India

• India is rich in natural resources such as iron, silk, copper, gold, silver, gemstones, tea, timber and spices.
• In 1497, Vasco de Gama [Portugal] discovered how to get to India from Europe via the ocean. Soon many European countries [eg. Denmark, France and Netherlands] sent ships to India for trade.
• European traders set up permanent bases along the Indian coast, known as trading stations.
• Sometimes, traders lived in India with their families. There were often workshops or factories within the trading ports that turned raw materials into goods such as cotton and cloth.
• The East India Company was set up in 1600 and had a monopoly over British trade in India.
• EIC ships carried cheap British goods and traded them for goods in countries such as Japan and China.
• Fine china, silk, coffee and spices were brought back to Britain. Businessmen and the monarchs they paid taxes to became extremely rich.
• India became an important base for much of Britain's growing global trading.
• EIC first set up trading posts in India in Surat [1612], Madras [1638] and Bombay [1668]
• In 1757, Robert Clive defeated Indian forces at Plassey and took control of Bengal. This gave EIC complete control over all of India except for parts of southern India controlled by French merchants.
• EIC had its own army and navy. Indian people were trained to become soldiers.
• EIC's monopoly ended in India in 1694.
• In the 1500s, the Mughals invaded India [owned mostly by Indian princes].
• 1658 - 1707 : wars break out across India and Mughals begin to lose control.
• European nations take advantage of Mughal weaknesses and expand control over India. European countries support particular Indian princes with weapons and soldiers in return for rewards [eg. land]
• In the 1700s, the EIC begins to take more Indian land. It uses its private army + navy.
• 1757: Battle of Plassey, 3000 company troops led by Robert Clive defeated an Indian army of 40,000.
• Victory at Plassey meant the EIC could take over Bengal, one of the richest parts of India.
• The company also fights against other European nations [eg. the Dutch] and takes over their trading posts.
• Over decades, more of India comes under the rule of EIC. It is a good place to sell their own goods to millions of Indians.
• Eventually, the EIC made huge profits in India but lost money elsewhere, mainly as a result of decline in trade with America.
• The British government steps in because it doesn't want the EIC [which pays lots in taxes] to go bankrupt and lose control of large parts of India.
• In 1773 the Government of India Act stated that both the EIC and the British Government could control India. Warren Hastings is appointed to Governor General of India.
• After Britain lost the American colonies, the British government becomes increasingly involved in India and gradually takes more control of the EIC.
• By the mid 1850s, India is mostly controlled by Britain.