, and Hawkins left Agra in November 1611. In 1611, the English had started trading at Masulipatnam on the south-eastern coast of India and later established a factory there in 1616. It was in 1612 that Captain Thomas Best defeated the Portuguese in the sea off Surat; an impressed Jahangir granted permission to the English in early 1613 to establish a factory at Surat under Thomas Aldworth. In 1615, Sir Thomas Roe came as an accredited ambassador of James I to the court of Jahangir, staying on there till February 1619. Though he was unsuccessful in concluding a commercial treaty with the Mughal emperor, he was able to secure a number of privileges, including permission to set up factories at Agra, Ahmedabad and Broach. The English company did not have a smooth progress. It had to contend with the Portuguese and the Dutch in the beginning. But the changing situation helped them and turned things in their favour. Bombay had been gifted to King Charles II by the King of Portugal as dowry when Charles married the Portuguese princess Catherine in 1662. Bombay was given over to the East India Company on an annual payment of ten pounds only in 1668. Later Bombay was made the headquarters by shifting the seat of the Western Presidency from Surat to Bombay in 1687. So there was tacit peace between the English and the Portuguese now. There was also an Anglo-Dutch compromise as mentioned earlier by which the Dutch agreed not to interfere with the English Company’s trade in India. Thus the English were rid of two arch-rivals in India.

 

The English Company’s position was improved by the ‘Golden Farman’ issued to them by the Sultan of Golconda in 1632. On a payment of 500 pagodas a year, they earned the privilege of trading freely in the ports of Golconda. A member of the Masulipatnam council, the British merchant Francis Day, in 1639 received from the ruler of Chandragiri permission to build a fortified factory at Madras which later became the Fort St. George and replaced Masulipatnam as the headquarters of the English settlements in south India. Thereafter, the English extended their trading activities to the east and started factories at Hariharpur in the Mahanadi delta and at Balasore (in Odisha) in 1633.

 

Foothold in Benga

Bengal was then a large and rich province in India, advanced in trade and commerce. Commercial and political control over Bengal naturally appeared an attractive proposition to the profit-seeking English merchants. Bengal was also an important province of the Mughal empire. Shah Shuja, the subahdar of Bengal in 1651, allowed the English to trade in Bengal in return for an annual payment of Rs 3,000, in lieu of all duties. Factories in Bengal were started at Hooghly (1651) and other places like Kasimbazar, Patna and Rajmahal. Nevertheless, despite the privileges of the farmans, the Company’s business was now and then obstructed by customs officers in the local checkposts who asked for payment of tolls. In pursuance of its changed policy, the Company wanted to have a fortified settlement at Hooghly so that force could be used if necessary. William Hedges, the first agent and governor of the Company in Bengal, appealed to Shayista Khan, the Mughal governor of Bengal in August 1682, for redressal of the grievance. As nothing came out of the appeal, hostilities broke out between the English and the Mughals. Four years later, Hooghly was sacked by the imperial Mughals in October 1686. The English retaliated by capturing the imperial forts at Thana (modern Garden Reach), raiding Hijli in east Midnapur and storming the Mughal fortifications at Balasore. However, the English were forced to leave Hooghly and were sent to an unhealthy location at the mouth of the River Ganga.

 

After the Mughal raid on Hooghly, Job Charnock, a company agent, started negotiations with the Mughals so as to return to a place called Sutanuti. Charnock signed a treaty with the Mughals in February 1690, and returned to Sutanuti in August 1690. Thus, an English factory was established on February 10, 1691, the day an imperial farman was issued permitting the English to “continue contentedly their trade in Bengal” on payment of Rs 3000 a year in lieu of all dues. A zamindar in Bardhaman district, Sobha Singh, rebelled, subsequently giving the English the pretext they were looking for, to fortify their settlement at Sutanuti in 1696. In 1698, the English succeeded in getting the permission to buy the zamindari of the three villages of Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata (Kalighat) from their owners on payment of Rs 1,200. The fortified settlement was named Fort William in the year 1700 when it also became the seat of the eastern presidency (Calcutta) with Sir Charles Eyre as its first president.

 

Merging of Two English Companies

After the English revolution of 1688, the Whigs, with their enhanced influence, opposed the monopoly of the East India Company. Thus a rival company was formed which deputed Sir William Norris as its ambassador to the court of Aurangzeb (January 1701-April 1702) to gain trading privileges for itself. The new company, however, proved a failure. Under pressure from the Crown and the Parliament, the two companies were amalgamated in 1708 under the title of ‘United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies’. This was the East India Company from 1708 to 1873 which was to establish British political power in India.

 

Foundation of French Centres in India

Although the French harbored a wish to engage in the commerce of the East since the opening years of the sixteenth century, their appearance on the Indian coasts was late. Indeed, the French were the last Europeans to come to India with the purpose of trade. During the reign of Louis XIV, the king’s famous minister Colbert laid the foundation of the Compagnie des Indes Orientals (French East India Company) in 1664, in which the king also took a deep interest. The Compagnie des Indes Orientales was granted a 50-year monopoly on French trade in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The French king also granted the company a concession in perpetuity for the island of Madagascar, as well as any other territories it could conquer. The Company spent a lot of its money and resources in trying to revive the colonies of Madagascar but without any success. Then in 1667, Francois Caron headed an expedition to India, setting up a factory in Surat. Mercara, a Persian who accompanied Caron, founded another French factory in Masulipatnam in 1669 after obtaining a patent from the Sultan of Golconda. In 1673, the French obtained permission from Shaista Khan, the Mughal Subahdar of Bengal, to establish a township at Chandernagore near Calcutta.

 

Pondicherry Nerve Centre of French Power in India

In 1673, Sher Khan Lodi, the governor of Valikondapuram (under the Bijapur Sultan), granted Francois Martin, the director of the Masulipatnam factory, a site for a settlement. Pondicherry was founded in 1674. In the same year, Francois Martin replaced Caron as the French governor. The French company established its factories in other parts of India also, particularly in the coastal regions. Mahe, Karaikal, Balasore and Qasim Bazar were a few important trading centres of the French East India Company. After taking charge of Pondicherry in 1674, Francois Martin developed it as a place of importance. It was indeed, the stronghold of the French in India.

 

Early Setbacks to the French East India Company

The French position in India was badly affected with the outbreak of war between the Dutch and the French. Bolstered by their alliance with the English since the Revolution of 1688, the Dutch captured Pondicherry in 1693. Although the Treaty of Ryswick concluded in September 1697 restored Pondicherry to the French, the Dutch garrison held on to it for two more years. Once again, under Francois Martin’s able guidance Pondicherry flourished and turned out to be the most important settlement of the French in India. Again there was a bad turn in the fortunes of the French company in India when the War of Spanish Succession broke out in Europe. Consequent to this, they had to abandon their factories at Surat, Masulipatnam and Bantam in the early 18th century. The French in India had another setback when Francois Martin died on December 31, 1706.

 

Reorganization of the French Company

In 1720, the French company was reorganized as the ‘Perpetual Company of the Indies’ which revived its strength. This was further enhanced by the stewardship of two active and wise governors, Lenoir and Dumas, between 1720 and 1742. Further, the French India was backed by the French possession of Mauritius and Reunion in the southern Indian Ocean.

 

Why the English Succeeded against Other European Power

Of all the European nations who came as traders to India after new sea routes were discovered, England emerged as the most powerful and successful by the end of the eighteenth century. The major factors which can be attributed for the success of the English against other European powers Portugal, the Netherlands, France and Denmark in the world in general and in India in particular were as follows:

 

Structure and Nature of the Trading Companies

The English East India Company, formed through amalgamation of several rival companies at home, was controlled by a board of directors whose members were elected annually. The shareholders of the company exercised considerable influence, as the votes could be bought and sold through purchase of shares. The trading companies of France and Portugal were largely owned by the State and their nature was in many ways feudalistic. In the French company, the monarch had more than 60 per cent share and, its directors were nominated by the monarch from the shareholders who were supposed to carry on the decisions of two high commissioners appointed by the government. The shareholders took very little interest in promoting the prosperity of the company, because the State guaranteed a dividend to the shareholders. The lack of public interest could be inferred from the fact that between 1725 and 1765, there was no meeting of the shareholders and the company was simply managed as a department of the State.

 

Naval Superiority

The Royal Navy of Britain was not only the largest; it was most advanced of its times. The victory against the Spanish Armada and against the French at Trafalgar had put the Royal Navy at the peak of the European naval forces. In India too, the British were able to defeat the Portuguese and the French due to strong and fast movement of the naval ships. The English learnt from the Portuguese the importance of an efficient navy and improved their own fleet technologically.

 

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution started in England in the early 18^th century, with the invention of new machines like the spinning Jenny, steam engine, the power loom and several others. These machines greatly improved production in the fields of textile, metallurgy, steam power and agriculture. The industrial revolution reached other European nations late and this helped England to maintain its hegemony.

Military Skill and Discipline

The British soldiers were a disciplined lot and well trained. The British commanders were strategists who tried new tactics in warfare. Technological developments equipped the military well. All this combined to enable smaller groups of English fighters defeat larger armies.