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Advent of Europeans in India - Part 2

Advent of the British The English traders formed their East India Company on December 31,1600 and entered the Asian region along with the Dutch. Their common foes the Portuguese and the Spaniards brought them closer. However, soon the English realized that the Dutch were not willing to share their holdings in the East Indies with them. This realization made the British turn to India as an alternative because spices were plentiful in India, where the Dutch had not so strong a presence. Inspite of skirmishes with the Portuguese, they were able to gain a foothold in India.

In the year 1612, the Mughal emperor Jahangir received Sir Thomas Roe, the first ambassador of Britain to India.Roes diplomacy with the Mughals was so successful that by a treaty in 1618 the East India Companybecame their naval aide. By 1674, the city of Bombay comprising seven islands was handed over to the British as part of the dowry of given to the Portuguese princess Catherine de Braganza, who married Charles II of Britain. The naive Indians could not perceive the strategic threat posed by the East India Company. Right from the beginning The British followed a policy of divide and rule. Through diplomacy and deceit they gained control of revenue collection in the province of Bengal. This indirectly gave them effective control of administration too. The Marathas, the Sikhs and the rulers of Mysore could never unite to confront the formidable foreign adversary and succumbed to their machinations and intrigues. After Aurangzebs demise the decline of the Mughal empire went on a tailspin. Powerful nobility ruled the day at the Mughal court, poetry and wine flowed freely; the hours were whiled away in watching performances of nautch (dancing) girls; clearly it was that twilight hour of a grand empire; A death blow was dealt to an already tottering empire by the invasion of Delhi by the famous Persian king Nadir Shahin 1739. At this time one of the best Mughal generals, Nizam-ul-Mulk was busy fighting the Marathas. The Khooni Darwaza (The gateway of blood), the ruins of which still stand in Delhi was the site of the genocide, masterminded byNadir Shah. The invader departed after 57 days, having ransacked the royal treasury, and carrying away with him two fabulous and precious objects the Peacock Throne and the Kohinoor diamond. After this incident the richness and splendour of the

Mughals was eclipsed for ever. Afghan Invasion The next to invade Delhi were the Afghans, under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Abdali, an ex-general of Nadir Shah. He led as many as seven invasions into India between the years 1748 and 1767. After the havoc caused by Nadir Shah, it was an extremely easy task for Abdali to ransack Lahore, Punjab and even Delhi once more. It was left to the Marathas, who wielded considerable power, to confront Abdali. The Marathas clashed with Abdali and his forces in the Third battle of Panipat on January 13, 1761, which ended in the defeat of the Marathas. Abdali returned in 1764, driven by a lust for riches and gold. His previous invasion had the Sikhs (who had by then carved out a kingdom under the famous Maharaja Ranjit Singh) up in arms. When Abdali invaded India for the last time in 1767, the Sikhs managed to defeat him and gain control over Lahore and Central Punjab.