The Impact of British Colonization in India Essay

The Impact of British Colonization in India - Essay archetypeTraders were frequently engaged in hostilities with their Dutch and Portuguese counterparts in the Indian Ocean. A key character providing the Company with the favour of Mughal emperor Jahangir was their victory over the Portuguese in the Battle of Swally in 1612. possibly realizing the futility of waging trade wars in remote seas, the English decided to explore their options for gaining a foothold in mainland India, with decreed sanction of both countries, and requested the Crown to launch a diplomatic mission. In 1615, Sir Thomas hard roe was instructed by James I to visit the Mughal emperor Jahangir (who ruled over most of the subcontinent, along with Afghanistan). The calculate of this mission was to arrange for a commercial treaty which would give the Company exclusive rights to reside and variety factories in Surat and other areas. In return, the Company offered to provide to the emperor goods and rarities from the European market. This mission was highly successful.The company, down the stairs such obvious patronage, soon managed to eclipse the Portuguese, who had established their bases in Goa and Bombay (which was later ceded to England as part of the circumstances of Catherine de Braganza). It managed to create strongholds in Surat (where a factory was built in 1612), Madras (1639), Bombay (1668) and Calcutta (1690). By 1647, the Company had 23 factories and 90 employees in India2. The major factories became the walled forts of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St George in Madras and the Bombay Castle. In 1634, the Mughal emperor extended his hospitality to the English traders to the region of Bengal (and in 1717 completely waived customs duties for the trade). The companys mainstay businesses were by now in cotton, silk, indigo, niter and tea. All the while, it was making inroads into the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade in the Malaccan straits. In 1711, the Company established a trad ing post in Canton (Guangzhou), China, to trade tea for silver3. In 1657, Oliver Cromwell renewed the charter of 1609, and brought astir(predicate) minor changes in the holding of the Company. The status of the Company was further enhanced by the restoration of monarchy in England. By a series of five acts around 1670, King Charles II provisioned it with the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to vision money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas. The Company, surrounded by trading competitors, other imperial powers, and sometimes hostile native rulers, see a growing need for protection. The freedom to manage its military affairs thus came as a welcome boon and the Company rapidly raised its own armed forces in the 1680s, mainly force from the indigenous local population. By 1689, the Company was arguably a nation in the Indian mainland, singly adminis tering the vast presidencies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay and possessing a formidable and intimidating military strength. From 1698 the company was entitled to use the motto Auspico Regis et Senatus Angliae meaning, chthonian the patronage of the King and Parliament of England4.The efforts of the company in administering India emerged as a model for the civil inspection and repair system in Britain, especially during the 19th century. Deprived of its trade monopoly in 1813, the company wound up as a trading enterprise. In 1858, the Company lost its administrative functions to the British government avocation the 1857 uprising