1757-1857

Coming of the Europeans

Portuguese(1510-1961)
Vasco-da-Gama (1498) discovered a sea-route to India via the Cape of Good Hope-arrived at Calicut on 27
th
May
1498-succeeded by Captain General Alfonso de Albuquerque who conquered Goa in 1510
Dutch (1605-1825)
Dutch East India Company was formed in 1602-first factory in Masulipatnam (1605), followed by:
Pulicat (1610),
Surat (1616),
Bimlipatnam (1641),
Karikal (1645),
Chinsura (1653),
Kasimbazar(1658),
Baranagore (1658),
Patna & Balasore (1658),
Cochin (1663)
Pulicat was their chief trade centre till 1690 and shifted to Negapatnam. Dutch were defeated by the English in the
Battle of Bedera in 1759.
English (1613-1947)
English East India Company was formed in 1600 through a Charter signed by Queen Elizabeth I granting permission to
trade with India---Captain Hawkins failed to secure trading rights from the court of Jahangir in 1608.
Sir Thomas Roe in 1613 was permitted to establish their first factory at Surat, Masulipatnam (1611),
Agra, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Broach (1619),
Armagaon near Pulicat (1626),
Hariharpur & Balasore (1633),
Patna ,Dacca, Kasimbazar in Bengal & Bihar (1635),
Madras (1639)
To establish Fort St.George, Hugli (1651),a network of settlements in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa (1658),
Sutanati (1690),Kalikata & Govindpur (1698).
Sutanati, Kalikata & Govindpur were later joined together to a new city Calcutta and the factory at Sutanati
was fortified in 1700 and named Fort William.
In 1691, the English were granted firman by Aurangzeb which exempted the British Company from payment of
customs duties in Bengal. Farukk Siyyar granted British another firman in 1717, extended the privilege to British in
Gujarat & Deccan.
Firman-any authoritative grant of permission (from Persian fermn)

Danish (1620-1869)
Settlements in Tranqubar in Tamil Nadu (I620) AND Serampore in Bengal (1676), had to sell all their settlements to
the British during 1845.
French (1759-1954)-
Madras, Chandernagore on the Hooghly to trade with India, flourished till 1720-during 1742 the French governor
Dupleix started repulsing the English power which resulted in Carnatic wars and finally resulting in French defeat.
Robert Clive became the Governor in 1758 in 1765, the emperor ceded to the Company the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar
and Orissa.

Governor-Generals of India
The office of the Governor-General was created in the year 1773. Complete authority over all of the
British India was granted in 1833 and the official came to be known as the Governor-General of
India.

Warren Hastings (1772-1785)
Established civil & criminal courts and courts of appeal.
Regulating Act, 1773.
Envisaged a Council of Ministers headed by the Governor-General.
Pitts India Act, 1784 passed by the British Parliament to put the Companys affairs in permanent centralized
control of the British Parliament.
Rohilla War of 1774 (Between Shuja-ud-Daula, supported by British Vs Rohillas)
The first Maratha War in 1775-82 and the Treaty of Salbai in 1782
Second Mysore War in 1780-82
Strained relations with Chait Singh, the Maharaja of Beneras, which led to Hastings subsequent
impeachment in England.
Foundation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784)
Lord Cornwallis (1786-93)
Third Mysore war (1790-92) and Treaty of Seringapatnam (1792)
New revenue system under Permanent Settlement of Bengal in 1793.
Cornwallis Code (1793) incorporating several judicial reforms and separation of revenue administration and
civil jurisdiction.
Introduced British civil services in India.
Sir John Shore (1793-1798)
Charter Act of 1793
Battle of Kharda between the Nizam and the Marathas (1795)
Lord Wellesley (1798-1805)
Introduction of Subsidiary Alliance system (1798)
Fourth Mysore war (1799)-sought an alliance with Nizam and the Marathas and defeated Tipu Sultan in
1799.
Second Maratha War (1803-05)
Took over the administration of Tanjore (1799), Surat (1800) and Carnatic (1801).
Treaty of Bassein (1802) signed by the Peshwa Baji Rao II.
Sir George Barlow (1805-1807)
Vellore Mutiny (1806)
Lord Minto I (1807-1813)
Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh (1809).
Lord Hastings (1813-1823)
Anglo-Nepal War (1814-1816)-Nepal was defeated in 1814-Treaty of Sagauli (1816) resulting in Nepal ceding
Garhwal and Kumaon to the British.
Marathas were completely crushed in the Third Anglo-Maratha war (1817-19) and dissolution of Maratha
confederacy; creation of Bombay Presidency (1818).
Strife with the Pindaris (1817-1818).
Treaty with Sindhia (1817)
Ryotwari Settlement by Thomas Munro, Governor of Madras (1820)
Lord Amherst (1823-28)
First Burmese War (1824-1826)
Lord William Bentinck (1828-35)
Abolition of Sati (1829)
Suppression of Thuggee (1830).
Thomas Babington Macaulay introduced English as a medium of higher education (1835).
Charter Act of 1833.
Adopted some corrective measures in the civil services.
Annexation of Mysore (1831), Coorg (1834) and Central Cachar (1834).
Treaty of perpetual friendship with Ranjeet Singh.
Abolition of the provincial courts of appeal and circuit set up by Cornwallis, appointment of commissioners
of revenue and circuit.
Sir Charles Metcalfe (1835-1836)
Removing restrictions on the press and media.
Lord Auckland (1836-1842)
First Afghan War (1838-42)
Lord Ellenborough (1842-44)
Annexation of Sindh (1843)
War with Gwalior (1843)
Lord Hardinge (1844-1848)
First Anglo-Sikh war (1845-46) and the Treaty of Lahore (1846).
Social reforms including abolition of female infanticide and human sacrifice.
Lord Dalhousie (1848-1856)
Second Anglo- Sikh war (1848-89).
Annexation of Lower Burma or Pegu.
Doctrine of Lapse.
First railway line between Bombay & Thane was opened in 1853.
Telegraph connected Calcutta with Bombay, Madras and Peshawar and Post Office Act, 1854.
Woods (Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control) Educational Despatch of 1854 and opening of
Anglo vernacular schools and government colleges.
Widow Remarriage Act (1856)

Lord Canning (1856-57)
Establishment of three universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay in 1857.
Revolt of 1857.
Acts passed between 1757-1857
Regulating Act 1773:
Causes:-
The company had remained not only a trading body but it had also acquired large possessions in India and
had become a political power.
The acquisition of Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa by the Company in 1765 A.D. led to the spread of chaos
and confusion in these territories.
By the year 1765 A.D. the financial position of the Company had deteriorated to such an extent that it
applied to the British government for a loan of one million pounds to meet its expenses. This gave the British
Parliament Company by passing an Act which is known as the Regulating Act of 1773.
Features:
The Governor of Bengal was styled the Governor-General of Fort-William whose tenure of office was for a
period of five years.
The Governor-General in Council was made supreme over the other Presidencies in matters of war and
peace.
Warren Hastings was made the first Governor-General and subsumed presidencies of Madras and Bombay
under Bengals control.
Significance:
Made changes in the constitution of the Company and also in the government of its territories.
The Act recognised the fact that the east India Company was not merely a trading body but emerged as a
territorial power.
Aimed at improving Companys administration through the control of British Parliament.
Pitts India Act of 1784
Causes:
Governor-general was powerless in dealing with his own Council. He was not given the power of veto and
could be overruled by a majority of his Council.
Governor-General had no effective control over the internal policies of the Governors of Presidencies of
Bombay and Madras.
Dissatisfaction with Hastings wars with Marathas and Mysore, maltreatment of the Begum of Oudh and Raja
Chait Singh of Benaras.
Loss of British colonies in America in 1783.
Features:
A Board of control was established that contained maximum six parliamentarians. The Board was headed by
the senior Cabinet member who was the Director and Superintendent to control the affairs of the company
related to territorial possessions in the East Indies.
There should be three members in Council for Governor-General
Permanent settlement was implemented by Lord Cornwallis.
Significance:
Company & its officers under the control of the British Parliament.
Governor-Generals position strengthened in relation to Presidencies.
The Act gave a severe blow to the political power of the Court of Proprietors. It forbade them to alter any
decision of the Directors duly approved by the Board of Control.
The Company was not to interfere in the affairs of the native states for the extension of its dominions in
India.
The Act established the general framework in which the Government of India was carried on till 1857.
Charter is a grant of authority or rights, stating that the greater formally recognizes the prerogative
of the recipient to exercise the rights specified.

Charter Act of 1793
The Act renewed the Companys commercial monopoly in the East for 20 years.
Provided for the payment of salaries to the members and the staff of the Board of Control out of the Indian
revenues. This practice continued till the coming in force of the Government of India Act 1919.
Governor-General was granted extensive powers over the subordinate Presidencies.
Senior officials were forbidden from leaving India without permission.
Charter Act of 1813
The Act granted to the Company the possessions and revenues of India for the next 20 years.
It abolished Companys commercial monopoly except in tea and trade with China.
Provided one lakh rupees annually for the encouragement of education among the inhabitants of British
territories in India.
Missionaries were allowed to preach in India.
Charter Act of 1833
Features:
The Company was deprived of all its commercial privileges, now became a purely administrative body.
Indian territories & revenue were granted to the Company for next 20 years.
Governor General of Bengal to be known as the Governor-General of India.
Governor-General in Council was empowered to make laws and regulations for all persons for all courts and
for places.
The authority of making laws was withdrawn from the Governments of Bombay and Madras-Presidencies
were subordinated to the central Government in financial matters also.
The Act laid down that no native of India by reasons of his birth, religion, and place of birth, descent or any of
them be disabled from holding any office or employment under the Company.
Significance:
The Act asked the Company to take steps to end slavery in India.
Unification of British possessions in India.


Charter Act of 1853
Circumstances leading to the Act:
A demand for some sort of provincial autonomy for the Presidencies.
Between 1813-53, the British dominions had greatly expanded.
British annexed Punjab, Lower Burma, Jhansi, Satara, and Nagpur.
Features:
For the first time, the legislature given the right to frame its own rules of procedure.
Significance:
It fixed no definite period for the charter.
The Act created for the first time a separate Legislative Council.
The executive functions were now separated from the legislative functions.
The directors of the Company were now deprived of the powers of making appointments to the Indian Civil
Services as these were now thrown open to competition.
Wars during 1757-1857
First Carnatic War-1745-48-Austrian War of succession
Cause: French captured the British outpost at Madras.
Parties: British & French
Result: With the termination of the War of Austrian Succession in Europe, the First Carnatic War also came to an
end.
Treaty of Aix. La Chappel-Madras was given back to the British in exchange for the French fortress of Louisbourg in
North America, which the British had captured.
Second Carnatic War (1749-54)
Cause: A civil war for succession after the death of the Nizam of Hyderabad
Parties: Mir Ahmad Ali Khan (Nasir Jung), the son of the Nizam-ul-Mulk,(supported by the British) and Hidayat Muhi
ud-Din Sa'adu'llah Khan (Muzaffar Jung), the grandson of Nizam-ul-Mulk.(supported by the French)
Result: Victories for the British and their Nizam and Arcot allies.
The war ended with the Treaty of Pondicherry, signed in 1754.
Muhammad Ali Khan Walajah was recognized as the Nawab of Arcot.
The French leader Dupleix was asked to return to France.
Third Carnatic War (1757-1763)
Cause: the outbreak of seven years war in Europe renewed rivalry between French and the British. British penetrated
into Bengal and captured French fort at Chandernagore
Parties: French & British
Result: British commander Sir Eyre Coote decisively defeated the French under the Comte de Lally at the Battle of
Wandiwash in 1760.
After Wandiwash, the French capital of Pondicherry fell to the British in 1761.
The war concluded with the signing of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which returned Chandernagore and Pondicherry to
France, and allowed the French to have "factories" (trading posts) in India but forbade French traders from
administering them.
Battle of Plassey (1757)
Cause: The French had also established an East India Company under Louis XIV and had two important stations in
India Chandernagar in Bengal and Pondicherry on the Carnatic coast, both governed by the presidency of
Pondicherry.
Parties: Siraj ud daula & British.
Result: Siraj ud daula was defeated & beginning of British conquest of Bengal.
Battle of Buxar (1764)
Cause: Combined forces wanted to remove the British East India Company.
Parties : British East India Company & the combined army of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-Daula the
Nawab of Awadh and the Mughal King Shah Alam II.
Result: British consolidation in Bengal and consequently over India.
First Anglo-Mysore War (17671769)
Cause: Hyder Ali's alliance with the Nizam of Hyderabad against the British
Parties: Hyder Ali & British
Result: The Kingdom of Mysore regained some of its lost lands and had to relinquish many territories to the south of
Mysore to the British.
Second Anglo-Mysore War (17801784)
Cause: Hyder set about forming a confederacy against the British, which, in addition to the French, included the
Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad.
Parties: Tipu Sultan & Hyder Ali & British
Result: The war ended in 1784 with the Treaty of Mangalore, at which both sides agreed to restore the others' lands
to the status quo ante.
Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789-1792)
Cause: Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore and an ally of France, invaded the nearby state of Travancore in 1789, which
was a British ally.
Parties: Tipu Sultan, French & British on the other side
Result: Treaty of Seringapatam according to which Tipu had to surrender half of his kingdom to the British East India
Company and its allies.
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799)
Cause: Mysore's alliance with the French was seen as a threat to the East India Company and Mysore was attacked
from all four sides.
Parties: Tipu Sultan & British
Result: British won a decisive victory-Much of the remaining Mysorean territory was annexed by the British, the
Nizam and the Marathas. The remaining core, around Mysore and Seringapatam was restored to the Indian prince
belonging to the Wodeyar dynasty.
First Anglo-Maratha War (17751782)
Cause: Treaty of Surat was annulled & the Treaty of Purbandar- Raghunathrao was pensioned and his cause
abandoned, but the revenues of Salsette and Broach districts were retained by the British.
Parties: Maratha Empire & British East India Company
Result: Defeat of British Forces and return of Maratha territories: Treaty of Salbai-It also guaranteed peace between
the two sides for twenty years, thus ending the war.
Company retained control of Salsette but all the territories occupied by the British after the Treaty of Purandar were
given back to the Marathas.
Second Anglo-Maratha War (18031805)
Cause: Wellesley had repeatedly offered a subsidiary treaty to the Peshwa and Sindhia but Nana Phadnavis refused
strongly. However in 1802 when Holkar defeated the combined armies of Peshwa and Sindhia, Peshwa Baji Rao II
signed the Subsidiary Treaty at Bassein in 1802.
Parties: British East India Company & Marathas
Result: By the Treaty of Rajghat on 24 December 1805, Holkar got back most of his territories.
Third Anglo-Maratha War (18171818)
Cause: The Treaty of Pune was entered into between Peshwa Baji Rao II & the British; Peshwas were made nearly
powerless.
Parties: British East India Company & Maratha Powers
Result: The Peshwa's territories were absorbed into the Bombay Presidency and the territory seized from the
Pindaris became the Central Provinces of British India.
After 1818, Montstuart Elphinstone reorganized the administrative divisions for revenue collection, thus reducing
the importance of the Patil, the Deshmukh, and the Deshpande.
First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46)
Cause: Sikhs supported the Afghan side in the Anglo-Afghan war & in return was to receive Peshawar. The British
finally withdrew from Afghanistan, and from Peshawar which they held as an advance base, in 1842.
Parties: Sikh Empire & East India Company
Result: Partial subjugation of the Sikh kingdom. The Khalsa was weakened by the war, resentment at British
interference in the government led to the Second Anglo-Sikh War within three years.
Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-49)
Cause: Increasing tension between Khalsa & Durbar after the death of Ranjit Singh. The East India Company began to
build up its military strength on the borders of the Punjab.
Parties: Sikh Empire & British East India Company
Result: The subjugation of the Sikh Empire and the annexation of the Punjab and what subsequently became the
North-West Frontier Province by the East India Company.
First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42)
Cause: Lord Aucklands Forward policy was to drive away the besiegers and replace the ruler of Afghanistan with one
who was pro-British, Shuja Shah Durrani.
The British denied that they were invading Afghanistan, claiming they were merely supporting its "legitimate" Shuja
government "against foreign interference and factious opposition.
Parties: Afghans & East India Company
Result: The combined British forces defeated all opposition before taking Kabul in September.
Dost Muhammad was released and re-established his authority in Kabul.
Anglo-Nepalese War (18141816)
Cause: Border disputes and ambitious policy of expansionism.
Parties: Kingdom of Nepal & East India Company
Result: The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, which ceded around a third of Nepal's
territory to the British.
First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826)
Cause: The British reason for the war was in addition to expanding British Bengals sphere of influence, the desire for
new markets for British manufacturing. The British were also anxious to deny the French the use of Burmese
harbours and concerned about French influence at the Court of Ava, as the kingdom was still known to them.
Parties: Burmese Empire & British
Result: Treaty of Yandabo-Cede to the British Assam, Manipur, Rakhine (Arakan), and Taninthayi (Tenasserim) coast
south of Salween river,
Cease all interference in Cachar and Jaintia
Pay an indemnity of one million pounds sterling in four installments,
Allow for an exchange of diplomatic representatives between Ava and Calcutta,
Sign a commercial treaty in due course.

Major policies:
Subsidiary Alliance: Lord Wellesley
Features:
1. Indian ruler who entered into the subsidiary alliance with the British had to maintain a contingent of British
troops in his territory. It was commanded by a British officer. The Indian state was called the protected
state.
2. Protected state should be cut off its connection with European powers other than the English and with the
French in particular. The state was also forbidden to have any political contact even with other Indian
powers without the permission of the British.
3. The ruler of the protected state should keep a British Resident at his court and disband his own army. He
should not employ Europeans in his service without the sanction of the Paramount power.
4. The paramount power should not interfere in the internal affairs of the protected state.
States annexed by the Subsidiary Alliance
1798 - Hyderabad
1799 - Mysore
1799 - Tanjore
1801 - Awadh
1802 - Peshwa
1803 - Scindia
1803 Gaekwad

Doctrine of Lapse: Lord Dalhousie (1848-1856)
Under the policy, it was customary for a ruler without a natural heir to ask the British government whether he could
adopt a son to succeed him. According to Dalhousie, if such permission was refused by the British, the state would
lapse and thereby become part of the British India. Dalhousie maintained that there was a difference in principle
between the right to inherit private property and the right to govern.
States annexed by the Doctrine of Lapse
Satara (1848),
Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1849),
Nagpur and Jhansi (1854),
Tanjore and Arcot (1855),
Udaipur and Awadh (Oudh, 1856, with the reason that the ruler was not ruling properly) using this doctrine.