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Arrival of Europeans

Vasco da Gama ‘s landing in Calicut in 1498 which sowed the seeds of colonialism in the Indian subcontinent. Fol lowing the first Portuguese landings, other Europeans such as the English, the Dutch, French, Croatians, Austrians and the Danish made forays into India in the following years.

Portuguese (1498–1961)

• The Portuguese traveller Vasco da Gama reached the port of Calicut on 17 May 1498 and was received by Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut. The Objective of Portuguese was to reap the benefits of eastern trade.
• The first governor of the Portuguese in India was Francis de Almeida. Almeida advocated the ‘Blue water policy’ i.e. to strengthen navy so that they can counter their European competitors and enjoy the monopoly of trade with east. The trading stations were setup at Calicut, Cannanore and Cochin by Almeida.
• In 1509, Albuquerque became governor. He captured Goa from the ruler of Bijapur in 1510.
• Albuquerque’s successors established Portuguese settle ments at Daman, Salsette and Bombay on the west coast and at St. Thome near Madras and Hugh in Bengal on the east coast.
• The empire declined and was restricted to few pockets in the west and South India at the end of 16th century due to the competition from English and the Dutch.

Netherlands/Dutch (1602-–1825)

• The Dutch East India Company was established in Their main areas of interest were Indonesian islands for spices and used India to setup their trading depots.
• • The British East India Company was established in 1600 via Queen Elizabeth I charter to trade with the east and particularly in India
    • They established their settlements/trading depots in India at Surat, Broach, Cambay, Nagapatnam, Machilipatnam, Chinsura, Patna and Agra.
    • Pulicat was their main center from 1616 – Later replaced by Nagapatnam.
    • Anglo-Dutch rivalry lasted for seven decades but Dutch lost all their possession one by one and were finally uprooted by the British in the ‘Battle of Bedara’ in 1759.

    England/British (1612–1947)

  •  Capt. Hawkins arrived at the court of Jahangir for trade permission in Surat, which was denied. In 1612, Jahangir gave the permission, and the first factory was established at Surat in 1613.
  • Sir Thomas Roe came as the first ambassador of King James I and took the approval of trading pan-India from Jahangir in 1615.
  • The successive trading officers build factories/trading depots in various parts of the country for e.g. Francis Day founded Madras in 1639 and build in madras the first fort by English i.e. Fort St. George

• WARS _	REASON OF THE WAR	COURSE OF THE WAR	OUTCOME OF THE WAR
  FIRST ANGLO- FRENCH WAR (1744-48)	Capture of few French ships by English Navy due to esca- lation caused by Austrian war of succession.	1)  French Captured British outpost in Madras. 2)  The Nawab (Anwar-ud-din) send troops to take madras from France but was defeated.	I) The war was undecisive, but the French might was proven. 1)  Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) was signed. 2)     British outpost in madras was restored._
  SECOND AN- GLO-FRENCH WAR (1749-54)	1)              Succession of thrones in Hyderabad and Carnatic. 2)              French supported Muzaffar Jang and Chanda sahib for the claim to throne whereas Britishers supported Muhammad Ali.	1)  French defeated British in both the states initially. 2)  Arcot was captured by British under Clive; successive defeat of France.	1)  Treaty of Pondicherry was signed. 2)  War was undecisive. 3)              Dupleix was called back (condition of the treaty by England). 1)     Muhammad Ali Khan Walajah as the Nawab of the Camatic was recog nized.
  THIRD ANGLO- FRENCH WAR (1756-63)	Outbreak of Seven Years of war in Europe.	1)              English captured Chandarnagore by Clive and Watson. 2)              English under General Eyre Coote de- feated French under General Count Lally in the Battle of Wandiwash in 1960.	1)  Signing of ‘Treaty of Paris’ in 1763 concluded the war. 2)     British decisively defeated France.

• • Calcutta became capital of the British Empire in India in 1772 when first governor general of East India Company Lord Warren Hastings transferred important offices to Cal cutta. There were three Presidency capitals Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.

  Denmark/Danes (1620–1869)

  • The French East India Company was founded in 1664 by Colbert and the first French factory in India was established at Surat by Francis Caron in 1668. Francis Martin founded and became 1st Governor of Pondicherry in 1673. Later, Pondicherry became headquarters of France.
  • The French had been involved in the politics of Deccan, post its independence from the Mughals. Dupleix was very much vocal about his support to various Deccan regimes.
  • The arrival of Dupleix as French governor in India in 1742 saw the beginning of Anglo-French conflict (Carnatic wars). Dupleix propounded the theory of interfering in the internal politics of regional powers to provide stability to their trade which to be used by the English in the future.

  Post ‘Battle of Wandiwash’ in 1760, French were limited to Pondicherry and Chandranagore, Mahe and Karaikal