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Advent of British Updated Notes (1)

The document outlines the methods through which the British expanded their control in India, including battles, annexations, and the Doctrine of Lapse. It discusses the motivations behind British interest in India, such as trade and strategic location, and explains the transfer of power from the British East India Company to the British Government due to corruption and mismanagement. Key historical events and figures, such as the Battle of Plassey and Lord Wellesley, are highlighted to illustrate the British expansion and Indian resistance.

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8 views

Advent of British Updated Notes (1)

The document outlines the methods through which the British expanded their control in India, including battles, annexations, and the Doctrine of Lapse. It discusses the motivations behind British interest in India, such as trade and strategic location, and explains the transfer of power from the British East India Company to the British Government due to corruption and mismanagement. Key historical events and figures, such as the Battle of Plassey and Lord Wellesley, are highlighted to illustrate the British expansion and Indian resistance.

Uploaded by

asifhamza727
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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[SIR UMAR KHAN DAWAR (0325-2512225)] 1

Advent of the British & Expansion

Q) What were the methods through which British expanded in India? [7]

➢ Battles
➢ Annexations
➢ Doctrine of Lapse
➢ Subsidiary Alliances (by Lord Wellesley)

Q) Why were the British/BEIC/Europeans interested in India? [7]

➢ Trade
➢ As Britain was passing through a period of Industrial Revolution, it needed
• Raw material for its industries
• Markets for its products
➢ Christian Missionaries wanted to spread Christianity in India, as they thought it was the true faith.
➢ British wanted to “make India their area/sphere of influence” and “to turn the other Europeans out”.
➢ India was strategically located.
• British could secure the trade routes to East Asia.
• British could put a check on her other colonies.

Q) Why was power transferred from the BEIC to the British Government? [7]

➢ BEIC was corrupt and would mismanage India – e.g Bengal famine resulted in the death of 1/3rd of the entire
population.
➢ Officials of BEIC would indulge in private trade. They would become rich, while BEIC’s financial condition was
turning worse.
➢ Public opinion in Britain was turning against BEIC because of its reported wrong doings.
➢ There was threat of French and Russian invasions of India from time to time.
➢ War of 1857 – it had shown that India was too precious a territory and too serious a business to be dealt by a mere
trading company.
Therefore, BEIC was abolished in 1858 and India was brought under crown rule.

BEIC ships were know as East Indiaman East India Company Fort, Bombay
2 [SIR UMAR KHAN DAWAR (0325-2512225)]

Advent of the British & Expansion

➢ 1600 – Queen Elizabeth granted a charter, allowing BEIC to trade to the East of Africa.
➢ 1608 – British arrived in Surat.
➢ 1615 – Commercial treaty signed b/w Emperor Jahangir & EIC
➢ 1612-1619 - BEIC set up trading post in Surat (Sir Thomas Roe secured permission from Emperor Jahangir)
➢ 1639 – Another trading post set up at Madras.
➢ By 1647, the Company had 23 factories and settlements in India.
➢ 1668 – BEIC set up a trading post in Bombay
➢ 1670- To strengthen the power of the EIC King Charles II granted the EIC, the rights to autonomous territorial
acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to
exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas.
➢ 1687 – Bombay was made the headquarters of all the East India Company's possessions in India
➢ 1688 – Aurangzeb takes action against BEIC, after it refuses to pay taxes. After defeating it, however, he forgives
BEIC but imposes heavy fine.
➢ 1690 – BEIC allowed to set up trading post in Calcutta (present).

By the beginning of the 17th century, the British East Company was operating out of factories in Bombay as well a
Madras and Calcutta. The company maintained its own army so as not to place too much of burden on the British
crown. It employed sepoys - European-trained and European-led Indian soldiers - to protect its trade, but local rule
sought their services to settle scores in regional power struggles.

BEIC political expansion:

➢ 1707 - Aurangzeb died


➢ 1744-1763 – Karnatic Wars: Three wars fought between BEIC and FEIC. French defeated by BEIC. FEIC dissolve
➢ 1757 – Battle of Plassey: Fought between Nawab of Bengal (Siraj-ud-Dula) and BEIC (Robert Clive)
Siraj-ud-Dula defeated due to disloyalty of Mir Jafar (later made Nawab of Bengal).
➢ 1764 – Battle of Buxar: BEIC defeated combined forces of
• Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II,
• Nawab of Bengal (Mir Qasim)
• Nawab of Oudh
➢ Anglo-Mysore wars – 1767-1799:
o 1st war: 1767-1769
o 2nd war: 1780-1784
o 3rd war: 1790-1792
o 4th war: 1798-1799
➢ Anglo-Maratha wars:
o 1st war: 1775-1782
o 2nd war: 1803-1805
o 3rd war: 1817-1819

The East India Company Rule in India, c. 1765

Threats to the BEIC in India

1635 King Charles I granted a trading license to Sir William


Courteen under the name of the Courteen association
permitting it also to trade with the east. The Courteen
Association competed with British East India Company in
India. The enmity between the two trading organisations
continued until a settlement was ordered by Oliver
Cromwell as Lord Protector and the two merged in 1657.
Mughals: Aurangzeb had defeated the BEIC in 1688
The Kingdom of Mysore
The Marathas
[SIR UMAR KHAN DAWAR (0325-2512225)] 3

Annexations:

➢ 1843 – BEIC annex Sindh, after provoking Amirs of Sindh to attack


➢ (Charles Napier led the BEIC army).
➢ 1846 – 1st Sikh war (Sikh army defeated by British).
➢ 1849 – 2nd Sikh war (BEIC annex Punjab and NWFP).

➢ 1800 – Subsidiary Alliances by Wellesley. (Explained in the lecture)

➢ 1848-1856 – Doctrine of lapse issued by Lord Dalhousie (Explained in the lecture)

Q) What were the methods through which British expanded in India? [7]

Q) How successful was Indian opposition to British takeover of their lands? Explain your answer. [14]

Answer structure
➢ Introductory statement
➢ Battle of Plassey
➢ Battle of Buxar
➢ Anglo-Mysore wars
➢ Titu Mir: By 1831, Titu Mir had declared himself as the Badshah and having thousands of Hindu and
Muslim peasants among his followers, had challenged the British. He had built a bamboo fort with his
followers to resist the British army sent from Calcutta in November 1831. How ever he got get while
fighting.
➢ Annexation of Sindh
➢ Annexation of NWFP and Punjab
➢ Analysis: Though the Indian did resist the British take over of their land but except for few instances (1st &
2nd Anglo-Mysore wars and 1st Anglo-Maratha war the Indian resistance to the British failed.)

⬛ 4, 7 & 14 marks practice questions


➜
* Who was Siraj ud Daulah?
* Who was Tipu Sultan?
* Who was Mir Jafar?
* Who was Ranjit Singh?
* Who was Lord Wellesley?
* Who was Warren Hastings?
* Who was Lord Cornwallis?
* What was the Regulating Act of 1773?
* Why were the Marathas defeated after the decline of the Mughal Empire? (7) Nov 2017
* Why did the East India Company become involved in the Indian subcontinent during the seventeenth century? (7) Nov
2017
* Why was Robert Clive appointed the first Governor of Bengal? (7) June 2017
* Why did the British build railways in India during the nineteenth century? (7)
* Why was Britain so successful in expanding its control of the subcontinent between 1750 and 1850? (7) Nov 2016
* Explain the appeal of India to the East India Company during the early seventeenth century . (7) June 2017
* Why were the British able to take control of India by 1850? (7) June 2015

*Details of the topics given in class lectures


Lord Wellesley:

He was a British politician and colonial administrator.


He remained the Governor-general of Bengal from 1789-1805
He defeated Tipu Sultan in 1799 and captured Mysore.
Under him, Marathas were defeated in the 2nd Anglo-Maratha
war.
He started the policy of subsidiary alliances which forced Indian
states under British protection.

Ranjit Singh:

He was the founder and Maharaja of the Sikh empire.


He ruled from 1810-1839 till his death. Ranjit Singh introduced
several reforms during his reign and invested in infrastructure.
He had a treaty with the British, in which both agreed not to
cross the Sutlej River militarily into each other's territory. This
also restricted British expansion into Punjab and beyond. He
was also referred to a ‘the Lion of Punjab’.

The Regulating Act of 1773:

It was an act of the British Parliament that was intended to


improve the management of the East India Company's rule in
India. The Act elevated Governor of Bengal, to Governor-
General of Bengal. It brought the presidencies of Madras and
Bombay under Bengal's control. The Governor General of
Bengal was to have an executive council of four to assist him. A
supreme court at Calcutta was established too.

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