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The East India Company
The British presence in India was heralded by the creation
of the East India Company (EIC). This was the first joint
stock company, set up by royal charter in 1600 to trade
between Britain and India. Its charter was renewed and extended
under Charles II and James II.
The United
East India Company, the Dutch company trading with India
and the east, was already fully operational when the English
entered this competitive region.
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A View of Bombay, c.1750
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Raising Soldiers
for India (162KB)
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For the early merchant adventurers,
establishing a foothold in India was not an easy task. The
East India Company did not establish its first 'factory' or
permanent depot until 1619, at Surat. The opportunity for
the British to expand came in 1661, when Charles II married
Catherine of Braganza and as part of his dowry gained Bombay
from the Portuguese.
The commercial success of the British in India was impressive,
and by the 18th century the previously strong positions held
by the Portuguese, Dutch and French had been undermined. The
profits of the slave trade gave Britain a huge financial advantage
over all its competitors. Contracts were made with Indian
merchants and artisans for all kinds of luxury goods, in exchange
for silver from Britain. By the 18th century, the East India
Company was shipping more Indian goods to Europe than any
of its rivals.
For Indian states, European settlement offered a mixture
of advantages and disadvantages. Some local rulers resented
the British presence, while others benefited from the coastal
trade in pepper, tea and textiles.
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Controlling the East India Company
In 1773 Parliament, tired of the East India Company's abuses
of power and its financial problems, passed a Regulating Act,
which imposed some financial controls on the East India Company
and created the new post of Governor-General of India. A few
years later, in 1784, the India Act brought the Company under
the direct control of the British government through a new
Board of Control. This was a compromise arrangement, however,
and the administration of India remained in the hands of the
directors of the East India Company until 1858, when the British
government took over the rule of India from the Company.
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George III Writes to
an Indian Prince
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Clive of India
In 1757, an East India Company civil servant turned military
man, Robert Clive, defeated the Nawab
of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey. From then on, the British
presence in India grew spectacularly. From this point, the
East India Company took over the administration of large parts
of the country and established a direct military operation.
British communities were established around the three presidency
towns of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Farmers were taxed
off their land, and their plight became desperate when they
were hit by the severe famine of 1769-70, which caused many
deaths.
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French and British
Rivalry in India
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Nabobs
Despite the fact that its revenue was increasing, the East
India Company was burdened with massive expenses. Not only
was military protection for Britain's trade and possessions
in India extremely costly, but so too were the 'nabobs'
of the East India Company themselves. They lived in self-contained
Anglicised settlements and adopted the extravagant lifestyle
of the Mughals, with servants at their beck and call. The
nabobs were criticised back in Britain for their extravagant
ways and, as a result of its financial troubles, the Company
had to ask for government help.
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'Junkzelone - what vast
profit the Honourable
Company may make
by settling that place' (150KB)
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Panorama of the Storming
of Seringapatam (175KB)
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Conquering India
By the end of the 18th century, Britain ruled about two-thirds
of India. Its dominance was sealed by the defeat of the southern
ruler Tipu Sultan, who had allied with the French to counter
the power of the Raj.
In 1799 the British took Tipu's capital, Seringapatam, thus
securing the state of Mysore and ending effective French influence
in India. Further conquests in the south followed until effective
opposition had been quelled - at least for the present.
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Anglo-Indian relations
The Raj could not function without the cooperation of millions
of Indians. Many filled the Indian army in senior ranks and
as foot soldiers. Others served in the navy or the undermanned
police force.
In the countryside, where most Indians lived and worked on
the land, local village headmen kept the machinery of government
working. According to the historian Lawrence James, they were
the bedrock upon which British rule rested.
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Indians Essential to the British Army
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In spite of political and economic resentment, there was a
considerable amount of fraternising, at least between British
men and Indian women. Recent research carried out by William
Dalrymple has brought to light a period full of intermixing
and cross-cultural marriages. Wills made in the 1780s show that
more than a third of British men in India left their possessions
to one or more Indian wives and their children. From 1830, however,
in Victorian times, mixed relationships became less common. |
The End of the Raj
For two centuries, the East India Company and the Indian
Raj
underpinned Britain's status as a global power and provided
it with markets, the profits from which helped to build the
Britain we live in today. Protest against British rule did
not go away, however. A nationalist movement emerged and the
struggle for self-government was successful in 1947, when
India and Pakistan became independent.
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References and Further Reading
Bayly, C. A. (ed.), The Raj: Indian and the British 1600-1947
London, 1990
Chaudhuri, K. N., The English East India Company,
London, 1965
Dalrymple, W., The White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in
Eighteenth Century India, London, 2002
James, L., Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British
India, London, 1997
Nightingale, P., Trade and Empire in Western India 1784-1806,
London, 1970
Visram, R., Asians in Britain: 400 years of History,
London, 2002
Wolpert, S., A New History of India, Oxford,
1997
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