1 February 2013 Advanced History of India Freedom at Midnight The Men who killed Gandhi We perceive history with

our own political, social and cultural backgrounds. There are many versions of history.

The Advent of the Europeans 5 feb.

Foreigner could have entered India only through 2 routes. Europeans can enter through the sea and the others through NWFP (North-West Frontier Province). Coastlines of India were unguarded. (26/11) Perhaps no event during the middle ages had such far reaching repercussions on the civilized world as the opening of the sea route to India. This was perhaps the greatest event that the sea route to India was open. When Vasco Da Gama landed in Calicut, he met the Hindu ruler of Calicut bearing the hereditary title of Zamoril. On 9th March 1500, a person called Pedro Alvaresz Cabral, sailed from Lesbon to Calicut with a fleet of 13 ships. Alphonso De Albuquerque, it is he who gave the real foundation of the Portuguese rule in India. He was appointed the Governor of Portuguese affair in 1504. In November 1510 he captured the port of Goa. With a view to secure permanent Portuguese population, he encouraged them to marry Indian women. Till he died in 1515, he had made a solid Portuguese rule. Daman, Diu, Basseit, Bombay, Santhom near Madras and Hugli in Bengal etc., there was a Portuguese rule. Though the earliest intruder into the east, the Portuguese lost their influence in the sphere of Indian trade by the 18th century because most of them took to robbery or piracy and a few adopted honourable careers. The reasons for the decline of Portuguese in Goa; 1. 2. 3. 4. Religious intolerance. Clandestine practice in trade. Discovery of Brazil drew the colonizing activities of Portugal to the west. Forceful conversion to Christianity

After the Portuguese, the Dutch came to India. Mainly for the spice market of south Asia. They undertook several sea voyages from 1596 and eventually found the Dutch east India Company in

1602. In 1605 the Dutch captured Amboyanas from the Potuguese and gradually established their influence at the cost of the later in the Spice Islands. They conquered Jakarta in 1619 and established Batavia. And blockaded Goa I n 1639, captured straits of Malacca in 1641 and got possession of the last Portuguese settlement in Silon in 1658. The Dutch came into the islands of Sumatra etc. to trade in spices and pepper. The archipelago was not only a strategic and administrative centre of their system, it was also an economic centre. The Dutch had influenced not only in the coromandal coast but also in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Their more important of their factories in India were at Masulipatam 1605, other places and Cochin 1663. At Surat the Dutch were supplied with large quantity of Indigo, manufactured in central India and the Jumna Valley. From Bengal, Bihar and coromandal, they exported rice, textiles and salt peter and gangetic opium. After 1690, Megapatam, instead of Pulicut became the chief seat of the Dutch on the Coromandal. England concluded peace with Spain in 1604. But the Portuguese entered into the rivalry and in the quest for supremacy, trade was affected.

During the year 1672-1674 the Dutch frequently obstructed communication between Surat and the New English settlement of Bombay and captured three English vessels in the Bay of Bengal. The commercial rivalry of the Dutch and the English remained acute till A.D 1759.

British East India Company.

Between 1591-1593, James Lancaster reached Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari) and Penand. It was 31st December 1600 that the first important step for Englands commercial prosperity was taken. On that day the East India Company received a charter from Queen Elizabeth granting them monopoly of eastern trade for 15 years. It had to explore and map out the Indian seas and coast, they and to painful work out the system of commerce. Captain Hawkins came to India to the court of Jehangir as the representative of the company in 1609. He was at first was very well received by the Mughal Emperor. Emperor Jehangir expressed his desire to let the British settle their company in Surat, for which Hawkins presented petition. Hawkins left Agra in 1611 and at Surat met three English ships under the command of Sir Henry Middleton. In 1613 Jehangir issued a Firman, permitting the English to establish there factory in Surat. Sir Thomas Row came to Emperor Jehangir to establish a commercial treaty with him. Sir Thomas stayed in the Court of Jehangir from 1615-1618. Though not a commercial treaties, his proximity with the emperor got him various privileges for the company. In 1668, Bombay was transferred to the East India to Company by Charles the II who had got it from the Portuguese as a part of the dowry of his wife, Catherine of Braganza at an annual rent of 10 pounds. In 1687, Bombay became the important port superseding Surat. On the south Indian coast, the English had established a factory at Masulipatam, the principal port of the kingdom of Golconda. In 1611, in order to purchase the locally woven piece- goods which they exported to Persia and Bantam. There was opposition from the Dutch and frequent demands of the local officials. The English were compelled to open another factory in 1626 at Armagaon, a few miles north of Dutch settlement of Pulicut. To the great advantage, the Sultan of Golconda granted them a

Golden Firman in A.D 1632 after which they were allowed to trade freely in ports belonging to the kingdom of Golconda on the payments of duties of 500 pagodas a year. This terms were repeated in a Farman in the year A.D 1634. In A.D 1639, Francis Dey, obtained the lease of Madras from the rulers of Chandragiri representative of the ruined Vijaynagar Empire and built there a fortified factory which came to be known as fort St.George. Fort St.George soon superseded Masolipatam as headquarters of the English settlements on the Coromandal coast. The establishment of a joint stock banking greatly relieved the company from its financial difficulties. It is during this time that the fortunes of the company were going to change. Due to the political instability and disorder prevailing in the country at that time, a peaceful trading body was transformed into a power, eager to establish its own position by territorial acquisitions. This is substantially by the fact that in 1669, one of the companys servants wrote a letter to the board of directors of the British East India Company, the jist of which was, The times now require you to manage your general commerce with sword in your hands. Before the events of 1669, in 1688, a company servant blockaded Bombay and sent his captains to the Red sea and the Persian Gulf to arrest the pilgrimage traffic to Mecca. But the English had underestimated the force of the Mughal Empire. The English servant after this debacle, appealed to Aurangzeb for pardon who straight away granted it and also a licence for English trade and in return the English had to restore all the Mughal ship and to pay 1.5 lac of rupees in compensation. In Bengal where staples of commerce could not be purchase near the coast but had to bought from places lying far up the waterways of the provinces. The company was subjected to the payment of toll taxes and vexatious demands by the local officers. In 1651, the ruler of Bengal, issued a Farman, granting the company the privilege in turn of a fixed annual payment of duties worth Rs 3,000. In 1656, a Nishan was granted. But in spite of this Farmans, the companys agents in all place i.e. Bombay, Madras and Bengal could not escape from the local custom officials and their goods were frequently seized. The most important event in the history of the company during this period was its embassy to the Mughal court in 1715. The privileges enjoyed by the English of trading in Bengal, free of all duties, subject to the annual payment of Rs.3000 per annum was confirmed. They were permitted to rent additional territory around Calcutta. Their old privilege of exemption from dues throughout the problems of Hyderabad were retained being required to pay only the existing rent for Madras. The coins of the company minted at Bombay were allowed to have currency throughout the Mughal dominiance.In Bengal, Mushi Quli Jaffar Khan, a strong and able governor, opposed the grant of additional villages to the English.

French East India Company:

Though, the desire for the eastern traffic displayed itself

at a very earlier period among the French, they were the last of the European powers to compete the commercial games in the east with other European companies. The first French factory of India was established by a person called Francois Caron in A.D 1668 and another French factory at Masulipattam in 1669 by Marcara by obtaining a patent by the Sultan of Golconda. In 1672 the French seized Santhome, close to Madras, but in the very next year, their admiral was defeated by a combined force of the Sultan of Golconda and the Dutch.

In 1673, two French officials obtained a small village from the Governor of the place called, Valcondapuram, thus the foundation of Pondicherry was laid in a modest manner. In Bengal, Nawab Shaista Khan, granted a site to the French in 1674 of which the French factory of Chandarnagor was built between 1690 and 1692. The French occupied Mauritius in 1721, Mahe on the Malabar Coast in 1725 and Kadikal in 1739. After 1732, political motives began to overshadow the desire for commercial gain and the French began to cherish their idea of a French empire in India. Madras and Pondicherry were the chief training centre on English and the French on the Coromandal coast. The English posed in relation the fort Saint David, a little to a south of Pondicherry. All three cities were on the sea coast and depended on their supplies on the seas. Not only the local Indian authorities possess non navy but their condition were such that they shortly seized to count as important military power of the world. The whole of the Carnatic was almost in melting point. The outbreak war between England and France also paced the two mercantile companies in India in a state of war. Madras was lost in this war, but through a subsequent treaty, it was again bestowed to the British and thus the first Carnatic war came to an end with no one gaining any territory. The recognized supremacy of English in this respect offered, therefore, but a gloomy prospect to the French. The reasons were, the French power were practically lineant to Carnatic, whereas the British had important settlement, both in Bombay and Bengal. Dupleix was appointed governor of all the Mughal territories south of the river Krishna and ceded to him territories near Pondicherry as well as on the Odissa coast, including the famous market town of Masulipattam. At a request of a particular Nawab provided him with one of his finest officers who had army of soldiers at his disposal. It was now clear to even to the most obtuse mind that the British position in Madras would be lost if Dupleix were left free to complete his designs. Although there was no declaration of war between the French and the British, but it could be fought on Dupleixs design. In the meantime events were marching rapidly in the north. Robert Clive, a civilian employee in Madras had lately joined the army. With only 200 Europeans and 300 sepoys he occupied Arcot without any serious opposition and when attacked by the Nawab, he defended the city and the seize was broken. The peace between the English and the French continued undisturbed till the outbreak of the Seven Years War in Europe, the news of which reached India by the end on 1756. Like the Deccan, Bengal was under a Subahdar who normally acknowledged the suzerainty of the Mughal Emperor of Delhi, but was to all intent and purpose an independent king. Like the Deccan, Bengal had no stability. Conspiracies a revolution were the order of the day and corruption and inefficiency sapped the vitality of the State. Alivardi Khan, the nawab of Bengal was an efficient, strong and a capable ruler. Alivardi had no male heir. His three daughters were married to three sons of his brother. Siraj-ud-Daulah, the son of his youngest daughter was chosen as his successor. But the arrangement were naturally disliked by the other two son-in-laws who were the respective governors of the places like Dhaka and Purnia. Alivardi Khan died on 9th April 1756 and Siraj-ud-daulah ascended the throne of Bengal without any

difficulty. The main cause of the dispute was the additional fortification of Calcutta, which the English had undertaken as a measure of precaution against the French. The capture of Calcutta will ever remain memorable in history on account of so called Black-Hole episode which occupies a prominent place in Indian history. According to the English version, 146 English prisoners were confined in a small room known as a Black Hole, 18 feet long by 14 feet 10 inches wide. One hundred and twenty three died of suffocation, and 23 miserable survivors alone remained to tell the the tale of that tragic summer night. The truth of the story has been doubted on good grounds, the tragic details designed to suit the magnified number of prisoners, must almost certainly be ascribed to the fertile imagination of Holwell (the historian, English Version). On whose authority the story primarily rest. But the Indian historians say, it is agreed that Siraj-ud-daulah was not personally responsible for the act. Leaving his general Manikchand in charge of Calcutta, Siraj-ud-daulah returned to Mushidabad. The tragedy seems to have been quiet unintentional. Nevertheless Siraj was held responsible. Dramatized and magnified by the survivors, the Black Hole greatly reduced the Nawabs chances of restoring relations with the British. Had supposed battle of Plassey, actually been fought, it is far from certain that Siraj would have lost it. The numerical odds, at perhaps 50,000 to 3,000 were heavily in his favour. So was the disposition of his troops and despite the superiority of the companys guns, the initial artillery exchanges proved indecisive. But however because of the treachery of Mir Jaffer and other dignitaries of the courts, Siraj had no option but flee the battlefield. The battle of Plassey was a mere skirmish. But the fallout of the battle was much more important than many of the greatest battles in the world. It paved the way for the advent of the British conquest of Bengal and eventually the whole of India. The conspiracy of Mir Jafar and others has been regarded as the Great Betrayal of the country. But in some measures it was due to that unknown and unknowable factor called fate or destiny. It sometimes play an inconsiderable part in affair of man. The Third Carnatic War: In Madras however, neither the English nor the French possessed enough military resources to commence hostilities at once. The major part of the military and the naval forces of Madras has been sent under Clive and Watson to recover Calcutta. Even after that object was achieved, Clive delayed his return to Madras, on account of his ambitious political schemes which ultimately led to the battle of Plassey. The French resources were similarly crippled. Like Bengal, in the Carnatic the English took an aggressive stance. They were at first defeated near Conjeeveram, but the French could not follow up their success on account of discontent among their troops for lack of pay. The French, in order to get more access to the Carnatic, came into alliance with Hyder Ali. Pondicherry was closely blockaded both by land and sea. The British troops had entered. As Orme puts it, in a few months more not a roof was left standing in this once fair and flourishing city.