|
The Winterline Journal™
is a publication of Farewell the
Winterline featuring personal reminisces, funny & thoughtful stories
by people who have lived in India, Pakistan, and the Far East as well as
cultural articles, discussions and nostalgia.... with a few tasty recipes
added for good measure.
Newsletter Staff:
Editor: Cynthia
Brush
Graphics: Bill Grey
© Copyright 2003
Chipkali Creations
|
|
|
 |
|
Culture,
History, Curiosities & Treasures
|
June 29, 2003 - L.Rebeiro -
Toronto, Canada
Cultural
Connections:
The
East India Company
The East India Company had
the unusual distinction of ruling an entire country. Its
origins were much humbler. On December 31, 1600, a group
of merchants who had incorporated themselves into the East
India Company were given monopoly privileges on all trade
with the East Indies. The Company's ships first arrived
in India, at the port of Surat, in 1608. Sir Thomas
Roe reached the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir,
as the emissary of King James I in 1615, and gained for the
British the right to establish a factory at Surat. Gradually the
British eclipsed the Portugese and over the years they saw a massive
expansion of their trading operations in India. Numerous trading posts were
established along the east and west coasts of India, and considerable English
communities developed around the three presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay,
and Madras. In 1717, the Company achieved its hitherto most notable success
when it received a firman or royal dictat from the Mughal Emperor exempting
the Company from the payment of custom duties in Bengal.
The Company saw the rise of its fortunes, and its transformation
from a trading venture to a ruling enterprise, when one of its military officials, Robert
Clive, defeated the forces of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-daulah ,
at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. A few years later the Company
acquired the right to collect revenues on behalf of the Mughal Emperor,
but the initial years of its administration were calamitous for the
people of Bengal. The Company's servants were largely a rapacious and self-aggrandizing
lot, and the plunder of Bengal left the formerly rich province in
a state of utter destitution. The famine of 1769-70, which the Company's policies
did nothing to alleviate, may have taken the lives of as many as a third of
the population. The Company, despite the increase in trade and the revenues
coming in from other sources, found itself burdened with massive military
expenditures, and its destruction seemed imminent. State intervention put
the ailing Company back on its feet, and Lord North's India Bill,
also known as the Regulating Act of 1773, provided for greater
parliamentary control over the affairs of the Company, besides placing India
under the rule of a Governor-General.
The first Governor-General of India was Warren Hastings.
Under his dispensation, the expansion of British rule in India was pursued
vigorously, and the British sought to master indigenous systems of
knowledge. Hastings remained in India until 1784 and was succeeded by Cornwallis,
who initiated the Permanent Settlement, whereby an agreement in perpetuity
was reached with zamindars or landlords for the collection of revenue.
For the next fifty years, the British were engaged in attempts to
eliminate Indian rivals, and it is under the administration of Wellesley that
British territorial expansion was achieved with ruthless efficiency.
Major victories were achieved against Tipu Sultan of Mysore and the
Marathas, and finally the subjugation and conquest of the Sikhs in
a series of Anglo- Sikh Wars led to British occupation over the entirety
of India. In some places, the British practiced indirect rule, placing
a Resident at the court of the native ruler who was allowed sovereignty in
domestic matters. Lord
Dalhousie's notorious doctrine of lapse, whereby a native state became
part of British India if there was no male heir at the death of the
ruler, was one of the principal means by which native states were annexed;
but often the annexation, such as that of Awadh [Oudh] in 1856, was justified
on the grounds that the native prince was of evil disposition, indifferent
to the welfare of his subjects. The annexation of native states, harsh revenue
policies, and the plight of the Indian peasantry all contributed
to the Rebellion
of 1857-57, referred to previously as the Sepoy Mutiny.
In 1858 the East India Company was dissolved, despite a valiant defense
of its purported achievements by John Stuart Mill, and the
administration of India became the responsibility of the Crown.
Back to
Travels of the Heart
|
|
 |
