EIC and India

• Raw materials India is rich in natural resources - iron ore, copper, gold, silver, gemstones, tea and timber. Spices (which were very valuable in the Middle Ages) were common in India too. This meant that any country that made strong trade links with India could potentially become very rich and powerful... but even more rich and powerful if they managed to take over the whole country!
• Conquest People from all over the world have visited India, or tried to conquer it. The Persians and Iranians settled in India in ancient times. Genghis Khan invaded and looted it - and so did Alexander the Great. The Chinese came to India in pursuit of knowledge and to visit the ancient Indian universities. Then came the French... and finally the Brits!
• Major religions originated in India

  • Hinduism
  • Buddhism
  • Sikhism
• Other religions that have arrived in India

  • Judaism
  • Christianity
  • Islam
• At various times throughout India's history, science, technology, engineering, art, literature, mathematics, astronomy and religion have flourished there
• By the early 1500s (when many European nations began to sail to India to trade) the subcontinent was divided into lots of kingdoms
• Most of the kingdoms were run by Hindu princes
• Occasionally the kingdoms would go to war against each other - but there were long peaceful periods too
• Mughal Emperor


  Ruling over all the Hindu princes
• The Mughals, who were Muslims, had invaded India in the early 1500s
• Within decades the great Mughal Emperor, Akbar, had managed to unite many of the Indian states
• Akbar


  • Well known for his knowledge of literature, great architecture and religious tolerance
• Akbar's grandson, Shah Jahan, who also became Emperor, built the famous Tai Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world
• Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his third wife - who died giving birth to their fourteenth child
• Shah Jahan's son, Aurang Zeb, was a fanatical Muslim and picked on followers of India's other religions
• As wars broke out all over India, the Mughals eventually lost control of the country
• It was at exactly this time (when much of India was at war) that European nations became very interested in it
• Here come the Europeans

  Several European nations saw these wars in India as an opportunity to increase their own power. Many nations, but mainly the Dutch, French and British, realized that by helping certain Indian princes (with weapons and soldiers, for example), they could turn the wars any way they wanted. Then When their new ally beat the enemy, they could demand rewards from the prince - perhaps land or goods! Further, if they ever fell out with him and fought against him, they usually ended up winning... and taking his territory!
• The East India company The British, French and Dutch were the main countries with trading stations in India in the early years, but the Danish and Portuguese traded there too
• The British trading stations in India were all run by one company - the East India Company. Set up in 1600, it had been sending ships all over the world for years. The ships sailed full of cheap British goods, and swapped them for goods in countries as far away as Japan and China. Then they brought the fine china, silk, coffee and spices back to Britain to sell for a huge profit. Both the businessmen in charge of the company, and the kings and queens to whom they paid taxes, made a fortune from this trade
• East India Company set up trading post in Surat

  1612
• East India Company set up trading post in Madras


  1638
• East India Company set up trading post in Bombay


  1668
• In the 1700s the East India Company began to take more and more Indian land
• The East India Company had its own private army and navy and used them against the various regional rulers of India
• Battle of Plassey


  1757
• At the Battle of Plassey in 1757, around 3000 Company troops (2200 of whom were local Indians) defeated an Indian army of over 40,000 led by local prince Siraj-ud-Daulah (who was even helped by the French!)
• This allowed the East India Company to take over Bengal, the area formerly ruled by Siraj, and one of the richest parts of India
• The Company fought against other European nations too - and took over their trading posts
• Over the following decades, the various Indian princes and rulers were either beaten in battle or played off against each other, so that more and more of India came under British rule. In fact, by the mid-1850s most of India was controlled by the Brits... but a major rebellion, one that shocked the world, was just around the corner
• Queen Victoria: 'The aim of the British Empire was to protect the poor natives and advance civilization'
• In India, the Brits claimed that they were improving India (rather than exploiting it) by building railways, roads, schools and hospitals
• Sepoys


  • They felt that they weren't treated very well
  • They had little hope of promotion
  • They were often the first to be sent to the most dangerous places
  • Some felt they were being pressured into converting to Christianity
• Build-up of anger among Sepoys

  Boiled over into rebellion in 1857
• A new rifle was delivered to the troops with a new method of loading the bullets, and it was these new bullets, and the cartridges that held them, that led to the start of the Empire's most bloody rebellion
• In the 1850s, the British Army in India was made up of 200,000 Sepoys (mainly Hindus and Muslims) and 40,000 British
• The Sepoy rebellion of 1857 was not the first rebellion in India
• A rebellion broke out in the town of Vellore in southern India


  1806
• Vellore rebellion


  • The Brits banned Hindu Sepoys from wearing religious marks on their foreheads and made Muslim Sepoys shave their beards and trim their moustaches
  • After a day of violence (in which 200 British troops were killed or injured) the revolt was crushed, with over 800 rebels dying in the process
• A new Enfield rifle was given to each Indian soldier

  January 1857