Advent of the Europeans

Long-distance trade was significant during the Middle Ages.
The trade route connecting Europe to the East via the Middle East was famous.
Spices (like pepper) and textiles (Indian cottons, Chinese silks) were in high demand in Europe.
Goods moved from China and India through cities like Aleppo and Cairo to Venice and other European destinations.

Middle Eastern merchants bought Eastern goods and sold them in Europe for huge profits.
High profit margins by Middle Eastern merchants made goods costly for Europeans.
Religious rivalry between Arabs (Muslims) and Europeans (Christians) intensified.
Europeans sought a direct trade route to the East, bypassing the Middle East.

Improved agriculture made Europe prosperous, increasing demand for oriental luxury goods.
Developments in ship-building and the onset of the Age of Exploration in the 15th century encouraged explorations.

Vasco da Gama's voyages (1497-99, 1502-03, 1524) opened the sea route from Western Europe to Asia via the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1498, da Gama landed in Calicut (Kozhikode), marking the start of Portugal's involvement with India.
Portugal aimed to buy spices from India and sell them in Europe for profit.
India was known as the 'Land of Spices'; da Gama sought pepper ('black gold').

Calicut was ideal for fulfilling these ambitions.
From the 14th to 16th century, Calicut was a major port city admired by traders.
Flourished due to economic strategies and liberal policies of the Zamorins.
Transformed into a significant entrepôt for spices to the Middle East and Europe.

Vasco da Gama met the Zamorin seeking favor; relations soured later.
Da Gama returned to Portugal with a rich cargo, earning a huge profit.

Pedro Álvares Cabral reached Calicut in September 1500, established a factory, and made treaties with Cochin and Cannanore.
Da Gama returned in 1501, setting up a factory at Cannanore.
Calicut, Cochin, and Cannanore became key Portuguese trade centers.
The Portuguese fortified their factories to secure trade.

Francisco de Almeida appointed governor in 1505 to consolidate Portuguese interests.
– Aimed to make Portugal the paramount power and monopolize the spice trade.
– Established fortified posts and implemented the Cartaz system (Blue Water Policy).
– Defeated Arabs and Egyptians in the Battle of Diu (February 1509).

Afonso de Albuquerque became governor in 1509, considered the real founder of Portuguese power.
– Aimed to control strategic points of the Indian Ocean to dominate trade.
– Captured Goa in 1510 from the Sultan of Bijapur, developing it as the trade hub.
– Goa was the first Indian territory annexed by Europeans since Alexander the Great.
– Encouraged marriages between his men and local women in Goa.
– Abolished Sati in the region.
– Despite reforms, was a religious zealot persecuting Muslims.
– Trivia: The Alphonso mango is named after him; he introduced it from Brazil.

In 1529, Nuno da Cunha became governor.
– Shifted headquarters from Cochin to Goa in 1530.
– Bahadur Shah of Gujarat ceded Bassein to the Portuguese in 1534.
– Established factories at San Thome and Hugli.
– Portuguese entrenched on India's western coast by mid-16th century.

Eastern expansion faced challenges.
– Sultan Mahmud Shah of Bengal initially opposed them.
– Allied with Portuguese against Sher Shah Suri (1535-36).
– Granted rights to build factories and collect customs duties at Chittagong and Satgaon.

First Europeans in Bihar, entering in the 17th century.
Established factory at Hooghly in Bengal, often visiting Patna for trade via waterways and roads.
Traded spices and China clay for Bihar’s textiles – carpets, ambrette, thin cloths.

• 1590s: Dutch challenge Portuguese in East Asia.
• 1602: Dutch East India Company established with Asian trade monopoly.
• Traded spices, textiles, and other goods for huge profits.
• Exchanged Indian textiles for Indonesian spices.

Established presence on the Coromandel Coast.
First factory in 1608 at Pulicat.
Became the first global multinational company (MNC).
Other factories: Masulipatnam, Nagapattinam, Golconda, Surat, Chinsurah, Patna, Cochin.

• Defeated by Travancore in the Battle of Colachel (1741).
• Losses to the English in Anglo-Dutch Wars ended ambitions.
• 1824: Anglo-Dutch Treaty transferred Indian possessions to the British.

• 1632: Dutch East India Company set up a factory in Patna (near present Patna College).
• Sought cotton textiles, saltpetre, opium, food grains.
• 1662: Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb granted trade rights in Bihar, Bengal, Odisha.
• 1665: Dutch traveler Tavernier visited Patna and Chhapra.

• Rivalry with British and French over saltpetre trade; Battle of Bedara (1759) led to British dominance.
• 1781: British Major Hardy captured Dutch warehouse in Patna; later took Chhapra and Singhia factories. Returned in 1784.

• 1600: Queen Elizabeth I granted trading rights to the East India Company (EIC).

• 1608: Captain William Hawkins reached Surat.
• – Met Emperor Jahangir seeking to establish an English factory.
• – Portuguese opposed Hawkins, leading to his departure in 1611.

• 1612: Captain Thomas Best defeated the Portuguese in the Battle of Swally → Jahangir was impressed, treated English and Portuguese equally.
• 1615: Sir Thomas Roe obtained trading concessions from Jahangir → Jahangir granted an imperial farman allowing the English to trade and establish factories.

• Established factories in Surat, Masulipatnam, Orissa, and Madras.
• – 1632: Sultan of Golconda issued a Golden Farman for free trade.
• – 1639: Built a fortified factory at Madras (Fort St. George).

• 1662: Acquired Bombay from the Portuguese.
• Built Fort St. David in 1725.

• 1651: Permission to trade at Hugli.
• Opened factories in Patna, Balasore, Dhaka.
• Faced hostility over farmans and fortifications.
• 1690: Job Charnock re-established settlement at Sutanuti.
• 1698: Purchased zamindari of Sutanuti, Gobindpur, and Kalikata → Built Fort William, making it the eastern seat of British power.

1717: Emperor Farrukhsiyar issued three famous farmans.
– Exempted the Company from custom duties in Bengal.
– Allowed issuance of dastaks for duty-free company trade.
– Recognized Company coins throughout the Mughal Empire.

• 1620: Initial factory at Alamganj, Patna for saltpetre, closed in 1621.
• 1651: Reopened factory at Gulzarbagh, which is now the Government Printing Press.
• Dominated trade in saltpetre, opium, calico cloth.
• 1680: Subedar Shaista Khan imposed 3.5% tax on British trade.

• 1697: Governor Azimushan granted trade permissions; factory re-established in 1703.
• 1713: Closed, then reopened in 1718 under Emperor Farrukhsiyar.
• 1733: Alivardi Khan became Naib Nazim of Bihar; 1740, gained control of Bengal and Bihar.
• 1750: Patna factory closed under Alivardi Khan’s pressure.

• 1664: French East India Company established.
• 1667: Francois Caron set up first French factory at Surat.
• Established factories in Masulipatnam, Chandernagore, Pondicherry (under Francois Martin).
• Other important centres were Mahe, Karaikal, Balasore, Qasim Bazar.

• Key Events
• – Triggered by the Austrian War of Succession.
• – French captured Madras (1746).
• – Battle of St. Thome: Showcased European military superiority.
• – Ended with Treaty of Aix-La Chapelle (1748).

• Key Events
• – Dupleix interfered in local disputes to expand French influence.
• – Siege of Arcot (1751): Robert Clive captured Arcot.
• – Dupleix recalled; Treaty of Pondicherry ended the war.
• – French influence weakened in the Deccan.

• Key Events
• – Part of the Seven Years' War.
• – Battle of Wandiwash (1760): British defeated the French.
• – Treaty of Paris (1763) ended French colonial ambitions.
• – French restricted to commerce in small enclaves.

Set up a trading center in Patna (1734), competing with Dutch for saltpetre.
Tensions with the British; Chandernagore captured (1757).
After Battle of Plassey, British expelled French from Patna, taking over French warehouses.

• Danish East India Company operated 1616-1650, revived in 1670-1729, Asiatic Company established in 1730.
• 1774: Built a factory at Nepali Kothi (Patna) for saltpetre processing.
• Danish presence ended when Denmark sold Indian settlements in 1845

The English Company was private and agile; the French Company was state-run and bureaucratic.
Superior English navy and focus on commercial interests.
The Industrial Revolution boosted English capabilities.
Less religious zeal aided relations with locals.

Effective use of debt markets funded wars.
India became the 'crown jewel' of the British Empire.