Advent of Europeans and Decline of Mughals Notes

THE ADVENT OF PORTUGUESE IN INDIA

REASONS

  • In 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks
  • Red Sea trade route was a state monopoly from which Islamic rulers earned tremendous revenues.
  • Land routes to India were also controlled by the Arabs.
  • Fifteenth-century-spirit of the Renaissance in Europe.
  • Prosperity also grew and with it the demand for oriental luxury goods also increased.
  • Prince Henry of Portugal, who was nicknamed the ‘Navigator’
  • Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), rulers of Portugal and Spain divided non-Christian world between them by an imaginary line in the Atlantic, some 1,300 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands.
  • Portugal could claim and occupy everything to the east of the line while Spain could claim everything to the west.


VASCO DA GAMA AND CABRAL: ESTABLISHMENT OF PORTUGUESE FACTORIES

  • Arrival of Vasco Da Gama, led by a Gujarati pilot named Abdul Majid, at Calicut in May 1498.
  • Ruler of Calicut - Zamorin (Samuthiri)-1498
  • Pedro Alvarez Cabral arrived next to trade for spices, negotiated and established a factory at Calicut, where he arrived in September 1500.
  • Vasco da Gama set up a trading factory at Cannanore
  • Calicut, Cannanore and Cochin became the important trade centres of the Portuguese.


FRANCISCO DE ALMEIDA

  • In 1505, the King of Portugal appointed him the governor in India
  • Built fortresses at Anjadiva, Cochin, Cannanore and Kilwa
  • Policy was known as the Blue Water Policy (cartaze system).


ALFONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE

  • Real founder of the Portuguese power in the East
  • Portuguese strongholds in East Africa, off the Red Sea, at Ormuz; in Malabar; and at Malacca.
  • Goa, snatched from the Sultan of Bijapur and abolished Sati


NINO DA CUNHA

  • Headquarters shifted from Cochin to Goa
  • Bahadur Shah of Gujarat gave the island of Bassein and promised a base in Diu
  • Humayun withdrew from Gujarat in 1536.


ADDITION OF MORE TERRITORIES

  • The Portuguese established military posts and settlements on the east coast at San Thome (in Chennai) and Nagapatnam (in Andhra)
  • Hoogly became another base with the permit of Akbar.
  • Portuguese sent 3 missions of Jesuit priests to Akbar.
  • Third mission under: Jerome Xavier and Pinherio


PORTUGUESE ADMINISTRATION IN INDIA: The Vedor da Fazenda, responsible for revenues and the cargoes and dispatch of fleets.


GRADUAL DECLINE OF THE PORTUGUESE

  • 1608, Captain William Hawkins with his ship Hector reached Surat.
  • Jahangir appointed him as a mansabdar of 400 at a salary of Rs 30,000.
  • In November 1612, the English ship Dragon under Captain Best along with a little ship, the Osiander, successfully fought a Portuguese fleet.


CAPTURE OF HOOGHLY: On June 24, 1632-Hooghly was seized by Bengal governor- Qasim Khan

THE ADVENT OF DUTCH IN 1596

Cornelis de Houtman was the first Dutchman to reach Sumatra and Bantam in 1596.


DUTCH SETTLEMENTS

  • The Dutch founded their first factory in Masulipatnam (in Andhra) in 1605
  • Captured Nagapatam near Madras (Chennai) from the Portuguese and made it their main stronghold in South India.
  • The Dutch established factories on the Coromandel coast, in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Bihar.
  • In 1609, they opened a factory in Pulicat, north of Madras.
  • Their other principal factories in India were at Surat (1616), Bimlipatam (1641), Karaikal (1645), Chinsura (1653), Baranagar, Kasimbazar (near Murshidabad), Balasore, Patna, Nagapatam(1658) and Cochin (1663).
  • They carried indigo manufactured in the Yamuna valley and Central India, textiles and silk from Bengal, Gujarat and the Coromandel, saltpetre from Bihar and opium and rice from the Ganga valley.


ANGLO-DUTCH RIVALRY

  • Serious challenge to the commercial interests of the Dutch by the English.
  • The climax of the enmity between the Dutch and the English in the East was reached at Amboyna (a place in present-day Indonesia, which the Dutch had captured from the Portuguese in 1605) where they massacred ten Englishmen and nine Japanese in 1623.
  • 1667- Dutch retired from India and moved to Indonesia where Britishers gave up their rights in return.
  • They monopolised the trade in black pepper and spices.
  • The most important Indian commodities the Dutch traded in were silk, cotton, indigo, rice and opium.


DECLINE OF THE DUTCH IN INDIA

  • The Battle of Chinsura or Battle of Biderra or Battle of Hooghly was fought on 25 November 1759 in current territory of Hugli-Chuchura municipality of West Bengal.
  • The battle was fought between British East India Company and Mir Jafar, the Nawab of Bengal helped by Dutch.


THE ENGLISH-1599: CHARTER OF QUEEN ELIZABETH I

  • On December 31, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter with rights of exclusive trading to the company named the ‘Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies’.


PROGRESS OF THE ENGLISH COMPANY


FOOTHOLD IN WEST AND SOUTH

  • In 1611, the English had started trading at Masulipatnam on the south-eastern coast of India and later established a factory there in 1616.
  • Establish a factory at Surat under Thomas Aldworth 1613
  • In 1615, Sir Thomas Roe came as an accredited ambassador of James I to the court of Jahangir.
  • Secured permission to set up factories at Agra, Ahmedabad and Broach.
  • Bombay had been gifted to King Charles II by the King of Portugal as dowry when Charles married the Portuguese princess Catherine in 1662.
  • Bombay was given over to the East India Company on an annual payment of ten pounds only in 1668.
  • Bombay was made the headquarters by shifting the seat of the Western Presidency from Surat to Bombay in 1687.
  • Golden Farman’ issued by the Sultan of Golconda in 1632
  • On a payment of 500 pagodas a year, they earned the privilege of trading freely in the ports of Golconda.
  • The British merchant Francis Day, in 1639 received from the ruler of Chandragiri permission to build a fortified factory at Madras which later became the Fort St. George and replaced Masulipatnam as the headquarters of the English settlements in south India.
  • English extended their trading activities to the east and started factories at Hariharpur in the Mahanadi delta and at Balasore (in Odisha) in 1633.


FOOTHOLD IN BENGAL

  • Shah Shuja, the subahdar of Bengal in 1651, allowed the English to trade in Bengal in return for an annual payment of Rs 3,000.
  • Factories in Bengal were started at Hooghly (1651) and other places like Kasimbazar, Patna and Rajmahal.
  • William Hedges, the first agent and governor of the Company in Bengal
  • In 1698, the English succeeded in getting the permission to buy the zamindari of the three villages of Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata (Kalighat) on payment of Rs 1,200.
  • The fortified settlement was named Fort William in the year 1700 when it also became the seat of the eastern presidency (Calcutta) with Sir Charles Eyre as its first president.


FARRUKHSIYAR’S FARMANS

  • Farrukhsiyar granted the famous farman (magna carta) in Bengal in 1715 to John Surman
  • Company’s Exports and imports are exempted for custom duties except annual payment of 3000 rupees in Bengal.
  •  Issues of dastaks for transportation.
  • East India Company was exempted from the levy of all duties in Surat on annual payment of 10000.


THE ADVENT OF FRENCH IN 1667 : MAIN CENTRES

  • Louis XIV, famous minister Colbert laid the foundation of the Compagnie des Indes Orientales (French East India Company) in 1664
  • The Compagnie des Indes Orientales was granted a 50-year monopoly.
  • In 1667, Francois Caron headed an expedition to India, setting up a factory in Surat.
  • Mercara, a Persian who accompanied Caron, founded another French factory in Masulipatnam in 1669
  • In 1673 established a township at Chandernagore near Calcutta.


PONDICHERRY—NERVE CENTRE OF FRENCH POWER IN INDIA

  • Pondicherry was founded in 1674 and Francois Martin became its governor.
  • Mahe, Karaikal, Balasore and Qasim Bazar were a few important trading centers of the French East India Company.


EARLY SETBACKS TO THE FRENCH EAST INDIA COMPANY

  • The Dutch captured Pondicherry in 1693
  • Treaty of Ryswick concluded in September 1697 restored Pondicherry to the French, the Dutch garrison held on to it for two more years.


THE ANGLO-FRENCH STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY: THE CARNATIC WARS

It began with the outbreak of the Austrian War of Succession


FIRST CARNATIC WAR (1740-48)

  • France seized Madras in 1746 which led to the first Carnatic War.
  • Treaty of Aix-La Chapelle was signed bringing the Austrian War of Succession to a conclusion.
  • Madras was handed back to the English, and the French, got their territories in North America.
  • The First Carnatic War is remembered for the Battle of St. Thome (in Madras) on the banks of the River Adyar fought between the French forces and the forces of Anwar- ud-din, the Nawab of Carnatic, to whom the English appealed for help.


SECOND CARNATIC WAR (1749-54)

  • The background for the Second Carnatic War was provided by rivalry in India over the succession to the throne of Hyderabad after the death of Nizam-ul-Mulk.
  • This resulted in a clash between Dupleix and Robert Clive.
  • In August 1751, with only a force of 210 men Robert Clive attacked and captured Arcot
  • The war ended with the Treaty of Pondicherry in 1754 which crtically undermined the French power in India.


THIRD CARNATIC WAR (1758-63)

  • In 1758, the French army under Count de Lally captured the English forts of St. David and Vizianagaram in 1758.
  • Battle of Wandiwash, Tamil Nadu: The decisive battle of the Third Carnatic War was won by the English under Eyre Coot on January 22, 1760
  • Treaty of Paris (1763) which ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War between Great Britain and France, as well as their respective allies restored to the French their factories in India
  • The victory at Wandiwash left the English East India Company with no European rival in India.

THE DANES-1620

  • 1616: Founded a factory at Tranquebar near Tanjore, on the eastern coast of India.
  • Their principal settlement was at Serampore near Calcutta
  • Better known for their missionary activities


CHRONOLOGY OF EUROPEANS

Portuguese – Dutch – English – Danish -- French


WEAK RULERS AFTER AURANGZEB—AN INTERNAL CHALLENGE


Bahadur Shah I (1709–March 1712)

  • Adopted a pacifying policy with the Marathas, the Rajputs and the Jats. Jahandar Shah (March 1712-February 1713)
  • He introduced izara system to improve the financial condition of the empire.
  • Jahandar Shah abolished Jaziya. Farrukhsiyar (1713-1719)
  • He followed a policy of religious tolerance by abolishing Jaziya and pilgrimage tax.
  • In 1717-gave farmans to British.
  • In 1719, the Sayyid brothers, with the help of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath, dethroned Farrukhsiyar, he was blinded and killed.(1st ever in Mughal history that emperor was killed by nobles)
The Ijarah System is known as a system in which a fixed amount is paid by the farmers to the state. In return, the state offered the revenue farmers considerable freedom in the assessment and collection of taxes. This allowed new social groups such as moneylenders and bankers to influence the management of the state’s revenue system.


Muhammad Shah (1719-48)

  • Raushan Akhtar – given title Muhammad shah and Rangeela
  • In 1724, Nizam-ul-Mulk became the wazir and founded the independent state of Hyderabad.
  • In 1739, Nadir Shah defeated the Mughals in the Battle of Karnal


Alamgir II (1754-1758)

  •  Ahmed Shah Abdali, the Iranian invader, reached Delhi in January 1757.
  • During his reign, the Battle of Plassey was fought in June 1757.


Shah Alam II (1759-1806)

  • His reign saw two decisive battles—the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) and the Battle of Buxar (1764).
  • Treaty of Allahabad (August 1765), he was taken under the East India Company’s protection and resided at Allahabad.
  • He also issued a farman granting to the Company in perpetuity the Diwani (the right to collect revenue) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.


Bahadur Shah Zafar-the last Mughal emperor

  • Captured by the English and sent to Rangoon where he died in 1862.
  • Mughal Empire came to an end on November 1, 1858 with the declaration of Queen Victoria


RISE OF REGIONAL STATES

  • Successor States: The Mughal provinces that turned into states after breaking away from the empire. Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad.
  • Independent Kingdoms: These states came into existence primarily due to the destabilization of the Mughal control over the provinces. Mysore, Kerala and the Rajput states.
  • The New States: These were the states set up by the rebels against the Mughal empire. Maratha, the Sikh and the Jat states.


Hyderabad

The founder of the Asaf-Jah house of Hyderabad was Kilich Khan, popularly known as Nizam-ul-Mulk.


Awadh

  • The founder of the independent principality of Awadh was Saadat Khan, popularly known as Burhan-ul-Mulk.
  • He was succeeded by Safdar Jang as the Nawab of Awadh Bengal
  • Murshid Kuli Khan was the founder of the independent state of Bengal.
  • Succeeded in 1727 by his son Shujaud- din.
  • His successor, Sarfaraz Khan, was killed in 1740 by Alivardi Khan, the deputy governor of Bihar at Gheria.


Mysore

  • This territory located at the junction of the Eastern and Western Ghats was ruled by the Wodeyars.
  • Mysore state was brought under the rule of Haider Ali succeeded by Tipu Sultan.


Kerala

  • Martanda Varma established an independent state of Kerala with Travancore as his capital.


Jats

  • Churaman and Badan Singh succeeded in setting up the Jat state of Bharatpur.
  • But it was under Suraj Mal that Jat power reached its zenith.
  • The Jat state suffered a decline after the death of Suraj Mal in 1763.


Sikhs

  • Guru Gobind Singh transformed the Sikhs into a militant sect in defence of their religion and liberties.
  • Banda Bahadur, later assumed the leadership of the Sikhs in 1708.
  • 12 misls or confederacies which exercised control over different parts of the kingdom.
  • The credit for establishing a strong kingdom of Punjab goes to Ranjit Singh.
  • He conquered Lahore in 1799 and Amritsar in 1802.


Marathas

  • Under the capable leadership of the Peshwas, the Marathas uprooted the Mughal authority from Malwa and Gujarat and established their rule.
  • Their authority was challenged by Ahmed Shah Abdali in the Third Battle of Panipat (1761).


Rohilakhand and Farukhabad

  • The states of Rohilakhand and the kingdom of the Bangash Pathans were a fall out of the Afghan migration into India.
  • Ali Muhammad Khan set the petty kingdom, Rohilakhand.
  • Mohammad Khan Bangash, an Afghan, set up an independent kingdom to the east of Delhi in the area around Farrukhabad


DEVELOPMENT IN ART, ARCHITECTURE AND CULTURE

  • At Lucknow, Asaf-ud-Daula built the BADA IMAMBARA in 1784.
  • Sawai Jai Singh built the pink city of Jaipur and five astronomical observatives at Delhi, Jaipur, Benares, Mathura and Ujjain.
  • The Tamil language was enriched by sittar poetry.
  • Tayumanavar (1706-44), one of the best exponents of sittar poetry, protested against the abuses of temple-rule and the caste system.
  • Heer Ranjha, the romantic epic in Punjabi literature, was composed by Warris Shah.