Advent of Europeans in India/

ਭਾਰਤ ਿਵੱਚ ਯੂਰਪੀਅਨਾਂ ਦਾ ਆਗਮਨ

• The old trading routes between East and West came under Turkish
cool after the Quamas ca of Asia Mince and the capture of
Constantineple 1453.
• The West European states including Spain and Portugal were
denied any share in the trade through old routes by the merchants
of Venice and Genoa who had monopolised these rules.
• In order to break the Arab and Venetian trade monopolies and to
bypass Turkish hostilities, West European states and merchants
began to search for new and safer sea route to India and
Indonesia.
• T he se state we re ab l e to f in d se a route s d ue to g re at
advancement in ship-building and the science of navigation in
15th century.
• The f irst steps were taken by Portugal and Spain whose sounen,
sponsored and controlled by the Governments, began a greates
of geographical discoveries In 1499, Vasco da Gama of
Portugal discovered a new all-sen route from Europe to India.
• He sailed Africa around Cape of Good Hope and reached Glit
 Portuguese
• In c. 1498 CE, Vasco da Gama of Portugal
discovered a new sea route from Europe to
India.
• He sailed around Africa via the Cape of
Good Hope and reached Calicut.
• He was welcomed by the Zamorin, the Hindu ruler of Calicut and
returned to Portugal in the next year making huge prof its from the
Indian cargo that was worth 60 times the cost of his expedition.
• In c. 1500 CE, another Portuguese Pedro Alvares Cabral arrived in
India and Vasco da Gama also made a second trip in c. 1502 CE.
• The Portuguese established
trading settlements at Calicut,
Cochin and Cannanore.
• The f irst governor of the Portuguese
in India was Francis de Almeida.
• In c. 1509 CE, Afonso de Albuquerque was made the governor of the
Portuguese territories in India and in c. 1510 CE, he captured Goa from the
ruler of Bijapur (during the reign of Sikander Lodhi) and thereafter, Goa
became the capital of the Portuguese settlements in India.
• The Portuguese established their domination over the entire Asian coast
from Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to Malacca in Malaya and the spice islands
in Indonesia.
• At the time of the death of Afonso de Albuquerque, the
Portuguese were the strongest naval power in India.
• In c. 1530 CE, Nino da Cunha captured Diu and Bassein
from Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. They also established
settlements at Salsette, Daman and Bombay on the
west coast and at San Thome near Madras and Hugli in
Bengal on the east coast.
• However, the Portuguese power declined in India by the
end of the 16th century and they lost all their acquired
territories in India except Daman, Diu and Goa.


Portuguese Contributions to India/




• They brought tobacco cultivation to India. They
established the first printing press at Goa in c. 1556 CE.
• “The Indian Medicinal Plants” was the f ir st scientif ic
work which was published at Goa in c. 1563 CE.
• Portuguese traded pepper, arms and ammunition and
war horses with royal monopoly.
• They opened up India's trade with Japan from which
copper and silver were obtained.
• Furthermore, they were instrumental in starting the
cultivation of vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes and
chilies in India.
• Fruits like the pineapple and papaya were als o
introduced by the Portuguese.
 Key Battles Fought By Portuguese in India /

• Battle of Chaul(1508): It was a naval battle fought

between the Portuguese and the combined forces of
Mamluk sultan and the Sultan of Gujarat. It resulted in
defeat of Portuguese.
• Battle of Diu(1509) : It was also a naval battle fought
between the Portuguese forces on one side and the
combined forces of the Sultan of Gujarat, Zamorin of
Calicut and Mamluk sultan of Egypt. It resulted in
decisive victory of Portuguese.
• Battle of Swally(1612): It was fought between the British and
Portuguese colonial powers. In this battle, Portuguese lost Surat
to the British.
• Battle of Vasai(1739) : It was fought between the Marathas and
the Portuguese forces. It resulted in victory of Marathas.
 Decline of Portuguese in India

• The governors that succeeded Afonso de Albuquerque were

weak and less competent which eventually led to the decline of
the Portuguese Empire in India.
• The Portuguese were intolerant and fanatical in religious
matters.
• They indulged in forcible conversion of the native people to
Christianity.
• Their approach in this respect was hateful to the people
of India where religious tolerance was the rule.
• The Portuguese administration was more interested in
making fortunes for themselves which resulted in the
further alienation of the people of India.
• They were also involved in inhuman cruelties and
lawlessness.
• They did not even shy away from piracy and plunder.
• All these acts resulted in a hostile attitude towards the
Portuguese.
• The Portuguese and the Spanish had left the English and
the Dutch far behind during the 15th century and the f irst
half of the 16th century.
• But in the later half of the 16th century, England and
Holland, and later, France, all growing commercial and
naval powers, waged a f ie rce struggle against the
Spanish and the Portuguese monopoly of world trade.
• In this struggle, the latter were subjugated. This also
weakened their power in India.
• Also the might of the Mughal Empire and the growing
power of the Marathas did not let the Por tuguese
maintain their trade monopoly for long in India.
• For instance, they clashed with the Mughal power in
Bengal in c. 1631 CE and were driven out of their
settlement at Hughli.
• The Portuguese discovered Brazil in Latin America and
began to pay much more attention to it than its territories
in India.
• When Portugal came under Spain in c. 1580 CE, the
Spanish interests predominated over the Por tugal
interests which were subsequently side lined.
 Dutch in India/

• The Dutch East India Company was established in c.

1602 CE under the name Vereenigde Oost Indische
Compagnie (VOC).
• Dutch set up their first factory at Masulipatnam in Andhra.
• They also established trading depots at Surat, Broach,
Cambay and Ahmedabad in Gujarat in west India,
Cochin in Kerala, Chinsura in Bengal, Patna in Bihar and
Agra in U.P. Pulicat (Tamil Nadu) was their main centre
in India and later, it was replaced by Nagapattinam.
• In the 17th century, they won over the Portuguese and
emerged the most dominant power in European trade in the
East.
• They dislodged the Portuguese from the Malay straits and
the Indonesian islands, and in c. 1623 defeated English
attempts to establish themselves there.
• The Anglo-Dutch rivalry continued for about seven
years during which the Dutch lost their settlements to
the British one by one and f in ally, the Dutch were
defeated by the English in the Battle of Bedara in c.
1759.
 Contribution of Dutch/

• They helped in development of new markets for Indian products in

Europe.
• Calicos (Cotton textiles), Indigo and Salt petere was the main item
of the export.
• In order to expand their trade, they developed Coromandal coast
and established Pulicat as the base of their operations in India.
• As their trade flourished, they established mints at Cochin,
Masulipatnam, Nagapattinam, Pondicherry and Pulicat.
• They issued gold coins depicting an image. of Lord
Venkateswara (God Vishnu) from Pulicat mint.
 The English
• An English Association or Company to trade was formed in 1599 by
a group of merchants known as the Merchant Adventurers.
• The Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into
East India, (popularly known as the East India Company), was
granted a royal charter and exclusive privilege to trade in the East
by Queen Elizabeth on 31st December, 1600.
• With this charter, the Company could venture across the oceans,
looking for new lands from which it could buy goods at a cheap
price and carry them back to Europe to sell at higher prices.
• This charter granted to the East India Company exclusive privilege
of trading East of the Cape of Good Hope for a period of 15 years.
 Expansion of East Indian Company
• East India Company had established factories at Surat, Bharuch,
Ahmedabad, Agra and Masulipatnam till 1623 AD.
• The situations in the Deccan were favourable for Britishers as
there were no powerful kingdom.
• Company established one of its factories in the Eastern India at
Odisha in 1633 AD.
• The Britishers threw out Portuguese and Dutch rivals by the end of
17th century, but France still was the main rival of Britishers for
the supremacy in India.
• Britishers fought French for about 20 years from 1744 to 1763 AD.
 Expansion in Western Coast
• William Hawkins journeyed from Surat and arrived at the
Jahangir's court in 1609 AD, but failed to get permission to erect a
factory at Surat.
• Howev er, the v ic tory of English under c aptain best ov er
Portuguese f le et at Swally (near Surat) in 1612 AD broke the
tradition of Portuguese naval supremacy.
• A Farman was issued by Jahangir permitting the English to
establish a factory at Surat 1613 AD.
• Sir Thomas Roe was the royal ambassador from King James 1 to
the Mughal Emperor.
• He succeeded in getting two Farmans by 1618, one of the Mughal
Emperor Jahangir and the other of the Prince Khurram granting
the permission to trade and erect factories in different parts of the
empire.
• Surat was one of the chief centres of maritime trade, it
is from Surat that the English extended their inland
trading operations and by 1616 built subordinate
factories at Ahmedabad, Baroda, Bharuch and Agra.
• Finally, Bombay was declared as headquarters of the
company on the West coast in 1687AD.
 Gerald Aungier
• He was the first Governor of Bombay 1669 to 1677 AD.
• Under Aungier, Bombay became a safe asylum for all merchants
and manufacturers.
• He established vigorous and strict discipline over all the
inhabitants of the city and allowed every community to enjoy the
free exercise of its religion.
 Expansion in Eastern Coast
• The English were permitted to trade in Masulipatnam in 1611 AD
and in 1630 AD secured the 'golden farman' from the Sultan of
Golconda 1632 AD, which ensured safety and prosperity of their
trade.
• In 1639 AD, Francis Day obtained the site of Madras from the Raja
of Chandragiri with permission to build a fortif ied factory, which
was named Fort St George.
• The position of the English on the Eastern coast became
strong and permanent with the foundation of Madras by
the English in 1639.
• They arrived at Hughli in 1650 AD and establish a
factory at Balasore in North Orissa.
• Madras s oon replac ed Mas u lipatn am as th e
headquarters of the English on the Coromandel coast.
• In 1641 AD all the English settlements in Eastern India
(Bengal, Bihar and Orissa) and the Coromandel were
placed under the control of the President and Council of
Fort St George.
 Expansion in Bengal
• In 1633 AD, the Mughal Governor of Orissa gave the English
merchants permission to establish factories at Hariharapur (near
the mouth of Mahanadi), Balasore and Pipli
• The English also succeeded to establish their factory at Hughli in
1651 AD, followed by those at Patna, Dacca and Kasim bazar.
• In 1667 AD, Aurangzeb gave the English a farman for trade in
Bengal and 5 years later, in 1672 AD, the Mughal Governor, Shaista
Khan, issued an order conf ir ming all the privileges already
acquired by the English.
• The rebellion of Sobha Singh, a Zamindar in the district of
Burdwan, gave an opportunity to the English to fortify their
settlement at Sutanuti in 1606 AD.
• They were permitted by Azimuth Shah Governor of
Bengal, to purchase the Zamindari of the three villages
of Sutanuti, Kalikata and Govindpur on payment of 1200
to the old proprietors.
• In 1700 AD, the directors constituted Bengal as a
separate presidency independent of Madras and
nominated Sir Charles Eyre as its first President.
• Aurangzeb's death in 1707 AD made the English at
Calcutta fear that their growing trade would be swept
away by the coming tide of civil war and anarchy.
• A f te r p r o trac te d n e g o ti ati o n s , th e E n g l i s h g o t
conf irmation of their privileges from the new emperor
Shah Alam and the de facto ruler of Bengal Murshid Quli
Khan.
• The most important event in the history of the Company
during these years was the diplomatic mission led by
John Surman in 1715 AD to the court of the Mughal
Emperor Farrukhsiyar.
• It resulted in the granting of three famous farmans
addressed to the of fic ials in Bengal, Hyderabad and
Gujarat.
• The farmans gave the Company many valuable privileges, which are
as follows: In Bengal, it exempted the Company's imports and
exports from additional customs duties, excepting the annual
payment of 3000 as settled earlier.
• The Company was allowed to rent additional lands around Calcutta.
• In Hyderabad, the Company's old privileges of freedom from dues in
trade was retained and it had to pay only the existing rent for Madras.
• At Surat, the Company was exempted from the levy of all duties
for its exports and imports in lieu of an annual payment of 10000
and the coins of the Company minted at Bombay were to have
currency throughout the Mughal Empire.
• In the subsequent years, the English East India Company began to
extend its territorial claims.
• It defeated Battle of Bedara, 1759 ( Dutch) and Battle of
Wandiwash, 1760 (French).
• By the end of the 18th century, it succeeded in establishing its
Paramountacy.
 Important Terms related with European Rule in India
Cartaz system
• It was a naval pass issued by the Portuguese, which was
compulsorily required by any contingent passing through their
territories.
Factories / ਫੈਕਟਰੀਆਂ
• It was developed by the European powers in India to store
commodities which were later exported. Here Company's officials
resided and it was fortified to defend against the adversaries.

Feitorias /ਫੀਟੋਰੀਆਸ
• It was an unfortif ied trading post developed by the Portuguese on
strategic locations.
Farman /ਫਰਮਾਨ
• It was a royal order issued by Mughal authority usually to the
European trading companies.
Mercantile /ਵਪਾਰਕ
• A business enterprise that makes prof it primarily through trade,
buying goods cheap and selling them at higher prices.
 The Danes (Danish)
• The Danes came from Denmark to India in 1616
AD and e stab l i she d the i r f irst f ac to ry at
Tranquebar (Tamil Nadu) in 1620 AD.
• Later, they established their second factory and
its headquarters in Serampore in Bengal.
• At Serampore they established a printing press
in 1800 and a college in 1818.