8th Class Social Science Expansion Company and Bengal Nawabs Notes - Expansion of British Power in India

 

Expansion of British Power in India

 

 

Aurangzeb was the last great Mughal Emperor. His death in 1707 marked the end of a significant era in Indian history. Though the dynasty continued after him but the Mughal Empire gradually disintegrated and its power declined. This paved the way for the expansion of British power in India.

 

 

The later Mughals were poor administrators. Without effective central control, a number of provinces seceded from the empire and several regional kingdoms came into existence. The rise of independent regional kingdoms led to the disintegration of the Mughal Empire.

 

 

As the Empire became weak, the British gained control. They established their position by the middle of the nineteenth century and a large part of India came under their direct rule. The areas that remained independent were indirectly under the British influence. India thus became a British colony.

 

 

How did such a small nation grow into such a large and wealthy empire? The most astonishing story in Indian history was the advent of the British. It was not a result of deliberate planning. It had a humble beginning as a trading company set up to trade with the east. Later, it developed political interests and ended up ruling the entire country.

 

ADVENT OF EUROPEANS AS TRADERS

 

 

EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH; FROM TRADERS TO RULERS

The Europeans had always been attracted to the resources and wealth of India. For some time, they were looking for a sea route to India for commercial reasons. The Indian subcontinent was famous for its spices.

 

 

The English East India Company was chartered by Queen Elizabeth in 1600 for developing trade with Asia for a period of 15 years. The Company had sole rights to trade with the east. The Company wanted to trade in commodities like pepper, cinnamon cloves, cardamom, cotton, silk, indigo, saltpetre, tea and opium. These goods were very popular in European markets and the Company would make huge profits in the trade. Since it was a mercantile trading company, it had exclusive rights to this trade without any competition and thus it could make huge financial gains.

 

History Reveals

 

Among the European powers, the Portuguese were the first to reach India after they had circled the whole of the African continent. Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut on May 20th, 1498.

 

Soon other European trading companies arrived on the scene. The Portuguese set up a trading post in India. They later founded settlements at Goa, Cochin, Daman and Diu. Subsequently, other European powers like the Dutch and the French also established posts. The Dutch East India Company was established in 1602. The French East India Company was formed in 1642.

 

The British ships first arrived in Surat, India in 1608. In 1612, they set up a trading post at Surat. In 1615, Sir Thomas Roe was sent as an ambassador to the Mughal Emperor Jahangir's court asking for permission to build trading posts in India. By the middle of the 1600's, the East India Company had established trading posts or 'factories' in Madras (Chennai), Bombay (Mumbai) and Calcutta (Kolkata). They were the warehouse and residences of the company officials, merchants and traders.

 

 

History Reveals

Do you know that the British East India company officials, merchants and traders were called 'factories' because the officials of the East India Company were called 'factors'?   

 

There was intense competition among the European trading companies. Each wanted to eliminate the other companies to maximize profits. They tried to prevent the incoming ships of other trading companies. Sometimes they sank other ships and at other times there were battles amongst them. Consequently, the trading was carried on with arms and the trading posts were fortified. By the end of the 16th century, the Portuguese had lost most of their territories (except Goa) to the Dutch and the British. Later, the Dutch established their trade with Indonesia.

 

British-French Conflict?Carnatic Wars

Due to commercial rivalry, the French were in constant conflict with the English in India. The French Company's trade increased ten times, which was a big threat to the English. From, 1742 onwards, political motives dominated over commercial gains. Dupleix came as the Governor of the French East India Company. The French power reached its peak during his governorship.

 

 

 

The Anglo-French rivalry is important as it played a role in shaping the course of modem India. The Camatic Wars were a series of military conflicts on the Indian subcontinent between the French and the English East India Company. The three wars were fought between 1746 and 1763. They were fought in the region of the Camatic. Ultimately, the French were defeated. This brought an end to French ambitions in India. From then onwards, the British established their power and gradually, the company changed from a commercial trading association to a political power.

 

History Reveals

Bombay came under the possession of the British crown in 1662 and was handed over to the East

India Company for 10 pounds a year in 1668.

 

Conquest of Bengal

The East India Company set up a trading factory on the banks of the river Hugli in 1651. Bengal was a prosperous land and the British began by fortifying their trading settlement. The officials of the Company then acquired the zamindari rights of three villages, one of them being Kalikata. Also, the Mughal Emperor Farukhsiyyar had granted special privileges to the East India Company by a royal Farman. According to this, the East India Company could trade without paying taxes. They were issued dastaks (free trading passes) for the movement of goods.

 

After the death of Aurangzeb, Bengal was ruled by nawabs who were virtually independent of the Mughal rule. The agents of the East India Company began to misuse the Privileges.

 

Private trade by the Company servants was not included in the Farman. The company sen-ants used the dastaks for private trade. This made the Nawab unhappy because there was loss of revenue. This led to a conflict between the East India Company and the Nawab. The reasons were (i) the East India Company fortified Calcutta without the permission from Sirajuddaulah. Moreover, (ii) stocked ammunition within the fort without the Nawab's permission, (iii) imposed taxes on goods entering Calcutta, (iv) stopped paying taxes (v) undermined the authority of the Nawab and insisted that for trade to be profitable, the custom duties had to be removed.

 

Battle of Plassey 1757

The Battle of Plassey was the decisive battle that marked the beginning of the British rule in India.

 

Sirajuddaulah was young and impulsive. He asked the British to demolish the fortifications, but they paid no heed. According to them, to build up the trade, forts had to be built. They also refused to pay the revenue.

The Young nawab attacked the British factory at Kassim bazaar and locked the warehouses and imprisioned the officials. Then, he marched to Fort William and defeated the British easily. The British sent the ambitious General Robert Clive to take charge and defeat the Nawab of Bengal. Clive was a military genius. On June 23rd, 1757, the armies of Siraj-Ud-Daulah and East India Company faced each other in Plassey. The Nawab's forces were huge as compared to the British army. The Nawab was betrayed by Mir Jafar, the commander of his army. He was in charge of a large section of the army and refused to fight as he had been bribed by Robert Clive.  Also, rainfall had made the Nawab's artillery unfit for use. The Nawab was defeated by the British army and captured.

 

History Reveals

The army of Nawab Sirajuddaulah was huge as compared to the British forces. But in the end of the Battle of Plassey, the British lost only 22 men and 50 were wounded. The Nawablost 500 men of his army.

 

Mir Jafar was made the Nawab of Bengal but with limited power. The Company was granted undisputed right to free trade in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. It also received the zamindari of 24 parganas near Calcutta. Mir Jafar had to pay a huge sum of money as compensation for the attack on Calcutta. The financial bleeding of Bengal had begun. The Company continued demanding more and Mir Jafar was unable to fulfil their demands. He tried to conspire with the Dutch to expel the East India Company from Bengal. The Company now became unhappy with him and his son-in-law, Mir Qasim was made the Nawab. He had to give the Company officials gifts amounting to 27 lacs and the zamindari of three more districts. After this battle, the Company got control of the rich Province of Bengal. The British now monopolised Bengal's trade and commerce and plundered the province. Thus, the Battle of Plassey had far reaching consequences.

 

 

Q. Why is the Battle of Plassey important in the history of India?

 

DUAL SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION

 

Robert Clive established a dual system of government in Bengal in 1765. The Nawab was merely a puppet in the hands of the Company which had both the diwani and nizamat rights. Thus, all the powers were concentrated in the hands of the Company while the responsibility of administration rested on the Nawab.

 

 

The dual system of government held a great advantage for the British. Now they had the! Power without responsibility. The Nawabi, and his officials had the responsibility of administration, but they had no power or funds to discharge it. The Company was authorised to collect revenues. This system proved disastrous for Bengal, as neither side was concerned for the welfare of the people. The Nawab could not assist the people even if he wanted to,] for all the state's resources were controlled by   the Company. The Company was only concerned with maximising its profits. As a result, when a terrible famine struck the state; thousands of people died without receiving any aid. The peasants of Bengal suffered greatly due to the revenue demands and decline of agriculture. In 1772, Warren

Hastings put an end to this Dual System.

 

Battle of Buxar 1764

Mir Qasim took steps to stop the misuse of dastaks for private trade. He worked towards improving the efficiency of revenue collection and also reorganised the army. The British wanted a puppet ruler but Mir Qasim wanted to be independent of their control. Thus, war was inevitable. Mir Qasim allied with the Nawab of Awadh and the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II. Their combined forces confronted the British forces at the Battle of Buxar in October 1764.  The British emerged victorious. Mir Qasim escaped. The British now got the right to free trade in Awadh and the diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa from the Mughal Emperor in 1765.

 

The political power was in the hands of the British. Mir Zafar was again made the nawab of Bengal. He had to pay huge sums of money as Company wanted more money to meet its war expenses and expand its territories. After getting the diwani rights over Bengal, the Company now had access to the rich resources of Bengal. The Company now carried on trade with the revenue it got from Bengal. They used this revenue to buy Indian products to sell in the European markets and maintain armies.

 

British-Mysore Conflict

Mysore was an important state under the leadership of two great rulers, Haider Alt and his son Tipu Sultan. The British wanted to annex Mysore because it had a flourishing spice trade. Also, Mysore was an ally of the French who were helping them to modernise their army. Also, they had a profitable spice and sandalwood trade.

 

The British realised the threat posed by Haider Alt. Four Anglo-Mysore wars were fought between 1767 to 1799. Tipu Sultan succeeded his father Haider Alt and continued the wars. The Third Anglo-Mysore War was fought between the British and Tipu Sultan in 1790. This time the British triumphed. The war was concluded with the Treaty of Seringapatnam in 1792. Tipu had to surrender huge territory to the British as well as pay huge war indemnity.

 

Tipu Sultan wanted to take revenge and get back his territory. He refused to accept the subsidiary alliance and this resulted in the Fourth Anglo Mysore War in 1799. Tipu died fighting bravely and later the Subsidiary alliance was imposed on Mysore.

 

 

British-Maratha Conflict

The British had growing ambitions regarding the Maratha Empire. The Marathas had been defeated in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761. Their power was curbed and thereafter the Maratha state was a confederacy of four chiefs under the nominal leadership of the Peshwa at Poona. The Chiefs were the Holkars, Sindhia, Gaikwad and Bhonsle.

 

The Marathas and the British fought three wars between 1775-1819. The First Anglo Maratha War was fought because of the British interference in the affairs of the Marathas. It was concluded by the Treaty of Salbai in 1782.

This gave the British 20 years of peace with the Marathas. The Second Anglo-Maratha War arose initially from the internal conflict within the Maratha Confederacy. It was fought between the Maratha Chiefs and the British. The British won and in the period and three major treaties were signed between the Maratha Empire and the British Empire, in which the British got many of the Indian territories.

 

Lord Cornwallis receiving the song of Tipu Sultan as hostages

 

History Reveals

According to the Treaty of Seringapatnam, the British kept two sons of Tipu Sultan as hostages.

 

The Third Anglo Maratha War was a desperate attempt by the Marathas to regain their independence. They were defeated and now the British became the supreme authority in India. The Maratha Empire completely ended after these wars. The Peshwa was pensioned off to Bithur.

 

EXPANSIONIST STRATEGIES OF THE BRITISH 

 

Subsidiary Alliance

 

 

This policy was introduced by Lord Wellesley. It was introduced to bring Indian states within the British dominion. Due to this policy, many new territories were added to the Company's possessions. The Nizam of Hyderabad was the first to enter into this alliance. Tipu Sultan of Mysore refused to accept it but later Mysore was forced to become a subsidiary ally. The Nawab of Awadh and Maratha ruler Bajirao II also accepted this alliance. According to this alliance:

 

?              The ruler had to acknowledge the British East India Company as the supreme power.

?              He had to allow British forces in his territory and pay for their maintenance.

?              A British Resident would stay in his court.

?              The ruler could not enter into any alliance with any other power.

?              He could not declare war against any state without the permission of the British.

?              The ruler could not employ any European to his service without the prior approval of the British.

?              The foreign affairs of the state would be looked after by the British.

 

The subsidiary state had to abide by all these conditions in return for which the Company protected the state from external attacks and internal disturbances.

 

The Doctrine of Paramountacy

 

 

This was another tool invented by the British ta expand its territory. This was called 'Paramountacy' it was started under Lord Hastings. Under this doctrine, the Company claimed that it was the paramount or supreme power in India and it could annex any state to protect its interest. All Indian states had to acknowledge the keep suzerainty of the British Empire.

 

However, this policy was challenged by many kingdoms, e.g. Chennamma was the Queen of the Princely State of Kittur in Kamataka. She was informed that Kittur had to accept the British regime. She opposed strongly British high handedness. The British attacked Kittur. In the battle that followed, hundreds of British soldiers were killed. However, Queen Chennamma could not win the war against British, she was imprisoned and died later.

 

Doctrine of Lapse

 

 

This was the brainchild of Lord Dalhousie. This policy was introduced to bring more states directly under British rule. According to this, if a ruler of a subsidiary state died without leaving a natural heir, the state would lapse or be taken over by the British. Adopted Successors were not allowed to the throne. By this policy the states of Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi were annexed. Also, the titles and pensions of some ex-rulers were not recognised. Nana Saheb, the adopted son of the Maratha ruler Peshwa Bajirao II, did not get his pension.

 

Q. Name the states annexed by the Subsidiary Alliance.

 

THE LAST PHASE OF BRITISH EXPANSION

 

After establishing a strong foothold in Bengal, the East India Company now looked for further expansion in India. British territorial expansion was achieved with ruthless efficiency.

 

They adopted two methods for expansion. First was by direct military attacks which they rarely followed. Usually the indirect methods were more popular like introducing new policies to increase its influence and later annexing the kingdom. The Company continued to experience resistance from local rulers during its expansion.

 

Annexation of Awadh

 

 

The British wanted to annex Awadh. It had a number of heirs so the doctrine of Lapse could not be applied here.

So, the British devised another strategy   and accused Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of having misgoverned his state. His state was annexed by Lord Dalhousie in 1856. The 'Nawab was deposed. This was one of the reasons why Awadh joined the Revolt of 1857.

 

Annexation of Punjab

 

 

Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab had managed to preserve his territories in Punjab. But he signed the Treaty of Amritsar with the British in 1809. According to this, Maharaja Ranjit Singh could not expand his territory beyond   the Sutlej River. After his death, there was political I instability and the British now wanted to annex fertile Province of Punjab.

 

In 1846, the Sikhs were defeated and the British captured Lahore. The Treaty of Lahore was signed according to which all the territories lying south of the Sutlej were given to the British. The Sikhs also paid huge war indemnity and Rani Jindan Kaur was made the ruler of the state.

 

The Second Anglo-Sikh war began in 1848 as the Sikhs wanted to avenge their defeat in the first war. The Sikhs were defeated by the British and Punjab was annexed in 1849.

 

 

Annexation of Sindh

Sindh was an enormous province. The British wanted to annex it into their Bombay Presidency. Also, there was some unrest in Sindh. Another reason was that the British wanted more control over Afghanistan. They were scared of Russian invasion through Afghanistan. The Chiefs of Sindh signed the subsidiary alliance and it became a part of the British dominion in 1843.

 

 

OFFICIALS TO'NABOBS'

 

The officials of the Company acquired much wealth and power. They lived like nawabs in India. They adopted the extravagant lifestyles of the Mughals. The nawabs of Bengal and other Indian rulers had to give them large sums of money and expensive gifts. When they went back to Britain, they were criticised for their extravagant ways and were addressed as 'nabobs'. However, not all officials were dishonest.

Robert dive, who began as a clerk in the East India Company, amassed huge amounts of wealth. A proportion of the wealth of Bengal went directly into dive's pocket. He returned to Britain with a personal fortune?then valued at £234,000?that made him the richest self-made man in Europe. Clive came under fire in 1772 by critics who questioned how he obtained his wealth. He was accused of running a corrupt administration. In 1774, he committed suicide.

 

ADMINISTRATION UNDER THE BRITISH RULE

 

The British introduced new administrative measures. However, all of them were aimed at increasing the profits of the Company with no concern for the welfare of the common people.

 

The British Empire in India was divided into three Presidencies-Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. Each was under the charge of a governor. The governors of the presidencies were under the charge of the Governor-General of India. He was the supreme head of the administration.

 

The Regulating Act, 1773

This was directed mainly to stop the malpractices and corruption of the Company officials. According to this act, the Presidency of Bengal was placed under a Governor-General and a four member Council. The decision of the majority in the Council was binding on the Governor. Also, a Supreme Court of justice was established at Fort William and its jurisdiction extended to all the British subjects also.

 

The Pitt's India Act, 1784

The Regulating Act failed to stop corruption. Consequently, Pitt's India Act was enacted to do the same. The independent powers of the Governors of Bombay and Madras were cut down whereas the Governor of Bengal was given more power in cases of war, revenue and diplomacy. Thus, Calcutta automatically turned into the capital for the company activities. This Act helped the unification of India by making the Governor-General supreme over the governors of the other Presidencies.

 

The Charter Acts

By the Charter Act, 1813, the British Parliament renewed the Company's Charter but ended its monopoly and allowed India's trade with private companies also. With the Charter Act, 1833, the British Parliament cancelled the Company's trade license altogether, making the company a part of British governance. It gave the Governor- General the supervision of civil and military administration of India. Lastly, the Charter Act, 1853 allowed the Company to retain possession of the Indian territories in trust of Her Majesty.

 

PILLARS OF BRITISH ADMINISTRATION

 

The three pillars of administration were-the Civil Services, Company army and the police.

 

The Civil Services

Lord Comwallis started the Indian Civil Services (ICS) in 1786. He wanted to improve the administration and minimise corruption. The Civil servants were highly paid and promotions were given according to seniority. A college was set up in Fort William in Calcutta by Lord Wellesley. The aim was to provide training to the Indians for the civil services. The Collector was an important figure at the district level. He looked into revenue collection and maintained law and order with the help of the police and the judiciary. A job in the civil services was very prestigious. An examination was held in England and the language was English. This made it very difficult for the Indians to qualify for the civil services. Also, Indians were never given the higher posts in the civil services a& those were reserved for British officers.

 

The Company Army

The British recruited more soldiers into the British army. In fact, most of the British army consisted of Indian soldiers. The British reorganised their entire army and gave more attention to military discipline and performance of military functions. This was so because British power in India rested on their military strength. The British army had to keep pace with the changing war technology. They even employed peasants and trained them. They had a large infantry and the soldiers used muskets and matchlocks. The soldiers were disciplined and had to undergo strict drill sessions. The Indian soldiers were paid less than their British counterparts. Also, the Indian soldiers could not rise to high ranks and there was no Indian with a rank higher than a subedar.

 

History Reveals

In 1806, the British army in India was one of the largest standing armies in the world.

 

Police

A traditional police system existed in India where the zamindars looked after the law and order. The British now set up a regular police force. Each district had many thanas or police stations. Each Thana was under the supervision of a daroga. Towns were looked after by a kotwal and the villages were guarded by the chowkidars. There was a district superintendent as the head of the entire police in the district. However, the officers of the police were often corrupt and cruel. They treated the common people unfairly. People hesitated to report crimes to the police.

 

Judiciary

Lord Cornwallis set up a proper judicial system in India. Judicial reforms introduced by Lord Cornwallis laid the foundation of the British administration system. These judicial reforms were documented in the famous Cornwallis Code (1793). Two types of courts were set up- the civil courts also called the diwani adalat and the criminal courts also called the faujdari adalat. The civil court was headed by the district collector while the criminal courts were under a Qazi and Mufti. The Supreme Court was set up the highest level. Below this. High Courts were set up in the three presidencies.

 

History Reveals

Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Stedia to introduce reforms in the sphere of justice.

 

A major problem faced was there was no uniformity in the laws. Different laws existed according to the religion of the criminal. A law commission was appointed to finalise and write down the laws. The concept of 'Rule of Law' was introduced. However, this was only in theory as the Europeans were tried only by British judges in separate courts.

 

 

Around the World

 

 

The Slaves had been bought and sold since ancienttimes but in the 1580s this terrible trade increased dramatically. Millions of Africans were captured and sent to America. Some did not survive the journey. Those who survived were sold as slaves. The settlers from Europe grew sugar cane and tobacco in the West Indies and South America. They needed labourers to work in the large farms called plantations. The Portuguese had colonies on the west coast of Africa and they began to buy Africans who had been captured by rival tribes. They were chained and forced to march to the coast. They were then crammed into ships and sent to America to be sold as slaves.