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HBSE Class 8 History Chapter 7 European Incursions and Their Expansionist Policies notes for Haryana Board of Our Bharat III Book Solution.
European Incursions and Their Expansionist Policies Class 8 History Chapter 7 Notes
It is often read or heard in the news that:
- The infiltration of terrorists along the border was foiled by the army.
- Many smugglers are waiting at the border to infiltrate it.
- The soldiers killed four infiltrators.
One thing that becomes clear from such news is that an intruder is one who enters our territory without our permission and does not hesitate to harm us for his own benefit. Our country’s trade with other countries had been going on for centuries, but the European powers came in the guise of traders and negatively affected the social, economic and cultural life.
Since ancient times, India’s trade has been going on with European countries. Indian goods were in high demand in the European markets. Until the middle of the fifteenth century, this trade was done through land and sea routes. In the middle of the fifteenth century, the Turks took control of West Asia, Eastern Europe and Egypt and began to impede trade, which led to the end of India’s trade with European countries. In view of the high demand for India’s goods in Europe, there was a strong urge among European traders to explore new routes for doing business with India.
The Portuguese acted as guides in this task. Portuguese prince sailor Henry did an important job by setting up a school to train the sailors in a scientific manner and encouraging them. His inspiration led to the discovery of new routes and the infiltration of Europeans into India. In 1486-1487 AD, Bartolomeu Dias discovered the route to the Cape of Good Hope, which inspired Vasco-da-Gama’s early voyage to India from Portugal in 1497 AD. Following the path of Dias, he crossed Cape of the Good Hope and reached Mozambique. He reached Calicut in May 1498 AD with the help of a Gujarati trader who guided him from the African port of Malindi. Thus, a new marine route from Europe to India was discovered.
Do you know? It is a myth that Vasco-da- Gama discovered India. In fact, he had discovered a new water route to reach India, not India.
Portuguese incursions: The Portuguese were the first to start direct trade with India after Vasco-da-Gama discovered a new sea route to India in 1498 AD. In 1500 AD, the Portuguese built a factory near Cochin (Kerala). They also got the ruler of the state to arrange for the security of the factory because the Arab traders were against them. After this, Portuguese factories were established in Calicut and Kannur also. Until that time, the Portuguese were the only European trading power in India. They only had to face the opposition of the Arabs, but the Portuguese established their supremacy over the maritime trade with the help of their excellent sea vessels. They began to expand under the able leadership of the governors of Almora and Albuquerque. In 1510 AD, the Portuguese took control of Goa and made it their administrative centre. Soon they took control of Surat, Daman-Diu, Basin, Salsit, Bombay (Mumbai), Dabhol, Goa, Kannur, Calicut, Cochin, Nagattam, Machilipatnam, Hooghly and other places, but only due to forced conversion and corrupt practices their power began to decline. In the sixteenth century, they were confined to Goa, Daman and Diu owing to the challenge from the Dutch.
The Dutch Incursions: The Dutch were the second European power to come to India after the Portuguese. The Dutch established several trading companies in the last decade of the 16th century to trade with the East. In order to end the enmity and competition among these companies, the then Dutch government established the Dutch East India Company in 1602 AD by merging all the companies and giving them a monopoly on the settlements established in India to trade with India and other eastern countries. In addition, it was also given the power to fight wars, make treaties and conquer territories and build forts. In 1602 AD, the Dutch defeated the Portuguese fleet and took control of the trade of spices. Soon, it ended the Portuguese monopoly by establishing its suzerainty over Pulicat, Surat, Chinsura, Cochin, Nagapattam, Balasore, Qasim Bazar and Baranagar. The influence of the Dutch also declined after the arrival of the British.
The British Incursions: The prosperity of the Portuguese in Indian trade greatly influenced the British, and they too became eager to trade with India. In 1578 AD, a pirate named Francis Drake robbed a Portuguese ship going to Lisbon. During this piracy, he found a map on which he found information about the sea route to India. In 1588 AD, the English fleet destroyed the powerful Spanish Armada and thus established their supremacy over the sea route. The East India Company was established on December 31, 1600 AD and was given a permit to trade with India by Queen Elizabeth I of Britain. The British started trading in India with the efforts of Captain Hawkins and Sir Thomas Roe and started setting up their trading factories here. In this sequence, the British established their first trading factory at Machilipatnam in 1611 AD. After that, the British defeated the Portuguese and Dutch and took control of places like Surat, Qasim Bazar, Visakhapatnam, Balasore, Fort St. George, etc. Britain’s Prince Charles II was married to Catherine, the daughter of the King of Portugal, and received the seven islands of Bombay as a dowry from the Portuguese. In 1668 AD, Charles II rented Bombay to the East India Company for an annual rent of 10 pounds, which later became the main centre of their trade. After this, the British got the zamindari of three villages named Sutanati, Govindpur and Kolkata in Bengal and established a fort named Fort William here.
Danish Incursions: Looking at the trade of its neighbors Britain, Netherlands and Portugal with India, Denmark also established the Danish East India Company in 1616 AD and this company established the first Danish settlement in Travancore in Tanjore district in 1620 AD. After this, they established their second settlement at Serampore in Bengal, which became the headquarters of their business activities in India. The Danish could not strengthen their position in India and left after selling all their settlements to the British government in 1845 AD.
French incursions: The French were the last to join the race for trade with India. The French East India Company was established in 1664 AD by the efforts of the French Emperor Louis XIV. The company was given the rights by the emperor to establish colonies, propagate religion and make wars and treaties. This company established its trading factories at Surat in 1668 AD and Machilipatnam in 1669 AD. They also established their control in places like Pondicherry, Mahi, Chandranagar etc. To strengthen their position, they also started interfering in the internal affairs of the rulers of India. Thus, the French were becoming formidable rival to the British. In this battle for supremacy, the struggle between the British and the French was certain.
Expansion of British and Their Monopoly
The British completed their expansion in India in two phases:
1. Conflict with European powers: With the decline of the power of the Portuguese and the Dutch, the English and the French were the only two powerful rivals left in India. Conflicts were bound to come into force in order to monopolise India’s trade and achieve supremacy in Indian politics. A conflict between the two took place for the following reasons:
- Business competition was the main reason for the conflict between the British and the French. Both aspired to establish a monopoly on India’s foreign trade.
- Both the British and the French were enemies in Europe. their conflict in India was an extension of their European conflict.
- The ambitions of the French General Dupleix had unnerved the British company. He started the fortification of Pondicherry and also insisted on increasing his military power. In response to this, the British followed suit and the struggle of these two powers became inevitable in India.
2. Struggle with the local rulers: After establishing their dominance over the European powers, the British also fought with the local rulers of India to fulfil their ambitions and thus subdued the Indian rulers as well. For this, the following tactics were adopted by the British:
- by wars
- by subsidiary alliances
- by the policy of lapse
1. Conflicts between European Powers (Anglo-French conflict and Karnataka battle)
The First War of Karnataka (1746-1748 AD): There was a war between France and England in Europe over the succession of Austria. The First War of Karnataka was just an extension of that war. The war began in 1746 AD when the English Navy captured the French ship. The French surrounded and took control of Madras from both the sea and the land. The war ended in Europe as well as in India when the Treaty of X-La Chapel between the two took place and Madras was returned to the British.
The Second War of Karnataka (1749-1754 AD): The Second War of Karnataka was caused by the controversial succession of the rulers of Hyderabad and Karnataka. The British were supporting one side and the French, the other. Initially, the French were victorious, but later the British were victorious on the strength of experienced, capable and clever fighters like Robert Clive and Lawrence. In 1754 AD, the Treaty of Pondicherry established peace between the two. Both returned to each other’s conquered territories, both assured not to build fortifications in India nor to interfere in the internal issues of the Indian rulers. The reputation of the French was hurt in this war and the position of the British was consolidated.
The Third War of Karnataka (1756 AD-1763 AD): In 1756 AD, when the Seven Years War between the British and French in Europe began, conflict between the two began in India also. While the French attacked Trichnapalli, the British took control of the French settlements at Balasore, Patna and Qasim Bazar. The Count-de-Lali, a brave and skilled General, was sent by the French government to India with the army, but he too was not successful. Able British generals defeated the French army in the Battle of Vandivas (1760 AD) and captured their settlements. The war resulted in the Treaty of Paris in 1763 AD. Pondichery and Chander Nagar were returned to the French. But the French were neither allowed to keep the army nor to make fortifications in India. After the defeat in this war, the influence of the French in India almost vanished.
2. Conflict with Local Rulers
The Battle of Plassey: The Battle of Plassey was fought in 1757 AD between the British East India Company and the young Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula of Bengal. Although the Nawab’s army was larger than the English army, most of the army did not participate in the war. Both Mir Jafar and Rai Durlabh betrayed Siraj-ud-Daula. In this battle, 65 soldiers of the company and 500 soldiers of the Nawab killed. According to the famous historian K. M. Panikar, “the Plassey incident was a riot and a stampede and not a battle. The British were victorious in this battle not because of the Nawab’s military weakness but because of Clive’s conspiracy and diplomacy”. After this battle, the British made Mir Jafar the Nawab of Bengal and he gifted one crore rupees and the area of 24 Parganas to the British. Clive personally received a bribe of 334000 pounds. Mir Jafar got upset due to the exploitative policies of the British and tried to get rid of the British influence, the British replaced him with his son-in-law Mir Qasim.
Battle of Buxar : Mir Qasim replaced Mir Jafar in 1760 AD. But the new Nawab was ambitious and could not bear the British dominance for a long time. He shifted his capital from Murshidabad to Munger in an attempt to get rid of English domination. Tension arose between the Nawab and the company. When the conflict between the two increased, Mir Qasim ran away and took shelter with Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh. At that time the Mughal emperor Shah Alam also came to Shuja-ud-Daula in Awadh. The three fought a battle at a place called Buxar with the Company’s army led by Monroe in 1764 AD. The Company’s army defeated the combined armies of the three and made the Treaty of Allahabad according to which the British got the right to collect taxes, i.e., the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha and established British control over Bengal.
Anglo-Mysore War : Mysore was previ- ously under the great Vijayanagara Empire. After the fall of Vijayanagar, the rulers of the Wadiyar dynasty of Mysore expanded themselves. At the beginning of the eigh- teenth century, two ministers of Mysore named Nanjaraj and Devraj occupied power in Mysore. The ruler of the state was Krishn who was merely a puppet. In such a situation, a brave and courageous general named Haider Ali started ruling Mysore by ending the power of these two ministers and removing the Wadiyar ruler. Soon, he got entangled with the British due to their expansionist policy. Haider Ali and his son Tipu Sultan fought four wars in Mysore with the British.
a) First war (1767 AD to 1769 AD): The first battle took place between Haider Ali and British company in which Haider Ali won.
b) The second war (1780 AD to 1784 AD): Initially, Haider Ali led the war, but after his death due to illness, his son Tipu Sultan led the war. This war remained undecided.
c) Third war (1790-1792 AD): In this war Tipu Sultan hardly manage his Soverignity.
d) Fourth war (1799 AD): Tipu Sultan died in this war and company got a decisive victory. The British took over the area around Mysore and a child of the Wadiyar dynasty was made the ruler of Mysore and made a helpful treaty with him so that in time, the remaining state might also be taken over. Some of the territories were given to the Nizam of Hyderabad.
War with the Marathas: The Marathas emerged as the mightiest of all the rulers of India, while the British East India Company emerged as the best among the European companies. Therefore, the struggle for Indian power was inevitable in both. There were three wars between the British and the Marathas for power:
a) The first war (1785-1792 AD): This war lasted nearly seven years but remained undecided.
b) Second war (1803-1806 AD): The Peshwa was weakened by the death of Nana Phadnavis. The Peshwa was defeated in this war due to a mutual rift and British diplomacy, and later Scindia, Gaekwad, Holkar, and Bhonsle were also defeated, and the company expanded to large parts of India.
C) Third war (1817-1818 AD): The Marathas were defeated in this war and the rest of the Maratha kingdom remained a small princely state and became subservient to the company.
Do You Know?
- The prime minister of the Maratha rulers was called Peshwa.
- Nana Phadnavis was the last Maratha chieftain who kept the power of the Maratha organised.
Other Battles (The Sikh and the Gorkha): After the defeat of the Marathas, the English Company expanded to North India. The Sikhs of Punjab were defeated first in 1845-1846 AD and then in 1848-1849 AD. After that, the British also incorporated the border states of India into their state by adopting unfair means. The British fought the Gorkhas and Afghans and expanded the English state in the neighbourhood of India as well. On a fair assessment of all these wars, we arrive at the conclusion that the Indian rulers were not weak from a military point of view. The main weaknesses of the Indians were their differences and divisions. It was the result of the English policy that they defeated Indian rulers with the help of Indian soldiers.
By Subsidiary Alliances
Lord Welseley was appointed Governor-General of India by the company from 1798 AD to 1805 AD. Welseley resorted to a subsidiary alliance to annex the Indian territories to the British Empire. Subsidiary alliances were between the British company and the Indian states. In accordance with these alliances, the company used to give military aid to the Indian state, in return, the state gave a fixed amount of money to the company. Its main conditions were:
- The company has authority over the foreign policy of the Indian state.
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No shelter would be provided to any European except the British.
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The Indian state would have to keep the army of the company in its state and its expenditure would have to be borne by the state.
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The native state will have to keep an English resident as a consultant in the court.
The subsidiary alliance was first adopted by the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1798 AD, and later the states of Mysore, the Marathas and Karnataka adopted the alliance. By adopting it, the Indian rulers gradually lost their states and the British East India Company established its supremacy in India.
The Policy of Lapse
In 1848 AD, the imperialist Lord Dalhousie was appointed as Governor-General of India. He expanded the British empire during his eight-year rule. He resorted to the Policy of Lapse to expand the British company in India. At the time when he came to India, many Indian rulers had no successors (they were childless) and were thinking of adopting a child. Dalhousie issued an order to get permission from the company to adopt a child. In reality, these states were not allowed and all these childless states merged with the British empire. Under this policy, Dalhousie merged the states of Satara, Nagpur, Jhansi, Sambalpur, Jaitpur, Baghat and Udaipur into the British Empire.