Class Viii History Ch--2 How the Company Established Power :From Trade to Territory Notes Full Notes

Class Viii History 

 Ch--2 How the Company Established Power :From Trade to Territory Notes

1. European Trading Companies in India 

2. East India Company sets up base in Bengal 

3. The Battle of Plassey

4. Expansion of Company Rule

5. The Tiger of Mysore :Tipu Sultan

6. War with the Marathas

7. Claim to Paramountcy

8. The Doctrine of Lapse 

9. Setting up a new administration 

1. European Trading Companies in India 

➡️European Trading companies came to India to buy Indian products which were in great demand across Europe such as cotton, silk, spices etc. 

➡️They used to buy it at cheap prices and sell it at higher prices in the Europe. 

➡️  This is why apart from British, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the French came to India. This created a sense of competition among them which led to many battles. 

➡️To protect from the attack each started building forts around the factory .And this attempt created tension with Indian rulers.

2. East India Company sets up base in Bengal 

➡️In 1651,the East India company sets up its first factory on the banks of river Hugli. 

➡️ By 1696, it started building a fort around this settlement. 

➡ 2 years later, ️ The company got zamindari rights over three villages ----

Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata. 

➡️ The company also got a farman from the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb which granted them right to trade without paying taxes. 

➡️ This farman was often misused by the Company officials to carry private trade without paying taxes. This caused great loss of revenue for Bengal and led to tension with the Nawab of Bengal. 

3. The Battle of Plassey

➡️After the death of Aurangzeb, the nawab of Bengal began to free themselves from the mughal rule. 

➡ Alivardi Khan and Siraj ud-Daulah were strong rulers and refused to grant any concession to the company. 

➡️ This created a situation which finally led to the Battle of Plassey.

What led to battle? 

          The British tried to interfere in the political affairs of Bengal which angered Siraj ud-Daulah. As a result he stopped the company to build fort and pay revenue which further created tension among them. 

Nawab Marched against company 

➡ ️He marched with 30,000 soldiers and captured the factory at Kasimbazar. 

➡️ He imprisoned company officials, locked the storehouse and blocked English ships. 

Response of Company 

➡️Company sent forces from Madras under the command of Robert Clive. 

➡️ After the talks failed, the company waged battle against Siraj ud-Daulah army. 

➡️Mir jafar, a commander of Siraj ud-daulah's army had supported british as they promised to make him nawab of Bengal. 

➡️This treachery on the part of Mir Jafar led to the defeat of Siraj ud-Daulah and became the first important victory for the company. 

After Plassey 

          ➡️ Jafar was made the Nawab by the company after the victory in plassey. However there developed tension between the company and Mir Jafar. 

         ➡️ He was removed by the company and Mir Qasim was put in on his post. 

        ➡️ Even he disagreed with the British on many issues which led to the Battle of Buxar in 1764. Mir Qasim was defeated in the battle. 

       ➡️ Again Mir Jafar was made nawab on the condition of paying ₹5lakh every month to the company. 

       ➡️After his death the company was appointed as the Diwan of Bengal which means they were now able to collect revenues there. 

Company officials become Nabobs 

After the battle of plassey, the company acquired a huge amount of money and land from Nawabs. 

This huge wealth created a feeling among them to live a life of lavish style and such company officials were called nabobs. 

4. Expansion of company rule

The company tried many techniques to expand their rule other than war.One of them was :

Subsidiary alliance

 According to this alliance, the weaker states were provided the forces by the company. The states had to pay the maintenance charge of the army. If the state failed to make the payment ,part of the area was taken over by the company as a penalty. 

e. g:- Part of Hyderabad and Awadh were taken over under this alliance. 

5.The Tiger of Mysore :Tipu Sultan 

➡️Mysore was a strong regional kingdom under powerful rulers Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. 

Reason of tension with British

a. Tipu Sultan stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper and cardamom through his ports. 

b. He also ordered the local merchants not to trade with the company. 

b. The company saw Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan as dangerous rulers and wanted to defeat them. 

Anglo-Mysore War

➡️Four wars were fought against British by the rulers of Mysore. 

➡️In first two wars the Britishers were defeated very badly but in the last two they were victorious. 

➡️ The war ended with the killing of Tipu in the battle of Seringapatam. 

6. War with the Marathas

➡️The Marathas were divided into many States under Scindia, Holkar, Gaikwad and Bhonsle. 

➡️They worked together under the control of Peshwa who was based in Pune. 

Anglo-Maratha Wars

➡️Three wars were fought by the Marathas against the British. 

➡️In the first war no one was a clear victor. 

➡Whereas ️Marathas lost the second and third war . As a result Peshwa was removed from his position and sent to Kanpur on a company pension.

7. Claim to Paramountcy

➡️This policy of Paramountcy was introduced by Lord Warren Hastings.

➡️Under this policy the company claimed that its power was greater than that of Indian states.so it could capture any Indian kingdom if it was in its interest.

➡️ This policy led to tension with many Indian rulers. Rani Chennamma of Karnataka was one of them who fought against the company and after her arrest her army chief Sangoli Rayanna carried on the struggle. 

8. The Doctrine of Lapse 

➡️This policy was introduced by Lord Dalhousie. 

➡️ It said if an Indian ruler died and did not leave any male heir, his kingdom would become part of Company territory. 

e. g:- Many Kingdom such as Satara, Sambalpur and Jhansi etc were captured under this policy. 

➡️ In 1856 company used this doctrine to take over Awadh which led to the revolt of 1857.

9. Setting up A New Administration 

➡️The first Governor General Warren Hastings played a very active role in the expansion of the company power. 

➡️When he was in power, Bombay, Madras and Bengal was under the control of company. 

➡️These three units were called presidencies and each was ruled by a governor. 

➡️And The Governor General controlled all these governors. 

Reforms in Judiciary by Hastings

➡️A new system of justice was set up. 

➡️Each district had two courts ---- a faujdari adalat (a criminal court)  and a diwali adalat (a Civil court).

➡️ The European District collectors headed the civil courts and were helped by the Maulvis and Pandit in the explanation of law. 

➡️ The Criminal Court was run by a Qazi and Mufti under the supervision of the collectors. 

  ➡️A new Supreme Court was established under the Regulating Act of 1773.

Company Army

➡️ The Company army was based on the infantry (foot soldiers). The army was known as Sepoy from the Indian word Sipahi. 

➡️ The army was given European style training to use different kinds of arms.