DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

PROJECT TITLE

ADVENT AND CONSOLIDATION OF BRITISH POWER IN INDIA

SUBJECT

INDIAN LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY

NAME OF THE FACULTY

Prof. VISWACHANDRA NATH MADUSU

NAME OF THE CANDIDATE: S.JAVVAD UR RAHAMAN

Roll No. - 2017083

Semester - 2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would sincerely like to put forward my heartfelt appreciation to our respected History

Professor, Dr. VISWACHANDRA MADASU for giving me a Golden Opportunity to take up the

project regarding “Advent and Consolidation of British Power in India”. I have tried my level

best to collect information about the project in various possible ways to depict clear picture about

the given topic.

 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This project is purely Doctrinal and based on primary and secondary sources such as

websites, books, journals and internet sources. The referencing style followed in this project is

BLUE BOOK 19th Edition's format of citation. This Research process deals with collecting and

analyzing information to answer questions. The Research is purely descriptive in its boundaries

of the topic.
 CONTENTS

1. Introduction………………………………………….................................................5
2. THE DYNAMICS OF EXPANSION IN THE 18TH CENTURY………..............6
3. Methods of Expansion……………………………………………………………….8
4. DOCTRINE OF LAPSE…………………………………………………………….9
5. THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COLONIAL WARS OF EXPANSION…10
6. MAIN WARS TO REMEMBER……………………………………………………………15
7. THE EXPANSION AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE BRITISH IN INDIA…….16
8. MERCANTILISM……………………………………………………………………………19
9. ORIENTALISM………………………………………………………………………………21
10. THE EVANGELICALISM…………………………………………………………………..23
11. THE UTILITARIANS………………………………………………………………………..25
12. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………..26
13. BIBILOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………..27
 INTRODUCTION:

ORIGIN OF BRITISHERS:

In 1583 A.D three (3) English merchants Ralph Fitch, James Newsberry and William
Heeds visited India. Britishers get information concerning the wealth of India from the writings
of Ralph Fitch who visited all over India. The information concerning the wealth of the country
motivated the Britishers to have trade relation with India. 1

On 24th September 1599, a few merchants of London held a meeting under the
chairmanships of the city mayor. The aim of the meeting was to constitute themselves into a
company for opening trade relations with the East Indies. They established a company under the
name and style “The Governor And Company of merchants of London trading into the East
Indies”. This company is known as East India Company. The Company approach to the crown
for permission to trade with East Indies, on 31 st December 1600 Queen Elizabeth issue a Charter
and there by incorporated East India Company. 2

1
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/stephenoppenheimer/origins_of_the_british.php
2
https://mohdyasinblsllb.blogspot.in/2014/10/history-of-courts-part-i-notes-chapter.html
 THE DYNAMICS OF EXPANSION IN THE 18TH CENTURY

BACKGROUND AND SALIENT FEATURES

The death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 was followed by a rapid disintegration of the
Mughal Empire in the first half of the 18th century. The second half of the 18 th century witnessed
the rise of British power in India. The 18th century was also marked by the rise of several
regional powers in south Asia like the Marathas, Durranis, Sikhs, Mysore, Hyderabad, Awadh
and Bengal. Close to the crumbling centre of the Empire were the Jats based in Bharatpur and
Deeg, and the major Rajasthan states. Another important regional power was Rohilkhand
founded by the Pathan warrior Ali Muhammad Khan after the invasion of Nadir Shah left
Mughal control over the area in tatters. Some of these states, like Awadh, Bengal and Hyderabad
were successor states of the Mughal Empire founded by Mughal Subedars (provincial governors)
who became practically independent. The Marathas, Sikhs and Jats are examples of regional
polities created by large scale rebellions and protracted wars against the Mughals. Haider Ali, an
extremely talented and ambitious soldier, on the other hand, overthrew the Wodeyar Raja and
became the sovereign of Mysore.3

The Indian states of the 18th century fought frequent wars of expansion against each
other. Sometimes they formed temporary alliances against common enemies. For example the
Nizam and the Marathas competed for control over the Deccan with each other but often stood
together against Mysore. Similarly the Nawabs of Awadh and Rohilkhand formed an alliance
with the Afghans against the Marathas to check their growing power in the revenue rich north
Indian plains. This alliance proved fatal to the Marathas at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.

These mutually exhausting wars gave the Europeans the opportunity to interfere in Indian
political and military affairs. In the process the European trading companies extracted significant
economic concessions from these states. Thus the decline of the Mughal Empire paved the way
for the rise of British power in India.4

3
http://vle.du.ac.in/mod/book/print.php?id=5343&chapterid=1233
4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Durrani
 Another important feature of the 18th century was the elimination of French influence in
India following the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760. In a series of international conflicts and the
Carnatic Wars fought in south India, Britain defeated France and became the dominant colonial
power in Asia. It is worth remembering here that the Portuguese at this time were confined to
their coastal possessions like Goa, Daman and Diu and posed no threat to the growing clout of
the English East India Company in Indian affairs.

In sum, the period from the mid 18th to the mid nineteenth century (1757-1857) was
characterized by the rise and simultaneous consolidation of British colonial power in India. This
power is called colonial simply because during this phase of Indian history India was converted
from a collection of independent kingdoms into first a mercantile and later an industrial colony
of Great Britain. India’s economy, polity, society and culture were made subservient to the
interests of Great Britain. During this century for the first time south Asia came to be ruled by a
European power. Moreover Britain was also the first modern industrial capitalist country. These
facts were of profound significance as far as the development of British colonial rule in India
was concerned. The aim of this lesson is to see how the British accomplished this task. Our
purpose is also to examine the factors which favored the rise of British power in India. The next
lesson will concentrate on the British conquest of some regions of India.5

It is commonly believed that the Marathas marched to Panipat and confronted the
Afghans who came from the North West. In fact, Abdali was in the Ganga-Jamuna doab with his
allies Najibkhan of Rohilkhand and Shuj-ud-Daulah of Awadh when the Maratha army occupied
Delhi and marched towards the pilgrimage centre of Thanesar. Indeed one of the places where
Abdali camped for some time while the Marathas were in Delhi in 1760 was Patparganja major
residential area in East Delhi today! Once the main body of the Maratha forces had moved some
distance to the north-west of Delhi with the aim of collecting tribute and subduing minor Afghan
garrisons, Abdali re-crossed the Jamuna with his main force, bye passed Delhi and cut off a
possible Maratha retreat on the Delhi road. This left the Marathas no option but to fortify
themselves in Panipat and wait for events to unfold. Ultimately it was a besieged and starving
Maratha army which fought one of the most famous battles of India on 14 January, 1761.

5
http://vle.du.ac.in/mod/book/print.php?id=5343&chapterid=1233
 METHODS OF EXPANSION:

Apart from wars, several Governor Generals followed other methods to ensure the
Company’s supremacy in India.

Annexation Policies of the Company 

The Subsidiary Alliance treaty system of Richard Wellesley, Governor General of India,
1798-1805:

Wellesley and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger had similar views on forming a
British Empire in India. Britain had recently lost her American colonies and both these ambitious
men wanted to compensate this with an Empire in India. Wellesley came to India determined to
extinguish French influence in the sub-continent and destroy the power of Tipu Sultan and the
Marathas. He considered himself an expert in Oriental affairs and was bent upon following a
policy of British expansion in India. The Subsidiary Alliance treaty system was devised by
Wellesley to subjugate the Indian powers and make the English paramount in India. Under this
system, which all Indian princely states followed till 1947, the Indian kings signed a treaty of
Subsidiary Alliance the provisions of which are briefly described below. By signing this treaty a
native power became a subsidiary of the British and lost its sovereignty. The Peshwa signed it in
1802, the Nizam in 1798 and again in 1800, Tanjore in 1799, Mysore in 1799, Awadh in 1801
and Gwalior in 1803. Once the major powers had thus been reduced, the smaller and less
significant states were left with little choice in the matter and quickly followed suit. The
alternative to signing the treaty was annihilation which no Indian state was willing to risk !
Generally Wellesley is credited with having formulated the Subsidiary Alliance treaty system but
treaties on similar lines had been used by Warren Hastings, the first Governor General of Bengal,
to strengthen the English defense against the Marathas who threatened Bengal from central India
during the 1770s.

However,while Hastings, who had great respect for Indian traditions, had urged caution
in exercising British intervention in the domestic affairs of the friendly Indian states, Wellesley’s
main aim was the building of a paramount British empire in India.
Provisions of the Subsidiary Alliance

 The Indian state would have a British Resident or a Political Agent in its capital.
This Resident would command a strong Subsidiary force comprising British and
Indian troops stationed in the capital. The expenses of the Resident and his force
would be borne by the revenues of the concerned state.

 The Indian king / prince could not take any major foreign affairs or military
decision without the approval of the Resident.

 The Resident, his officials and the Subsidiary force were to be held almost
immune to local laws. No action against any of their personnel could be initiated
without the permission of the Resident.
 The Indian king / prince would not employ foreigners, except the British, without
the consent of the Resident.6

The consequences of this treaty system were grave for the Indian states. They lost their
sovereignty and the real power in their capital shifted to the British residency. Their armies were
disbanded and they began to maintain troops generally for ceremonial and internal policing
duties only. The Subsidiary force consumed large sums of money and its expenses tended to
grow over time. The ‘protection’ offered by the British made most of the Indian princes careless
in governance. Most of them neglected the welfare of their subjects and, actively encouraged by
the British, took to a life of ease and debauchery. Much of their time was spent socializing with
the English, traveling abroad under British surveillance, looking after large harems which
included European women and acquiring the latest goodies from Britain, Europe and America.
Some of the Indian states declined due to these developments and this gave the British the excuse
to annex them in the future, as was done during the tenure of Lord Dalhousie (1848-56).
Dalhousie used the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ and the charge of maladministration to annex some
Indian states like Awadh (1856), Jhansi and Nagpur (1854) and Satara (1848). However, the
Great Revolt of 1857 was caused partly by the annexation of Awadh which was difficult for

6
http://vle.du.ac.in/mod/book/print.php?id=5343&chapterid=1233
Dalhousie to justify. Following this widespread rebellion, the fear of a mass upheaval brought
the policy of outright annexation to an end in 1857.

DOCTRINE OF LAPSE:

In 1848, Lord Dalhousie arrived in India as the Governor General. Dalhousie was
determined to extend British rule over India. His imperialist policy was based on three
fundamental principles, namely:

1) The expansion of territories by war;

2) The occupation of Indian states through the application of the Doctrine of Lapse; and

3) The takeover of Indian states on grounds of maladministration.

Dalhousie occupied the Punjab and Sindh through war. He brought several subordinate
states directly under the Company’s rule by annexing them on the basis of the Doctrine of Lapse.
According to Indian tradition, a king adopted an heir to the throne if he did not have his own son.
But by the Doctrine of Lapse, if the king of a subordinate state died without a natural male heir,
then the kingdom would ‘lapse’ to the British i.e. it would automatically pass into the hands of
the British. Satara, Sambalpur, Jhansi and Nagpur were annexed under this policy. The families
of the former rulers would be pensioned off. However, Nana Saheb, the adopted son of Peshwa
Baji Rao II, was not given pension.

On grounds of maladministration, Awadh was occupied in 1856. Nawab Wajid Ali was
pensioned off and sent to Calcutta. By 1856, the East India Company had brought the whole of
India under its control. After this no war was waged to expand the British Empire any further.
Parts of the country that were under Indian rulers were effectively under British control.

Of all the European East India companies which came to India as traders in different
periods of the 15th and 16th centuries, only the British and the French East India
companies remained as dominant ones by the beginning of the 18th century.
In the first decade of the 18th century, the fortunes of the then mighty Mughal Empire began to
decline and there emerged a number of successor states or regional powers or country powers in
different parts of India.

The two European trading companies after realizing the weakness of the then country powers
decided to make sincere efforts to become a strong political power and to expand and consolidate
their sway in India. It is the trade interest that made the two European companies chart out this
process of territorial expansion.

The European trading companies established their factories on the western, eastern and southern
coastal areas and in this process they extended their influence into the mainland territories of the
Indian subcontinent.

The expansion and consolidation of the British influence was achieved in a span of one hundred
years, i.e., 1757 to 1857 by using the tools of war and diplomacy. Rabindra Nath Tagore, very
aptly in a poetic way described this as “darkness settled on the face of the land then the weighing
scales in the merchant’s hand changed into the imperial sceptre”.

Acquisitions of Indian States in British Empire

• Under Subsidiary Alliance: Hyderabad(1798), Mysore(1799), Awadh(1801),

Peshwa(1802), Bhonsle and Scindia(1803), Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaipur(1818).

• Under Doctrine of Lapse: Satara(1848), Jhansi, Sambhalpur of Orrisa(1849),

Baghat(1850), Jaipur of Bundelkhand(1849),Udaipur in Rajputana(1852), Jhansi(1853) and
Nagpur(1854).

The policy of "DIVIDE AND RULE " is a political tool to take advantage of the schism
prevalent in the society and prolong the dominance over the people . It's an age old idea having
roots dating back to Roman empire .

Essential features of DIVIDE and RULE followed by British are as follows :

1. FAVOURITISM : Britishers knew full well that to take advantage of Indian resources they
need to appease some and suppress others , so they favoured landlords and suppressed peasants .
2. CLASS DIVISION : Indian society after to the advent of British was more class conscious .
People who were western in thought and appearance looked down upon common citizens and
they were played into the hands of British by getting job preferences .

3. CREATING DIFFERENCES ON RELIGIOUS LINES : After 1857 revolt they always

tried to break the unity on religious lines and favoured Muslims openly after 1906 ( Separate
Electorate , GOI Act 1909 ) , much to the chagrin of HINDU fundamentalists.

4 . KEEPING THE MASSES UNEDUCATED : Ignorance as they say is bliss and , for almost
a century and half , Indians were un-informed about their nefarious trade designs due to lack of
education and they looted our resources freely .

5 . ADMINISTRATIVE ALIBI FOR CLEAR COMMUNAL DIVISION : Partition of

Bengal was done to further the division agenda under the garb of better administration .

Such divisive policies succeeded only as we Indians were ignorant and it ultimately culminated
into the division of India and much loss of life and unmatched bitterness that persist even today
between the two nations .

Divide and Rule.

Best ever strategy, still successful. This strategy works in all spheres and now it is hybrid too. In
this strategy the British always used the smaller power (smaller Kingdoms) to contain bigger by
throwing their weight behind the smaller power. Prop them up and instigate them to fight the
bigger power or annoy it.

The main objective was to make them fight. Because in the fight the smaller power will be
destroyed and the bigger power will be enough weak to overpower by the British this result in
getting both enemies set up with minimum effort and minimum personal cost. This is still at play
by British and other western powers.

Geopolitical Divide and Rule:

1. a) use Pakistan to contain India

2. b) use India and Japan to contain China

 3. c) use Saudi to contain Iran

4. In all the continents you will see that western powers always side with the minion or
middle powers to contain the giant. This is their core strategy. They have contingency
plans to contain even the allies in case they don’t toe the same line.

5. Religious Containment: Almost in all countries western powers use minority to contain
the majority.

6. In middle east the Muslims are majority there they use minority to contain Majority and
bash Muslims.

7. Most of the news stories will target Muslims and paint them as barbarians.

8. Whereas, In India and Myanmar, Muslims are minority so they show them as victim and
Bash Majority Hindus and Buddhists.

9. Again in Indonesia the majority is painted as barbarians.

10. In west itself, to contain their own population their own citizens are feed guilt and
minority is propped up to contain the majority using extremely leftist media.

So, in Middle east the Muslim is enemy and minority are victim. In India the Muslim is
victim and majority is enemy. There is surely some level of prosecution of minority
everywhere even in the western world(blacks and immigrants) but using that and ignoring
the large picture for their politics is the key of this policy.

Everywhere you will see this Divide and Rule Policy at work using Media, NGOs, Celebrities
and Public Figures. A Demoralizing and Feeding Guilt exercise is used and the world is dividing
among two groups in every walk of life and the smaller group is propped up to contain the bigger
group ignoring the smaller group’s own immoral, illegal actions and wrongdoings. Until they toe
the line their all crimes are ignored.

So, divide and Rule policy is the most successful in Human History and even after 7

7
https://www.quora.com/What-were-the-various-annexation-policies-the-British-used-to-annex-India
 THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COLONIAL WARS OF EXPANSION

TERRITORIAL AND COMMERCIAL AMBITIONS OF THE COMPANY

On the whole these wars reflected the territorial and commercial ambitions of the English
East India Company (hereafter Company). From the late 17th century onwards the Company had
followed an aggressive mercantilist policy in India against its European competitors and the
Indian powers. The main aim of the Company’s policies was to find a solution to its payments
problem. This problem itself resulted from the fact that the Company could export a wide range
of commodities from India but could give India virtually nothing in return. This trade imbalance
was a continuous threat to the Company’s solvency. Plunder and territorial acquisition hence
emerged over time as the means by which the payments problem of the Company could be
addressed. The Company had, in fact, declared war on Aurangzeb in the late 17th century but
was defeated and pardoned by the Emperor. On the West coast of India the Company fought
local powers like the Angres of Colaba well into the 18th century. On the whole the aggressive
nature of mercantilist trade was evident in the systematic use of force by the Company in the
17th century itself. The Portuguese and Dutch had set good examples of using systematic force
to augment their commercial enterprise. The desire to control local resources, obtain supplies of
cheap goods and exclude competitors from trade pushed the Company towards territorial
conquest and war. In the light of these facts it is impossible to believe that the Company acquired
an empire in India by a quirk of circumstances. It was not by accident but by a design which
grew strong over time that the British rose to prominence in India.

GROWING BOLDNESS OF THE COMPANY

Due to the decline of Mughal power the Company became bold enough to confront weaker
rulers. The history of Company officials flouting rules and misusing the special favours granted
to them by Indian rulers is quite old. The case of Bengal where the Company misused the
privileges granted to it by the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar was typical of such behaviour.
Obviously the decline of the Mughal Empire had created an atmosphere of political uncertainty
in most parts of India and the Company benefited from this. The fact that the Company officials
and traders were not afraid of flouting state regulations should not be underestimated in any
study of the British conquest of India.

THE DISUNITY OF THE INDIAN POWERS

The Indian powers of the 18th century made matters worse for themselves. In the absence
of an economic transformation of the country the indigenous powers fought unending wars of
expansion. This was done with the intention of acquiring more land which, in turn, would yield
more revenue. These wars and the struggle for power within the courts of these kingdoms gave
the Europeans the opportunity to interfere in Indian affairs.

For example the First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82) was started by Raghunath Rao
‘Raghoba’ with English support. Raghoba had wanted to become the Peshwa since the days of
Balaji Baji Rao. Similarly the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05) broke out after Peshwa
Baji Rao II got Jaswant Holkar’s younger brother murdered in Pune. When Holkar retaliated by
attacking and occupying Pune, the coward Peshwa fled to Bassein. There he signed the
Subsidiary Alliance Treaty. In the same way after Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839 some
factions of the Sikh court and army began to conspire with the Company against other factions at
the Sikh court.

EXCEPTIONAL MOMENTS OF UNITY AMONG THE INDIAN POWERS

However, the wars of the 18th century clearly demonstrate that even as late as the 1770s
the Company could not decisively defeat a strong enough combination of Indian powers. For
example, during the First Anglo-Maratha war a stalemate occurred because the Maratha Sardars
stood united behind Nana Phadnavis. This led to the defeat of the combined forces of Raghoba
and the Company at the Battle of Wadgaon in 1779 and to the Treaty of Wadgaon. The war came
to an end with the Treaty of Salbai (1782) which restored the status quo ante.
 Further, during the Second Anglo-Mysore war Haider Ali was successful in securing
Maratha neutrality. With his rear thus secure, Haider went on to inflict a series of defeats upon
the British. Unfortunately for the indigenous powers such cooperation was an exception and not
the rule. Thus, when the English attacked Mysore in 1798-99 the Nizam provided them valuable
military and logistical support despite the entreaties of Tipu Sultan.8

THE COMPANY’S SUPERIOR ALLIANCE DIPLOMACY

Most of the Company victories in India resulted from its superior alliance diplomacy. In
diplomacy no Indian power was a match for the English. For example, on the Western Coast the
Company first forged alliances with the Portuguese and later the Peshwa (1756) to defeat the
enemy Angre faction led by Tulajee Angre based in Vijaydurg. This secured Bombay and
several other Company possessions on the west coast. In Bengal the Company officers
successfully isolated Siraj-ud-daula by buying out his rivals and generals.

The Company also successfully involved the Nizam of Hyderabad in the war against
Tipu Sultan. In general, the Company leaders proved skillful diplomats. They made sure that a
lasting alliance of Indian powers against the British never materialized. Means such as intrigue,
bribes and efficient espionage were used rather efficiently by the Company in its pursuit of
commercial and political ambitions.

THE RESOURCES OF BENGAL

Bengal had been the richest province of India since the late Mughal period. Undoubtedly
its trade was contested for between the various European Companies active in India. The
English, French and Dutch all had well established factories in Bengal. The conquest of Bengal
(1757-65) provided the English Company the money, men and material needed to conquer other
regions of India. 9
8
https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=1285442571
9
http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=West_Bengal
 In addition the Company also exercised a naval supremacy on the Indian seas. The
conquest of Bengal also gave the Company easy access to the large military labour market
situated in present day Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The availability of professional soldiers in large
numbers combined with the revenues of Bengal created the famous Bengal Army. This proved to
be the most powerful army in India which helped the British conquers south and west India. Its
battalions were active and effective in the Mysore, Maratha, Sikh and Afghan wars.10

VISION, COHESION AND DISCIPLINE

On the whole the well trained and drilled Company troops were regularly paid in cash
and were better disciplined. They were led by men of vision like General Arthur Wellesley (the
victor of Waterloo and future Duke of Wellington) and his elder brother Richard Wellesley, the
unabashedly imperialist Governor General.  During campaigns and battles the Company
commanders usually displayed superior tactical coordination in comparison with their enemies.
Company officers, in general, were all English and this seemed to create social cohesion under
pressure. In comparison with the indigenous powers, with the possible exception of Tipu Sultan,
the Company had a long term vision.

It represented a mercantile capitalist system which was fundamentally different from the
feudal Indian kingdoms. Wars were taken seriously by the British because experience taught
them that their hold over many parts of India could easily be challenged by rivals. Hence, the
Company forces fought with desperation unknown to the native armies. The only possible
exception here was Tipu Sultan who understood what the Company stood for but his appeal to
his neighbors’ fell on deaf ears.

INSUFFICIENT MODERNIZATION AND INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESSES OF THE INDIAN POWERS:

Impressed by European military technology and training methods, several Indian states in
the 18th century modernized their armies by hiring European military experts. Consequently, in
the latter half of the 18th century almost all Indian powers had contingents of infantry, cavalry

10
http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/westbengal/westbengalminerals.htm
and artillery trained and led by European mercenaries at their service. However, these
modernization attempts had several noticeable weaknesses. First, the Indian states generally
failed to evolve a system of military finance like the Company did. This meant their troops were
often paid late or not paid at all for a long time. Second, the Indian states like the Shinde state of
Gwalior raised powerful battalions led by English, European and Anglo-Indian officers who
were paid in the jayedads system. This meant that revenue of a particular area was marked as
payment to these foreign officers. 11

In the Shinde domain the French officers were the chief beneficiaries of these jayedads
and this made the Maratha sardars serving Gwalior jealous. The regular employment of
European generals and commanders increased the factionalism among the Marathas. Third, the
excessive reliance on European mercenaries proved fatal in certain cases. For example, before
the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-05) all the European officers of Daulat Rao Shinde
defected to the Company under pressure from Lord Wellesley. After all, no European wanted to
be buried in India. All of them wanted to leave India with their fortunes from ports possessed by
the Company. In fact many of them had investments in the Company trade and hence opposed
the idea of fighting the British. The wholesale discharge of European officers left the main body
of the Maratha armies virtually leaderless during the ensuing battles. Fourth, the native rulers
could not develop a corps of Indian officers because they trusted their European commanders
more than their own relatives due to the constant court intrigue they faced. A combination of
these factors translated into tactical superiority for the Company forces on the battlefield. On the
whole the modernized infantry and artillery battalions of the Marathas and the Sikhs fought well
but could not prevent the Company victories.

THE ALIENATION OF THE MASSES FROM THE INDIAN RULERS

Indian states fell to the advancing Company one by one during the 18 th and 19th centuries
due to the causes listed above. Those who were not totally wiped out became part of Wellesley’s
Subsidiary Alliance treaty system. These nominally independent states later evolved into the
Princely States of the British period and were integrated either into India or Pakistan after 1947.
11
http://www.momagri.org/UK/focus-on-issues/Consolidation-in-India-Both-Weak-and-Strong_249.html
Here it must be mentioned that none of the Indian states tried to convert their resistance to the
Company into mass resistance. This could not happen simply because the Indian peasants did not
sympathize with their rulers. The outcome of these wars made no immediate difference to their
lives. Most Indian states of the 18th century, with the exception of Tipu’s Mysore, did not do
much to improve the conditions of their subjects. The Marathas, and the Pindaris which usually
accompanied their armies as scouts and raiders, did not endear themselves to the people in many
parts of India. Indeed the practice of the Maratha Bargis collecting tribute by armed force
ensured for them a lasting place in the folklore of Bengal. Hence the Indian peasant watched
impassively as contending armies marched across the country. There was little to distinguish and
choose between the Maratha battalions and the Company forces for him.

MAIN WARS TO REMEMBER12

To place the British conquests in India in 18th and 19th century in proper chronological
context we must mention the dates and regions of the decisive wars of the period:

Anglo-French Rivalry in India, 1740 – 1763, the Carnatic Wars.

These wars fought in Carnatic Coromandel region of the Indian peninsula today’s Tamil Nadu

 First Anglo-French War, 1744 – 1748

 Second Anglo-French War, 1751- 1755
 Third Anglo-French War, 1758 – 1763
 The Mysore Wars, 1767 – 1799

These wars were fought in south India in the Karnataka region of today.

 First Mysore War, 1767 – 1769

 Second Mysore War, 1776 – 1784
 Third Mysore War, 1790 – 1792
 Fourth Mysore War, 1798 - 1799
12
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remember:_War_of_the_Son
  Anglo- Maratha Rivalry, 1775 – 1818

These wars were fought in the Deccan region and around Delhi and Agra.

 First Anglo-Maratha War, 1775 – 1782

 Second Anglo-Maratha War, 1803 – 1805
 Third Anglo-Maratha War, 1817- 1818
 The Anglo-Sikh Rivalry 1845 - 1849
 The Sikh Wars were fought in the Punjab
 First Anglo-Sikh War, 1845 – 1846
 Second Anglo-Sikh War, 1848 – 1849

THE EXPANSION AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE BRITISH IN INDIA

The years from 1757 to 1782 mark the rise of the modern British Empire. England’s ally,
Fredrick the Great of Prussia won the Battle of Rossbach in 1757 during the 7 years war and
humbled the France. In 1759, James Wolfe of England took Quebec in the Battle of Quebec and
by 1763; whole of Canada was won from the French. Clive won the battle of Plassey in 1757 and
Eyere Coote crushed the remnants of French Power in India in 1761. These 5 years assured the
greatness of England and France was humbled in America, Asia and Europe. The 80 years from
the Battle of Plassey 1757 to Accession of Queen Victoria in 1837 was the period of steady rise
and expansion of the British Power India. 13

The three generations of the British consolidated the power of Britain in India and the
consistent economic drain from the country assured its place among the poorest of the poor
regions in the world.

1. The First Generation was the age of Clive and Warren Hastings, which was closed by
the Pitts India Act of 1784.

13
http://www.gktoday.in/consolidation-of-british-power-in-india/
 2. The Second Generation was of Lord Cornwallis, Lord Wellesley and Lord Hastings
which saw the final wars with Mysore and Marathas. It ended with the annexation of
province of Bombay in 1817 and capture of last of the Peshwas.
3. The Third Generation was of peace and administrative reforms in India which saw Lord
Munro, Lord Elphinstone, Lord Bentinck, the names which are still cherished in India.
Third generation ended with arrival of Lord Auckland in 1836 and accession of Queen
Victoria in 1837.
4. The first three Carnatic wars assured elimination of all the competitive powers from
India. In the First Carnatic War, the French had an advantage, but in the Third Carnatic
war, Lally, the Patriotic but impulsive leader of France, got defeated in the BATTLE OF
WANDIWASH and paved the way for British supremacy.
5. By 1763, there was no rival power in India which could hold the British in place.

In the first Anglo Maratha war, the British troops distinguished themselves by capturing
Ahmadabad and Gwalior, but the mission of the British got failed. The ally of the British
Raghunath Rao retired on pension but the Treaty of Salbai in 1782 added the Islands of Salsette
and some other such as Bassein to the British possessions.

In the First Anglo Mysore war, the British felt the weight of arms of Hyder Ali, the most capable
military commander that India produced in those times. Hyder Ali devastated the Carnatic and
the British, struck with panic made peace (Treaty of Madras) with this terrible Commander In
1769.

The British East India Company slowly and gradually expanded its trading activities in
India by getting permission from the then ruling powers, the Mughals and the local rulers. By the
time the Mughal Empire’s decline started and it fragmented into successor states, the British East
India Company developed designs of becoming a political power by the middle of the 18th
century.The British East India Company in its desire to become a political power realized that it
had to eliminate the other European companies from trading activity and so obtained permission
to build forts and to improve its military strength. After making thorough preparations, the
British East India Company acquired its foothold firmly in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa by its
victories in the battles of Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1765). Since then, the British East India
Company adopted a threefold strategy of ideological, military and colonial administrative
apparatus to expand and consolidate the British Indian Empire. In this process, we witness a
transformation of trading connections into colonial relations of unequal nature. 14

Now, let us understand how the British East India Company tried to justify its policy of
acquiring political power through its ideological bases of

1. Mercantilism
2. Orientalism
3. Utilitarianism and
4. Evangelicalism.

The British were not just crude blood-thirsty annexationists or conquerors like the Arabs
and the Turks. The British who came to India as traders, in course of time realized that in order
to obtain the optimum profits from Indian trade, they have to secure political power, backed by
force. What had never happened in the world’s history so far happened in India and a trading
company becomes sovereign political power.15

The British knew what they did was morally and ethically incorrect and to justify their
action, they used ideological bases to brainwash the natives of India and the world that what they

14
http://www.historydiscussion.net/history-of-india/the-expansion-and-the-consolidation-of-the-british-in-
india/2077
15
https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-Arab-countries-revolt-against-the-Ottomans
did in India was in the interest of the progress and development of India and it was their ‘white
man’s burden’ to ‘civilize India’ from a historical barbarian rule of the earlier centuries of Indian
polity and culture. Romila Thapar rightly observes that the historical writings produced by the
European scholars, beginning in the 18th century, were formulated in terms of the ideological
attitudes then dominant in Europe.

Further she states, “the European ideologies entailed a set of attitudes towards India
which were for the most part highly critical as that of unchanging India, unhistorical, barbarian
and uncivilized”, in support of their design to conquer. In this backdrop let us take up the first
aspect of expansion and consolidation of the British Indian Empire, the ideological bases.16

16
http://www.historydiscussion.net/history-of-india/the-expansion-and-the-consolidation-of-the-british-in-
india/2077
MERCANTILISM:

By the beginning of the 16th century, we notice the beg off of feudalism in Europe along
with the coming out of new ideas which promote the rise of nation state, urge for new
geographical discoveries, seaborne long space trade and colonization of latest lands through
immigration and resolution of new colonies. Further, a latest commercial outlook unfair by
mercantilist dreams dominated Europe between the 17th and 18th centuries.

Added to these the growth of science and technology in England made England an
industrially developed country. In consequence, England had become a colonial power and a
capitalist country. All these developments necessitated England to search for raw materials
necessary for the manufacture of goods in England and new markets for their finished
mechanized products.

England wanted to achieve these objectives through colonialism in India, as merchants

became an influential social class of England. Thus, by the 17th century the countries of Europe
came under the impact of a set of economic ideas and practices called mercantilism.Mercantilism
presupposes the volume of world trade as more or less fixed, precious metals silver and gold
form the desirable national wealth, balance of trade should be the norm and for that purpose
should impose high tariffs on imports.17

17
https://thebritishindia.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/period-of-mercantilism-1757-to-1813/
 Colonization should be adopted and if necessary rival powers should be curbed by force
of arms and finally colonial trade should be a monopoly of the mother country. The above-
mentioned mercantilist ideas dominated the European nations between the 17th and 18th
centuries and this system was criticized by Adam Smith, the author of Wealth of Nations
published in 1776 and Maurice Dobb, the famous Marxist thinker as The Mercantile System was
a system of state-regulated exploitation through trade which played a highly important role in the
adolescent capitalist industry. It was essentially the economic policy of an age of primitive
accumulation.18

18
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200808/brief-history-education
ORIENTALISM:

Orientalism is a concept that stresses the uniqueness of the culture and civilization of the
Orient. Orientalists are also called Ideologists. But Romila Thapar is of the view that the term
‘Orientalist’ was used in the wider sense of scholars interested in Asia and the term Ideologists
referred to those interested only in India. These orientalists started the first serious study of the
past civilization and culture of India in particular in the late 18th century.

Orientalists, who were conservative by nature pleaded for providing a framework of

security without interference in the working of the religio-social institutions and cultural tradi-
tions. They argued that peace would promote the trade and it would be to Britain’s advantage.

This view of the orientalists was supported by the right wing Tories and they also
opposed missionary activity of any sort in India. This serious study of the past of India became
inevitable as the British East India company authorities decided that it was essential for officers
of the British East India Company to be proficient about Indian culture and civilization to rule
them properly.19

19
http://sanskrit.org/kedarnath-datta-bhaktivinoda-british-orientalism/
 In order to encourage this type of study, the Asiatic Society was established in 1784 to
undertake research into the past of Indian culture and civilization. William Jones, Wilkins, H.T.
Colebrooke, W.H. Wilson and Max Muller who never visited India were the well-known
orientalists. Owing to the efforts of the above orientalists, by the middle of the 19th century the
interest in the past culture of India has become deep-rooted and spread to various parts of
Europe.

The most significant revelation of the orientalists was the relation between Sanskrit and
certain European languages. Translations of the important Sanskrit classics were carried by
orientalists of the Asiatic Society. As a consequence of the efforts of the orientalists, there was
an infectious spread of the romantic fascination of India and her culture throughout Europe.20

Warren Hastings, the Governor General of Bengal not only patronized Asiatic Society
but desired to reconcile the British rule with the Indian institutions. In order to translate the
vision of Hastings, Halhead prepared the ‘Gentoo laws’ with a view to ensure stability to the
acquisitions of the British in India. To encourage further the study of the past of India, Wellesley
established the Fort William College at Calcutta in 1800.

The focus of the Fort William College was imparting scholarship in Indian languages to
the students to enable them to become good administrators. The British consciously made every
effort to educate every British officer to be aware of the customs and traditions of the locality of
their posting. Besides languages, they also mastered the institutions like law and landed property
as the British began to consolidate their conquests. The British followed the policy of learning
about the Indian society to the extent that knowledge enabled the administrators to be conversant
with laws and customs of Indians of various localities but never disturbing the Indian society by
mediation or intervention.21

20
http://sanskrit.org/kedarnath-datta-bhaktivinoda-british-orientalism/
21
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=orientalism+of+british+india&oq=orientalism+of+british+india&gs_l=serp.3..
MqhqU
THE EVANGELICALISM
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement of England of the 18th century. This
movement in contrast to the Orthodox Church emphasized on personal experiences, individual
reading of gospel rather than the traditions of the established church. While some Christian
missionaries attempted to reform the ‘degenerate Indian society’ quietly, the evangelists were
openly hostile to ‘Indian barbarism’ and desired to ‘civilize India’.22

"The Last Effort of Tipu Sultan” by Henry Singleton, c.1800

The influential members of the Evangelicalism were Wilberforce, the confidant of Pitt,
Charles Grant, a chairman of the directors and his son who was a cabinet minister. They
advocated bringing Christian West to the East and “India will reform herself as a flower to the
Sun” Charles Grant propagated the policy of assimilation of India into the great civilizing
mission of Britain. This attitude coincides with the liberalism advocated by Macaulay.23

22
http://www.directionjournal.org/20/1/evangelicalism-in-india-dealing-with.html
23
https://selfstudyhistory.com/2015/04/01/the-english-utilitarian-and-india/
 The British East India Company too agreed upon this philosophy of civilizing India
because they can acquire properties in India and they could have markets for their finished
products in India due to the implementation of free trade policy. Charles Grant too supported this
idea as civilizing process would lead to material prosperity.

Thus, in the late 18th and the early 19th centuries the idea of ‘improvement’ became a
part of the civilizing process. The then Governor General Cornwallis introduced permanent
settlement in Bengal as a part of his vision of improvement as the magic touch of property would
create capital and market in land.24

Munro was critical of the permanent settlement idea as it was an alien concept of English
rule of law with its strict division of judiciary and executive. Murnro argued for the preservation
of the stable heritage of village committees by introducing Ryotwari settlements.

When Wiliam Bentink became the Governor General of India by the Charter Act of 1833,
liberal minded Macaulay suggested that Indians should be civilized through the Western
education system. There arose a debate between the orientalists who insisted that the old system
of education be continued and the Anglicists who supported the move of Macaulay. Finally, the
Western education system was introduced with the cooperation of the reformer, Raja Ramohan
Roy.25

24
http://vle.du.ac.in/mod/book/view.php?id=11139&chapterid=20778
25
http://www.academia.edu/2565126/British_Orientalism_in_India_Nature_and_Impact_on_Indian_Society_A_Hi
storiographical_Survey_
THE UTILITARIANS:

The utilitarians too believed in the vision of civilizing and improving India like the
evangelicalisms and liberals. The utilitarians were radicals and humanists and had a strong faith
in reason. The most important advocate of utilitarian philosophy was James Mill, the author of
History of India published in 1817. Though, his book was studied by the employees of the
British East India Company as a Bible, it caused immense harm to Indian society by laying the
seeds of communalist approach to the study of Indian history and civilization.They advocated
that introducing reforms into the problem of law and landed property they could attain the
Benthamite principle of the ‘greatest good of the greatest number’. They believed that law could
be an instrument of change and through enactment of laws; Indian society could be transformed
into a modern society from that of superstitious society.

With the joining of James Mill in the East India Company’s London office, a systematic
attempt began to give a concrete shape to a vision of political reform in the philosophical
premises of utilitarianism. Resultantly, a series of laws and penal codes were enacted to make
India civilized and improved. The utilitarians opposed any form of representative government in
India at that time as well as in near future.

The utilitarian philosophy also influenced the views of Dalhousie in creating all-India
departments with single heads. What we notice was the decline of the overall spirit of reform and
the British administration was now dominated by the outlook of pragmatism and rationality.

In the span of a hundred years (1757-1857) in this process of expansion and consolidation
of the British power, the mission of the British was to civilize and improve India from a society
of historical unchanging barbarian image by providing a unity of action in spite of differences in
the perception of the orientalists, evangelicalisms and the utilitarians led by Sir William Jones,
Charles Grant and James Mill respectively. An objective analysis of the process reveals that
these ideological bases and advocates of these ideologies were responsible in building the British
Empire in India.26

26
https://selfstudyhistory.com/2015/04/01/the-english-utilitarian-and-india/
 CONCLUSION

The story of British conquest to India begins with the foundation of the British East India
Company in 1600.The East India Company’s first voyage to India departed in 1601 in the
command of Sir James Lancaster .The Company formally started trading in India from 1613 and
in due course of time Calcutta, Bombay and Madras emerged as three major centres of its
activities. However, the East India Company didn’t have a smooth passage to India and had to
face other European powers as well as indigenous kingdoms to establish their trade monopoly as
well as political expansion in India. The Portuguese were the first European power to enter into
the arena of Indian trade and dominated throughout the sixteenth century. But by the middle of
seventeenth century Portuguese lost their interest in the Indian trade and were confined only in
Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The Dutch were another major European power in
India. British reached to an agreement with them in 1667 and by 1695 the Dutch were finally
expelled from India by the British. The third European power that competed with the British was
France and both were arch rival for about a century. Finally, the British established their
supremacy. After eliminating all three major European rivals from India, the British East India
Company embarked on a territorial expansion.

While the device of the ‘subsidiary alliance’ was used to gain indirect control, through
‘doctrine of lapse’ the company intended to establish direct control. In 1958, rule of the East
India Company came to an end and India became direct colony of the Crown.
 BIBILOGRAPHY
BOOKS

1) Bandyopadhyay S. (2004), From Plassey to Partition- A History of Modern India New

Delhi: Orient Longman.
2) Chandra B. (2009), History of Modern India New Delhi: Orient Blackswan
3) Nehru J. (1946), The Discovery of India Delhi: Oxford University Press (6 th Impression,
1994)
4) Pradhan R.C. (2008), Raj to Sawaraj New Delhi: Macmillan India Ltd.
5) Chandra, B. (1989), India’s Struggle for Independence 1857-1947. New Delhi: Penguin
Books.
6) Chopra et al. (2005), A Comprehensive History of India Vol. 3. New Delhi: Sterling
7) Metcalf T. (1995), Ideologies of the Raj. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
8) Sharma J.S. (1970), India since the Advent of the British. New Delhi: S. Chand and
Company

WEBSITES

1) www.archive.com
2) www.digitalbookindex.com
3) www.historydiscussion.net
4) http://www.historynet.com/magazines/discussions/aviation-history-discussion
5) http://www.thehistoryforum.com/forum/

WEB LINKS

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lancaster/
2) http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe0898/f1808986.html
3) http://www.biography.com/people/vasco-da-gama-9305736
4) http://www.theeastindiacompany.com/
5) https://mohdyasinblsllb.blogspot.com/
6) http://www.historynet.com/magazines/discussions/aviation-history-discussion
7) http://www.thehistoryforum.com/forum/