The East India Company

in the Indian subcontinent

1600–1784
 Discovering Key Questions
i. What was the East India Company? What made EIC to come and settle in
India?
ii.How did it take control of the Indian subcontinent? How did the company
officially gained its establishment in Indian Sub-Continent from the Mughals?
From Emperor Jahangir at Surat
From Emperor Shah Jahan at Bengal
iii. How effectively did it rule?
How did EIC gradually become powerful
under King Charles II?
 What was the East India
Company?
1. The British East India Company (EIC) was
founded in December 1600 .
2. The owners were the governor and company
of Marchants of London Trading into The
East Indies by a group of businessmen,
3. They obtained the crown’s charter from
Queen Elizabeth (l) for exclusive permission
Shareholders-125 to trade in in East Indies for a period of 15
Capital 72,000 years.
What made EIC to come
and settle in India?
•Thought of establishing at East
Indies, modern day Indonesia and
Malaysia but failed to do so. Since
Duch was dominating spice trading
there.
•EIC ships arrived at Surat port in
1608.
•Made a huge profit of around 200%
in India.
Cambridge O level Bangladesh Studies Paper 1

Timeline
Events leading up to EIC Establishment in Sub-Continent

EIC Ships Factory in

1600 docked at 1609 coastal town 1615
Surat Machilipatnam

King Sir Thomas Roe

EIC James (l) achieved factory
founded 1608 grant licenses for
1610 permission at
Surat from
indefine period Emperor Jahangir
 Important People

Queen
QueenElizabeth
Elizabeth (l) (l) KING JAMES I Job Charnock Emperor Jahangir Emperor ShahJahan

King James II & his

King James II & his wife Nawab Siraj-ud-
Catherine de Braganza
general Robert
wife Catherine de Mir Zafar Daula
Sir Thomas Roe Clive
Braganza
 How did the company officially gained its establishment
in Indian Sub-Continent from the Mughals?
From Emperor Jahangir at Surat From Emperor Shah Jahan at Bengal

•Diplomatic relations with Emperor
Jahangir
•Ally against theDutch
•Sir Thomas Roe gained the right to
establish a factory at Surat in return of
European goods.
•Flourished in trading silk, indigo, cotton
and saltpetre.
•Obtained a firman from Emperor Shah Jahan to trade
and commerce in Bengal.
•His son Prince Suja (Shah Suja), governor of Bengal
permitted EIC to trade in Bengal without any customs
duties in lieu of an annual lump sum of just Rs. 3000.
•Opened a factory at Dhaka
•Job Charnock completed the process of factory at
Calcutta.
•Shobha Singh rebellion permitted to fortify Calcutta.
How did EIC gradually become powerful under
King James II?
•Captured Bombay Port from Portugal.
•Granted rights to EIC to own its territory,
coinage, army and form alliances.
•EIC raised sepoys from local population.
•EIC had 3 main bases: Bengal, Madras and
Bombay.
•EIC purchased the zamindaries of Calcutta,
Sutanuti and Govindapur of Bengal.
Cambridge O level Bangladesh Studies Paper 1

Battle of Plassey
 Battle of Plassey
Profile Significance
Date- 23 June 1757 The Battle The of Plassey is seen as an
Rivals- important battle which led to the start
Bengal Army of the Mughal
of colonization by Europeans in India
Empire (under Nawab Siraj-ud-
Daula) under the British Raj.
EIC under the Scottish general, It is often considered to be a key moment
Robert Clive
in the decline of Mughals and the start of
British rule in India.
Causes for Battle of plassey

1. British were misusing certain trade privileges in Bengal which

were given to them earlier by the Mughals.
2. British and French began to fortify their settlements in
Bengal without Siraj’s permission.
3. British were protecting Krishnadas and refused to hand him
over to Nawab.
4. British insulted one of Nawab’s special envoy at Fort William.
Incidence in Battle of plassey

1. Mir Mardan, Mohanlal, Khwaja Abdul Hadi, Naba Singh Haand

French supported the Nawab
2. Mir Jafar, Yar Latif and Ray Durlabh Ram supported the
British
3. Mir Mardan was stuck by a cannon ball and died
4. Robert Clive marched towards Murshidabad
Nawab was brutally murdered. His body was found in a river.
 Battle of Buxer

Cambridge O level Bangladesh Studies Paper 1

 Battle of Buxer
Profile
Date- 22 October 1764
Rivals-
the combined army of Mir Qasim,
the Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa
EIC led by The first Governor
General; Warren Hastings.
Significance
The Battle is seen as a pivotal moment in the
history of India as it gave rise to the British Raj,
which ruled India till 1947.
The province of Bengal was covered by a treaty and
therefore managed by the East India Company till
1858,
This battle also gave rise to more foreign
interference in Indian polity and economy which led
to massive transfer of power from Indians to
foreigners.
Causes for Battle of Buxar

1)The British East India Company had a strong interest in ensuring their
commercial activities which was itupputed by Nawab Qasim.
2) The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II had no control over the Nawabs, who
were ruling their provinces independently. This led to a number of conflicts
and battles among them. The battle stopped this chaos in Bengal.
3)The British wanted to ensure that the Nawab did not get any stronger
by getting help from the French in his battles against other Muslim rulers
or from Marathas.