India: The Arrival of the Europeans

The Arrival of the Europeans

Only a few years before Babur's triumph, Vasco da Gama had landed at Calicut (1498) and the Portuguese had conquered Goa (1510). The splendor and wealth of the Mughal empire (from it comes much of India's greatest architecture, including the Taj Mahal) attracted British, Dutch, and French competition for the trade that Portugal had at first monopolized. The British East India Company (see East India Company, British), which established trading stations at Surat (1613), Bombay (now Mumbai; 1661), and Calcutta (now Kolkata; 1691), soon became dominant and with its command of the sea drove off the traders of Portugal and Holland. While the Mughal empire remained strong, only peaceful trade relations with it were sought; but in the 18th cent., when an Afghan invasion, dynastic struggles, and incessant revolts of Hindu elements, especially the Marathas, were rending the empire, Great Britain and France seized the opportunity to increase trade and capture Indian wealth, and each attempted to oust the other. From 1746 to 1763, India was a battleground for the forces of the two powers, each attaching to itself as many native rulers as possible in the struggle.

Sections in this article:

Introduction
India in the Late Twentieth Century
Problems on India's Borders
Independence and the India-Pakistan Split
India Moves toward Independence
India under British Rule
The Arrival of the Europeans
From the Indus Valley to the Fall of the Mughal Empire
History
Government
Economy
People and Culture
Land
Bibliography

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Indian Political Geography