2. From Trade to Territory History class 8 in English Medium ncert book solutions Chapter Rerview

Chapter Review:

• The last powerful Mughal ruler was Aurangzeb and after his death in 1707, many Mughal governors (subadars) and big zamindars began asserting their authority and establishing regional kingdoms. By the second half of the eighteenth century, a new power emerged on the political horizon – the British.
• The East India Company, in 1600, acquired a charter from the ruler of England, Queen Elizabeth I, granting the Company sole right to trade with the East. According to the charter, the Company could venture across the oceans, looking for new lands to buy goods at a cheaper price, and carry them back to Europe to sell at higher prices. The Portuguese established their presence on the western coast of India and had their base in Goa. By the early seventeenth century, the Dutch were exploring the possibilities of trade in the Indian Ocean and very soon the French arrived on the scene.
• All the companies are interested in buying the same things. The fine qualities of cotton, silk, pepper, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon were in great demand. The urge to secure markets led to fierce battles between the trading companies. Trade was carried on with arms and trading posts were protected through fortification.
• In 1651, the first English factory was set up. It was the base from which the Company’s traders, known as “factors”, operated. In the warehouse of the factory, goods for export were stored. The Company by 1696 built a fort around the settlement. The Company continuously tried to press for more concessions and manipulate existing privileges.
• The conflict between the Company and the nawabs of Bengal intensified. The Bengal nawabs refused to grant the Company concessions, demanded large tributes for the Company’s right to trade, denied it any right to mint coins, and stopped it from extending its fortifications. They also claimed that the Company was depriving the Bengal government of huge amounts of revenue and undermining the authority of the nawab. The conflicts led to confrontations and finally culminated in the famous Battle of Plassey.
• Mysore, under the leadership of powerful rulers like Haidar Ali (ruled from 1761 to 1782) and his famous son Tipu Sultan (ruled from 1782 to 1799) had grown in strength. It controlled the profitable trade of the Malabar coast where the Company purchased pepper and cardamom. Tipu Sultan, in 1785, stopped the export of sandalwood, pepper and cardamom. The Company fought four wars with Mysore (1767-69, 1780-84, 1790-92 and 1799). Finally, in the last – the Battle of Seringapatam – the Company achieved victory.
• Paramountcy a new policy was initiated under Lord Hastings (GovernorGeneral from 1813 to 1823). The Company claimed that its power was greater than that of Indian states. In the late 1830s, the East India Company became worried about Russia. It imagined that Russia might expand across Asia and enter India from the north-west. The Company fought a prolonged war with Afghanistan between 1838 and 1842 and established indirect Company rule there. Punjab was annexed in 1849, after two prolonged wars.

All Chapters Of History english Medium Class 8