one-third of the founding fathers of the Indian National

Congress in 1885 were journalists.

The Hindu and Swadesamitran under the editorship

of G. Subramaniya Iyer, Kesari and Mahratta under Bal
Gangadhar Tilak, Bengalee under Surendranath Banerjea
Amrita Bazaar Patrika under Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal
Ghosh, Sudharak under Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian
Mirror under N.N. Sen, Voice of India under Dadabhai
Naoroji, Hindustan and Advocate under G.P. Varma. The
Tribune and Akhbar-i-Am in Punjab, Indu Prakash, Dnyan
Prakash, Kal and Gujarati in Bombay, and Som Prakash
Banganivasi and Sadharani in Bengal were other noted
newspapers of the time

—Indian
Sociologist (London, Shyamji Krishnavarma), Bande Matram
(Paris, Madam Cama), Talwar (Berlin, Virendranath
Chattopadhyay), and Ghadar (San Francisco, Lala Hardayal)—
to infuse a feeling of nationalism among Indians living
abroad

Bankim Chandra Chatterji(1838-94)

Anand Math (1882),depiction of the Sanyasi Revolt
(1760s).His last novel Rajasimha can be called the grand finale to his remarkable
career.

Icharam Suryaram Desai

(1853-1912) was a fine scholar of medieval Gujarati literary
history. His first novel Hind ane Britanica was one of the
earliest Indian novels with political overtones

Tamil writers
like Girija Devi and Ramatirtha Thammal, who wrote Mohanra
Rajani (1931) and Dasikalin Mosa Valai (1936) respectively.

G.V. Krishna Rao’s Kilubommalu (The Puppets, 1956) in

Telugu was concerned with the moral aspects and behaviour of the rural people.

Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (1910-

1994) was one of the eminent writers in Malayalam whose
famous novel Balyakala Sakhi (The Childhood Friends,
1944) was a tragic tale of love.

Thakazhi Siva
Sankara Pillai became prominent for his two extremely well
written works in Malayalam, Tottiyude Makan (Son of a
Scavenger, 1948) and Chemmin (Shrimps, 1956).

The Company Paintings, also

referred as ‘Patna Kalam’ emerged under the patronage of
the East India Company.

Relief of
Lucknow, painted by Thomas Jones Barker in 1859,
=============================================================
The beginning of the Marxist approach in India was heralded
by two classic books—Rajni Palme Dutt’s India Today and
A.R. Desai’s Social Background of Indian Nationalism.

Prince
Henry of Portugal, who was nicknamed the ‘Navigator’;

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)

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

1498:
Arrival of Vasco-da-Gama at Calicut and his grand
reception by the local king, Zamorin.
1503:
Establishment of the first Portuguese fort at Cochin.
1505:
Establishment of the second Portuguese fort at Cannanore.
1509:
Defeat of the combined fleet of Gujarat, Egypt and Zamorin
by the Portuguese governor Francisco Almeida.
1510:
Alfonso Albuquerque, the Portuguese governor, captures
Goa from Bijapur.
1530:
Declaration of Goa as the Portuguese capital.
1535:
Subjugation of Diu.
1559:
The Portuguese capture Daman.
1596:
Ouster of the Portuguese by the Dutch from South-east
Asia.
1612:
Loss of Surat to the English.
1663:
The Dutch win all Portuguese forts on the Malabar coast
to oust the Portuguese from India.

After their arrival in India, the Dutch founded their first

factory in Masulipatnam (in Andhra) in 1605

The Dutch established factories on the Coromandel

coast, in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Bihar. In 1609,
they opened a factory in Pulicat, north of Madras. Their other
principal factories in India were at Surat (1616), Bimlipatam
(1641), Karaikal (1645), Chinsura (1653), Baranagar,patna

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.

The most important Indian

commodities the Dutch traded in were silk, cotton, indigo,
rice and opium.

Captain Hawkins arrived in the court of Jahangir in April

1609 itself

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.
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.

Bombay had been gifted to King

Charles II by the King of Portugal as dowry when Charles
married the Portuguese princess Catherine in 1662

The English Company’s position was improved by the

‘Golden Farman’ issued to them by the Sultan of Golconda
in 1632.
Farrukhsiyar’s Farmans
In 1715, an English mission led by John Surman to the court
of the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar secured three famous
farmans, giving the Company many valuable privileges in
Bengal, Gujarat and Hyderabad. The farmans thus obtained
were regarded the Magna Carta of the Company. Their
important terms were—
In Bengal, the Company’s imports and exports were
.
exempted from additional customs duties excepting
the annual payment of 3,000 rupees as settled
earlier.
The Company was permitted to issue dastaks (passes)
.
for the transportation of such goods.
The Company was permitted to rent more lands
.
around Calcutta.
In Hyderabad, the Company retained its existing
.
privilege of freedom from duties in trade and had
to pay the prevailing rent only for Madras.
In Surat, for an annual payment of 10,000 rupees,
.
the East India Company was exempted from the levy
of all duties.
It was decreed that the coins of the Company minted
.
at Bombay were to have currency throughout the
Mughal empire.

Formative Years of the East India Company

1600
: The East India Company was established.
1609
: William Hawkins arrived at Jahangir’s court.
1611
: Captain Middleton obtained the permission of the Mughal
governor of Surat to trade there.
1613
: A permanent factory of East India Company was established
at Surat.
1615
: Sir Thomas Roe, the ambassador of King James I, arrived
at Jahangir’s court. By 1618, the ambassador succeeded
in obtaining two farmans (one each from the emperor and
Prince Khurram) confirming free trade with exemption from
inland tolls.
1616
: The Company established its first factory in the south in
Masulipatnam.
1632
: The Company got the golden farman from the Sultan of
Golconda which ensured safety and prosperity of their trade.
1633
: The Company established its first factory in east India in
Hariharpur, Balasore (Odisha).
1639
: The Company got the lease of Madras from a local king.
1651
: The Company was given permission to trade at Hooghly
(Bengal).
1662
: The British King, Charles II, was given Bombay as dowry
for marrying a Portuguese princess (Catherine of Braganza).
1667
: Aurangzeb gave the English a farman for trade in Bengal.
1691
: The Company got the imperial order to continue their trade
in Bengal in lieu of payment of Rs 3,000 a year.
1717
: The Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar issued a farman, called
Magna Carta of the Company, giving the Company a large
number of trade concessions.

Godeheu succeeded Dupleix as the

French Governor-General in India

i) Dutch Factories in India Masulipatnam (1605), Pulicat (1610),

Surat (1616), Bimlipatam (1641), Karikal (1645), Chinsurah
(1653), Cassimbazar (Kasimbazar), Baranagore, Patna, Balasore,
Nagapatam (1658) and Cochin (1663).

(iv) Battle of Bidara (1759) The English defeated the Dutch.

the English established their first factory
at Surat (1613).Subsequently Sir Thomas Roe secured permission
from Jehangir to establish
First Carnatic War (1740-48) It was an extension of the Anglo-French
rivalry in Europe and ended in 1748 with the Treaty of Aix-
La Chapelle.
Second Carnatic War (1749-54) Although inconclusive, it undermined
the French power in South India vis-à-vis the English.
Third Carnatic War (1758-63)
A decisive war, known for the Battle
.
of Wandiwash (1760-61);
An echo of the Anglo-French struggle in Europe.
.
By the Treaty of Paris (1763), the French were allowed to
.
use Indian settlements for commercial purposes only and
fortification of settlements were banned.
Causes of the French Failure
Inadequate Military and Financial
.
Support
France’s Involvement in Europe
.
Ill-managed Policy of Imperial France
.
Lack of Commercial Incentive to the French Company
.
Sound Commercial Base of the English Company
.
Nadir Shah, the Persian emperor, attacked India in
1738-39, conquered Lahore and defeated the Mughal army
at Karnal on February 13, 1739

The first Battle of Panipat in 1526 was between Babur and

Ibrahim Lodi. The result of the battle laid the foundation of the
Mughal Empire by ending the rule of the Delhi Sultanate.
The Second Battle of Panipat in 1556 was between Akbar
.
and Hemu; it decided in favour of the continuation of the Mughal
rule.
The Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 between the Marathas
.
and Ahmad Shah Abdali put an end to the Maratha ambition of
ruling over India.

Bahadur Shah I (1709–March 1712) After a nearly

two-year-long war of succession, the 63-year-old Prince
Muazzam, the eldest son of Aurangzeb, became the emperor,
taking the title Bahadur Shah. He was later called Bahadur
Shah I). He had killed his brothers Muhammad Azam and Kam
Bakhsh in the war of succession. Khafi Khan gave the title
of Shah-i-Bekhabar to Bahadur Shah.

Jahandar Shah (March 1712-February 1713) With

the help of Zulfikar Khan, Jahandar Shah became the emperor.
Zulfikar Khan was appointed prime minister; he introduced
izara system to improve the financial condition of the
empire. Jahandar Shah abolished Jaziya.

Farrukhsiyar (1713-1719) After killing Jahandar Shah

with the help of Sayyid brothers—Abdulla Khan and Hussain
Ali (known as ‘King Makers’), Farrukhsiyar became the new
emperor. He followed a policy of religious tolerance by
abolishing Jaziya and pilgrimage tax.

In 1719, the Sayyid brothers, with

the help of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath, dethroned Farrukhsiyar.
Later, he was blinded and killed. It was the first time in the
Mughal history that an emperor was killed by his nobles

Rafi-ud-Darajat (February 28 to June 4, 1719) He

ruled for the shortest period among the Mughals.

Rafi-ud-Daula (June 6 to September 17, 1719) The

Sayyid brothers placed Rafi-ud-Daula with the title Shah
Jahan II on the throne

Muhammad Shah (1719-48) After the death of Rafi

ud-
Daula, Raushan Akhtar became the choice of the Sayyid
Brothers. Muhammad Shah, as he came to be known in
history, was given the title of ‘Rangeela’ due to his luxurious
life-style.
Muhammad Shah, with the help of Nizam-ul-Mulk,
killed the Sayyid Brothers. In 1724, Nizam-ul-Mulk became
the wazir and founded the independent state of Hyderabad.
In 1737, Baji Rao I, the Maratha Peshwa invaded Delhi with
a small army of 500 horsemen. In 1739, Nadir Shah defeated
the Mughals in the Battle of Karnal and later imprisoned
Muhammad Shah and annexed areas west of the Indus into
the Persian empire
Akbar II (1806-37) He gave the title of Raja to
Rammohan Rai. In 1835, the coins bearing the names of
Mughal emperors were stopped.