English East India Company

• When the East India Company was established, India was ruled by the Mughal emperor Akbar. (1556-1605)
• On 31 December 1600, a group of merchants who had incorporated themselves into the East India Company was given monopoly privileges on all trade with the East Indies.
• The Company’s ships first arrived in India, at the port of Surat, in 1608.
• Sir Thomas Roe reached the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, as the emissary of King James I in 1615, and gained for the British the right to establish a factory at Surat.

Portuguese in India

• Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India via the Atlantic Ocean at Calicut in India.
• Portuguese were followed by the Dutch when they tried to enter the Indian market in the middle of the 16th century.
• The British and the French came much later.
• Francisco de Almeida was appointed as the first Portuguese governor in India.

Dutch Trade in India

• In 1602, the United East India Company of the Netherlands was formed and given permission by the Dutch government to trade in the East Indies including India.
• The Dutch founded their first factory in Masaulipatam in Andhra Pradesh in 1605.
• Subsequently, they also established trading centres in various parts of India.
• The Dutch gradually became a potent force capturing Nagapatam near Madras (Chennai) from the Portuguese thereby establishing their foothold in South India.
• In economic terms, they earned huge profit through business monopolizing black pepper and spices.
• The major Indian commodities traded by the Dutch were cotton, indigo, silk, rice, and opium.

First Carnatic War (1740-48)

• Between 1740 and 1748, most of Europe’s great powers were involved in a conflict caused by the question of Maria Theresa’s succession to the Austrian Habsburg crown.
• The First Carnatic War was an extension of the Anglo-French War in Europe which was caused by the Austrian War of Succession.
• The First Carnatic War is remembered for the Battle of St. Thome (in Madras) fought between the French forces and the forces of Anwar-ud-din, the Nawab of Carnatic, to whom the English appealed for help.
• The war was concluded with the Peace treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed in October 1748.
• Under this treaty, France agreed to leave the Austrian Netherlands and give back Madras to Britain in return for Louisbourg.
• This war was an eye-opener for the Europeans in India: it revealed that even a small disciplined army could easily defeat a much larger Indian army.
• Further, this war adequately brought out the importance of naval force in the Anglo-French conflict in the Deccan.

Treaty of Allahabad

• In 1765, two Treaties were concluded by Robert Clive at Allahabad with Nawab Shuja-ud-Daulah and Emperor Shah Alam II.

Under the first treaty with the Nawab of Awadh:

1. Allahabad and Kara were surrendered by the Nawab to Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.
2. A sum of Rs 50 lakh was paid to the Company as war indemnity.
3. Balwant Singh, the Zamindar of Banaras, was given full possession of his estate.

Under the second treaty with Shah Alam II

• The emperor was asked to reside at Allahabad under the Company’s protection.
• The Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa were granted to the East India Company in lieu of an annual payment of Rs 26 lakh
• An amount of Rs 53 lakh was to be given by the Mughal Emperor to the Company in return for nizamat functions (military defence, police, and administration of justice) of the said provinces.