History Of Modern India

Chapter 1

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The Peshwa.s power was now on the wane. At Poona there was constant intrigue between the supporters of Sawai Madhav Rao, headed by Nana Phadnis, and the partisans of Raghunath. Rao. In the meanwhile the big Maratha sardars had been carving out semi-independent states in the North, which could seldom cooperate. Gaekwad at Baroda, Bhonsle at Nagpur, Holkar at Indore, and Sindhia at Gwalior were the most important. They had established regular administrations on the pattern of Mughal administration and possessed their separate armies. Their allegiance to the Peshwas became more and more nominal. Instead they joined opposing factions at Poona and intrigued with the enemies of the Maratha Empire.,

Soldiers. Bazar in a Maratha Camp Courtesy: National Archives of India, New Delhi

Among the Maratha rulers in the North, Mahadji Sindhia was the most important. He organised a powerful army with the help of French officers and established control over Emperor Shah Alam in 1784. From the Emperor he secured the appointment of the Peshwa as the Emperor.s Deputy (Natb-i-Munaib) on the condition that Mahadji would act on behalf of the Peshwa. But he spent his energies in intriguing against Nana Phadnis. He was also a bitter enemy of Holkar of Indore. He died in 1794. He and Nana Phadnis, who died in 1800, were the last of the great soldiers and statesmen who had raised the Maratha power to its height ,in the 18th ,century.

Sawai Madhav Rao died in 1795: and was succeeded by the utterly worthless Baji Rao II, son of Raghunath Rao. The British had by now decided to put an end to the Maratha challenge to their supremacy in India. The British divided the mutually-warring Maratha sardars through clever diplomacy and then overpowered them in separate battles during the second Maratha War, 1805-1805, and the Third Maratha War, 1816- 1819, While other Maratha states were permitted to remain as subsidiary states, the house of the Peshwas was extinguished.

Thus, the Maratha dream of controlling the Mughal Empire and establishing their own Empire over large parts of the country could not be realised. This was basically because the Maratha Empire represented the same decadent social order as the Mughal Empire did and suffered from the same underlying weaknesses. The Maratha chiefs were very similar to the later Mughal n.o.bles, just as the saranjami system was similar to the Mughal system of jagirs. So long as there existed a strong central authority and the need for mutual cooperation against a common enemy, the Mughals, they remained united in a loose union. But at the first opportunity they tended to a.s.sert their autonomy. . If anything, they were even less disciplined than the Mughal n.o.bles. Nor did the Maratha sardars try to develop a new economy. They failed to encourage science and technology or to take much interest in trade and industry. Their revenue system was similar to that of the Mughals as also was their administration. Like the Mughals, the Maratha rulers were also mainly interested in raising revenue from the helpless peasantry. For example, they too collected nearly half of agricultural produce as tax. Unlike the Mughals, they failed even to give sound administration to the people outside Maharashtra, They could not inspire the Indian people with any higher degree of loyalty than the Mughals had succeeded in doing. Their dominion too depended on force and force alone. The only way the Marathas could have stood up to the rising British power^was to have transformed their state into a modem state, This they falied to do.

Social and Economic Conditions of the people India of the 18th century failed to make progress economically, socially, or culturally at a pace which would have saved the country from collapse.

The increasing revenue demands of the state, the oppression of the officials, the greed and rapacity of the n.o.bles, reveuue-farmers, and zamindars, the marches and counter-marches of the rival armies, and the depredations of the numerous adventurers roaming the land during the first half of the 18th century made the life of the people quite wretched.

India of those days was also a land of contrasts. Extreme poverty existed side by side with extreme riches and luxury. On the one hand, there were the rich and powerful n.o.bles steeped in luxury and comfort, on the other, backward, oppressed and impoverished peasants living at the bare subsistence level and having to bear all sorts of injustices and inequities Even so, the life of the Indian ma.s.ses was by and large better at this time than it was after over 100 years of British rule at the end of the 19th century.

Indian agriculture during the 18th century was technically backward and stagnant. The techniques of production had remained stationary for centuries. The peasant tried to makeup for technical backwardness by working very hard. He, in fact, performed miracles of production; Moreover, he did not usually suffer from shortage of land.. But, unfortu-nately, he seldom reaped the fruits of his labour, Even though it wa$ his produce that supported the rest of the society, his own reward was miserably inadequate. The state, the zamindars, the jagifdars, and the revenue-farmers tried to extract the maximum amount from him. This was as true of the Mughal state as of the Maratha or Sikh chiefs or other successors of the Mughal state.

Even though Indian villages were largely self-sufficient and imported little from outside and the means of communication were backward, extensive trade within the country and between India and other countries of Asia and Europe was carried on under the Mughals. India imported pearls, raw silk, wool, dates, dried fruits, and rose water from the Persian Gulf region; coffee, gold, drugs, and honey from Arabia; tea, sugar, porcelain, and silk from China; goid, musk and woollen cloth from Tibet; tin from Singapore; spices, perfumes, arrack, and sugar from the Indonesian islands; ivory and drugs from Africa; and woollen cloth, metals such as copper, iron, and lead, and paper from Europe. India.s most important article of export was cotton textiles which were famous all over the world for their excellence and were in demand everywhere. India also exported raw silk and silk fabrics, hardware, indigo, saltpetre, opium, rice, wheat, sugar, pepper and other spices, precious stones, and drugs, Since India was on the whole self-sufficient in handicrafts and agricultural products, it did not import foreign goods on a large scale. On the other hand, its industrial and agricultural products had a steady market abroad, Consequently, it exported more than it imported and its trade was balanced by import of silver and gold. In fact, India was known" as a sink of precious metals, Constant warfare and disruption of law and order in many areas during the 18th century harmed the country.s internal trade and disrupted its foreign trade to some extent and in some directions. Many trading centres were looted by the contestants for power and by foreign invaders. Many of the trade routes were infested with organised bands of robbers, and traders and their caravans were regularly looted. Even the road between the two1 imperial cities, Delhi and Agra, was made unsafe by the marauders. Moreover, with the rise of autonomous provincial regimes and innumerable local chiefs, the number of custom houses or chowkies grew by leaps and bounds. Every petty or large ruler tried to increase his income by imposing heavy customs duties on goods entering or pa.s.sing through1 his territories. All these factors had an injurious effect on trade though much less than generally believed. The impoverishment of the n.o.bles, who were the largest consumers of luxury products in which trade was conducted, also injured internal trade.

Political factors which hurt trade also adversely affected urban industries. Many prosperous cities, centres of flourishing industry, were sacked and devastated. Delhi was plundered by Nadir Shah; Lah.o.r.e, Delhi and Mathura by Ahmad Shah Abdali; Agra by the Jats; Surat and other cities of Gujarat and the Deccan by Maratha chiefs; Sarhind by the Sikhs, and so on. Similarly, artisans catering to the needs of the feudal cla.s.s and the court suffered as the fortunes of their patrons declined. The decline of internal and foreign trade also hit them hard in some parts of the country. Nevertheless, some industries in other parts of the country gained as a result of expansion in trade with Europe due to the activities of the European trading companies.

Even so India remained a land of extensive manufactures. Indian artisans still enjoyed fame all the world over for their skill. India was still a large-scale manufacturer of cotton and silk fabrics, sugar, jute, dye-stuffs, mineral and metallic products like arms, metal wares, and saltpetre and oils. The important centres of textile industry were Dacca and Murshidabad in Bengal, Patna in Bihar, Surat, Ahmedabad and Broach in Gujarat, Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh, Burhanpur in Maharashtra, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, and Agra in U.P., Multan and Lah.o.r.e m the Punjab, Masulipatam, Aurangabad, Chicacole and Vishakha- patnam in Andhra, Bangalore in Mysore, and Coimbatore and Madurai in Madras. Kashmir was a centre of woollen manufactures. Ship-building industry flourished in Maharashtra, Andhra, and Bengal. Writing about the great skill of Indians in this respect, an English observer wrote: "in ship-building they probably taught the English far more than they learr.t from them." The European Companies bought many Indian-made ships for their use.

In fact, at the dawn of the 18th century, India was one of the main centres of worJd trade and industry, Peter the Great of Russia was led to exclaim: Bear in mind that the commerce of ID dials the commerce of the world and.., .he who can exclusively command it is the dictator of Europe.

Education Education was not completely neglected in 18 th century India, But it was on the whole defective. It was traditional and out of touch with the rapid developments in the West. The knowledge which it imparted Was confined to literature, law, religion, philosophy, and logic, and excluded the study of physical and natural sciences, technology, and geography. Nor did it concern itself with a factual and rational study of society. In all fields original thought was discouraged and reliance placed on ancient learning.

The centres of higher education were spread all over the country and were usually financed by nawabs, rajas, and rich zamindars. Among

Baaed upon Survey of India map with the permission of the Surveyor of India.

TTie territorial waters of India extend into the to a distance of twelve miicn measured from the appropriate base line.

the Hindus, higher education was based op Sanskrit learning and was mostly confined to Brahmins. Persian education being based on the official language of the time was equally popular among Hindus and Muslims.

Elementary education was quite widespread. Among the Hindus it was imparted through town and village schools while among the Muslims through

Govrmment of India Copyri

the Maulvis in maktabs situated in mosques. In those schools the young students were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, Though elementary education was mostly confined to the higher castes like Brah- m!nx, Rajputs, and Vaishyas, many persons from the lower castes also often received it. Interestingly enough, the average literacy was not less than what it was under the British later. Though the standard of primary education was inadequate by modern standards, it sufficed for the limited purposes of those days. A very pleasant aspect of education then was that the teachers enj"oyed high prestige in the community. A bad feature of it was that girls were seldom given education, though some women of the higher cla.s.ses were an exception.

Sods! and Cultural Life Social life and culture in the 18th century were marked by stagnation and dependence on the past. There was, of course, no uniformity of culture and social patterns all over the country. Nor did all Hindus and all Muslims form two distinct societies. People were divided hy religion, region, tribe, language, and caste. Moreover, the social life and culture of the upper cla.s.ses, who formed a tiny minority of the total population, was in many"respects different from the life and culture of the lower cla.s.ses.

Caste was the central feature of the social life of the Hindus. Apart from the four varnas, Hindus were divided into numerous castes (Jatis) which differed in their nature from place to place. The caste system rigidly divided people and permanently fixed their place in the social scale. The higher castes, headed by the Brahmins, monopolised all social prestige and privileges. Caste rules were extremely rigid. Intercaste marriages were forbidden. There were restrictions on inter- dining among members of different castes. In some cases persons belonging to higher castes would not take food touched by persons of the lower castes. Castes often determined the choice of profession, though exceptions did occur. Caste regulations were strictly enforced by caste councils and paqchayats and caste chiefs through fines, penances (prayaschitya) and expulsion from the caste. Caste was a major divisive force and element of disintegration in the India of 18th century. It often"split Hindus living in the same village or region into many social atoms. It was, of course, possible for a person to acquire a higher social status by acquisition of high office or power, as did the Holkar family in the I8th century. Sometimes, though not often, an entire caste would succeed in raising itself in the caste hierarchy.

Muslims were no less divided by considerations of caste, race, tribe, and status, even though their religion enjoined social equality. The Shia and Sunni n.o.bles were sometimes at loggerheads on account of their religious differences. The Irani, Afghan, Turani, and Hindustani Muslim n.o.bles and officials often stood apart from each other. A large number of Hindus converted to Islam carried their caste into the new religion and observed its distinctions, though not as rigidly as before. Moreover, the sharif Muslims consisting of n.o.bles, scholars, priests, and army officers, looked down upon the ajlaf Muslims or the lower cla.s.s Muslims in a manner similar to that adopted by the higher caste Hindus towards the lower caste Hindus.

The family system in the 18th century India was primarily patriarchal, that is, the family was dominated by the senior male member and inheritance was through the male line. In Kerala, however, the family was matnlineal. Outside Kerala, women were subjected to nearly complete male control. They were expected to live as mothers and wives only, though in these roles they were shown a great deal of respect and honour. Even during war and anarchy women were seldom molested and were treated with respect. A European traveller, Abbe J.A. Dubois, commented, at the beginning of the 19th century: "A Hindu woman can go anywhere alone, even in the most crowded places, and she need never fear the impertinent looks and jokes of idle loungers ____________ A house inhabited solely by women is a sanctuary which the most shameless libertine would not dream of violating." But the women, of the time possessed little individuality of their own. This does not mean that there were no exceptions to this rule. Ahilya Bai administered Indore with great success from 1766 to 1796. , Many other Hindu and Muslim ladies played important roles in 18th century politics. Whie women of the upper cla.s.ses were not supposed to work outside their homes, peasant women usually worked in the fields and women of the poorer cla.s.ses often worked outside their homes to supplement the family income. The purdah was common mostly among the higher cla.s.ses in the North* It was not practised in the South.

, Boys and girls were not permitted to mix with each other. All marriages were arranged by the heads of the families, Men were permitted to have more than oije wife, but, .except for the well-off, they normally had oniy one. On the other hand a woman was expected to marry only once in her life-time. The custom of early marriage prevailed all over the country. Sometimes chjldr^n were married when they were only three or four years of age.

Among the upper cla.s.ses, the evil customs of incurring heavy expenses on marriages and of giving dowry to the bride prevailed. The evil of dowry was especially widespread in Bengal and Rajputana. In Maharashtra it was curbed to some extent by the energetic steps taken by the Peshwas.

Two great social evils of the 18th century India, apart from the caste system, were the custom of sati and the condition of widows. Sali involved the rite of a Hindu widow burning herself along with the body of her dead husband. It was mostly prevalent in Rajputana, Bengal and other parts of northern India. In the South it was uncommon; and the Marathas did not encourage it. Even in Rajputana and Bengal it was practised only by the families of rajas, chiefs, big zamindars and upper castes. Widows belonging to the higher cla.s.ses and higher bastes could not remarry, though in some regions and in some castes, fop exampk, among non-brahmins in Maharashtra, the Jats and people of the hil!- regions of the North, widow remarriage was quite common. The loi of the Hindu widow was usually pitiable. There were all sorts of restrictions on her clothing, diet, movements, etc. In general, she was expected to renounce all the pleasures of the earth and to serve selflessly the members of her husband.s or her brother.s family, depending on where she spent the remaining years of her life. Sensitive Indians were often touched by the hard and harsh life of the widows. Raja Sawai Jai

Singh of Amber and the Maratha General Prashuram Bhau tried to promote widow remarriage but failed.

Culturally, India showed signs of exhaustion during the 18th century. Cultural

Sati: A Widqw Being Burnt on Her Husband.s Pyre Courtesy: National Archives of India, New Delhi

continuity with the preceding centuries was, of course, maintained. But at the same time culture remained wholly traditionalist. Cultural activities of the time were mostly financed by the Royal 1 Court, rulers, and n.o.bles and chiefs whose impoverishment led to their gradual neglect. The most rapid decline occurred precisely in those branches of arts which depended on the patronage of kings, princes, and n.o.bles. This was true most of all of Mughal architecture and painting. Many of the painters of the Mughal school migrated to provincial courts and flourished at Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kashmir, and Patna. At the same time new schools of painting were born and achieved distinct ion. The paintings of Kangra and Rajput Schools revealed new vitality and taste. In the field of architecture, the Imambara of Lucknow reveals proficiency in technique but a decadence in architectural taste. On the other hand, the city of Jaipur and its buildings ate an example of continuing vigour. Music continued to develop and flourish in the 18th century. Significant progress was made in this field in the TCigU of Muhammad Shah.

Poruv in nsariy all the Indian languages lost its touch with life and became decorative, artificial, mechanical and traditional. Its pessimism reflected ths prevailing sense of despair and cynicism, while its content reflected the impoverishment of the spiritual life of its patrons, the feudal n.o.bles and kings, A noteworthy feature of the literary life of the 18th century was the spread of Urdu language and the vigorous growth of Urdu poetry. Urdu gradually became the medium of social intercourse among the upper cla.s.ses of northern India. While Urdu poetry shared, in common the weaknesses of the contemporary literature in other Indian languages, it produced brilliant poets like Mir, Sauda, n.a.z.ir, and in the 19th century, that great genius Mirza Ghalib.

Similarly, there was a revival of Malayalam literature, especially under the patronage of the Travancore rulers, Martanda Varma and Rama Varma. One of the great poets of Kerala, Kunchan Nambiar, who wrote popular poetry in the language of daily usage, lived at this time. The 18th century Kerala also witnessed the full development of Kathakali literature, drama^and dance. The Padmanabhan Palace with its remarkable architecture and mural paintings was also constructed in thq 18th centuiy.

Tayaumanavar (1706-44) was one of the best exponents of sittar poetry in TamiL 3n line with other slitar poets, he protested against the abuses of temple-nile and the caste system. In a.s.sam, literature developed under the patronage of the Ahom kings. Dayaram, cue of the great lyricists of Gujarat, wrote during the second half of the 18th century. Beet Ranjha, the famous romantic epic in Punjabi, was composed-at this time by Warris Shah. For Sindhi literature, the 18th century was a period of enormous achievement. Shah Abdul Latif composed his famous collection of poems, Risalo. Sachal and Sami were the other great Sindhi poets of the century.

The main weakness of Indian culture lay in the field of science. Throughout the 18th century India remained far behind the West in science and technology. For the last 200 years Western Europe had been undergoing a scientific and economic revolution that was leading to a spate of inventions and discoveries. The scientific outlook was gradually pervading the Western mind and revolutionising the philosophic, political, and economic outlook of the Europeans and their inst.i.tutions. On the other hand, the Indians who had in earlier ages made vital contributions in the fields of mathematics and natural sciences, had been neglecting the sciences for several centuries, The Indian mind was still tied to tradition; boih the n.o.bles and the commo n people were superst.i.tious to a high degree. The Indians remained almost wholly Ignorant of the scientific, cultural, political, and economic achievements of the West. The 18th century Indian rulers did not show any interest in things western except in weapons of war and techniques of military training. This weakness in the realm of science was to a large extent responsible for the total subjugation of India by the most advanced country of the time, Struggle for power and wealth, economic decline, social backwardness, and cultural stagnation had a deep and harmful impact on the morals of a section of the Indian people. The n.o.bles, in particular, degenerated m their private and public, life. The virtues of loyalty, grat.i.tude, and faithfulness to their pledged word tended to disappear in the single-minded pursuit of selfish aims. Many of the n.o.bles were prey to degrading vices and excessive luxury. Most of them took bribes when in office. Surprisingly enough, the ^common people were not debased to any marked extent. They continued to exhibit a high degree of personal integrity and morality. For example, the well known British official John Malcolm remarked in 1821: I do not know, the example of any great population, in similar circ.u.mstaiKW, preserving through such & period of changes and tyrannical rule, so nuch virtue and so many .qualities as are to be found la a great proportion of the inhabitant! of (his country.

In particular, he praised "the absence of the common vices oHheft, drunkenness, and violence.", Similarly, Cranford, another European writer, observed: Their rolea of morality are most benevolent: and hospitality and charity arc not only strongly inculcated but I believe nowhere more universally practised than amongst Hindus.

Friendly relations between Hindus and Muslims were a very heJthy feature of life in 18th. century India. Even though the n.o.bles and chiefs of the time fought each other incessantly, their fights and their alliances were seldom based on distinctions of religion. In other words, their politics were essentially secular. In fact, there was little communal bitterness or religious intolerance in the country. All people, high or low, respected one another.s relijion and a spirit of tolerance, even harmony, prevailed. "The mutual relations of Hindus and Muslims were those of brothers among brothers.. This was particularly true of the common people in the villages and towns who fully shared one another.s joys and sorrows, irrespective of religious affiliations.

Hindus and Muslims cooperated in non-religious sphere s such as social life and cultural affairs. The evolution of a composite Hindu-Muslim culture, ot of common ways and att.i.tudes, continued unchecked. Hindu writers often wrote in Persian while Muslim writers wrote in Hindi, Bengali, and other vernaculars, often dealing with subjects of Hindu social life and religioln, such as Radha and Krishna, Sita and Ram, and Nal and Damyanti. The development of Urdu language and literature provided a new meeting ground between Hindus and Muslims.

Even in tbe religious sphere, the mutual influence and respect that had been developing in the last few centuries as a result of the spread of the Bhakti movement among Hindus and Sufism among Muslims, continued to grow. A large number of Hindus worshipped Muslim saints and many Muslims showed equal veneration for Hindu G.o.ds and saints. Muslim rulers, n.o.bles, and commoners joyfully joined in the Hindu festivals such as Holi, Diwali, and iDurga Puja,1 just as Hindus partic.i.p.ated in the Muharram processions. It is noteworthy that Raja Rammohun Roy, the greatest Indian of the first half of the 19th century, was influenced in an equal measure by the Hindu and the Islamic philosophical and religious systems.

It may also be noted that religious affiliation Was not the main point of departure in cultural and social life. The ways of life of the upper cla.s.s Hindus and Muslims converged much more than the ways of life of upper cla.s.s and lower cla.s.s Hindtis or of upper cla.s.s and lower cla.s.s Muslims. Similarly, regions or areas provided points of departure. People of one region had far greater cultural synthesis irrespective of religion than people following tbe same religion spread over different regions. People living in the villages also tended to have a different pattern of social and cultural life than that of the town dwellers.

EXERCISES.

1. Examine the policies followed by the rulers of the states of Hyderabad, Bengal, and Avadh.

2. Give a critical appreciation of the character and achievements of Tipu Sultan.

3. Trace the rise of the Sikhs in the Punjab in the 18th century. Discuss Ranjit Singh.s administration of the Punjab.

4. Trace the rise of the Maratha Empire under the first three Peshwas? Why did it fail to survive?

5. Bring out the main features of Indian economic life in the 18th century. To what extent were they related to contemporary political developments?

6. "What were the main features of social lire in India in the lBth century? Bring out some of the differences between the lower and the higher cla.s.ses and castes in this respect.

7. Discuss the major cultural developments in India in the 18th century. How far were these developments influenced by the n.o.bles, chiefs, and kings?

8. Briefly examine Hindu-Muslim relations in the 18th century. To what extent were the politics of the 18th century motivated by religious considerations?

9. Write short notes on:

(a) Raja Jai Singh of Amber, (b) The Third Battle of Panipat, (c) 1 Haidar AH, (d) Kerala in the 18th century, (e) The Jat State of Bharatpur, (f) Education in 18th century India, (g) Science in 18th century India, (h) Economic condition of the peasant in the 18th century.

Bated upon Survey of India map wiih the permission of the Surveyor General of India.

CHAPTER III.

The Beginnings of European Settlements I.

NDIA"S trade relations with Europe go back to the ancient days of the Greeks. During the Middle Ages trade between Europe and India and South-East Asia was carried on along several loutes. One was by sea along the Persian Gulf, and from there overland" dirough Iraq and Turkey, and then again by sea to Venice and Genoa. A second was via the Red Sea and then overland to Alexandria in Egypt and front there by sea to Venice and Genoa. A third, less frequented overland route lay through the pa.s.ses of the North-West frontier of India, across Central Asia, and Russia to the Baltic. The Asian part of the trade was carried on mostly by Arab merchants and sailors, while the Mediterranean and European part was the virtual monopoly of the Italians. Goods from Asia to Europe pa.s.sed through many states and many hands. Every state levied tolls and duties while every merchant made a substantial profit, There were many other obstacles, such as pirates and natural calamities on the way. Yet the trade remained highly profitable. This was mostly due to the pressing demand of the people of Europe for Eastern spices which fetched high prices in European markets. The Europeans needed spices because they lived on salted and peppered meat during the winter months, when there was little gra.s.s to feed the cattle, and only a liberal use of spices could make this meat palatable. Consequently, European food was as highly spiced as Indian food till the 17th century, The old trading routes between the East and the West came under Turkish control after the Ottoman conquest of Asia Minor and the capture of Constantinople in 1453. Moreover, the merchants of Vcnlce and Genoa monopolised the trade between Europe and Asia and refused to let the new nation states of Western Europe, particularly Spain and Portugal, have any share in the trade through these old routes.

But the trade with India and Indonesia was too highly priced by the West Europeans to be so easily given up. The demand for spices was pressing and the profits to be made in their trade inviting. The reputedly fabulous wealth of India was an additional attraction as there was an acute shortage of gold all oyer Europe, and gold was essential os a medium of exchange if trade was to grow unhampered. The West European states and merchants therefore began to search for new and safer sea routes to India and the Spice Islands of Indonesia, then known as the East Indies. They wanted to break the Arab and Venetian trade monopolies, to bypa.s.s Turkish hostility, and to open direct trade relations with the East. They were well-equipped to do so as great advances in ship-building and the science of navigation had taken place during the 15th century. Moreover, the Renaissance had generated a great spirit of adventure among the people of Western Europe.

Tbe first steps were taken by Portugal and Spain whose seamen, sponsored and controlled by their governments, began a great era of geographical discoveries. In 1494, Columbus of Spain set out to reach India and discovered America instead. In 1498, Vasco da Gama of Portugal discovered a new and all-sea route from Europe to India. He sailed round Africa via the Cape of Good Hope and reached Calicut. He returned with a cargo which sold for 60 times the cost of his voyage. These and other navigational discoveries opened a new chapter in the history of the world. Adam Smith wrote later that the discovery of America itnd the Cape route to India were "the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind." The 17th and 18th centuries were to witness an enormous increase in world trade. The vast new continent of America was opened to Europe and relations between Europe and Asia were completely transformed. The new continent was rich in precious metals. Its gold and silver poured into Europe where they powerfully stimulated trade and provided some of the capital which was soon to make European nations the most advanced in trade, industry and science. Moreover, America was to provide an inexhaustible market for European manufacturers.

Another major source of early capital acc.u.mulation or enrichment for European countries was their penetration of Africa in the middle of the 15th century. In the beginning, gold and ivory of Africa had attracted the foreigner. Very soon, however, trade with Africa centred around the slave trade. In the 16th century this trade was a monopoly of Spain and Portugal. Later it was dominated by Dutch, French and British merchants Year after year, particularly after 1650, thousands of Africans were sold as slaves in the West Indies and in North and South America. The slave ships carried manufactured goods from Europe to Africa, exchanged them on the coast of Africa for Negroes, took these slaves across the Atlantic and exchanged them for the colonial produce of plantations or mines, and finally brought back and sold this produoe in Europe. It was on the immense profits of this triangular trade that the commercial supremacy of England and France was to be based.

The demand for slaves on the sugar, cotton and tobacco plantations and mines of the Western hemisphere was inexhaustive as the hard conditions of work and inhuman treatment of the slaves led to high mortality. Moreover, the limited population of Europe could not have supplied the cheap labour needed for the full exploitation of the land and mines of the New World, While no exact record of the number of Africans sold into slavery exists, historians* estimate has ranged between 15 and 50 millions.

While loss of people on a ma.s.sive scale led to the crippling of African countries and societies, a great deal of West European and North American prosperity was based on the slave trade and the plantations worked by slave labour. Moreover, profits of slave trade and slave-worked plantations provided some of the capital which financed the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. A similar role was later played by the wealth extracted from India.

Slavery was later abolished in the 19th century after it had ceased to play an important economic role, but it was openly defended and praised as long as it was profitable. Monarch, ministers, members of Parlia* ment, dignitaries of the church, leaders of public opinion, and merchants and industrialists supported the slave trade. For example, in Britain, Queen Elizabeth, George III, Edmund Burke, Nelson, Gladstone, Disraeli and Carlyle were some of the defenders and apologists of slavery.

In the 16th century, European merchants and soldiers also began the long process of first penetrating and then subjecting Asian lands to their control. In the process, the prosperity of the Italian towns and merchants waB destroyed as commerce and then political power gradually shifted Westward towards the Atlantic coast.

Portoga.1 had a monopoly of the highly profitable Eastern trade for nearly a century. In India, she established her trading settlements at Cochin, Goa, Dlu, and Daman. From the beginning the Portuguese combined the use of force with trade. In this they were helped by (he superiority of their armed ships which enabled them to dominate the seas. A handful of Portuguese soldiers and sailors could maintain their position on the seas against the much more powerful land powers of India and Asia. Beside^, they also saw that they could take advantage of the mutual rivalries of the Indian princes to strengthen their position. They intervened in the conflict between the ruler; of Calicut and Cochin to establish their trading centres and forts on the Malabar coast From here they attacked and destroyed Arab shipping, brutally killing hundreds of Arab merchants and seameh, By threatening Mughal shipping, they sflso succeeded jn securing many trading Concessions from the Mughal Emp^fors, Under the viceroyalty of Alfanso d Albuquerque, who captured Goa in3J0; the Portuguese established their domination over Hie entire Asian coast from Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to Malacca in Malaya and the Spice Islands in Indonesia. They seized Indian territories on the coast and waged constant war to expand their trade and dominions and safeguard their trade monopoly from their European rivals, Nor did they shy away from piracy and plunder. In the words of James Mill, the famous British historian of the 19th century: "The Portuguese followed their merchandise as their chief occupation, but like the English and the Dutch .. of the same period, had no objection to plunder, when it fell in their way." The Portuguese were intolerant and fanatical in religious matters. They indulged in forcible conversion offering people the alternative of Christianity or sword.. Their approach in this respect was particularly hateful to people of India where religious tolerance was the rule. They also indulged in inhuman cruelties and lawlessness. In spite of their barbaric behaviour their possessions in India survived for a century because they enjoyed control over the high seas, their soldiers and administrators maintained strict discipline, and they did not have to face the might of the Mughal Empire as South India was outside Mughal influence. They clashed with the Mughal power in Bengal in 1631 and were driven out of their settlement at Hugli. Their hold over the Arabian sea had already been weakened by the English and their influence in Gujarat had become negligible by this time.

Portugal was, however, incapable of maintaining for long its trade monopoly or its dominions in the East. Its population was less than a million, its Court was autocratic and decadent, its merchants enjoyed much less power and prestige than its landed aristocrats, it lagged behind in the development of shipping, a >d it followed a poliey of religious intolerance. The Portuguese and the Spanish had left the English and the Dutch far behind during the 15th century and the first half of the 16th century. But, in the latter half of the 16th century, England and Holland, and later France, all growing commercial and naval powers, waged a fierce struggle against the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of world trade. In this struggle the latter had to go under. Portugal had become a Spanish dependency in 1580. In 1588 the English defeated the Spanish fleet called the Armada and shattered Spanish naval supremacy for ever. This enabled the English ^nd the Dutch merchants to use the Cape of Good Hope route to India and so to join in the race for empire in the East. In the end, the Dutch gained control over Indonesia and the British over India,, Ceylon, and Malaya.

The Dutch had Toe long been dealing in Eastern produce which they bought in Portugal and sold all over Northern Europe. This had fed them to develop better ships, scientific sailing techniques, and efficiept business methods and organisation. Their revolt against the Spanish domination of their homeland, the Netherlands, and Portugal.s merger with Spain mads them look for alternative sources of spices. In 1595, four Dutch ships sailed to India via the Cape of Good Hope. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was formed and the Dutch States General -the Dutch parliament-gave it a Charter empowering it to make war, conclude treaties, acquire territories and build fortresses.

The main interest of the Dutch lay not in India but in the Indonesian Islands of Java, Sumatra, and the Spice Islands where spices were produced. They soon turned out the Portuguese from the Malay Straits and the Indonesian Islands and, in 1623, defeated English attempts to establish themselves there. It appeared at the time that the Dutch had successfully seized the most important profitable part of Asian trade. They did not, however, entirely abandon Indian trade. They also established trading depots at Surat, Broach, Cambay, and Ahmedabad in Gujarat in West India, Cochin in Kerala, Nagapatam in Madras, Masulipatam in Andhra, Chinsura in Bengal, Patna in Bihar, and Agra in Uttar Pradesh. In 1658 they also conquered Ceylon from the Portuguese. They exported indigo, raw silk, cotton textiles, saltpetre, and opium from India. Like the Portuguese they treated the people of India cruelly and exploited them ruthlessly.

The English merchants too looked greedily on the Asian trade. The success of the Portuguese, the rich cargoes of spices, calicoes, silk, gold, pearls, drugs, porcelain,and ebony they carried, and the high profits they made inflamed the imagination of the merchants of England and made them impatient to partic.i.p.ate in such profitable commerce. But, till the end of the 16th century, they WCTO too weak to challenge the naval might of Portugal and Spain. For over 50 years they searched without success for an alternative pa.s.sage to India. Meanwhile they gathered strength on the sea. In 1579, Drake sailed around the world. In 1588, the defeat of the Spanish Armada led to the opening of the sea-pa.s.sage to the East.

An English a.s.sociation or company to trade with the East .was formed in 1599 under the auspices of a group of merchants known as the Merchant Adventurers. The company was granted a Royal Charter and the exclusive privilege to trade in the East by Queen Elizabeth on 31 December 1600 and was popularly known as the East India Company. From the beginning, it was linked with the monarchy: Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) was one of the shareholders of the company.

The first voyage of the Bnglish East India Company was made in 1601 when its ships sailed to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. In 1608 it decided to open a factory,.the name given at the time to a trading depot, at Surat on the West coast of India and sent Captain Hawkins to Jahangir.s Court to obtain Royal favours. Initially, Hawkins was received in a friendly manner. He was given a man sab of 400 and a jagir. Later, he was expelled from Agra as a result of Portuguese intrigue. This .convinced the English of the need to overcome Portuguese influence at the Mughal Court if they were to obtain any concessions from the Imperial Government. They defeated a Portuguese naval squadron at Swally near Surat in 1612 and then again in 3 614. These victories led the Mughals to hope that in view of their naval weakness they could use the English to counter the Portuguese on the sea. Moreover, the Indian merchants would certainly benefit by compet.i.tion among their foreign buyers. Consequently, the English Company was given permission by a Royal farman to open factories at several places on (he West coast.

The English were not satisfied with this concession. In 1615 their amba.s.sador Sir Thomas Roe reached the Mughal Court. They also exerted pressure on the Mughal authorities by taking advantage of India.s naval weakness and hara.s.sing Indian traders and shipping to the Red Sea and to Mecca. Thus, combining entreaties with threats, Roe succeeded in getting an Imperial farman to trade and establish factories in all parts of the Mughal Empire. Roe"s success further angered the Portuguese and a fierce naval battle between the two countries began in 1620. It ended in English victory. Hostilities between the two came to an end in 1630. In 1662 the Portuguese gave the Island of Bombay to King Charles II of England as dowry-for marrying a Portuguese Princess. Eventually, the Portuguese lost alt their possessions in India except Goa, Din and Daman. The Dutch, the English, and the Marathas beflefitted, the Marathas capturing Salsette and Ba.s.sein in 1739.

The English Company fell out with the Dutch Company over division of the spice trade of the Indonesian Islands. Ultimately, the Dutch nearly expelled the English from the trade of the Spice Islands and the latter were compelled to concentrate on India where the situation was more favourable to them- The intermittent war in India between the1 two powers, which had begun in 1654, ended in 1667, when the English gave up all claims to Indonesia while the Dutch agreed to leave alone the English settlements in India. The English, however, continued. their efforts to drive out the Dutch from the Indian trade and by 1795 "hey had expelled the Dutch from their last possession in India.

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future British relations with India. "a.s.sure you", he wrote, "I know these people are best treated with the sword in one hand and the Caducean (a rod carried by a messenger) in the other." He added that the English should depend "upon the same ground that we began and by which we subsist, feaf."

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