FROM TRADE TO TERRITORY

Long Answer type Questions

1. What were the areas of conflict between the Bengal Nawabs and the East
India Company?

Answer:
1. The Bengal nawabs asserted their power and autonomy and refused to
grant the Company concessions,
2. They demanded large tributes for the Company’s right to trade,
3. They denied the Company any right to mint coins,
4. They stopped the Company from extending its fortifications
5. Accusing the Company of deceit, they claimed that the Company was
depriving the Bengal government of huge amounts of revenue and
undermining the authority of the nawab. It was refusing to pay taxes,
writing disrespectful letters, and trying to humiliate the nawab and his
officials. These were the areas of conflict between the Bengal Nawabs and
the East India Company.

2. How did the assumption of Diwani benefit the East India Company?

Answer: The Mughal emperor, in 1765, appointed the Company’s the Diwan of
the provinces of Bengal. The Diwani allowed the Company to exploit the vast
revenue resources of Bengal. This solved a major problem that the company had
earlier faced. Although its trade had expanded, it had to buy most of the goods in
India with gold and silver imported from Britain. The overflow of gold from
Britain stopped after the assumption of Diwani. Now revenue from India could
finance Company expenses. These revenues they used to purchase cotton and
silk textiles in India, maintain Company troops and meet the cost of building the
Company fort and offices at Calcutta.

3. Explain the system of ‘subsidiary alliance’.

Answer: Subsidiary Alliance System

1. The Britishers as a supreme power: Whichever state wanted to sign this
treaty, had to accept the English as a supreme authority. The East India
Company behaved as a guardian of that state.
 2. Appointment of resident: The state kept an English Resident in their
court,
to check the activities of the king.
3. Keeping of an English army: Indian rulers were not allowed to have their
army to protect the state from external and internal invasion. The state
had to keep an English army. The state had to bear financial burden of the
army.
4. Giving to the territory: If the Indian rulers failed to make payments, part
of their territories were taken away as penalty. e.g., The Nawab of Awadh
was forced to give over half of his territory to the company in 1801.
Hyderabad was also forced to cede territories on similar grounds.
5. Protection by the English: In return for the above-mentioned conditions
the English Company promised to protect the state from its enemies. They
also promised the state not to interfere in the internal affairs of the state
but this was a promise they seldom kept.

4. Give an account of different European trading companies besides the British

East India Company that entered the Eastern markets.

Answer: Different European trading companies were:

1. The Portuguese. By the time the first English ships sailed down the West
coast of Africa, round the Cape of Good Hope, and crossed the Indian
Ocean, the Portuguese had already established their presence in the
western coast of India and had their base in Goa.
2. The Dutch. By the early 17th century, the Dutch too were exploring the
possibilities of trade in the Indian Ocean.
3. The French. The French traders soon arrived on the scene for the same
purpose.

5. Write a note on Tipu Sultan – The ‘Tiger of Mysore’.

Answer: Tipu Sultan was the famous ruler of Mysore. He ruled Mysore from
1782 to 1799. Under his leadership, Mysore became very powerful. It controlled
the profitable trade of the Malabar Coast where the Company purchased pepper
and cardamom. In 1785 Tipu Sultan stopped the export of these items through
the ports of his kingdom and disallowed local merchants from trading with the
Company. He also developed a relationship with the French in India to
modernise his army with their help. The British got furious. They waged four
battles against Tipu Sultan. The last battle proved unfortunate for him. He was
killed defending his capital Seringapatam. The way he resisted the British is
undoubtedly praiseworthy.
6. Who introduced the policy of ‘paramounty’? What did it mean? What sort of
resistance did the Company face?

Answer: Lord Hastings, who was the Governor-General of India from 1813 to
1823, introduced a new policy of ‘paramounty’. Now the Company claimed that
its authority was paramount or supreme, hence its power was greater than that
of Indian states. In order to protect its interests, it was justified in annexing or
threatening to annex any Indian kingdom.
However, this process did not go unchallenged. For example, when the British
tried to annex, the small state of Kitoor (in Karnataka today), Rani Channamma
took to arms and led an anti-British resistance movement. She was arrested in
1823 and died in prison in 1829. But this resistance movement did not stop. It
was carried on by Rajana, a poor chowkidar of Sangoli in Kitoor. With popular
support, he destroyed many British camps and records. He was also caught and
hanged by the British in 1830.

7. How did the East India Company begin to trade in Bengal?

Answer: The East India Company set up the first English factory on the banks of
the river Hugh in the year 1651. This became the base from which the
Company’s traders, known at that time as ‘factors’, operated. The factory had a
warehouse where goods for export were stored and it had offices where Company
officials set. As trade expanded, the Company persuaded merchants and traders
to come and settle near the factory. By 1696 the Company began to build a fort
around the settlement. Two years later it bribed Mughal officials into giving the
Company zamindari rights over three villages. One of these was Kalikata which
later developed into a city, known as Calcutta. The Company also persuaded the
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to issue a firman granting the Company the right to
trade duty-free. The Company tried continuously to press for more concessions
and manipulate existing privileges. For instance, Aurangzeb’s Farman had
granted only the Company the right to trade duty-free. But Company officials
who were carrying on private trade on the side were expected to pay duty. But
they refused to pay. This caused huge loss of revenue for Bengal.

8. Give an account of the Battle of Plassey.

Answer: The Company was very keen to have a puppet ruler in place of
Sirajuddaulah so that it might enjoy trade concessions and other privileges. It
began to help one of Sirajuddaulah’s rivals become the nawab. This infuriated
Sirajuddaulah. He sternly asked the Company to stop meddling in the political
affairs of his dominion. After negotiations failed, the Nawab marched with his
soldiers to the English factory at Kasimbazar, captured the Company officials,
disarmed all Englishmen, and blocked English ships. Then he marched to
Calcutta to establish control over the Company’s fort there. As soon as the
Company officials in Madras heard the news of the fall of Calcutta, they sent
forces under the command of Robert Clive, reinforced by naval fleets. Prolonged
negotiations with the Nawab followed. But no concrete solution came out.
Finally, in 1759, Robert Clive led the Company’s army against Sirajuddaulah at
Plassey. In this battle, Sirajuddaulah got defeated. The main reason was that
one of his commanders, Mir Jafar, did not fight the battle. He, in fact, supported
the Company by not fighting because the Company had promised to make him
Nawab after defeating Sirajuddaulah. The victory of the Company in the Battle
of Plassey gave it immense confidence. It was the first major victory of the
Company in India.

9. What administrative reformations were brought in the sphere of justice?

Answer: Before the reformations were brought, there were Maulvis and Hindu
pandits who interpreted Indian laws for the European district collectors who
presided over civil courts. The criminal courts were still under a qazi and a
mufti. The Brahman pandits usually gave different interpretations of local laws.
But there was no uniformity in them. To bring out about uniformity, in 1775
eleven pandits were asked to compile a digest of Hindu laws. N.B. Halhed
translated this digest into English. By 1778 a code of Muslim laws was also
compiled for the benefit of European judges, under the Regulating Act of 1773, a
new Supreme Court was established, while a court of appeal – the Sadar
Nizamal Adalat – was also set up at Calcutta.