Essay 1: The advent of the Europeans in India

 “Advent of the Europeans in India”


Outline:


Introduction


Advent of the Portuguese
Secret of their success over Arabs and local rulers


Their religious motive leading them to conflicts with Mughuls


Reasons behind their failure from other Europeans


Their retreat from India


Advent of the Dutch in India
Dutch-Anglo rivalry


Their movement towards spice Islands of Indonesia and withdrawal from India


The English in India


Winning over other counterparts and creating a monopoly in Indian trade


Turning the course of Indian history by entering its politics


Advent of the French in IndiaThe three Carnatic wars damaging the French consolidation in India


Loosing India to the English


Conclusion


Introduction:


The 15th century Europe was gripped by the spirit of renaissance with its call for exploration. On the other hand the Ottoman Empire was taking over Eastern Europe. Islam was becoming a threat to the Christian world. Portugal had taken the charge of spreading Christianity along with exploring the Orient shores. While Arab Muslims had already made their way to the Orient shore through Red sea and other land routes back from the 7th century. The trade commodities from India reaching Europe had to pass through Arab intermediaries who earned tremendous amount of revenues from Indian trade. After once finding the rich land of India with their capitalist and monopolizing trade motives The Portuguese, Dutch, English, Danes, and The French one by one embarked on taking over Indian trade and India as a whole.

Advent of the Portuguese:


 The Portuguese on the forefront with their religious motive was poised to find a direct route to India. From the beginning of the 15th century Prince Henry of Portugal was trying to navigate a route to India. But he died before his dream could come true. None could reach the Indian shore until May 1498 when Vasco Da Gama reaches Calicut, an entrepot to India. The Local ruler Zamorin welcomed him and his crew warmly not knowing their apprehensions of monopolizing the trade by removing other competitors especially Arabs.

  
In Vasco Da Gama’s second visit Zamorin allows him to build a factory in Cochin. In 1505, the king of Portugal appoints their first governor in India equipping him with battle ships against the Arabs and other merchants. Thus, begins the rise of the Portuguese rule over trade in the west coasts of India. For instance, Sultan of Egypt and Zamorin observing the increasing influence of Portuguese do take action and attacks the Portuguese ships in which the son of Portuguese governor, Fransico Almeida also dies. But soon Almeida crushes both the navies of Sultan of Egypt and Zamorin for good and further increases fortifications of their factories.

 
Likewise, the second Portuguese governor, Albuqurque succeeds Almeida and built strongholds off the red sea, at Ormuz, Malabar and Malacca, and acquired Goa in 1510 from Sultan of Bijapur and declared it the Portuguese capitol. This was the first bit of trade land in India under Europeans. They also increased their influence in Bengal in the beginning of 17th century by building forts, monopolizing the manufacturing of salt and tobacco, and settling Hooghly as their Headquarter. Until the end of the 17th century the Portuguese had set up their footholds in India firmly. But alongside trade they were carrying out their religious and other nefarious activities too.


The aim to abolish Islam and spread Christianity was carrying out in heinous ways. Hindu and Muslim Children were bought and raised as Christian and traded as slave. The conversion from other religions to Christianity was also being carried out which flamed the hatred of locals for the Portuguese. In the times of Shah Jahan the Portuguese seized two slave girls of Mumtaz Mehal. Moreover, they captured Mughul ships imprisoning some hundred Muslims, and plundered their cargoes. All these activities raised a fiery conflict between the mighty Mughuls and the Postuguese. Finally, Shah Jahan ordered the Bengal governor Qasim Khan to take action against Portuguese. The Hooghly headquarter was captured and the Portuguese fled from there. During the reign of Shah Jahan the Portuguese were cut off from all advantages of the Mughul court. 
The Portuguese resisted the infiltration of other Europeans i.e. the English and the Dutch, but had to succumb to their modern warfare. In November 1612, the English ship ‘Dragon’ under captain Best defeats the Portuguese fleet and makes entry in the court of Jahangir. Likewise, the Dutch gradually overtakes the trade lands under Portuguese. As the Dutch and English Trade and ties with Mughuls invigorates the Portuguese starts succumbing to their new rivals.

  
By the 18th century, the Portuguese lose their commercial influence and their trade power plummets to the individual capacity. Their religious policies, such as activities of Jesuits, antagonism towards Muslim and conversion of the locals to Christianity, infuriated Muslims and Hindus alike. Also their dishonest trade policies evoked reactions from merchants and Mughuls. Not standing their rivals The Dutch and The English and also the discovery of Brazil diverted the colonizing activities of Portuguese towards the west and they had to retire from India.


The Advent of the Dutch:


A century later from the advent of the Portuguese, the Dutch set their foot on Indian land. The Dutch arrived almost at the same time as the English. This sameness in the point of time made them strong commercial rivals. In the beginning the Dutch took hold of the Portuguese fortifications in south India, and established a trade for the commodities like Indigo, Textile, silk, saltpeter, rice, and opium etc. 


The English were also rising to its prominence in India. The two rivals soon turned into enemies and their competition turned into bloody warfare. The Dutch had come to India for two main motives. One was to take revenge on catholic Spain and her ally Portugal who were the foe of their independence, and the other was to colonize and establish settlements in the East Indies with a view to monopolize the trade in India. The gained their first aim by subduing the Portuguese to a vestige in India, but the realization of their second motive brought them the rivalry of the English.

 
The climax of the enmity between Dutch and English was reached after the discovery of the Spice Islands in Indonesia. This diverted their attention towards the lucrative trade in Mallay Islands. This came to a compromise that the English would withdraw all claims on Indonesia, and the Dutch in return would retire from India which so happened.  
The English in India:


In 1599, a group of English merchants calling themselves the merchant adventurers formed a company and was issued a charter with rights of exclusive trading by Queen Elizabeth I. At first captain Hawkins arrives at the court of Jahangir but fails to get the permission due to Portuguese opposition. But in 1612, captain Best defeats Portuguese in the sea of Surat. Also Thomas Aldworth in early 1613 secures permission for the first English factory at Surat. Then Sir Thomas Roa, and accredited ambassador of King James I to the court of Jahangir from 1615-1619, secures permission to set up factories at Agra, Ahmadabad, and Baroda. English with their deft policy and through negotiations starts taking over all the India.


Unlike their Portuguese counterpart who acted against the mighty Mughuls and crushed by them, the English with their agility, modern tactics, and political maneuvering won the favors of the Mughul emperors, princes, land owners, and every man of influence all alike. They, one by one, defeated all their counterparts; the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the French and prevailed with their trade all over India.


No other European country had ever fully entered the India’s multi-faceted politics besides English. The English ambassadors and generals created a strong bond with the Mughul kings and other rulers. By which, they secured treaties and permissions that changed the dynamics of Indian trade. Like, the ‘Golden Farman’ from the Sultan of Golcondo which allowed them to trade freely in Golcondo on the mere annual payment of 500 Pagoras a year. Shah Shuja the Subehdar of Bengal, for an annual payment of Rs. 3000 gave allowance for trade in Bengal. Farraukhsyar’s three Farmans known as Magna Carta of the Company gave the English extraordinary. 
However, in 1688, after the English revolution, a new company was formed, but later it was merged in 1708 under the title of ‘united Company of Merchants of England Trading to East Indies’. This was the East Indian Company from 1708 to 1873 which was to establish British Political Power in India.


The advent of the French:


The French were the last Europeans to come to India for trade. A minister of King Louis XIV, Colbert laid the foundation of French East India Company in 1644. Like the other Europeans the French started establishing factories in South and East India. Pondicherry was founded in 1674 by Francoise Martin and became the stronghold of French in India which was captured by the Dutch in 1693, but given back by a treaty in September 1697. 


For the rise and fall of India, inter colonial wars between British and French in Europe played its vital role. The three Carnatic wars of Anglo-French rivalry in India and other colonies gave crushing blows to the French settlements. Dupleix from French and Robert Clive from English side fought their best as generals to win over each other. But, for India, it was always the English who would win in the end against her rivals, and so happened in the wars of Carnatic.


The first of the Carnatic wars was the result of the Anglo-French war in Europe caused by the Austrian war of succession. The second carnatic war was fought on the premise of the death of the founder of independent Kingdom of Hyderaba, Nizaam-ul-Mulk. After his death a clash begin for his throne. The French siding with one party while the English supporting the other. The war ended with the French winning, but also leaving them economically exhausted. And the third of the Carnatic wars started with the ‘seven years war of succession’ in Europe. The English inflicted heavy losses on the French in the long course of war. 


Given all the accounts one can see that the rivalry between the French and the English always begun with colonial wars elsewhere and had its repercussion on French and English settlements in India. The Carnatic wars came to an end with the treaty of Paris in 1763.  With this treaty the French factories were restored, but they were cornered from Indian politics forever.


Conclusion:


The advent of Europeans starting from Portuguese to the French set India’s course of history on a new line. The Portuguese when discovered Indian shores brought with it Christianity, modern warfare, and modern ships that could suffice the need for a cargo and winning battles at sea; The Dutch came with less Christian incentives and more trade centric ambitions; The English with the initial plans of trading and finally becoming the rulers of India, brought with them modern politics, modern artillery, and modern policies of trade; The French followed the imprints of her predecessors and cultivated through Dupleix (French general) a broader vision of counter politics and monopolization. All in all, they extracted heavy amount of wealth from India leaving her impoverished and paralyzed –unable to recover until now.