Held by European states during the XV-XIX centuries. the active conquest of small disparate kingdoms located on the territory of the Hindustan peninsula, which created the conditions for the subsequent colonization of India, was accompanied by a fierce competitive struggle between the main contenders for economic and political dominance. Among them were England, Portugal, Holland and France. Later they were joined by Denmark, Prussia, Sweden and Austria. The armed confrontation between these countries took place against the background of incessant rebellions and uprisings of the local population, which sought to defend their national independence.
Distant and fabulous country
The beginning of the European colonization of India was laid back in the 15th century, when the goods produced in it, thanks to the expansion of maritime trade, began to actively conquer the world market. Exotic products, as well as spices, were highly valued in Europe, and this created the prerequisites for the creation of a number of trading companies that rushed to the peninsula in the hope of getting rich quick.
Pioneers of colonizationThe Portuguese became India, who opened the sea route to this “fabulous”, according to Europeans, country. At the turn of the XV and XVI centuries. they founded a large number of settlements on the coast of the peninsula, near which trading posts and trading warehouses were located. They did not shun direct intervention in the political struggle of local rulers.
The next stage of the European colonization of India was the appearance of the Dutch on its territory. However, not wanting to waste their energy on competing with the Portuguese, they very soon moved to the islands of Indonesia, which have since been called the Dutch Indies. There they concentrated their efforts on the export of spices and received huge profits from this.
Monopoly of London Merchants
And finally, at the very beginning of the 17th century, England and France joined the ranks of the former seekers of we alth, for whom the colonization of India became not only a profitable commercial enterprise, but also a matter of national prestige. The beginning was laid by a group of London merchants who received a charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, giving them a monopoly on trade with Eastern countries. For almost a century, they and their descendants freely exported goods from India that were in great demand in Europe.
Creation of the East India Company and the fight against competitors
However, at the beginning of the next century, they had to make room, giving up part of the income to other, no less enterprising British merchants, who also managed to get the right to tradeoperations in India. To avoid the losses associated with the inevitable trade war in such cases, the prudent English preferred to unite and create a joint East India Company, which, having come a long way, turned from a trading company into such an influential political organization that it established complete control over most of the peninsula. Its main offices were located in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. It is this process, which was completed by the beginning of the 19th century, that is commonly called the English colonization of India.
It would be a mistake to think that such success came to the British at an easy price. On the contrary, during the entire initial period of the colonization of India, they had to conduct trade, and sometimes even armed struggle with competitors, which were mentioned above. However, by the middle of the 18th century, almost all of them were driven back, and only the French posed a serious danger to the British.
But their positions were greatly shaken after the end of the Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763), in which all European powers took part. According to the peace treaty signed by the heads of the victorious countries, France, which was among the outsiders, was losing all the lands previously conquered in India. And although later some of the cities were returned to her, there was no need to talk about the former influence.
End of the Mughal Empire
Thus, having finished with the last real enemy on the battlefields, England firmly established its influence on the peninsula, which continued to remain in the eyes of Europeans a kind of earthlyparadise, from where the most rare and outlandish goods did not stop coming to them. Describing the events of that time, the researchers note that the final stage of the colonization of India by Great Britain coincided with the period of a bright, but short-term heyday of this ancient country, which at that time was called the Mughal Empire.
The relative political stability that was established in the second half of the 18th century and made it possible to significantly improve the life of the population was soon disrupted by new socio-economic upheavals resulting from the internecine struggle of feudal and ethnic tribes, as well as the Afghan intervention. Many armed groups appeared in the country, trying to take advantage of the current situation and seize power.
Missed Victory
Separatism extremely weakened the empire and allowed the East India Company to begin the next stage of their conquests. K. Marx, describing this period of Indian history in one of his works, noted that while “everyone fought against everyone” on the territory of the country, the British managed to emerge as sole winners from their endless bloodshed.
The collapse of the once strong Great Mogul provoked a new series of armed clashes between groups that claimed the political and economic legacy of the former rulers. The balance of power between them constantly changed, but under all circumstances, the British knew how to take advantage.
Three times they managed to send against their main opponent - the head of stateMansour Haidar Ali is an armed formation, fully staffed from local residents dissatisfied with his policies and thus gaining victory on the battlefield with proxy. As a result, he was forced to ask for a truce and accept all the conditions put forward by the British, which allowed them to establish themselves in South India and Bengal at the beginning of the 19th century.
Towards political and economic dominance
However, for the final subjugation of the entire population of Hindustan, it was necessary to break the resistance of several feudal Maratha principalities located in the center of the peninsula on the territory of the modern state of Maharashtra. All of them were in a state of severe crisis by the beginning of the 19th century.
Formerly united in a common confederation, which had a centralized government in the person of the Peshwa - an official equal in importance to the modern prime minister, the tribes were an impressive military and political force. In the same period, their union actually broke up, and local feudal lords waged an unceasing struggle for leadership. Their internecine wars ravaged the peasants, and ever-increasing taxes only aggravated the plight.
Capacity
The current situation was the best possible way for the intervention of the British in the intra-tribal conflict and the establishment of their own diktat. To this end, in 1803, they began active military operations against the Peshwa Baji Rao II and the princes who remained under his command.
The Marathas were unable to offer serious resistance to the invaders and were forced to sign an agreement imposed on them, according to which they not only assumed the obligation to continue to fulfill the instructions of the British administration, but also bear all the costs of maintaining their army.
Completion of the colonization process
The British colonization of India led to a series of aggressive wars with sovereign states located on the territory of Hindustan. Thus, in 1825, the capture of Burma marked the beginning of the control of the East India Company over the previously independent state of Assam, located in the eastern part of the peninsula. Following that, already in the 40s of the XIX century, they captured the state of Punjab.
It is generally accepted that the process of the conquest of India by the British colonialists ended in 1849, when the victory in the second Punjab war (the British had to throw their forces twice to suppress their national liberation movements) gave them the opportunity to annex the entire territory of the state. Since then, the British crown has firmly established itself in the peninsula, which attracted the attention of many rulers of Europe for several centuries.
Conclusion
Summing up what has been said, it should be noted that from the beginning of the colonization of India by the British, a policy was pursued not only to involve the country in the sphere of their commercial interests (which they declared more than once), but also to establish political influence in it. Taking advantage of the fall of the Mughal Empire in the 18th century, the Britishseized most of the inheritance left after her, while pushing back all other competitors.
Later, becoming active participants in all tribal and interethnic strife, the British bribed local politicians and, having assisted them in coming to power, then forced them, under various pretexts, to pay huge sums from the state budget to the East India Company.
The main competitors of the British - the Portuguese, and then the French - failed to provide proper resistance and were forced to be content only with what the true masters of the situation "did not get their hands on". The French, moreover, extremely weakened their influence by their own internecine strife that arose in the 18th century when they tried to establish control over the territory of the western coast of the peninsula. As historians note, during that period there were even cases of armed clashes between French military leaders.
