 Aurangzeb last Mughal ruler who established control over a very large part of the territory –India. Afte his death regional kingdoms emerged Delhi no longer an effective centre

 By the second half of the 18c new power was emerging.British came as traders and became the masters of vast empire  Portuguese navigator Vasco Da Gama discovered the sea route between India and Europe in 1498.Portuguese were followed by Dutch,French,and English merchant came to trade in spices and textiles.

 English east India company comes east  In 1600 East India company aquired a charter from the ruler of England,Queen Elizabeth I, granting it the sole right to trade with the east.Company could venture across the oceans looking for new lands from which it could buy goods cheap price and carry them back to Europe to sell at a higher price

 Mercantile trading companies in those days made profit primarily by excluding competition, so that they could buy cheap and sell at higher price.  Royal charter could not prevent European powers from entering the eastern markets.  All companies were interested in buying silk and cotton in India which had a big market in Europe.  Pepper,cloves were in great demand

 Urge to secure markets lead to fierce battles between trading companies  Through 17 th and 18 th C they sank each other ships,blockaded routes.  Trade was carried on with arms and trading posts were procted through fortification.

 First English factory – set up on the banks of river Hugli in  Factory had warehouse –goods were stored for export – had offices where company officials sat  With expand in trade company persuaded merchants and trader to settle near the factory.  2 years later it bribed Mughal official in giving the co. zamindari rights over 3 villages, persuaded Emperor Aurangzeb to issue a farman granting the Co. to trade duty free.  Officials of the company carried on private trade for which they refused to pay duty resulting in to loss revenue for Bengal  Murshid Quli Khan protested

 Murshid Quli Khan was followed by Alivardi Khan and then Sirajuddaulah as the Nawab of Bengal, all strong rulers  Refused concessions to company,demanded large tributes for co. right to trade, denied right to mint coins and stopped it from extending its fortifications.  Trade of the company could flourish only if the duties were removed.  Conflicts led to the famous battle of Plassey

 Alivardi Khan died in 1756, Sirajuddaluah became Nawab of Bengal.  Company keen on puppet ruler  Sirajuddaluah rival became the Nawab  Sirajuddaluah marched with 30,000 soldiers to the English factory at Kassimbazar captured the company officials, locked warehouse, disarmed Englishman  On hearing the news of the fall of calcutta,co. officials in Madras sent forces under Robert Clive

 In 1757 Robert clive lead the company army against Sirajuddaulah at Plassey  Main reason for the defeat- Mir Jafar never fought the battle  Clive secured his support- to make him Nawab  Battle of Plassey became famous because it was the first major victory for Co. in India.

 After the defeat at Plassey Sirajuddaulah was assasinated and Mir Jafar became the Nawab.Co. was unwilling to take responsibility,prime objective was to expand trade.  Puppet nawabs were not always helpful as Co. wanted to be.  When Mir Qasim complained,he was defeated in a battle fought at Buxar (1764)driven out of Bengal,and Mir Jafar was reinstalled.  Nawab had to pay 500,000 every month but the company wanted more money,more territories and more revenue

 BY the time Mir Jafar died in 1765 the mood of the company changed.Having failed to work with puppet nawab clive declared “we must indeed becom nawab ourselves”.

 After battle of plassey actual nawabs were forced to give land and vast sum of money as gifts to Co. officials.  Clive had come to Madras ( Chennai) from England in 1743 at the age of 18  In 1767 when he left his Indian fortune was worth 401,102.As agovernor of Bengal in 1764, he was asked to remove corruption in Co. but hhe was cross examined in1772,although he was acquitted he committed suicide in 1774.

 Co. officials who earned enough in India return to Britain and lead comfortable life.  Those eho managed to return with comfortable wealth were called “nabobs”

 Co. rarely launched a direct military attack on an unknown territory  Insted it used variety of political, economical and diplomatic method to expand its influence before annexing an Indian kingdom  After the battle of Bauxar(1764) the company appointed Residents in Indian States  Their job was to serve the interests of the Co.  Through residents, the Co began to interfer in interal affairs of Indian states

 Co. forced the the states into a subsidiary alliance  According to it Indian rulers were not allowed to have their independent armed force  They were to be protected by the company,but had to pay for the subsidiary forces thst the Co. was supposed to maintain for the purpose of this protection  If indian rulers failed to pay the part of their territory was taken as penlty eg Nawab of Awadh 1801 Governor generalRichard Wellesley( )

 With their defeat in the third battle of Panipat in 1761, the Marathas dream of ruling from Delhi was shattered.  They were divided into many states under different chiefs such as Sindhia, Holkar, Gaikwad, and Bhonsale.  Chiefs were held together in a Confederacy under a Peshwa, military and Administrative head based at pune

 Mahadji Sindia and Nana Phadnis were two famous Maratha soldiers and statesmen of 18 th C  Marathas were subdued in a series of wars  In the first war that ended in 1782 with the Treaty of Salbai, there was no clear victor  Second Anglo-Maratha war ( ) fought on different fonts, resulting in the British gaining Orissa and the territories north of the Yamuna river including Agra and Delhi.

 Finally the third Anglo-Maratha warof crushed Maratha power  Peshwa was removed and sent to Bithur near Kanpur with the pension.  Co. had control over territories south of Vindhyas

 From early 19 C the company pursued an aggressive policy of territorial expansion  Under lord Hastings Governor general( )a new policy of “Paramountcy” was initiated  Grater than Indian states  Annexing or threaten to annex any Indian kingdom

 When British tried to annex the small state of Kitoor(karnataka ) Rani Channamma took to arms and led an anti-British resistance movement  She was arrested in1824 and died in prison in1829  Rayanna poor chowkidar of Sangoli in Kitoor carried on the resistance  With support he destroyed many British camps and records  He was caught and hanged by the british in 1830